What Are Hard Jeopardy Questions?
Sure, if you're Ken Jennings, these questions probably aren't that hard (in fact, you probably answered some of them during your 74-episode winning streak). But, for the rest of us, these are 50 of the hardest Jeopardy questions ever asked on the show. See how many you know.
Answer 35-50 correctly: What is Amazing?
25-34: What is Great?
15-24: What is Okay?
0-14: What is at least you tried?
And remember to always state your answer in the form of a question.
1: Presidents
Q: This Virginian was the first Secretary of State and the second Vice President.
Tony Fischer, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
Notes: Thomas Jefferson served as Secretary of State under President George Washington, from 1790 to 1793, and was Vice President under President John Adams, from 1797 to 1801.
Rembrandt Peale, Wikimedia Commons
2: Airports
Q: This airport in Washington, named for two cities, has one of the largest parking garages in the US—13,000 spaces and eight stories high.
Answer
What is Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International)?
Note: That aforementioned parking garage is North America's largest parking structure under one roof.
3: Language
Q: One term for talking trash about someone is "throwing" this, like a big elm tree might do.
Answer
What is shade?
Note: Originating in New York's 80s drag scene, it made a big leap into pop culture after being used in recaps for a 2010 episode of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Adobe Stock
4: Math
Q: The name of this branch of mathematics comes from the Arabic word for "reuniting".
Answer
What is algebra?
Definition: "the part of mathematics in which letters and other general symbols are used to represent numbers and quantities in formulae and equations".
5: American History
Q: He was featured on the September 22, 1947, cover of Time with the caption, "He and the boss took a chance".
Kansas City Call newspaper, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
Who is Jackie Robinson?
Note: Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball—starting for Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
United States Information Agency, Wikimedia Commons
6: Geography
Q: It’s the only country that borders both the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Answer
What is Iran?
Note: Iran is the 17th largest country in the world by area and the 17th most populated.
7: Food
Q: The name of this salsa means "beak of the rooster".
Answer
What is pico de gallo?
Recipe: traditionally made with chopped tomato, onion, serrano peppers, salt, lime juice, and cilantro.
8: Geography
Q: At the heart of a major industrial region, this second-most populous UK city lies near the geographic center of England.
Alexandre Rotenberg, Adobe Stock
Answer
What is Birmingham?
9: Olympic City
Q: In 1992, this city’s velodrome, once used in the Olympic Games, was transformed into an environmental biodome.
Answer
What is Montreal?
Note: Montreal, Canada hosted the Summer Olympics in 1976. These were the games in which 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first person to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics.
10: Science
Q: The science of determining a tree's age by looking at its growth rings.
Answer
What is dendrochronology?
Etymology: Derived from the Ancient Greek dendron (δένδρον), meaning "tree", khronos (χρόνος), meaning "time", and -logia (-λογία), "the study of".
Apostolis Giontzis, Adobe Stock
11: Fruit
Q: Clingstone and freestone are the two main classifications for this fruit, once called a Persian apple.
Answer
What is a peach?
The peach is believed to have originated in China, and the country is the largest producer of the fruit in the world.
12: Music
Q: Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry joined this rap trio on their 1986 hit "Walk This Way".
daigooliva, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
Who is Run-DMC?
Run-DMC was the first hip hop group to achieve a Gold record.
Jeff Pinilla, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
13: Literature
Q: In some countries, the subtitle "A Contemporary Satire" was used for this 1945 parable.
Answer:
What is Animal Farm?
The novel was written by George Orwell and first published in England on August 17, 1945.
Cassowary Colorizations, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
14: Milk
Q: Tasty and durable, this type of milk from Gail Borden's company benefited Union troops.
Boston Public Library, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Answer:
What is condensed milk?
Gail Borden's New York Condensed Milk Company.
15: Wind
Q: A rapid shift of wind velocity or direction is called this "wind", which pilots are always on the lookout for.
Answer:
What is a shear?
16: Clouds
Q: The three most basic types of clouds are stratus, cumulus, and this high, wispy type with a name meaning "curl".
Answer:
What is cirrus?
Cirrus clouds also form in the atmospheres of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Kushnirov Avraham, Adobe Stock
17: Etymology
Q: From the Greek for "label," it's a course outline of a school class.
Answer:
What is a syllabus?
18: Airports
Q: Going straight to HEL? Then you're on a direct flight to this northern European country.
Answer:
What is Finland?
The Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) is the busiest airport in Finland.
19: Law
Q: In law, it's possession of an estate for the duration of one's life; in New Jersey, it's the town Bruce Springsteen is from.
Answer
What is Freehold?
20: Television
Q: Mike Judge co-created this comedy about engineers and tech start-ups.
Answer
What is Silicon Valley?
The series ran for six seasons from 2014-19, and was nominated for an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy five years in a row.
HBO, Silicon Valley (2014-2019)
21: Medical
Q: This word is medical speak for really bad breath.
Answer
What is halitosis?
People in the United States spend about $1 billion a year on mouthwash.
22: Math
Q: Carl Friedrich Gauss solved a math puzzle by constructing a regular-sided heptadecagon, a figure with this many sides.
Answer
What is 17?
Gauss was also the one to discover and study non-Euclidean geometry. He was also the person who coined the term.
Christian Albrecht Jensen, Wikimedia Commons
23: Hockey
Q: In 1924, the NHL added its first US team, this New England squad.
Answer
Who are the Boston Bruins?
The Bruins are one of the "Original Six" teams and have won six Stanley Cups.
Puffycoombes, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
24: Animals
Q: Stay pregnant for a year! Plausible for you, no, but for the Florida type of this aquatic mammal that can weigh 3,600 pounds? No prob.
Answer
What is a manatee?
These full aquatic herbivores are also sometimes known as sea cows.
25: Movies
Q: The third film in the Shrek series has this three-word title.
DreamWorks, Shrek the Third (2007)
Answer
What is Shrek the Third?
Released in 2007, Shrek the Third was another hit in the franchise—grossing $808.3 million.
DreamWorks, Shrek the Third (2007)
26: Musical Instruments
Q: This largest brass instrument is also the one with the lowest pitch.
Answer
What is the tuba?
"Tuba" is Latin for "trumpet".
27: Planets
Q: This planet, the third largest in our solar system, was discovered by William Herschel in 1781.
Answer
What is Uranus?
When you're finished giggling, you can move on to the next question.
Lemuel Francis Abbott, Wikimedia Commons
28: Units Of Measure
Q: In a square mile, there are 640 of these.
Answer
What are acres?
An acre equals: 43,560 square feet/4,840 square yards/about 0.4047 hectares.
29: Prizes
Q: France's premier literary prize, this "Prix" awards a whopping 10 euros to the winner.
Answer
What is Prix Goncourt?
The prize is awarded annually, by the Académie Goncourt, to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year".
30: Supreme Court
Q: Potter Stewart's replacement on the Supreme Court, she once served as Arizona's State Senate Majority Leader.
Robert S. Oakes, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
Who is Sandra Day O'Connor?
O'Connor served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006.
Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons
31: Broadway
Q: A review of this musical noted "sacrilege" and said it was "blasphemous," but "its heart is as pure as...a Rodgers and Hammerstein show".
Answer
What is The Book of Mormon?
The musical set ticket-sale records and took home nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
32: Hyphenated
Q: A hyphenated term that describes a bird with complete plumage or anything matured.
Answer:
What is full-fledged?
Toyakisfoto.photos, Adobe Stock
33: Literature
Q: Headings in this 1854 work include "Solitude," "Brute Neighbors," and "The Pond in Winter".
Answer
What is Walden (Life in the Woods)?
Written by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau.
National Portrait Gallery, Wikimedia Commons
34: Geography
Q: The five highest volcanoes on Earth are located in these mountains.
Jose Luis Stephens, Adobe Stock
Answer
What are the Andes?
The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world and the highest mountain range outside of Asia.
35: Royalty
Q: Machiavelli was a big fan of this king of Aragon born in 1452.
Santi di Tito, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
Who is Ferdinand?
AKA Ferdinand the Catholic, he was King of Aragon from 1479 until his passing in 1516.
Michael Sittow, Wikimedia Commons
36: Music
Q: "AC" stands for this radio format favored by some folks of a certain age.
Answer
What is adult contemporary?
37: Jobs
Q: A laborer who loads and unloads ships in a port.
Answer
What is a stevedore?
Modernization has led to a 90% decrease in the required number of dockworkers since the 1960s.
38: Museums
Q: This London museum with two first names is renowned for its collection of decorative arts.
Answer:
What is Victoria and Albert?
With a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, The Victoria and Albert Museum is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design.
39: Rivers
Q: This major river of north-central Wyoming was named for the sheep fur trader Francois Larocque saw on its banks.
Answer
What is Bighorn?
Larocque named it for the bighorn sheep he saw along its banks.
40: Britspeak
Q: It's Britspeak for the glass in front of the driver's face.
Answer
What is the windscreen?
In America, they call it a "windshield".
41: Food
Q: Aubergine caviar is another name for this smoky Mediterranean spread made with roasted eggplant.
Answer
What is baba ganoush?
Definition: "A thick sauce or spread made from ground eggplant and sesame seeds, olive oil, lemon, and garlic, typical of eastern Mediterranean cuisine".
42: Internet
Q: This search engine with a double-talk animal name emphasizes privacy, saying it doesn't track searches or collect user info.
Answer
What is DuckDuckGo?
Headquartered in Paoli, Pennsylvania, DuckDuckGo was founded in 2008 by Gabriel Weinberg.
43: Television
Q: The Office was set at the Scranton branch of this paper company.
Answer
What is Dunder Mifflin?
The paper company in the original UK version of the show was called Wernham Hogg.
44: Cars
Q: Slang for a convertible car with a soft cover.
Answer
What is a ragtop?
45: Movies
Q: This acorn-obsessed critter from the Ice Age films caused a "continental crack-up".
Answer
Who is Scrat?
He also got his own series of shorts that premiered on Disney+ in 2022: Ice Age: Scrat Tales.
Twentieth Century, Ice Age (2002)
46: Literature
Q: The title heroine of this 1816 novel wrongly believes herself to be a gifted matchmaker.
Answer
What is Emma?
This comedy of manners novel was written by Jane Austen.
Evert Duykinck, Wikimedia Commons
47: Company Logo
Q: The blue and white striped logo for this tech company hasn't changed since Paul Rand designed it in 1972.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Answer
What is IBM?
Rand was inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1972.
Treesmittenex, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
48: Solar System
Q: This largest moon of Pluto is about half the dwarf planet's size.
Answer
What is Charon?
The moon was discovered by James Christy and Robert Harrington on June 22, 1978—at the US Naval Observatory.
49: Geography
Q: Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of this special administrative region of China.
Answer
What is Macau?
Macau is the most densely populated region in the world.
50: Language
Q: Italian for "stopping place" gives us this word for a part of a poem.
Answer
What is a stanza?
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