A Study Guide To Ace Jeopardy

If you’re looking to snag a spot on the trivia television game show, a new chart that reveals all of the most common Jeopardy! answers and categories could help you study up. Now, all of the biggest show secrets — like the most popular answers and the most popular categories — are right at your fingertips. The chart offers some pretty helpful insights for anyone cramming for an upcoming Jeopardy! appearance.

Patrick Tullao compiled the interactive chart, which offers an extremely detailed look at every Jeopardy! match between the years 1984 and 2012. The biggest takeaway? Your best bet for a response if you just don’t know the answer is “What Is China?” — the most common Jeopardy response. In Double Jeopardy, the most common response is “What is Australia?” and “Word Origins” is the most common category in the game.

The graphic is based on 217,000 questions, so you can’t really bank on just studying China. Although with “What is China” being the most popular answer, that means it is the correct answer approximately one out of 1,000 times. So, studying up can never hurt. Here are some sample questions for each of the top 10 most common answers on Jeopardy! to get you ready for your possible 15 minutes of fame (or humiliation, who knows?).

1. What Is China?

• Where is the world’s largest mall located?
• Where do half of the world’s pigs live?
• What country has treatment camps for Internet addicts?

2. What Is Australia?

• Where in the world is there a bright pink lake?
• Where is the Never Never River?
• Where is the world’s longest national highway?

3. What Is Japan?

• In what country are there — on average — only two gun-related homicides every year?
• What country consists of more than 6,800 islands?
• In what country are black cats considered to bring good luck?

4. What Is Chicago?

• In which city is the only river in the world that flows backward?
• Where was the zipper invented?
• In which city did the beer Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) make its debut?

5. What Is France?

• What’s the most visited country in the world?
• What country once controlled more than 8 percent of the world’s land?
• What country uses 12 different time zones?

6. What Is India?

• In which country does the world’s largest family — a man with 39 wives and 94 children — live?
• What country has the largest slave population?
• Where is the world’s largest democracy?

7. What Is California?

• What’s the only state to have hosted both the winter and summer Olympics?
• Where was the fortune cookie invented?
• What is the most populous state in the U.S.?

8. What Is Canada?

• What is the world’s second largest country?
• What’s the world’s most educated country?
• Where is the longest street in the world?

9. What Is Spain?

• Where was the Eiffel Tower originally supposed to be built?
• What country produces 45 percent of the world’s olive oil?
• Which European country is the least densely populated?

10. What Is Mexico?

• What country has 68 official languages?
• Where is the world’s largest pyramid?
• What was the only country to protest against the German annexation of Austria right before World War II?

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