The Best 'Jeopardy!' Trivia Questions to Test Your General Knowledge

It’s easy to feel like a genius when you’re shouting the correct answer from the safety of your living room. But it’s a different story when the clock is ticking, the spotlight is glaring, and the pressure is on. To see if you actually have what it takes to stay in the game, we’ve skipped the basic "school subjects" and curated the most niche, Mental Floss-approved categories from the Jeopardy! archives.

Of course, the format is a bit unique: you’re given the answer first and have to work backward to the question. Luckily, we’re providing both to keep things moving. We combed through the J! Archive to pull 100 of the most interesting, show-accurate clues across six signature categories. From the Bard to the bar, there’s plenty here to test your trivia mettle—so settle in, grab a buzzer, and let’s see if you can clear the board.

1. World Geography
2. Before & After
3. Shakespeare
4. Word Origins
5. Potent Potables
6. U.S. Presidents

World Geography

Contestants often live or die by their ability to map the world in their heads. We’re putting that to the test, from mountain ranges and island nations to the capitals that have tripped up many a champion.

1. Clue: On Jamaica a more than 7,400-foot peak is named for this "colorful" range.

Answer: What are the Blue Mountains?

2. Clue: Less than 5,000 square miles in area, the Gambia is the smallest independent mainland country on this continent.

Answer: What is Africa?

3. Clue: Auckland, the chief port city of this country, was once its capital.

Answer: What is New Zealand?

4. Clue: The King James Bible refers to it as the Salt Sea.

Answer: What is the Dead Sea?

5. Clue: The smallest and shallowest of the world’s five oceans is this one.

Answer: What is the Arctic?

6. Clue: Varna & Burgas are leading Bulgarian ports on the western coast of this body of water.

Answer: What is the Black Sea?

7. Clue: In the 17th century this continent was given the name New Holland.

Answer: What is Australia?

8. Clue: Only 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world still standing.

Answer: What is the Great Pyramid?

9. Clue: This archipelago nation is home to more than 100 active volcanoes, including Mount Bromo.

Answer: What is Indonesia?

10. Clue: First colony since 1776 to break from Britain without consent, it is now Zimbabwe.

Answer: What is Rhodesia?

11. Clue: This capital that shares its name with its country lies about 12 miles inland from Italy’s Adriatic coast.

Answer: What is San Marino?

12. Clue: Every little breeze seems to whisper this Alberta lake, so named to honor the daughter of Queen Victoria.

Answer: What is Lake Louise?

13. Clue: It’s the only continent with no active volcanoes.

Answer: What is Australia?

14. Clue: This lake on the U.S.-Canadian border is the largest body of freshwater by surface area in the world.

Answer: What is Lake Superior?

15. Clue: The city of Chiang Mai in this country is home to Baan Chang Elephant Park.

Answer: What is Thailand?

16. Clue: Not far from the resort of Cancún, the islands of Cozumel & Mujeres lie off the northeast tip of this peninsula.

Answer: What is the Yucatán?

17. Clue: Direction you generally travel in sailing up the Nile.

Answer: What is South?

Before & After

The hands-down favorite of the Jeopardy! writing team. If you’ve never played, it’s simple: two phrases are mashed together into one, and you have to untangle them. (Example: A famous shark movie + a breakfast cereal = Jaws of Life.)

18. Clue: American daisy with dark center that was a leading U.S. suffragette.

Answer: What is Black-eyed Susan B. Anthony?

19. Clue: NYC nickname that refers to the most special person ever.

Answer: What is Big Apple of my Eye?

20. Clue: Prince's iconic song/movie needs to reschedule for another time.

Answer: What is Purple Raincheck?

21. Clue: A landmark Louisiana area featuring Bourbon Street gets a classic burger from McDonald's.

Answer: What is French Quarter Pounder?

22. Clue: Siam-set musical adaptation of Asimov's book about machines that follow 3 laws.

Answer: What is The King and I, Robot?

23. Clue: E.B. White's most helpful arachnid launches a medical website.

Answer: What is Charlotte's WebMD?

24. Clue: Dr. Seuss serves breakfast to Broadway's favorite founding father.

Answer: What is Green Eggs and Hamilton?

25. Clue: A beloved TV scientist takes a detour from the lab to Flavortown with a spiky-haired chef.

Answer: Who is Bill Nye the Science Guy Fieri?

26. Clue: Original Hawaii Five-O actor who is Tolkien's follow-up to The Hobbit.

Answer: Who is Jack Lord of the Rings?

27. Clue: A 1940 way to say carrying a gun becomes carrying a measurement of temperature & humidity.

Answer: What is Packing Heat Index?

28. Clue: Famous Marilyn Monroe movie if it were soundtracked by Chappell Roan.

Answer: What is Some Like It Hot To Go?

29. Clue: C.S. Lewis' Narnia book that showed off a little too much skin at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

Answer: What is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Malfunction?

30. Clue: Viking leader of a colorful Stendhal classic.

Answer: Who is Eric the Red and the Black?

31. Clue: Paul Blart portrayer takes a ride on a really big piece of fruit.

Answer: What is Kevin James and the Giant Peach?

32. Clue: Historic Virginia college that "Can turn the world on with her smile."

Answer: What is William and Mary Tyler Moore?

33. Clue: Movie where the monstrous Lester Burnham locks up Belle, who finds an enchanted rose.

Answer: What is American Beauty and the Beast?

34. Clue: Hollandaise-laden breakfast dish becomes known as a traitor in the United States.

Answer: What is Eggs Benedict Arnold?

Shakespeare

It wouldn't be a real game without the Bard. Whether it’s his plays, his sonnets, or his specific brand of Elizabethan English, you’ll need to know your iambic pentameter to clear this category.

35. Clue: When we first meet this character, she reads a letter from her husband about his supernatural experience with 3 weirdos.

Answer: Who is Lady Macbeth?

36. Clue: With & without "monster", it's how Shakespeare described jealousy.

Answer: What is green-eyed?

37. Clue: The title guys of this Shakespeare play leave home & head to Milan; various love plots ensue.

Answer: What is The Two Gentlemen of Verona?

38. Clue: This idiom from Shakespeare means all at once or with a single, quick effort, like a hawk diving for prey.

Answer: What is one fell swoop?

39. Clue: Shakespeare's 10 history plays about kings of England include one about this son of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Answer: Who is King John?

40. Clue: "Julius Caesar" is thought to be the first Shakespeare play performed at this venue.

Answer: What is the Globe?

41. Clue: Shakespeare wrote one of these poems that begins, "Devouring time, blunt thou the lion's paws."

Answer: What are sonnets?

42. Clue: The name of this insectivore has meant a scolding woman since before Shakespeare used it in a play title.

Answer: What is a shrew?

43. Clue: 3-letter word that's Shakespeare-speak for "get a move on."

Answer: What is to hie?

44. Clue: Play-mates Portia, Antonio & Shylock live in & around this city.

Answer: What is Venice?

45. Clue: With a certain amount of jester privilege, this character (never given a government name) openly mocks King Lear.

Answer: Who is the Fool?

46. Clue: Shakespeare's "Henry V" takes place before & after this decisive 1415 battle in France.

Answer: What is Agincourt?

47. Clue: It describes Shakespeare's pentameter.

Answer: What is iambic?

48. Clue: With a high front & back, this slipper is named for a Shakespeare character.

Answer: What is Juliet?

49. Clue: Tired of being surrounded by moochers, he feeds his so-called friends rocks & then exiles himself from Athens.

Answer: Who is Timon?

50. Clue: Cardinal Wolsey is just one of the many historical figures who appears in both Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" & this Robert Bolt play.

Answer: What is A Man for All Seasons?

Word Origins

Language is weird, and Mental Floss readers know that better than anyone. These questions trace the surprising, accidental, and sometimes strange histories behind the words we use every day.

51. Clue: This jellyfish relative is named for its resemblance to an old combat ship with sails.

Answer: What is a Portuguese man o' war?

52. Clue: This 8-letter word for a reaction against a trend comes from an engineering term for a jolt caused by a gap in machine parts.

Answer: What is backlash?

53. Clue: Cowboy vocabulary from Spanish includes stockade & this other word for an enclosure for horses or cattle.

Answer: What is a corral?

54. Clue: It can be an internal organ or part of a book; it's from Latin for "to hang."

Answer: What is appendix?

55. Clue: This "porcine" term derived from the way bags were carried on shoulders.

Answer: What is piggyback?

56. Clue: This psych term means a persistent idea--it once meant control by demons outside you, the opposite of possession.

Answer: What is obsession?

57. Clue: This term for a fool or jokester is from the Italian for "to puff."

Answer: What is a buffoon?

58. Clue: If you're reading the writing on the wall & it's there illegally, it's this, from Italian for "scribblings."

Answer: What is graffiti?

59. Clue: This adjective for mocking laughter comes from a word describing something from Sardinia.

Answer: What is sardonic?

60. Clue: An Italian word meaning cool and fresh gave us the name of this art of painting on plaster.

Answer: What is fresco?

61. Clue: This word from the German for a child prodigy was first used for musicians.

Answer: What is wunderkind?

62. Clue: This compound word now refers to a woman's purse, but in the 1700s it was a flexible leather folder for keeping papers or bills.

Answer: What is pocketbook?

63. Clue: This breakfast fare derives its name from the Roman goddess of agriculture.

Answer: What is cereal?

64. Clue: This dog breed gets its name from the German for "nose" or "muzzle."

Answer: What is Schnauzer?

65. Clue: The chicken is in this sauce, part of Indian cuisine but named from Portuguese for "wine of garlic."

Answer: What is vindaloo?

66. Clue: An Old English word for "sea" gave us this word for the creatures whose singing J. Alfred Prufrock has heard.

Answer: What are mermaids?

67. Clue: This word for an elegant type of handwriting is from the medieval Latin for "running."

Answer: What is cursive?

Potent Potables

An iconic category that's basically mandatory for Celebrity Jeopardy!—and, let’s be honest, the perfect excuse for a drinking game at home. We’re moving from the vineyard to the bar; let’s see if you know your spirits and cocktails as well as a seasoned contestant.

68. Clue: The flowers of this plant give beer its bitter taste.

Answer: What are hops?

69. Clue: It's the term for pouring a wine from its bottle into a container such as a carafe.

Answer: What is decant?

70. Clue: Mexicans drink the most per capita of this spirit named for a Jalisco town; Americans, the most overall.

Answer: What is tequila?

71. Clue: In a TV ad, Leslie Nielsen called this company's light beer "the official beer of the '90s."

Answer: What is Coors Light?

72. Clue: On a cold wintry night, warm up with a traditional hot buttered this drink.

Answer: What is rum?

73. Clue: The Napa Valley in this western U.S. state is famous for its wineries

Answer: What is California?

74. Clue: In Spanish, the name of this cocktail means "daisy."

Answer: What is margarita?

75. Clue: The amount of sugar added to this wine after it's disgorged determines its sweetness from brut to doux.

Answer: What is champagne?

76. Clue: A Bloody Mary & a bloody bull both contain this spirit.

Answer: What is vodka?

77. Clue: The name of this drink made with bourbon & mint comes from the Persian for "rose-water."

Answer: What is a mint julep?

78. Clue: Norse king Fjolne is said to have been drowned in this honey-based drink.

Answer: What is mead?

79. Clue: This brand has been made at the Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery since 1866.

Answer: What is Jack Daniels?

80. Clue: Robinson Crusoe wanted to brew this drink, but he had no hops, yeast or barrels to put it in.

Answer: What is beer?

81. Clue: Unlike most American whiskies, Scotch whisky is made from this grain.

Answer: What is barley?

82. Clue: Friendly name for liqueurs.

Answer: What are cordials?

83. Clue: Cocktails with "silver" in their names, such as Silver King & Silver Streak, usually contain this liquor.

Answer: What is gin?

84. Clue: Peppermint & root beer are popular flavors of this strong potable, from the German for "mouthful."

Answer: What is schnapps?

U.S. Presidents

You can't get through a game of Jeopardy! without a trip to the White House, particularly during the sweat-inducing Final Jeopardy! round. From the guys on the currency to the ones who made (or broke) history, let’s see if you can keep your administrations straight.

85. Clue: His only surviving child, Robert, served as Secretary of War from 1881 to 1885.

Answer: Who is Lincoln?

86. Clue: 8 presidents were born in this state, more than in any other.

Answer: What is Virginia?

87. Clue: The 1999 New Jersey state quarter includes a depiction of this president on the reverse.

Answer: Who is Washington?

88. Clue: By 1905 football had gotten so violent that this U.S. president urged rule changes.

Answer: Who is Teddy Roosevelt?

89. Clue: Somewhat prophetically, he became the first sitting president to visit Hawaii.

Answer: Who is FDR?

90. Clue: In a televised speech, he informed America, "I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow."

Answer: Who is Nixon?

91. Clue: Only 5'6", this 8th President was a mini-van.

Answer: Who is Martin Van Buren?

92. Clue: Andrew Johnson worked as one of these in his youth & even as president may have made his own suits.

Answer: What is a tailor?

93. Clue: By last name, he's alphabetically last on a list of U.S. presidents.

Answer: Who is Woodrow Wilson?

94. Clue: Of the first 5 U.S. presidents, he was the only one who wasn't born in Virginia.

Answer: Who is Adams?

95. Clue: His tenure as president from 1817 to 1825 is often referred to as the "Era of Good Feeling."

Answer: Who is James Monroe?

96. Clue: Before becoming president, he was a professor at Harvard.

Answer: Who is John Quincy Adams?

97. Clue: The most common presidential religious affiliation is this denomination, part of the Anglican communion.

Answer: What is Episcopalian?

98. Clue: The Louisiana Purchase, made during his term, doubled the size of the U.S.

Answer: Who is Thomas Jefferson?

99. Clue: He was the first president to serve 2 terms in office.

Answer: Who is George Washington?

100. Clue: He was the first president to serve in the 20th century.

Answer: Who is McKinley?

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