Jeopardy! has a reputation for being the sharpest game on TV. Contestants train for years, memorize world capitals, Shakespeare quotes, and random 19th-century inventions. But sometimes, the board serves up a clue so obvious it tricks everyone, or so obscure it might as well be written in Elvish. What follows are 30 moments where nobody rang in. Not one soul. Just awkward silence and a very disappointed host.
An 11-letter word for embroidery on canvas, with uniform spacing of stitches in a pattern.
Answer: needlepoint.
Her October 7, 1914, wedding day would prove to be a focal point of American politics.
If you guessed Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, you’re right1
Interest in diamonds in this color soared when Ben gave Jen a big one set in her engagement ring.
Right answer: Pink.
In a song from Chicago, we’re told to “give ’em the old” this title, “give ’em an act with lots of flash in it.”
The right answer is “Razzle Dazzle”.
The song “Drops Of Jupiter” by Train mentions “the best” one of these espresso drinks “you ever had.”
Right answer: a soy latte.
Allison [Janney] clocked in as Meryl Streep’s domestic partner in the 2002 film with this “timely” title.
The Hours was the right answer.
Look for Aretha, Ray, James Brown, Cab Calloway, and, of course, Twiggy and Frank Oz in this 1980 film comedy.
Answer: The Blues Brothers.
“Meanwhile, Back in the Nixon Suite” was one segment when it debuted in 1968 on a Tuesday; it now airs on another night.
The TV Show is: 60 Minutes.
We are serious that Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, with a -1.46 measure of apparent this.
Answer: Magnitude.
About 2,000 women attend this college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, one of the Seven Sisters schools.
The correct answer is: Mount Holyoke.
The first capital of California following American occupation in 1846 was this city, today the “capital” of Silicon Valley.
And the answer is… San Jose!
Related to the word “respect” is this word for a delay that brings relief.
This answer comes up easily for bookworms, it is: respite.
In a snack food ad, “We got the fever for the flavor of a” this.
This is everyone’s favorite even to this day. The right answer is: A Pringle.
The unofficial capital of Flemish-speaking Belgium, it’s “the City of the Madonnas”
Antwerp is also known as “The City of the Madonnas”.
It’s the only country that borders both the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Right answer: Iran.
In 1937 his sister said he had “hats of every description,” which he would use as a “foundation of his next book.”
This hat fan is the famous Dr. Seuss.
He was featured on the September 22, 1947 cover of Time with the caption “He and the boss took a chance.”
The answer: Jackie Robinson.
A 2012 poll by Britain’s national army museum voted this man, born in 1732, as the nation’s greatest military enemy.
Right answer: George Washington.
At their largest, the Japanese giant type of this crustacean can measure over 12 feet across, including the legs.
This gigantic crustacean is a spider crab.
In the entrance hall of Monticello, Jefferson placed a bust of himself opposite one of his cabinet secretary and rival.
This rivalry was against Alexander Hamilton.
On February 1, 1960, four students held a historic sit-in at a lunch counter in this North Carolina city in protest over segregation.
These peaceful protesters were in Greensboro.
“Got him back in my arms again, so satisfied”, sang this trio in a 1965 chart-topper.
This talented trio is The Supremes.
This Italian word is used of music gradually getting softer, the same as decrescendo.
If you guess Diminuendo, you’re completely right.
This band’s “Monster” album included “Crush With Eyeliner”.
You guessed it right, it was R.E.M.
The smallest of the Great Lakes, it has a surface area of about 7,500 square miles.
Answer: Lake Ontario.
This Caribbean nation was named because it reminded Spanish sailors of a province back home in Spain.
Grenada is a tropical paradise, definitely worth the trip.
Devised in Boston in 1946, the name of this juice brand combines patriotism and convenience.
Minute Maid was the right answer.
In the 1960s, these Midwesterners earned five NFL championship trophies.
Green Bay Packers.
Frederic Henry, the protagonist of this Hemingway novel, is in the Italian ambulance service during World War I
The novel you’re supposed to guess is A Farewell to Arms.
In 2000, this man was the host of a number one rated network show and a number two rated syndicated talk show.
Right answer: Regis Philbin.
