This quiz has been updated to reflect more questions James Holzhauer got wrong before his run came to an end.
James Holzhauer, a professional sports gambler whose parents could very well be an encyclopedia and a dictionary, was finally defeated on Jeopardy! today after an astounding 32-game winning streak — one that netted him a very casual $2,464,216 pay day. As we look back on the show’s storied history, Holzhauer is easily one of the most iconic competitors to ever play the game, all while wearing a carousel of tasteful button-downs.
But enough of his legacy: Are you smarter than this punk? Do you think you have what it takes to beat him on a clue? Haha, sure. Knock yourself out. Below are 50 questions (edited down from a few others) Holzhauer had buzzed in on and gotten wrong or simply couldn’t answer (triple stumpers included), plus the category each question came from. Let’s see how much you actually know! And to check anything you might’ve missed, we’ve included an answer key at the very bottom. Remember, you have about .05 seconds to form something in your head before he pounces on that buzzer. (Note: Like the show itself, this quiz acknowledges multiple answer variations as the correct response. Also, we won’t make you answer in the form of a question.) Good luck!
WE WILL ROCK YOU: In 2018 this band “didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision, always had high, high hopes”
AMERICAN HISTORY: A 1975 N.Y. Daily News headline after this man opposed a federal bailout: “To City: Drop Dead”
PHRASE ORIGINS: 19th-century exhibitions saw fire brigades competing either using water, or in one of these, now a term for a practice effort
AMERICAN HISTORY: On June 1, 1660, Mary Dyer, one of this religious sect’s “Boston martyrs,” was hanged on Boston Common
THE FIRST WINNER: In 1903 Maurice Garin was its first winner in 94 hours, 33 minutes, 14 seconds
HOLIDAYS & OBSERVANCES: Constitution Day is September 17; this related set is celebrated every December 15
ROOT '66: Modern auto safety took a big step in 1966 as LBJ signed bills mandating seatbelts and rupture-resistant these
MONET-PUNNY: A common sight was walking around Monet who worked outdoors, as in a cliff walk in this Channel-side French region
DON'T TREAD ON MEME: A 2016 interview with this Batman actor found him looking sad; the internet then made him the meme we deserve
BALLET: The creators of 1943’s Fancy Free called each other Lenny & Jerry — Leonard Bernstein and this choreographer
LET’S GO TO THE WILDLIFE REFUGE: More than 5,000 of these big deer spend winters at the Wyoming national refuge named for them
JOURNALISTS: Often called the first “war” one of these, Crimean war reporter William Howard Russell preferred “special” one
AMERICAN POETRY: Frank O’Hara’s most famous poem is “The Day Lady Died,” in which he reads about this jazz singer’s death in 1959
THE CIVIL WAR: On July 21, 1861, the Union attacked the Confederates near a stone bridge crossing this creek in the first battle of it
MUSIC FESTIVALS: At the Montreux Jazz Festival, you might see smoke on the water of this Swiss lake’s shoreline
CAR TALK: Introduced in the 1980s, this Ferrari model has a name that means "red head"
SCIENCE CENTRAL: In 1916, the great chemist Gilbert Lewis called the central part of an atom this, a word we use for the seed of an apricot pit
SMORGAS-WORD: Almost before and after: "Ne m'oubliez pas" flowers bloom as a Dallas TV spinoff
LAKE NAME-IS-MEMORABLE: Those imaginative Canadians! Okanagan Lake's Ogopogo and Lake Memphremagog's Memphre are these
TAKE "OUT": The term this type of "art" by self-taught non-mainstream artists was coined by Roger Cardinal in 1972
HISTORY: In ancient Rome if you were free but non-aristocratic, say a baker or an artisan, you were in this class
MOVIES IN THE DIRECTV GUIDE: "Two hit men, a boxer, a crime boss, and others meet their fates over the course of two days"
OCCUPATIONAL VERBS: In a 1999 speech Nelson Mandela said his government would do this "on" toward national reconciliation
NOVEL CHARACTERS: In this novel insurance agent Walter Neff turns to murder after falling for a woman he loves like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake
GREEK CUISINE: Made in the Vytina region, the first type of this sweetener does not crystallize
CRAZY WEATHER WE'RE HAVING!: In 2013 there were 114-degree temps in La Rioja, the wine belt of this South American country
SOCIAL STUDIES: He's a senator from Nebraska and the author of Them: Why We Hate Each Other — and How to Heal
1930s SLANG: The 1930s were a time of poverty, and dog soup meant a glass of this
"TAKE" IT: This manifold supplies fuel and air to your car's cylinders
IT'S A GAS: Europe's first use of gas for this purpose was with coal gas in William Murdock's cottage in 1792
BREAKS & LIVERS: The portal vein bring venous blood to the liver, while this artery brings oxygenated arterial blood
MOVIE STORES: In The Shop Around the Corner, Margaret Sullavan and this actor bicker at work but are sweethearts by letter
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR: Some 800 American volunteers died fighting for the Loyalists, many as part of a battalion named for this 19th c. president
HEY, "B.B.": Stove placement of lower priority items
WORLD OF SPORT: The 2018--19 season of auto racing's World Endurance Championship concludes with the 87th running of this event
STATE SCHOOL, THAT GREAT SCHOOL: In 1965 John Irving entered this Midwest school's prestigious writers workshop and worked with Kurt Vonnegut
TRICKY TRAILS: It takes a full day to manage this Yosemite peak
TASTE SENSATIONS: Big, full-bodied, jammy, and, dare we say, unsubtle red wines are called these "bombs"
STAGE CRAFT: The musical Anything Goes, set on an ocean liner, has a song with this appropriate French title
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: In 1985 Philip Morris acquired this maker of Jell-O and Oscar Mayer meats for almost $6 billion
THE MONTHLY MOVIE TITLE: In 1964 Burt Lancaster played a general attempting a military takeover of the government in this film
PHOTOGRAPHY: This company near the end of the alphabet has won three Academy Awards in science and engineering for its camera lenses
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK: Shakespeare's Portia says, "How far that little" this "throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world"
COMPLETE THE BOOK TITLE: Ruth Ware's thriller set on a cruise ship, "The Woman in" this room
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK: Preserved in Jerusalem, "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness" is one of the seven original these
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Paternalism is restricting freedom in our (supposed) best interests, like state taxes on these, which began in Iowa in 1921
EPISTOLARY NOVELS: The Boy Next Door, a 21st-century novel by Meg Cabot, uses this newer form of correspondence
ACTRESSES: On The Handmaid's Tale, Ann Dowd plays this imposing and authoritarian aunt
THE 2018 IG NOBEL PRIZES: The Anthropology Award went to a report on "cross-species imitation" between these apes and humans at zoos
PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES & A BOAT: This train sung of by blues artists got its name from its 12:05 A.M. departure en route to Parchman Penitentiary
Answers, descending from the top: Panic at the Disco; Gerald Ford; a dry run; the Quakers; the Tour de France; the Bill of Rights; fuel tanks; Normandy; Ben Affleck; Jerome Robbins; elk; correspondent; Billie Holiday; First Battle of Bull Run; Lake Geneva; Testarossa; kernel; Forget-Me-Nots Landing; lake monsters; outsider art; a plebeian; Pulp Fiction; soldier; Double Indemnity; sugar; Argentina; Senator Ben Sasse; water; the intake manifold; heating; the hepatic; Jimmy Stewart; Abraham Lincoln; back burner; the 24 hours of Le Mans; Iowa; Half Dome; fruit bombs; “Bon Voyage”; General Mills; Seven Days in May; Zeiss; the sun; Cabin 10; Dead Sea Scrolls; cigarettes; email; Aunt Lydia; chimpanzees; the Midnight Special
