Jeopardy! Online Tryouts January 27 to 29

If you have ten minutes to spare at 8 p.m. (of the test's local time) and want to try to qualify for Jeopardy!, head over to the main test page to sign up or read the FAQ first. The good news is that they seem to finally be allowing all adults to take the test every year now.

For some advice, please refer to my January 2007 post on the topic. Good luck!

Next Online Jeopardy Tryout at End of January

According to an article touting the rise in female contestants on the official Jeopardy! site, the next online qualifying test will take place the last three days of January 2008. If you are 18 years or older, you are eligible this time around even if you took the last online test, since it will have been over a year ago. Stay tuned and get ready!

Note: Jeopardy! has a Brain Bus that holds contests where you can also qualify for a studio audition. You can sign up to be notified by email when the Winnebago comes to your area.

Jeopardy/Google Daily Challenge Sweepstakes

The Jeopardy! web site is running a daily, weekday sweepstakes in conjunction with Google from June 4 to July 13. You can sign up now or bookmark the main contest page for next Monday.

Answer the question of the day correctly for a chance to win the daily $100 prize and earn an entry to win the $25,000 Grand Prize (or $10,000 or $5,000).

I am not affiliated with Jeopardy! or Google, so it's okay to send a cut of your winnings my way ;-). Good luck!

Jeopardy! Online Test January 23 to 25

Your next chance to qualify for Jeopardy! without having to travel to Los Angeles is here! Sign up for the online test, test your browser, and get ready. Note: if you took the last online test in March, you are ineligible (bummers).

Each test will be conducted in real-time at 8 p.m. local time (Tuesday the 23rd for EST, Wednesday the 24th for CST [7 p.m. MST], and Thursday the 25th for PST). Although they prefer you to take the test designed for your time zone, you can actually participate in any ONE of the three.

Unlike the actual game show, the online Jeopardy quiz does not present you with answers and ask you to respond in the form of a question. To make it easier to score, the standard question-and-answer format is used. Speed is important: you have only 15 seconds to read each question and type in your answer (there are 50 questions, so the entire test will take at most twelve and a half minutes).

If you are serious about passing this test and getting on to the show, my best advice is:

• Category Names: Make sure you read the category name above the question. Just like on the game show, this can be a useful clue to the answer.
• Short Answers: Most answers are one word. Last names for people, etc. Occasionally a longer title, such as the name of a book or movie, will be required.
• Guess: If you don't know an answer, just take a guess. There is no penalty for wrong answers. In fact, spelling doesn't even count.
• Write It Down: If you *think* you know an answer, type it in while you consider the alternatives. That way if you run out of time, at least you've made a reasonable guess.
• Take Your Time: This may seem counterintuitive given the 15-second limit on each question, but once you've typed in your answer, use the seconds you have left to make sure you didn't misread the question or miss an obvious better answer. Answering more quickly does not gain you anything.
• Practice: Obviously, studying trivia will help you, but your free time over the next two weeks might be better spent practicing. Find any short-answer trivia quiz, put yourself on the clock, and actually type in your answers somewhere. Shameless plug: I added 15-second timer and 50-question options to my Triv PalmPilot game (play the Quick Quiz game variation) after taking this test last year.

Lastly, check out what I blogged after last year's online test.