Can you answer these real "Jeopardy!" clues about animals?
Can you answer these real "Jeopardy!" clues about animals?
If you ever want to make it onto the "Jeopardy!" stage, you'd better have reactions as fast as a cheetah to hit the buzzer before your opponents. While it can't really recommend any thumb reflex exercises, Stacker can prime you up for a run on the big show by testing your knowledge on almost everything relating to the animal kingdom. Throughout the years, animal categories have been some of the most popular on "Jeopardy!" Stacker's hit up the show's databases to find some of the toughest and most interesting animal clues over the past 56 years. "Jeopardy!" first aired in 1964.
Stacker dug into past "Jeopardy!" questions, which are memorialized in the J! Archive and constantly updated after every new episode, to compile the following list of 25 "Jeopardy!" questions about animals. Questions from up to June 2020 were used, as the last season ended on June 12. Each question contains a slide with the clue, category, value, and episode air date, followed by the answer in standard "Jeopardy!" format, and some additional data about the question or answer.
The questions begin with a popular side dish in Italian cuisine and drop knowledge about some of their mythical brethren. Then get ready for a dive into famed literary animals, superhero villains, and even an insect species named after a certain Austrian bodybuilder, who went on to become a kindergarten cop, and then governor of California. There are also rock songs featuring lyrics about animals, the chemical love signals emitted by moths, and lots of quadrupeds, better known as animals with four feet.
This potpourri of animal-related trivia has questions of interest to cat lovers, dog lovers, and even hippopotami. Click through to find out if you have the wits about animals to storm past the competition on "Jeopardy!" and prove to be king of the jungle, or just another runt of the litter.
Clue #1
- Clue: It's the Italian name for squid, whose meat is firm and chewy.
- Category: A TOUGH FOOD CATEGORY
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015
Answer #1: What is calamari?
Squid are some of the more fascinating creatures of the sea. Some squid can communicate by changing skin color. Other, larger squid may have inspired mythical creatures like the kraken, which recently became the nickname of the National Hockey League's new Seattle franchise.
Clue #2
- Clue: Shere Khan, Mowgli's nemesis.
- Category: ANIMALS IN KIDS' BOOKS
- Value: $600
- Date episode aired: Friday, Oct. 2, 2015
Answer #2: What is a tiger?
Shere Khan is a Bengal tiger from Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book." A real tiger bearing the same name was rescued from a Georgia drug dealer's home in 2001, and it became a popular attraction at an animal sanctuary south of Atlanta.
Clue #3
- Clue: A Russian blue is this type of animal.
- Category: AM I BLUE?
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Answer #3: What is a cat?
Russian blues have a distinctive tip-toe walk and green eyes. Russian blues are notoriously shy, but affectionate, and are rumored to have been a favorite of Russian czars.
Clue #4
- Clue: Grace Coolidge dressed her dog Rob Roy in a bonnet for this annual spring event at the White House.
- Category: FIRST FAMILY PETS
- Value: $600
- Date episode aired: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Answer #4: What is the Egg Roll?
The White House's Easter Egg Roll dates back to 1878, and the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1927, Grace Coolidge brought Rebecca, a pet raccoon, to the event.
Clue #5
- Clue: English dramatist John Webster noted, "they that sleep with dogs shall rise with" these.
- Category: GIVING A PUP TALK
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Monday, Sept. 17, 2012
Answer #5: What are fleas?
In "Shakespeare in Love" an actor playing a young John Webster feeds a live mouse to a cat. As an adult, Webster often wrote about dark, morose themes.
Clue #6
- Clue: The chickaree is also called the pine type of this rodent; it hides pine cones the way others hide nuts.
- Category: NATURE
- Value: $1200
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Answer #6: What is a squirrel?
Chickarees are often found in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Chickarees are also commonly called "Douglas squirrels," and reach barely a foot in length.
Clue #7
- Clue: From the old Norse for "brag," it means to complain or find fault in a petty way.
- Category: FISHY WORDS
- Value: $1000
- Date episode aired: Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014
Answer #7: What is carp?
Carp are so popular to catch that there is an American Carp Society. While these fish can be a prime target for fishermen, they also have to deal with an abundance of perils in the ocean. In Kansas, some carp have succumbed to a Koi herpes virus.
Clue #8
- Clue: Fans visiting Graceland sometimes leave these stuffed animals from a 1957 hit song on Elvis' grave.
- Category: GRAVESITE OFFERINGS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020
Answer #8: What is a teddy bear?
Elvis Presley's song "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" also contains the lyrics: "I don't wanna to be a tiger, because tigers play too rough. I don't wanna be a lion, 'cause lions ain't the kind you love enough." Elvis owned many pets, including a turkey, a peacock, a chimpanzee, and a donkey.
Clue #9
- Clue: Of carnivore, herbivore or omnivore, the word that describes the 80-foot long, 40-foot tall brachiosaurus.
- Category: THE BELOVED BRACHIOSAURUS
- Value: $200
- Date episode aired: Friday, Nov. 9, 2007
Answer #9: What is herbivore?
Herbivores are traditionally recognized as animals that subsist on a diet mostly of plants. In 2009, NPR ran a story that said in Japan, "herbivore boys" are men not interested in "matters of the flesh."
Clue #10
- Clue: If the two-toed type of this mammal falls off its tree, thick skin protects it, but it will be mostly helpless until returned.
- Category: ANIMALS
- Value: $400
- Date episode aired: Friday, Sept. 23, 2016
Answer #10: What is a sloth?
Sloths are commonly found in jungles of Central America and South America, and spend most of their time in trees, away from predators on the ground. Green algae grows on a sloth's hair, which can be eaten by a sloth for nutrients.
Clue #11
- Clue: A beetle with middle femurs that look like bulging biceps was named for this Austrian-born actor.
- Category: NEW EPONYMOUS ANIMALS
- Value: $400
- Date episode aired: Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017
Answer #11: Who is Schwarzenegger?
Beyoncé, Mick Jagger, and Liv Tyler are other celebrities to have animal species named after them. The Agra schwarzeneggeri beetle was named in 2002, and is a carabid beetle.
Clue #12
- Clue: Emily Dickinson's poem about this kind of animal begins, "A narrow fellow in the grass" and ends, "zero at the bone."
- Category: ANIMALS IN POETRY
- Value: $1600
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Answer #12: What is a snake?
The poem's title is "A narrow Fellow in the Grass." A few years ago, Slate ran an article about the frequent animals used in Dickinson's work, such as bees, butterflies, squirrels, and an abundance of birds.
Clue #13
- Clue: Koalas have adapted their diet with an extra long gut to break down poisons in these leaves and sleep 20 hours a day due to a lack of nutrition in the leaves.
- Category: AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS
- Value: $200
- Date episode aired: Monday, Nov. 21, 2011
Answer #13: What is eucalyptus?
Eucalyptus also negate koalas' need to drink a lot, thanks to the moisture found in the leaves. According to the Australian Koala Foundation, a common misconception about koalas is that they get "high" consuming eucalyptus leaves.
Clue #14
- Clue: Some moths are able to detect chemical love signals called these up to 7 miles away.
- Category: ABLE ANIMALS
- Value: $1600
- Date episode aired: Monday, Jan. 4, 2010
Answer #14: What are pheromones?
A male moth's olfactory receptor neurons are so advanced that they can sense a single pheromone molecule. Because of moths' pheromone capabilities, scientists have tried creating artificial pheromones to prevent them from laying damaging eggs in clothes.
Clue #15
- Clue: English architect Sir Christopher.
- Category: ALSO A BIRD
- Value: $1200
- Date episode aired: Thursday, June 4, 2009
Answer #15: What is a wren?
The male house wren defends its territory by singing. Meanwhile, Sir Christopher Wren designed many cathedrals, including St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Wren was heavily influenced by French and Italian baroque styles.
Clue #16
- Clue: After all the gelato, I feel as big as a Balaena, one of these.
- Category: ANIMALS IN ITALIAN
- Value: $1000
- Date episode aired: Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
Answer #16: What is a whale?
A Balaena is also known as a bowhead whale. An Arctic species, a bowhead's movement is dependent on the melting and freezing of ice. A bowhead can weigh up to 100 tons and measure 60 feet in length.
Clue #17
- Clue: This word describing Penn State's Lions comes from an Algonquian term meaning "single mountain."
- Category: COLLEGE TEAM NICKNAMES
- Value: $600 (Daily Double for $1000)
- Date episode aired: Monday, July 23, 2007
Answer #17: What is Nittany?
The Nittany Lion reportedly became Penn State's mascot after an alum visited Princeton University and was enamored by a tiger statue on campus. A famous fight song at school events is "The Nittany Lion," which is often sung inside Penn State's Beaver Stadium, where football is played.
Clue #18
- Clue: 2004: Patience Prince was the name of this "kittenish" character played by Halle Berry.
- Category: CAT GOT YOUR MOVIE?
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007
Answer #18: What is Catwoman?
The 2004 film "Catwoman" polarized fans of DC Comics. Michelle Pfeiffer, Eartha Kitt, and Anne Hathaway have also portrayed characters inspired by Catwoman, who is often a villain and seducer of Batman.
Clue #19
- Clue: In the 1950s, Idaho relocated these amphibious rodents by dropping them out of airplanes using parachutes.
- Category: ANIMALS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Thursday, June 11, 2020
Answer #19: What are beavers?
In 2015, the internet went crazy for archival footage of beavers being packed in ventilated boxes and dropped out of airplanes. Beavers had previously been important in dam building in Idaho.
Clue #20
- Clue: In 1982 "A Flock of" these flew into the Top 10 with "I Ran (So Far Away)."
- Category: ROCK ANIMALS
- Value: $400
- Date episode aired: Friday, April 19, 2019
Answer #20: What are seagulls?
A Flock of Seagulls formed in 1979, and also had hits like "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" and "D.N.A." Members of the band were known for their eccentric hairstyles.
Clue #21
- Clue: The first three letters in this study of animals is a place you'd find a lot of 'em.
- Category: 7-LETTER WORDS
- Value: $1000
- Date episode aired: Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014
Answer #21: What is zoology?
Conrad Gesner is considered one of the early masters of zoology. Born in Switzerland in 1516, he went on to publish extensive collections on animals and botanicals, including 1551's "Historiae Animalium."
Clue #22
- Clue: The giant Mekong type of this barbeled fish is one of the largest freshwater fish; one specimen was 9-feet long and 646 lbs.
- Category: EXTREME ANIMALS
- Value: $1600
- Date episode aired: Monday, April 16, 2012
Answer #22: What is a catfish?
Giant catfish are facing extinction along the Mekong River in Cambodia. While catfish are considered by some to be the largest freshwater fish, another kind of catfish has caused a splash in the internet age. The term "catfishing" involves using false online personas to dupe others.
Clue #23
- Clue: These quadrupeds can open their jaws 150 degrees and are strong enough to bite a crocodile in half.
- Category: ALL ABOUT ANIMALS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Thursday, May 5, 2016
Answer #23: What is a hippopotamus?
Hippos can live up to 40 years and weigh up to 4 tons. Despite their size, they've always been a target for hunters. Archaeologists recently found a hand axe carved from a hippopotamus femur from 1.4 million years ago.
Clue #24
- Clue: This carnivore's scientific name is Ursus maritimus.
- Category: ARCTIC ANIMALS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
Answer #24: What is the polar bear?
Global warming has caused havoc for polar bears, as they are moving out of once-cold climates. Researchers believe permafrost in the Canadian Arctic is thawing 70 years faster than expected. Last year, a polar bear was found wandering through a town in Siberia.
Clue #25
- Clue: In a trilogy Katniss Everdeen wears a gold pin of this genetically altered bird.
- Category: LITERARY ANIMALS
- Value: $1200
- Date episode aired: Friday, April 5, 2013
Answer #25: What is a mockingjay?
Mockingjays are a fictionalized bird symbolized within "The Hunger Games" series. They have been described as mohawked birds "with a pointed, hummingbird-like bill."
