Jeopardy!<\/a>\u201d when they play at home. Shouting answers from the comfort of your couch\u2014or a bar stool\u2014there\u2019s no pressure to be right, no real money at stake. Make it a \u201ctrue Daily Double\u201d? Of course! Bet big on Final Jeopardy? Why not?!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen you get on the show, though, it\u2019s a different ballgame\u2014something to which I can attest, having recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of being a contestant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My episodes aired in early May 2025, but they were the culmination of a lengthy journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>I took my first tryout test in 2010, and repeated that ritual over the years. You don\u2019t get any feedback on the tests; you don\u2019t even find out how many answers you got right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019d take it, then resign myself to hearing nothing and occasionally looking through my spam filter\u2014just in case\u2014until it was time to start the cycle anew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time, though, I did hear back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was invited to re-take the test live with a proctor, then do a Zoom audition with a handful of other hopefuls. Then I got to wait some more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the “Jeopardy!” podium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Frankly, chances are you won\u2019t get picked; there are way more people in the pool than they need. Each step of the way, I tried to put it out of my mind, because who knew if it would happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I got the call asking if I\u2019d like to come out for a taping, my heart pounded like I\u2019d just run a 5K. Then the work started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I watched old episodes to get into the right mindset. I read about others who\u2019d been on the show, and took their advice by memorizing details like world capitals, state nicknames, and U.S. presidential terms (none of which ever came up).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My wife and I honed my Final Jeopardy wagering strategy\u2014the part that had me most worried, math not being my strong suit. I even hooked a signaling device up to my computer so I could figure out the timing to buzz in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every once in a while, I\u2019d remember that I was actually going on \u201cJeopardy!\u201d and my pulse would ramp up. Just getting the call had been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream; it was hard to imagine stepping on that stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhen I got the call asking if I\u2019d like to come out for a taping, my heart pounded like I\u2019d just run a 5K. Then the work started.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
But, more to the point, it felt like a vindication of a life full of eclectic interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plenty of people devote themselves to studying a single field\u2014perhaps even a single work, organism, or idea\u2014but I always struggled to find one subject I\u2019d be content learning about for the rest of my life. I\u2019ve always loved knowledge for knowledge\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First and foremost, I probably have my parents to thank (or blame?) for my interest in learning: now retired, they were both professional librarians, and their enthusiasm for knowledge and encouragement to seek it out was a defining characteristic of my upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAt left, with a pal in his undergrad days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI have fond memories of hefting open our giant Webster\u2019s Dictionary<\/em>, with its onionskin pages and thumb indexes, to look up a definition at their urging.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMy time at Cornell provided an even larger array of options, like a sumptuous banquet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I always knew I wanted to be a writer and figured majoring in English was a foregone conclusion, I spent as much time as possible taking classes from other departments: Near Eastern studies, computer science, astronomy, theater, anything that struck my fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nI always struggled to find one subject I\u2019d be content learning about for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
My reasoning, ultimately, was that if I wanted to be a writer, I had to know what I was writing about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(I was reminded of how much time I spent outside the English department when I discovered that one of my fellow \u201cJeopardy!\u201d contestants was a classmate; Christen Aragoni \u201902 and I had shared the same major, but never crossed paths.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, I\u2019ve had several careers<\/a>: in IT and web development, journalism, podcasting, and even novel writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve long considered myself a jack of many trades. I suppose some people might be kind enough to call someone like me a \u201cRenaissance man\u201d\u2014but both terms seem like polite ways of saying \u201ccan\u2019t pick a lane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nNerding out with host Ken Jennings\u2014himself a legendary champion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that \u201cJeopardy!\u201d is one of the few places where broad-if-not-deep knowledge pays off: I came out as a two-day champion, something I still type with a certain degree of trepidation, as though the title might be rescinded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But earning that status was no cakewalk. My three games pitted me against some fierce contestants\u2014and more than once, an outcome came down as much to luck as to skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though I was leading going into my first game\u2019s Final Jeopardy round, the category was \u201cThe Grammys,\u201d a weak subject for me. Knowing that, I took the unorthodox approach of wagering $0\u2014and squeaked out a win when none of us knew the correct answer was the Beatles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nMy three games pitted me against some fierce contestants\u2014and more than once, an outcome came down as much to luck as to skill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
(The question: \u201cBest New Artist at the 7th annual Grammys, this band would be nominated the next six years, but not again until the 39th and 67th events.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My second game started a little rough when I was unable to come up with \u201cegg drop soup,\u201d a dish that I\u2019ve eaten roughly 1,000 times; you can see the panic in my eyes as my brain fails me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But thanks to some conservative Daily Double wagers and categories that played to my strengths\u2014\u201cNotable Author Initials\u201d!\u2014I secured a runaway lead that made the final round moot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Unfortunately, the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d board giveth and it taketh away. My third game started strong, but I fell off a cliff in Double Jeopardy, including blowing a Daily Double about the popularization of the word \u201cexpletive\u201d from the Watergate tapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was unable to answer the Final Jeopardy question: \u201cThis work has 10 main narrators, seven of them women, including Fiammetta and Lauretta.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The correct response is The<\/em> Decameron<\/em>, Giovanni Boccaccio\u2019s collection of short stories from 14th-century Florence\u2014which the winner, a history professor, knew cold.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the end, the biggest challenge coming off \u201cJeopardy!\u201d has been acclimating to the real world. <\/p>\n<\/div>One of Moren’s six novels.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s not due to newfound fame or fortune\u2014but because, having achieved something I so long considered a pipe dream, I\u2019m not sure where to set my sights now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it hasn\u2019t dampened my enthusiasm for trivia, or for learning new things. Maybe now\u2019s finally the time to brush up on Medieval Italian literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan Moren \u201902<\/strong> is a tech journalist, podcaster, and the author of short stories and novels, including <\/em>All Souls Lost and the five-book \u201cGalactic Cold War\u201d series\u2014and yes, to his amazement, a \u201cJeopardy!\u201d champion whose two-game winnings totaled $33,500. He lives in Somerville, MA, with his family.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n(All images provided.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPublished May 27, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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