Have you ever tuned into an episode of Jeopardy! excited to see if you can best the contestant’s answers, only to find out that a couple of questions (or, let’s be honest, quite a few questions) stump you?
You’re not alone. In fact, many Jeopardy! contestants are left dumbfounded at the podium several times per episode. It wouldn’t be a good quiz show if the questions were easy, but the show’s writers sure do churn out some doozies!
Below is a collection of what we at Trivia Bliss consider to be some of Jeopardy!’s hardest clues ever. All of the clues listed are what Jeopardy! aficionados refer to as “triple stumpers,” meaning none of the three contestants were able to answer correctly. And much of the time, these triple stumpers are questions worth more money, so the stakes are high.
If you’re looking to challenge yourself or host a particularly difficult quiz night, then these are the questions for you. Try your hand at a few of them, or all 48!
1. You Need Some Brain Power To Solve This
Episode: Friday, July 16, 2021
Question: This lowest part of the brainstem helps maintain normal blood pressure, among other activities.
2. A TV Host Final Jeopardy! Triple Stumper
Episode: Friday, January 18, 2019
Question: In 2000 this man was the host of a No. 1 rated network show & a No. 2 rated syndicated talk show.
3. Glad You Knew Your Glands?
Episode: Tuesday, February 15, 2015
Question: This endocrine gland controls the rate at which cells burn food & produce energy.
4. Old Timey Journalism
Episode: Tuesday, February 25, 1986
Question: This racy monthly which promoted 1892 Corbett-Sullivan fight was a barbershop favorite
5. No One Knew This “Real Mac Daddy”
Episode: Friday, May 30, 2014
Question: PM of Great Britain from 1957 to 1963, this father of 4 was nicknamed both “Supermac” and “Mac the Knife.”
6. Kermit the Frog Might Sip His Tea Hearing This Triple Stumper
Episode: Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Question: Last name of Glasgow’s Sir Thomas, who made a company with the notion that poorer folks should be able to enjoy tea.
7. Do You Know This Country Voice?
Episode: Thursday, Feburary 7, 2013
Question: That duetted with fellow country star Kenny Chesney on “Feel Like a Rock Star.”
8. Ever Heard of the Era of Good Feelings?
Episode: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Question: Daniel Tompkins, his vice president during the Era of Good Feelings, was very often absent from his duties.
9. Star Trek: Voyager Minutiae
Episode: Friday, November 5, 1999
Question: Voyager in the Delta Quadrant is trying to get back to this quadrant, its home.
10. Some More Star Trek Trivia
Episode: Friday, November 5, 1999
Question: The 100th episode of Star Trek: Voyager was directed by this man, Geordi La Forge on “The Next Generation.”
11. Element Symbol Riddle Fun
Episode: Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Question: The Black Eyed Peas have a male singer/producer whose stage name ends with the symbols of these 2 elements.
12. A Well-Known Fancy Nancy
Episode: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Question: Nancy was the first name of this “Lady,” who in 1929 tried to form a women’s party in the British House of Commons.
13. Study Up On Your Art History!
Episode: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Question: Capturing the frothy essence of the Rococo style, “The Swing” by this painter is seen here.
14. American Monuments Around the World
Episode: Thursday, June 3, 2021
Question: The naval monument in this British territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean is known as the American Steps.
15. Half of My Heart Is In This West Indies Capital (Ooh-Nah-Nah)
Episode: Thursday, June 18, 2007
Question: A 1634 Spanish decree declared it the “key to the New World and the bulwark of the West Indies.”
16. An Important Historical Object
Episode: Friday, July 10, 2015
Question: The ceremonial mace kept in the House of Reps. is a copy of the one destroyed when the Brits invaded D.C. in this year.
17. Can You Identify This NBC Comedy From A Quote?
Episode: Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Question: “I hate lawyers!” “…Me too; but they make wonderful patients. They have excellent health insurance & they never get better.”
18. This Guy’s a Changed Man
Episode: Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Question: This Kafka guy awakes to find he has an armor-plated back, a domelike brown belly & numerous legs.
19. An Odd Michigan Fun Fact
Episode: Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Question: Appropriately, this type of public building in Grand Rapids is named after astronaut Roger B. Chaffee.
20. Solve This Movie Before and After Pun
Episode: Friday, July 16, 2021
Question: Film in which a kid in a Welsh coal-mining family like totally falls for a 1980s Southern California chick.
21. Whatever Happened To The Theater?
Episode: Friday, February 4, 2022
Question: One job of a Broadway stage manager is rehearsing understudies for their big break; this understudy got hers in 1954.
22. Another Show Biz Triple Stumper
Episode: Friday, February 4, 2022
Question: This union that began with a 1935 meeting at King Vidor’s house, covers Hollywood stage managers like our very own Jimmy McGuire.
23. Ever Been To Visit Stonehenge?
Episode: Wednesday, June 19, 2002
Question: From the Latin for “boundary,” it’s the technical name for the stone crosspieces atop Stonehenge’s pillars.
24. Tennis Sure Is A Menace
Episode: Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Question: Stretching for a forehand, Boris Becker hyper-extended this joint aka the carpus & had to withdraw from Wimbledon.
25. Finicky Football Fanaticism
Episode: Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Question: Warren Buffett once revealed to me that as a young boy he served as a water boy for this NFL team for 2 games & that the team’s Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh was his hero.
26. It’s Almost Tax Day, Folks
Episode: Thursday, June 19, 2019
Question: C.P.A. is the abbreviation for this job that can be a very taxing profession in April.
27. The “Ides” of February
Episode: Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Question: Because it took the life of Portugal’s king and his heir apparent, a February 1908 assassination is known as the “Lisbon” this.
28. Import? More Like “M” Port
Episode: Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Question: Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, Byzantines & Arabs have all occupied this ancient Sicilian port city that gives its name to an important Mediterranean strait.
29. American Author, Meet Literary Scandal
Episode: Wednesday, May 3, 1995
Question: His Spoon River Anthology was considered scandalous, which helped make it a bestseller.
30. What Do You Know About Chester A. Arthur?
Episode: Thursday, July 9, 1992
Question: The day before leaving office, he asked that this former president be restored to the retired Army list.
31. Kansas City News Clues
Episode: Monday, November 1, 2021
Question: In 1997, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened its new permanent home under the leadership of Buck O’Neill, who had been a star for this Kansas City Negro Leagues team, as had greats like Satchel Paige & Jackie Robinson.
32. Fantastical Creatures Come To Life
Episode: Monday, November 1, 2021
Question: George Langelaan wrote the Playboy magazine short story that inspired this film in which Seth Brundle transforms.
33. Middle Eastern Geography
Episode: Monday, March 31, 2014
Question: Recently damaged in the civil war, this city had been its nation’s business capital & was once the end of the Silk Road.
34. Essential U.S. History
Episode: Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Question: On Feb. 1, 1960 4 students held a historic sit-in at a lunch counter in this N.C. city in protest over segregation.
35. …And Essential U.S. Fish
Episode: Monday, July 17, 2006
Question: This largest species of salmon, Oregon’s state fish, shares its name with an Indian tribe & may grow to 3 feet.
36. Know This Not-So-Funny Literary Fellow?
Episode: Monday, March 15, 2004
Question: The cheery first Masterpiece Theatre season included Jude the Obscure & this Russian’s The Possessed.
37. So, Where Are We Staying Again?
Episode: Thursday, October 9, 2003
Question: Escoffier was once the chef of this elegant French-named hotel at Fifth Avenue & 61st Street.
38. The Name of the Wind
Episode: Friday, October 5, 2012
Question: A story set in this city says Santa Ana winds make “wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks”.
39. Teach Your Kids This Unique Hobby?
Episode: Monday, July 8, 2013
Question: A “push cut” helps when carving intricate shapes in this activity whose name comes from the Middle English for “knife.”
40. Don’t Fight Fire With Fire—Fight It With This!
Episode: Monday, July 8, 2013
Question: In the firefighting acronym P.A.S.S., pull the pin, aim at the fire’s base, squeeze the lever, then do this until the fire is out.
41. Compose Yourself, Then Compose Your Answer
Episode: Monday, April 18, 1988
Question: A child prodigy, Meyerbeer came from a rich banking family & is best known for composing these.
42. American Military Matters
Episode: Friday, June 21, 2002
Question: All U.S. subs with nuclear weapons are of this class named for a state whose capital is named for a 15th c. sailor.
43. Beastly Primate Appendages
Episode: Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
Question: These lesser apes have 5 toes on each foot just like us, but the big toe is opposable.
44. Guess He Couldn’t Think of a Rhyme
Episode: Thursday, September 24, 2015
Question: This ex-Beatle: “You know it don’t come easy, you don’t have to shout or leap about, you can even play them easy.”
45. Little Pinpoints on a Map
Episode: Thursday, April 30, 1998
Question: The Colorado Belle in this Nevada town is a riverboat-shaped casino on the banks of the Colorado River.
46. An Encyclopedia for Food Lovers
Episode: Friday, October 20, 2017
Question: The more than 6,000 entries in the Food Lover’s Companion include this dish made by stirring hot stock into sauteed rice.
47. Unusual Occupations
Episode: Friday, July 23, 1999
Question: Rene Lalique gained fame as a glassmaker as well as one of these people who are never out of the “loupe.”
48. Tricky Art Techniques
Episode: Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Question: To give the illusion of shade or texture in a drawing, artists create a mesh-like pattern of lines in a technique called this.
Thanks for checking out our list of some of Jeopardy!’s hardest questions ever. If you got more than 35 of these correct, you may want to consider trying out to get on an episode! And for more Jeopardy! questions and answers, check out our articles on the easiest Jeopardy! questions, sample Jeopardy! questions to test your skills, hilarious and surprisingly dirty Jeopardy! questions, the worst Jeopardy! answers, the worst Jeopardy! episodes, Daily Double facts and questions, and the most common Jeopardy! categories. And if you’re looking to find more trivia questions to challenge yourself, check out these trivia books, a list of 250 (!!) of the best trivia questions, as well as some sample questions where a number is the answer! Be sure to leave a comment to let us know if we missed your favorite tricky Jeopardy! clue.
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