If you’ve watched even just a handful of Jeopardy! episodes, you’re likely to have encountered the Potpourri category. It’s one of the show’s favorite categories to cycle through, and it has appeared quite frequently throughout Jeopardy!’s 39-season history. But what is the Potpourri category all about? Is there any correlation between its questions? And why is it such a fan favorite?
We at Trivia Bliss are here to tell you all about the Potpourri category and what it entails. We’ve also included quite a few examples for you to test your trivia knowledge—84 of them, to be exact.
Scroll down to learn all about Potpourri as a Jeopardy! category.
What Is Potpourri in Jeopardy!?
In Jeopardy!, the Potpourri category is a trivia grab bag of sorts. Alex Trebek once stated that this category has “a little bit of everything,” and we’re inclined to agree. Its questions have little to no correlation to one another, other than one thing: they’re all questions that were written for other categories from past Jeopardy! games but were never actually used on the show.
The Potpourri category is a great place for the show’s writers to release questions that were once left on the cutting room floor. The contestants and audience alike never quite know what they’re going to get when this category is chosen! That’s what makes Potpourri so exciting—though Jeopardy! is already full of surprises, Potpourri offers a whole category full of ‘em.
Notably, Potpourri’s questions and answers aren’t always fully random. Instead, Jeopardy! will feature variations on the original category. Sometimes, the show’s writers get a little snarky and compile questions about literal potpourri, like in the episode from Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Other times, there’ll be a pun using the word “potpourri,” like “Potpourr-E” or “Potpourr-Knee,” which will feature answers corresponding to the pun. Though their titles are somewhat different, these categories will still be collections of random questions that have never been seen before. There’s also been “Potent Potable Potpourri,” in which two of Jeopardy!’s most frequently used repeat categories were combined into one epic trivia column. We can’t wait to see what other Potpourri variations Jeopardy!’s writers come up with as the show continues.
84 Example Potpourri Questions
Now that you know what Potpourri is all about (i.e., everything!), try your hand at some of Jeopardy!’s best Potpourri questions from throughout the years. Because these questions cover a vast array of trivia topics, they’re perfect for your next quiz night or studying to be on the show.
Episode: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Question: This Microsoft program was originally called Presenter.
Episode: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Question: It’s the traditional liquor you add to make a coffee Alexander.
Episode: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Question: Of joy, anger, thanks or begging, it’s the usual tone of the piece of writing called a screed.
Episode: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Question: 1970s TV writer Fred Fox Jr. asks about this phrase, “Then why did the show stay on the air for six more seasons?”.
Episode: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Question: This alliterative quality is the reason that, as they say, once you learn to ride a bike, you’ll never forget.
Episode: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Question: 6/6 is the metric equivalent of this fraction for normal visual acuity.
Episode: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Question: n the 1980s, Carmela Vitale of Long Island patented an early version of the item seen here, known as a, this food saver.
Episode: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Question: The country of Tuvalu gets nearly 10% of its gross national income licensing this Internet domain extension.
Episode: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Question: W.S. Gilbert said the short stature of the trio of actresses seen here suggested the “Three Little Maids” song in this operetta.
Episode: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Question: “How to Spot a Liar” by Pamela Meyer is one of the most popular of the talks that are this nonprofit’s specialty.
Episode: Monday, October 11, 2021
Question: The HT in HTML & HTTP stands for this.
Episode: Monday, October 11, 2021
Question: In the Disney film he’s alphabetically last of Snow White’s seven dwarfs.
Episode: Monday, October 11, 2021
Question: A flock of geese in flight can be called a skein or wedge; the same group on the ground or in the water is this.
Episode: Monday, October 11, 2021
Question: This appetizer has flowered on the Outback Steakhouse menu since 1988–it accounts for 1 in 4 apps ordered there.
Episode: Monday, October 11, 2021
Question: Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music to the songs in “Jesus Christ Superstar”; this man wrote the lyrics.
Episode: Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Question: Lift your spirits with potpourri that contains these leaves, a mainstay of koalas.
Episode: Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Question: These berries that flavor gin are also a nice addition to potpourri.
Episode: Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Question: Lemon & this herb of remembrance create a wonderful fragrance when simmered on the stove.
Episode: Friday, January 3, 1997
Question: 1 of the 2 cities whose Bee is among the top 100 U.S. newspapers in circulation.
Episode: Friday, January 3, 1997
Question: The YMCA found his indoor versions of soccer & rugby too violent, so he invented basketball.
Episode: Friday, January 3, 1997
Question: One of these was added to 1992 at 7:59:59 P.M. EDT June 30.
Episode: Friday, January 3, 1997
Question: The 4-H Clubs are an extension service of this U.S. cabinet department.
Episode: Friday, January 3, 1997
Question: It was the 1990 date of the last official U.S. census; no fooling.
Episode: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Question: A zero-zero test of this airplane seat is done on the ground.
Episode: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Question: In maintaining your car, this should be thin; if it’s thick & white, coolant is being vaporized.
Episode: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Question: It’s a highly potent brand of grain alcohol from Luxco.
Episode: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Question: It’s a 4-letter name for a pitcher with a handle.
Episode: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Question: De Tocqueville is said to have coined “American” this, meaning that the U.S. is inherently different from other nations.
Episode: Thursday, April 1, 1999
Question: In 1956, Johnson Wax introduced Raid & this brand that got a Potpourri Country Garden version in 1989.
Episode: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Question: Guinness says Peter Broeker owns more than 8,000 bottles of this–hope they’re on a wall & he sings about them.
Episode: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Question: A song from “Gigi” celebrates “The Night They Invented” this bubbly beverage.
Episode: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Question: The popular liqueur known as “sloe” this is made from the fruit of the blackthorn.
Episode: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Question: Stay at Woodland Plantation if you love this genteel liqueur; it has been depicted on the liqueur’s label since 1934.
Episode: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Question: This fermented honey-&-water beverage was a favorite of Chaucer’s miller & of the god Thor.
Episode: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Question: Food staple of Goldilocks.
Episode: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Question: These rodents are born with soft fur in addition to their quills, which harden within hours.
Episode: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Question: Please, tell us this Spanish way of saying “Please”.
Episode: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Question: The University of Haiti is located in this capital.
Episode: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Question: He wrote, “You’re the Nile, you’re the Tower of Pisa, you’re the smile on the Mona Lisa”.
Episode: Thursday, April 4, 2019
Question: This city was established as the capital of the territory of Florida in 1824.
Episode: Thursday, April 4, 2019
Question: A painting that spent 60 years stored in this room at the top of a house was authenticated as a Van Gogh in 2013.
Episode: Thursday, April 4, 2019
Question: A study found over half of moms admit to this -ism, being more proud of or closer to 1 adult child than another.
Episode: Thursday, April 4, 2019
Question: The most recent impeachment [this is no longer true!] of a president was in 1998 based on a report by this man.
Episode: Monday, April 14, 2008
Question: It’s the large river that runs through Albuquerque & Brownsville.
Episode: Monday, April 14, 2008
Question: On the way to becoming the name it is today, “Covent Garden” lost this letter.
Episode: Monday, April 14, 2008
Question: Its chemical symbol is Sn.
Episode: Monday, April 14, 2008
Question: This British archaeologist’s last dig (the one they put him in) was at Putney Vale Cemetery in 1939, not in Egypt.
Episode: Monday, April 14, 2008
Question: The Hanukkah song “Maoz Tzur” shares its English title with this Christian hymn that “clefts for me,”
Episode: Monday, October 5, 1992
Question: When the British Crown Jewels aren’t on the queen’s head, they’re on display here.
Episode: Monday, October 5, 1992
Question: The daughter of an earl uses this title in front of her name, as Diana Spencer did.
Episode: Monday, October 5, 1992
Question: The 2 sphinxes at the base of this famous ancient obelisk were added during the Victorian Era.
Episode: Monday, October 5, 1992
Question: The ancient baths in Bath, England were built by these people soon after they invaded Britain.
Episode: Monday, October 5, 1992
Question: In England it is appropriate to fly the Union Jack on April 23, this saint’s day.
Episode: Friday, September 18, 2020
Question: In 1932 Brazil’s Olympic team had to sell bags of this crop while sailing to Los Angeles in order to pay for the trip.
Episode: Friday, September 18, 2020
Question: HBO’s “John Adams” depicted an actual administration of this sticky 2-part punishment.
Episode: Friday, September 18, 2020
Question: This man whose first name means “brave lion” designed a lion automaton in the 16th century.
Episode: Friday, September 18, 2020
Question: This nail-filing powder is traditionally crushed corundum, whether or not it’s on a “board.”
Episode: Friday, September 18, 2020
Question: In 2010 the Air Force Research Lab built one of the world’s fastest computers using more than 1,700 of these Sony game systems.
Episode: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Question: In 1603 the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu was awarded this title, recognizing him as “barbarian-quelling generalissimo”.
Episode: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Question: This first permanent English settlement in America was named for a king across the pond.
Episode: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Question: His life came to an end in 1805 after being hit by enemy fire on the deck of his flagship, the HMS Victory.
Episode: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Question: Commemorating the lifting of a siege on this city, a bronze colossus was built in the harbor in the 3rd century B.C..
Episode: Friday, October 15, 2021
Question: The Risorgimento was the 19th-century movement to unify this country.
Episode: Friday, October 15, 2021
Question: One of Asia’s first European-Native treaties was made in 1565 in the Philippines; drops of this mixed in wine sealed the deal.
Episode: Friday, October 15, 2021
Question: Sultan Yusuf I, responsible for the decoration of this palace in Granada, was assassinated in a mosque at age 36.
Episode: Friday, October 15, 2021
Question: They’re the Russian words for Mikhail Gorbachev’s 2 policies of openness & restructuring.
Episode: Friday, October 15, 2021
Question: Also known as Deutscher Orden, this order of knights went to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade.
Episode: Thursday, May 25, 1989
Question: Queen Anne’s lace is the ancestor of this orange vegetable & has roots resembling it.
Episode: Thursday, May 25, 1989
Question: The primary source of this food is the Apis mellifera.
Episode: Thursday, May 25, 1989
Question: This publication says it’s “no more a magazine about NYC than Time is a magazine about wristwatches.”
Episode: Thursday, May 25, 1989
Question: “Jennifer” derives from the Celtic form of this legendary Queen’s name.
Episode: Thursday, May 25, 1989
Question: Luxurious legwear, or a 1957 movie musical starring Fred Astaire, who didn’t wear them.
Episode: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Question: The Romans considered the sun a god & gave him this 3-letter name.
Episode: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Question: Apple’s website says you can ask this entity to find the best sushi place or show you the constellation Orion.
Episode: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Question: With his daughter Lucy, this British physicist authored a kids’ book, “George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt”.
Episode: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Question: A long work by Ezra Pound is titled “The” these; he completed 117 of them.
Episode: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Question: He may not look like it, but the surname of this four-time British prime minister begins with a happy word.
Episode: Thursday, May 3, 1990
Question: This rock star not only had the most No. 1 songs by a solo performer, he also had the most No. 2 hits.
Episode: Thursday, May 3, 1990
Question: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars” is this disk jockey’s TV & radio sign-off.
Episode: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Question: The Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots, bestows memorial scholarships named for this woman.
Episode: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Question: On Feb. 19 2008, this longtime leader announced he’d give up his presidency.
Episode: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Question: The Virgin Islands celebrate Thanksgiving in October to give thanks to the end of this weather “season.”
Episode: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Question: Many Indian foods are accompanied by these popular relishes of spices & fruits often made from mangoes.
Episode: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Question: Many of this country’s postage stamps reproduce paintings in Prince Hans-Adam’s art collection.
Final Words
That concludes our overview of Jeopardy!’s Potpourri category. We at Trivia Bliss hope you enjoyed poring over these fun questions just as much as we did!
Are you a fan of the Potpourri category? Do you have a favorite Potpourri question of all time? Share your thoughts with us in the comments down below.
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