Reference books

[emilyspere1]

Thought it might be interesting for members to post their ideas on what sources would recommend to people prepping to be on the show.

In fact, try this:

You've been given . . . six weeks to prep before you show up in LA to tape your Jeopardy! debut. You can only use three sources to study from (I know, I know-bear with me; its my question). What three would you pick?

My three, in no particular order:

1) Most current almanac
2) NY Times Guide to Essential Knowledge
3) Funtrivia.com. A website, obviously, At some point you have to pay a monthly fee, but its reasonable. I haven't dwelt there in quite awhile, but there are roughly 72,000,000 quizzes on various subjects. You can join a team and participate in oodles of competitions. Standings are kept.

[dhkendall]

1) J! Archive - not only will I need to brush up on past clues, but also study wagering strategy (not my strong suit, but I think I'm getting better. I still say that the Wagering Police will fill their quota with me when I get on)

2) J! Board - the collective brains of the champs here (and other users) are invaluable. This also includes the Pavlov threads (most of which are on here).

3) Probably Sporcle.

(These are in a particular order)

[StevenH]

Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia.

If you want to brush up on some academic categories I would recommend reading quiz bowl questions. My favorite site with archived questions from tournaments is Gyaankosh

Also, for pop culture it might not be a bad idea to check out questions from TRASH quiz bowl tournaments at Wastebin

Funtrivia was a good one back when I used it but I haven't been on it in forever. I didn't know that you have to pay for it now.

[thejeopardyfan]

2) J! Board - the collective brains of the champs here (and other users) are invaluable. This also includes the Pavlov threads (most of which are on here).

But one can't visit the boards between getting The Call and taping. I do think this forum is the best resource.

[bpmod]

2) J! Board - the collective brains of the champs here (and other users) are invaluable. This also includes the Pavlov threads (most of which are on here).

But one can't visit the boards between getting The Call and taping. I do think this forum is the best resource.

Do they tell you you are not to visit, or just that you're not to post?

i think it'd be difficult to prevent you from lurking.

Brian

[thejeopardyfan]

Do they tell you you are not to visit, or just that you're not to post?

i think it'd be difficult to prevent you from lurking.

Brian

Okay, here's what happened: They want prospective contestants to identify everyone they know who's been on the show or is in the contestant pool. I did, and later remembered I met a swimming-in-the-pool boardie at the unofficial J! reunion. (I still don't know his real name but I thought I'd mention it to them anyway.) So I called back and left a message. Contestant coordinator Glenn called me back and left a message saying he didn't think it was not a problem since I don't even know his name, and remember, don't go to the message boards til after you tape. I was surprised because I thought I just was not supposed to talk about it on the boards or anywhere else. So I called back and this time spoke to Glenn in real-time. He said in plain English do not go to the boards at all. That was all I needed.
As for lurking, I was scared to death of putting a toe out of line and messing up my chance, so I stayed as far from the boards as I could (once I knew).
And incidentally, I think TPTB would have had a problem if the boardie and I had shown up on the same day to tape, since we'd have recognized each other and it would've been obvious!

[dhkendall]

2) J! Board - the collective brains of the champs here (and other users) are invaluable. This also includes the Pavlov threads (most of which are on here).

But one can't visit the boards between getting The Call and taping. I do think this forum is the best resource.

I do have the Pavlovs saved on my hard drive for just such an emergency.

Jeanie's version, though, is quite different from others' that I've heard (they were more in line with what Brian has said - ie, lurk but don't post) - would be hard on my moderating duties if I couldn't even visit, but I'm curious if any other (preferably recent) contestants have been told similar to Jeanie? (Maybe with "the board" now being out of Sony's hands, the rules might be stricter (which is why I'm hoping boardies who were on the show recently might be more of a help)

[okstater04]

I taped in November (aired in January), and the only thing I was told is to not post about taping until after I had taped. They didn't mention not visiting the message boards or posting about other things. I just couldn't reveal that I was actually taping.

[dmleach]

Corina told me that what was forbidden was posting publically that I had been selected as a contestant. At least that's the way I understood it.

[mam418]

Same for me - I was told don't post to message boards, but it was fine to read them.

[debramc]

I taped in November (aired in January), and the only thing I was told is to not post about taping until after I had taped. They didn't mention not visiting the message boards or posting about other things. I just couldn't reveal that I was actually taping.

I taped the day after okstater04 and this is exactly how I remember it. I talked about it with Maggie when she originally called, told her I was an archivist, gave the few real names I knew off the top of my head of boardies or archivists, and she pretty much just emphasized to not talk about taping. She actually seemed equally concerned that I not discuss my taping with people I know in real life (basically I understood it as you're not supposed to tell anyone more than spouse and employer, and only to the extent necessary to make arrangements to be out of town.) I did not ask specifically if it was ok to post about other topics, but I didn't even get the impression that I needed to ask. (I did lay pretty low in that time, as I imagine most of us do, just to be cautious not to accidentally say something wrong. But I did post a few times - I think I participated in a TD or two (just submitted my answers and lurked for the results), and in the weekly FJ quiz.) It was hard enough not telling any archivists why I couldn't enter my assigned game the week of taping - if I'd had to just disappear for 5 weeks with no communication it would've been much weirder.

[thejeopardyfan]

Well, I'm certainly outnumbered. I have no explanation, except I don't know whether anyone else spoke to Glenn, not that it should make a difference!
Sorry to get off the topic, "emily." I'd say this, too, about references: Mental Floss magazine sells a box of all their past issues, and I bought that right after I got The Call. Playing along at home, I was amazed by how many clues I was able to pick up just by reading those.

[Paucle]

More and more I'm starting to believe that one of the best study aids for the game is Facebook's Jeopardy app. I'm getting several clues a night that I didn't know a year ago simply because I've seen them several times playing the game.

[Creed Bratton]

So now that I have an audition in 19 days, I need to really cram in a couple of areas where I have no knowledge at all: poetry and royalty. And suggestions on good guides to at least get me the basics? Other than the pavlovs, of course.

[OrangeSAM]

So now that I have an audition in 19 days, I need to really cram in a couple of areas where I have no knowledge at all: poetry and royalty. And suggestions on good guides to at least get me the basics? Other than the pavlovs, of course.

Maybe poems involving royalty. You can start with the Iliad.

[SkoolRN]

So now that I have an audition in 19 days, I need to really cram in a couple of areas where I have no knowledge at all: poetry and royalty. And suggestions on good guides to at least get me the basics? Other than the pavlovs, of course.

"Stuff You Missed In History Class" has a good catalog of articles and podcasts on royalty. It's at howstuffworks.com.

[SkoolRN]

Corina told me that what was forbidden was posting publically that I had been selected as a contestant. At least that's the way I understood it.

I remember Maggie also saying that we couldn't post that we'd been selected on any social media, not just the boards.

[CGeditor]

My sister gave me the book "Once Again to Zelda" by Marlene Wagman-Geller for Christmas a few years ago, and it was really helpful for "Jeopardy!" It's about literary dedications, but each chapter includes some facts about various authors' works and lives that tend to come up pretty frequently on the show (like Oscar Wilde and "De Profundis").

[TreehugginCowgirl]

So now that I have an audition in 19 days, I need to really cram in a couple of areas where I have no knowledge at all: poetry and royalty. And suggestions on good guides to at least get me the basics? Other than the pavlovs, of course.

Honestly, I wouldn't even try to cram poetry if you have no knowledge base. I consider poetry to be in my wheelhouse, and Jeopardy still often comes up with poets or poems that I'm not familiar with. You're more likely to just confuse yourself and ring in with an incorrect answer. It's just to broad of an area.

Sporcle has a whole bunch of English royalty and current royalty quizzes. It's a good resource to cram who's who and learn some of the more basic facts about the monarchs.

[koozbane]

My 3 sources:

"On the Tip of Your Tongue" by Irene Franck. The single best resource of this nature I've encountered. Rigorously thorough and easily accessible.
The current World Almanac
A good, one-volume encyclopedia