“Jeopardy!” is a television game-show institution with a unique premise: Contestants are given clues in the form of answers and must identify the person, place, thing, or idea described in the form of a “What is?” or “Who is?” question.
Since the beloved syndicated show premiered in 1984, there have been nearly 453,000 clues provided to contestants, according to the fan-created website J! Archive. The clues are revealed under sometimes whimsical category names such as “Julius Caesar Salad” (words derived from Julius Caesar) or the more straightforward, like “The Old West.”
As indicated by its fan-driven online archive, no game show has the cultural hold on the public like “Jeopardy!” The show was even the target of pop-music lampooner “Weird Al” Yankovic. Now in its 39th season, it is one of the longest-running game shows of all time. It has enjoyed public and critical acclaim since its inception and won 39 Daytime Emmy Awards.
In the course of its primetime run, the show has provided clues about firearms in any number of categories. 24/7 Tempo reviewed J! Archives to identify more than 30 clues about firearms in categories including historical events, wordplay, literary figures, and even geology. (Can you answer these real “Jeopardy!” clues about U.S. history?)
Our list references significant firearms throughout history; the part they played in settling the American frontier; people on both sides of the law associated with a particular firearm; weapons of choice of for fictional pop-culture figures; and how gun-related terms have been mainstreamed into the American vernacular – for instance, “a smoking gun” means proof of guilt. (Can you answer these real “Jeopardy!” questions about words?)
THE OLD WEST $100:
rifle
ANIMALS & THE LAW $200:
fish
WEAPONS $200:
rifle
ORGANIZATIONS $200:
National Rifle Association
MUSICALS IN OTHER WORDS $300:
Annie Get Your Gun
WEAPONS $400:
lock, stock & barrel
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR $400:
dragoons
OHIO BIO $400:
Annie Oakley
THE OLD WEST $400:
Winchester
WHICH CABINET DEPARTMENT? $500:
Treasury
REVERSIBLE COMPOUND WORDS $600:
a gunshot and a shotgun
LET’S ROCK & ROLL! $600:
flint
“AIR” INCLUDED $600:
crosshairs
I BEG YOUR PARDON $600:
Patty Hearst
DIAL M FOR MURDER $600:
machine gun
PUSH BY SAFIRE $800:
a smoking gun
OF THE LAW $800:
a shotgun
ALPHANUMERIC TERMS $800:
an AK-47
HODGEPODGE $1,000:
a musket
HUNTING & FISHING $1,000:
archery
THE SECRET OF HOMONYM $1,000:
bore
GEOLOGY $1,200:
flint
discharge
FIREARMS IN SHOW BIZ $1,600:
Velvet Revolver
WORD ORIGINS $2,000:
blunderbuss
HOUSE PROUD $0:
shotguns
LITERARY FIREARMS $0:
James Bond