As the world revolves around Massachusetts, it’s not much of a surprise to see the Bay State featured in a “Jeopardy!” clue, but on Monday night’s “Tournament of Champions” game, a whole category — “Schooling You in Massachusetts” — was dedicated to colleges here.
The clues, ranging in value from $400 to $2,000, tested contestants’ knowledge of several Massachusetts institutions. According to boston.com, the $400 clue asked for the name of the women’s college boasting alums such as Gloria Steinem, Julia Child, and Betty Friedan. The correct response, in the form of a question, was “What is Smith?”
Moving up in difficulty, the $800 clue referenced original poems and manuscripts found at the Jones Library of a liberal arts college. The answer was “What is Amherst?” A note from boston.com clarifies that the Jones Library is actually the town’s library, not the college’s.
The $1,200 clue proved challenging, as contestants failed to buzz in. It asked for the university in Waltham that, despite its name, does not have a law school. The correct answer was “What is Brandeis?”
The $1,600 clue asked for the location of a Boston university found at 360 Huntington Avenue, with additional campuses in Nahant and Burlington. Contestants correctly identified it as “What is Northeastern?”
Finally, the $2,000 clue sought the name of the oldest of the Seven Sisters colleges, located in South Hadley. The answer was “What is Mount Holyoke?”
“Jeopardy!” continues to be a popular television game show, as noted by Wikipedia, where contestants are presented with general knowledge clues in the form of answers and must phrase their responses as questions. The show has seen notable contestants throughout its history, including Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, James Holzhauer, Amy Schneider, and Matt Amodio, who have achieved significant success and long winning streaks.
The 2025 Tournament of Champions, recently concluded, featured 21 former champions competing for a $250,000 grand prize. According to jeopardy.com, participants included Alison Betts, Will Wallace, Rishabh Wuppalapati, Amy Hummel, Grant DeYoung, David Erb, Greg Jolin, Weckiai Rannila, Neilesh Vinjamuri, Mehal Shah, Ryan Manton, Will Stewart, Mark Fitzpatrick, Allison Gross, and Kevin Laskowski.
While the Boston-centric clues on “Jeopardy!” may have stumped some contestants, the game show continues to test the knowledge of players and entertain audiences. A similar instance occurred in 2017, as reported by abc7chicago.com, when a clue about the Chicago Cubs and Kris Bryant proved difficult for contestants during the College Championship.