“Jeopardy!” is in the middle of a great Tournament of Champions final right now, so Rhode Map is asking, in the form of a question: How often does Rhode Island come up on “Jeopardy!”?
The J! Archive has some answers. It’s a wonderful fan-created “Jeopardy!” database. It doesn’t have every clue in every game of every season going back decades, but it gives you a good picture of “Little Rhody” (a category itself in 2014 and 2000) on the venerable game show. And it’s comprehensive for more recent years, giving a sense of annual Rhode Island trends.
According to the J! Archive, thiiiiiis… iiiiiiis… “Jeopardy!” in Rhode Island:
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⚓ Number of times “Rhode Island” is listed in the J! Archive over the years, including as a clue, response, or even incorrect response: 547.
⚓ Number of times it comes up as “R.I.”: 18. That includes this wonderful clue: “To remember the islands in this R.I. bay, ‘Prudence, Patience, Hope & Despair; & Little Hog Island right over there.’” The correct response is Narragansett Bay. But you knew that.
⚓ Number of times Rhode Island came up in 2023: 18
Number of times in 2022: 12
Percentage increase from 2022 to 2023: 50
Slices of Gregg’s Death by Chocolate cake you can buy with this information: 0
⚓ Common Rhode Island-related “Jeopardy!” clues or responses:
Providence: 200
Narragansett Bay: 36
Brown University: 20
RISD: 12
⚓ Notable Rhode Islanders as “Jeopardy!” clues or responses:
Roger Williams: 82 (mostly about our founder, with a couple about different Rogers)
H.P. Lovecraft: 36
Pride of Central Falls Viola Davis: 20
Pride of East Providence Meredith Vieira: 8, plus one turn as a contestant
Pride of Johnston Pauly D: 3
Gina Raimondo: 1
Jack Reed: 1
Sheldon Whitehouse, Gabe Amo, Seth Magaziner, Dan McKee, Dan McGowan: 0
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⚓ Number of Rhode Islanders listed in the J! Archive as contestants: 74
⚓ Biggest Rhode Island winner on “Jeopardy!”, not including tournaments: Two-time champion Milt Hathaway of Newport, who won $72,002 in 2008.
And from my own viewing, not the J! Archive, I can report the number of times Ken Jennings has mispronounced Pawtucket recently: At least 2.
Chance I could hold a candle to Ken Jennings in trivia or in hosting a game show or in really anything at all: 0.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him @bamaral44.