his FAQ page<\/a>. Here’s what he wrote:<\/p>\n“Here’s how it works: the buzzers don’t get activated until Alex is finished reading each question. If you buzz in too early, the system actually locks you out for a fifth of a second or so. But if you’re too late, the player next to you is going to get in first. Somewhere between too early and too late is a very narrow sweet spot, like swinging a tennis racket or a baseball bat. No, that’s not right. The Jeopardy!<\/i> buzzer, she is like a woman. No, that’s not it either. All I know is, the more I thought about the timing, the less I could nail it. When I could somehow just Zen out and not<\/i> think about what I was doing, I would do okay.”<\/p>\n
If you don’t buzz in fast enough so you can answer some questions correctly, you might as well go home. Everything after that is just strategy to win as much money as possible.<\/p>\n
Speed it up<\/h2>\n
There are 60 questions in a game of Jeopardy, each one worth $200 to $2,000. The faster players go, the more likely they are to win more money. Why leave money on the board with an unasked question if you don’t have to?<\/p>\n
There are all kinds of holdups out of the contestants’ control: Host Alex Trebek talking too much, commercials and long video questions that take up too much time than they should.<\/p>\n
But there are also dumb things contestants do to clog things up. The first thing they can do is shut up. Don’t say the entire category and stop saying “please” and “Let’s go with…” when it’s your chance to pick an answer.<\/p>\n
No:<\/strong> “Um, ahh, I’d like to take ‘Bestsellers by Partial Title’ for two-hundred dollars please, Alex.”<\/p>\nYes:<\/strong> “Bestsellers for 2.”<\/p>\nAnd if any of the clues are video clues, wait until that’s all that’s left on the board before picking those.<\/p>\n
And if you have an annoying accent, make it a good one:<\/p>\n