Jeopardy! is often referred to as the thinking man's game show, or "TV for nerds." I love it, I've been watching it since I was a kid, and if I'm in the office when It's on, I've been known to turn on the captions of the Y101 studio TV, then watch it through the window while Michael's doing his Lunch Buffet. Gotta get my Trebek fix somehow. And I love if there's ever a clue about a place I've lived, like Manhattan, KS or Marquette, MI. I got curious about questions about the Tri-States, so I looked into it, thanks to the J! Archive, an online database of all clues, questions and contestants ever to have had their name belted out by the esteemed Johnny Gilbert.

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Quincy

The search is basic, so it's difficult to completely pin down an exact number, especially when just the word "Quincy" gives me results on Quincy, Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams, Quincy Jones, and Quincy, M.D. starring Jack Klugman. I did a Ctrl + F for words or phrases that may be connected to the Gem City (including "Gem City,") but was only able to pull up two questions, both about being named after John Quincy Adams. Quincy DID however have three residents compete on the show. Omar Mahmood in 1998, Lucas Bergman in the 1998 College Championship representing University of Illinois-Chicago, leaving in the quarterfinals with $2500, and Jason Washington in 2014.

Keokuk

Keokuk has one question about Mark Twain working as a printer, two about its state record high temperature of 118 degrees, three about its namesake Sauk Indian Chief Keokuk, and one about its area code. Keokuk is more Jeopardy! famous than Quincy. Though to-date, no one from Keokuk has appeared on the show.

Nauvoo

Up on the northern edge of our coverage area sits the small town of Nauvoo, with a big place in American history. Because of its ties to Joseph Smith and the Mormon church, it's appeared as a question a total of 14 times.

Hannibal

Finally Hannibal. Thanks to a certain famous author, Hannibal as a city has appeared well over 50 times... I kind of lost count. The problem with Hannibal is that I have sift through Hannibal the Carthaginian General from the 2nd century B.C.E., Hannibal Lecter, and Hannibal Hamlin. But by my count, of all the clues about Hannibal, only four did not reference Mark Twain or his works. Three were about the song "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo." from the hit Broadway Musical Damn Yankees, while another did say "We're in this Missouri town visiting some of the unique shops like Pudd'n Heads & Aunt Polly's Treasures." While the shops themselves reference Twain, since the shops are real actual places, it's technically NOT a Twain reference in the clue. And much like Keokuk, no one from Hannibal has competed on Jeopardy! yet.

Other Tri-States Cities

All the Bowling Green questions have been about the university, but Bowling Green resident Mary Twellman did compete back in 2014. Sara Orel from Kirksville appeared back in '08.

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