The Jeopardy Question About Yakima That Helped a Woman Win $20,000

A question about Yakima, Washington, once helped a contestant win $20,000 and a spot in the semi-final competition on Jeopardy. Do you know the answer?

The First Time Yakima Was an Answer to a Question on Jeopardy

Jeopardy started in 1964 but it took twenty-four years before they gave Yakima some love in the form of a question.

The category chosen by one of the contestants was Washington State for $300.

THE ANSWER: *pretend you're hearing those cool jeopardy "whoosh" sound effects here*

A contestant named Greg Sullivan, an accountant from Yonkers, New York, pressed his buzzer to give his answer (in the form of a question), and his guess was...

"What is...the town?"

(Aha! He was correct!)

Fast Forward to Jeopardy Questions About Yakima in Modern Times

via GIPHY

Picture it, Jeopardy! It was May 19th, in the year 2021. Jennifer, Ryan, and Paul were Jeopardy contestants competing for not just thousands of dollars but also for a spot in the semi-finals.

The Categories Were Pretty Tough

• Southern Hemisphere
• Herbs
• Under the Sea
• NFL Teams in Spanish
• Between Hell & High
• Water

Any guesses for which category the question about Yakima was in?

via GIPHY

If you guessed, Herbs, give yourself a high five!

👇🏼Keep Scrolling to See the Answer to the Yakima Jeopardy Question👇🏼

One of the contestants chose Herbs for $400. The answer was: (Once again, pretend you're hearing those Jeopardy "whoosh" sfx!)

The answer was, you guessed it, Yakima's HOPS! 

Read More: Yakima Valley's Favorite Craft Beer Spot for 2026 Is Revealed

Jennifer Quail, a wine tasting consultant from Dowagiac, Michigan, answered correctly and went on to finish with a win of $20,000 for that episode. She has been on Jeopardy several times, returning to play in the Tournament of Champions.

Here is another fun article to read; it's about the time when a question about the city of Tacoma stumped ALL the contestants on Jeopardy!