'Jeopardy' Legend Picks Up A Smartphone Quiz App

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Finally, in Tech today, an app to keep you guessing.

(SOUNDBITE OF THEME MUSIC, JEOPARDY)

CORNISH: Or if you're former "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings, a trivia app called QuizUp to keep you answering confidently.

KEN JENNINGS: I was surprised to find that I was very good at Disney. I patted myself on the back for that.

CORNISH: But even Ken Jennings has a few trivia blind spots.

JENNINGS: If you ever play "Name the Artist" and you're against some novice with a vaguely "Jeopardy!" themed name, that might be me as you're kicking my butt.

CORNISH: The QuizUp app is a game you play with other users, from strangers in another country to friends just a few feet away. The topics range from important moments in history to literature.

JENNINGS: Crime fiction - "Fifty Shades of Grey," "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

CORNISH: To music.

JENNINGS: There's a Britney Spears category, there's a Bowie category, Justin Bieber - oh, I got to do that one.

CORNISH: Well, we asked Ken Jennings to play a round of QuizUp in real-time, using a category he knew little about. Here's a hint.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE)

ROBERT PATTINSON: (as Edward Cullen) Say it.

KRISTEN STEWART: (as Bella Swan) Vampire.

PATTINSON: (as Edward Cullen) Are you afraid?

CORNISH: Jennings wasn't. And he sent us this app review.

JENNINGS: So I'm going to choose "Twilight."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JENNINGS: I'm playing someone named Terry at Twilight Trivia. And the questions come fast: The only female wolf in the Quileute pack? I guessed Leah and I guessed right. Oh, and Terry got it wrong.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JENNINGS: Terry, why are you playing Twilight Trivia if you don't know those kind of stuff? What is Edwards and middle name - you got to be kidding me. I'm going to go - Edward. Edward James. Oh, I got it wrong. It's Anthony. And Terry knew it. I'm wasting my life.

What is Edward's condition for changing Bella into a vampire? Five years of waiting, maybe? Oh, I hope that book was all about the sex waiting. Marriage, apparently - even better, marriage. The other option was attending Dartmouth. That would be a good book.

The first human with whom Bella interacts outside her family? Ugh, I don't know any of these people. I said Max. Oh, and I got it right. But guess what? Terry was a little faster than me and wins by two points.

That was intense. I mean, my heart rate is a little too high for Public Radio right now.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JENNINGS: QuizUp is a very strong app. I played a lot of trivia games and it avoids all the bugaboos. The questions are smart and clever, and so far I haven't seen one that's wrong. There's hundreds of categories, hundreds of thousands of questions, so you don't see a lot of duplicates. You go up against some very smart people in whatever kind of quiz you like. I would recommend QuizUp wholeheartedly and I'm actually playing right now.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JENNINGS: I'm 0-and-1 on "Twilight." I'm going to run this back. I'm going to get a rematch against Terry.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CORNISH: That's former "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings with today's app review of QuizUp. He's also the author of the children's book series "Junior Genius Guides."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

You can follow All Tech Considered on Twitter @npralltech. And you can find us there, as well. I am @melissablock, @nprmelissablock.

CORNISH: And I'm Audie Cornish @npraudie. Our colleague Robert is @rsiegel47. And the Twitter feed for the whole program is @npratc. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.