<P> Three contestants each take their place behind a lectern, with the returning champion occupying the leftmost lectern (from the viewer's perspective). The contestants compete in a quiz game comprising three rounds: Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy!, and Final Jeopardy! . The material for the clues covers a wide variety of topics, including history and current events, the sciences, the arts, popular culture, literature, and languages . Category titles often feature puns, wordplay, or shared themes, and the host will regularly remind contestants of topics or place emphasis on category themes before the start of the round . </P> <P> The Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds each feature six categories, each of which contains five clues, which are ostensibly valued by difficulty . The dollar values of the clues increased over time . On the original Jeopardy! series, clue values in the first round ranged from $10 to $50 . On The All - New Jeopardy!, they ranged from $25 to $125 . The current series' first round originally ranged from $100 to $500, and were doubled to $200 to $1,000 on November 26, 2001 . On the Super Jeopardy! specials, clues were valued in points rather than in dollars, and ranged in the first round from 200 to 1,000 points . </P> <P> The Jeopardy! round begins when the returning champion selects a clue, which may be from any position on the game board . The clue is revealed and read aloud by the host, after which any contestant may ring - in using a hand - held signaling device . The first contestant to ring - in successfully is prompted to provide a response to the clue, phrased in the form of a question . For example, if a contestant were to select "Presidents for $200", the resulting clue could be "This' Father of Our Country' didn't really chop down a cherry tree", to which the correct response would be "Who is / was George Washington?" (Contestants are free to phrase the response in the form of any question; the traditional phrasing of "who is / are" for people or "what is / are" for things or words is almost always used .) If the contestant responds correctly, the clue's dollar value is added to the contestant's score, and they may select a new clue from the board . An incorrect response, or a failure to respond within five seconds, deducts the clue's value from the contestant's score and allows the other contestants the opportunity to ring - in and respond . If no contestant both rings - in and responds correctly, the host gives the correct response; the "last correct questioner" chooses the next clue . </P> <P> From the premiere of the original Jeopardy! until the end of the first season of the current syndicated series, contestants were allowed to ring - in as soon as the clue was revealed . Since September 1985, contestants are required to wait until the clue is read before ringing - in . To accommodate the rule change, lights were added to the game board (unseen by home viewers) to signify when it is permissible for contestants to signal; attempting to signal before the light goes on locks the contestant out for half of a second . The change was made to allow the home audience to play along with the show more easily and to keep an extremely fast contestant from potentially dominating the game . In pre-1985 episodes, a buzzer would sound when a contestant signaled; according to Trebek, the buzzer was eliminated because it was "distracting to the viewers" and sometimes presented a problem when contestants rang in while Trebek was still reading the clue . Contestants who are visually impaired or blind are given a card with the category names printed in Braille before each round begins, and an audible tone is played after the clue has been read aloud . </P>

How long do contestants get to answer on jeopardy