List of categories

The following categories are used on the show: Current categories
 * Around the House: Introduced in season 17.
 * Before & After: Introduced in season 6. This category consists of two phrases, combined by a word that starts one and ends the other (e.g. WHEEL OF FORTUNE COOKIE, which combines "Wheel of Fortune" and "fortune cookie").
 * Best Seller: Introduced in season 22 and very rarely used; its two most recent uses were February 2007 and April 2011. This is also the only category known to have been used in the bonus round exactly once.
 * Classic TV: Introduced in season 14. Very rarely used in the 2000s; its two most recent uses were in May 2008 and April 2010.
 * Event(s)
 * Family: Introduced in season 7. The puzzle answer is the name of two or more people who are closely related.
 * Fictional Character(s)
 * Fictional Family: Introduced in season 25.
 * Fictional Place: Very rarely used.
 * Fun & Games: Introduced in Season 22.
 * Food & Drink: Introduced as On the Menu in season 21. The category was renamed in season 24, most likely to ensure that any food or drink could be consistently categorized. Previously, some foods or drinks were simply categorized as Thing or Around the House if they were not foods that could necessarily be found on a menu.
 * Headline: Apparently introduced in season 19. Very rarely used.
 * Husband & Wife: Introduced in season 7.
 * In the Kitchen: Introduced in season 23.
 * Landmark
 * Living Thing: Apparently introduced in season 18.
 * Occupation(s)
 * On the Map: Introduced in season 17.
 * Person and People: Until season 14, proper names of famous people were included in this category.
 * Phrase
 * Place(s)
 * Proper Name(s): Introduced in season 14. Previously, Pat would remind contestants that "person does not always mean proper name", but often forgot to do so. Proper Name may also refer to the name of a sports team, college, business, etc.
 * Quotation: Although it was apparently an "original" category, Quotation was altered between seasons 10 and 12: during these seasons, the contestant would win a bonus for identifying the source of the quotation (and Charlie asked the question instead of Pat). By season 16, this was altered into the Who Said It? category.
 * Same Letter: Introduced in season 27.
 * Same Name: Introduced in season 6. This puzzle includes two names, phrases, etc. that end in the same word (e.g. ARETHA & BENJAMIN FRANKLIN or SEWING & SLOT MACHINE). For its first season of use, AND was spelled out in the puzzle; after nearly every contestant called N, D and A first, the word was replaced with an ampersand. Many Same Name puzzles in Season 14 used three "names" (e.g. SEWING SLOT & VENDING MACHINE) instead of two.
 * Show Biz: Introduced in season 14.
 * Song/Artist: (e.g. LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING BY TIM MCGRAW). Introduced in season 13. Sometimes inverted as Artist/Song (e.g. TIM MCGRAW'S LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING).
 * Song Lyrics: Apparently introduced in season 19.
 * Star/Role: Apprently introduced in season 14.
 * Thing(s)
 * Title: Three specific subsets, Movie Title, Song Title and TV Title, introduced in Season 23. Interestingly, Title has not been used in the bonus round since May 10, 2005.
 * Title/Author: (e.g. THE PEARL BY JOHN STIENBECK) Apparently introduced in season 9. Similarly to Song/Artist, this is sometimes inverted as Author/Title.
 * What Are You Doing?: Introduced in season 25.

Retired categories Between 1990 and 2008, the show had categories which offered the contestant a bonus for answering a question related to the puzzle. These were initially worth $500, but increased to $1,000 in season 13, $2,000 in season 16 and $3,000 in season 17. This line of categories was phased out gradually; the last one seen on the show was Where Are We? in September 2008. However, in season 27, the show introduced a new category called What's That Song? which had an identical structure. "Bonus" categories Other retired categories
 * Clue: The puzzle described an object. Apparently introduced in October 1990; believed to have been retired by September 2005.
 * Fill In the Blank: Debuted in season 10. Initially, Fill In the Blank was an incomplete phrase that ended in a question mark; the contestant received a bonus for providing the exact remainder of the phrase. (However, on at least one occasion, the question mark was in the middle instead.) The name was later used for a Tribond type of category, where the puzzle answer was three (sometimes four) phrases, names, etc. that had a missing common word (e.g. POKER ? /POTATO ? / PAINT ? with a correct answer of "chips" to form poker chips, potato chips and paint chips). The change in the category came in October 1996, although one "old-style" Fill In the Blank puzzle appeared on a November 1996 episode.
 * Fill In the Number: A phrase with a missing number in it (e.g. ## TROMBONES LED THE BIG PARADE). The category apparently introduced in September 1998 and was last seen on April 28, 2004.
 * Megaword: The puzzle is a nine- to thirteen-letter word, which the contestant received a bonus for using in a sentence. The category introduced on September 20, 1994 and was last seen on April 6, 1995. The category was most likely retired for several reasons, but most likely due to Pat's obvious disdain whenever the category appeared.
 * Next Line Please: Identical to the original Fill In the Blank, only without a question mark to identify the end of the phrase.
 * Slogan: Debuted in season 14, and referred to as "$1,000 Slogan" in that season only. The puzzle is a product's slogan, and the bonus question involves identifying the product. (However, there are at least three known instances, one of which was a Toss-Up, of Slogan puzzles that had the product name in them; obviously, the question was not asked in these instances.) This category was likely retired after an incident on January 30, 2008, where the puzzle EAT FRESH was solved "Subway, eat fresh" and ruled correct.
 * What Are You Making?: Introduced in season 25. It was used only once, on the October 23, 2007 episode.
 * What's That Song?: Introduced on September 16, 2010 and only used three or four times; last seen on February 8, 2011. The puzzle answer is a song lyric, and the contestant wins a bonus for identifying the song.
 * Where Are We?: The puzzle gives three short clues to a specific place. Introduced in Season 10; last seen September 17, 2008.
 * Who Is It? and Who Are They?: The puzzle gives a clue to a specific person or people. Last seen September 11, 2007.
 * Who Said It?: Apparently introduced in September 1998. Identical to Quotation, but with a bonus for identifying the source of the quotation. Between seasons 10 and 12, Quotation puzzles were often followed by Charlie asking the contestant for the source of the quotation. This category was apparently retired around 2003.
 * The 20's through The 90's: Introduced in season 12, these puzzles included things and events related to the decade in question. For their first season of use only, the "decade" categories were followed by a trivia question (asked by Charlie) related to the decade in question. By late 1996, only The 70's and The 80's were used (plus The 90's from about 2000 onward), and the categories were apparently phased out in September 2005. However, The 60's made a one-time return in April 2011.
 * College Life: Introduced in Season 23 and used only during college weeks. Last seen November 12, 2009.
 * Foreign Word(s) and Foreign Phrase: Two self-explanatory categories introduced in season 9. They were last seen early in season 10. On a September 1992 episode, Pat explains that many foreign words have various acceptable pronunciations, giving a likely reason for the categories' retirement.
 * Nickname: Introduced in season 6 and retired early into season 7. This category was particularly ill-defined as to what would be a Nickname.
 * People (magazine): A special category used only during a celebrity week in Season 25. Its category strip used the logo for People magazine, and the puzzles were show biz topics that might be seen in the magazine.
 * Person/Fictional Character: Introduced during Bob Goen's first daytime episode in July 1989. This category carried over to nighttime, where it was apparently used in season 7 only. It was identical to the current Star/Role category, giving the name of an actor/actress and a character that they are known for playing, connected by the word "as". A few Goen episodes also used Person/Title, which had the name of the actor/actress followed by "in".
 * Rock On!: Introduced in season 23 (October 25, 2005) and initially used only on college episodes. Each puzzle was themed to rock music in some way, most often referencing a rock act and/or song. Charlie always introduced the category with a deep voice. On December 3, 2010 and February 9, 2011, Charlie's introduction was overdubbed with Pat saying the name of the category. February 9 also seems to be the last appearance of it.
 * Slang: Introduced in season 10 and used through season 12. Many Slang puzzles relied on archaic or nonexistant slang terms (OFF THE BEAM being a particular offender).