The $199,000 Answer: Who is Joon Pahk?

The oft-intersecting worlds of crosswords and game shows have been colliding for roughly the last week or so. Joon Pahk, B division winner of the 2010 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and also a constructor, has been making regular appearances on "Jeopardy!" and thanks to broad general knowledge and kamikaze wagering on Daily Doubles, has amassed $199,000 over his first seven appearances on the program. (Opponents found both Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! round on Tuesday's program, but Pahk still made it a runaway.) As early as his second or third appearance on the program, Alex Trebek was already making comparisons to Ken Jennings, the show's all time money winner. Pahk can't say if he's still taping the show or how much he's won, but he's been reporting nightly on his adventures to his Facebook friends after the show has aired. Nancy Shack has been making his appearances available on YouTube; later today we'll post a complete list of links so you can track his progress.

It's generally held that the best showing by a crossword personality on a game show prior to Pahk's run has been that of Stanley Newman, the New York Newsday crossword editor, who won $112,480 (about $177,000 adjusted for inflation) on the 1991 program "The Challengers", hosted by Dick Clark and produced by game show master Ronnie Greenberg. (Yes, Jennings competed at Stamford in 2006 and won C division and rookie trophies - that was also the year I won the D trophy - but he hasn't been back to the tournament.)

There have been a number of other crossword and other puzzle folk who've been on "Jeopardy!" including Ellen Ripstein, Stella Zawistowski, and Scott Weiss, whose crafty wagering enabled the show's first and only three-way tie. Comment if you know of others and I'll add them to this post.

Brooklyn's Crossword King And Queen Duke It Out

Brooklyn Brainery will present a seminar on "Solving Crossword Puzzles" on Monday, August 15, at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $15. The seminar will be moderated by Brooklyn's own Francis Heaney and Stella Daily Zawistowski, who will compete to see who is the Brooklyn crossword champ. Brooklyn Brainery is at 515 Court Street in Brooklyn.

Congrats In Order

Constructor and competitive solver Stella Daily is getting married today on her birthday. We wish her and Dave nothing but the best as they fill in this new chapter in their lives.

Standings Through Four Puzzles

1. Dan Feyer
T2. Francis Heaney
T2. Tyler Hinman
T2. Trip Payne
5. Al Sanders
6. Stella Daily
7. Jon Delfin
8. Roger Barkan
9. Amy Reynaldo
10. Eric Maddy

41. Dave Mackey
43. Robert Mackey

Saturday Morning

Hello from a little hallway just off the lobby at the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. Bob and I are right now doing some blogging stuff, and I've also just tried to put up a blistering time on Brendan Emmett Quigley's Saturday NYT puzzle. (Unfortunately, the applet choked and wouldn't accept my time of 11 minutes or so, which would have made me the fastest applet solver. Many of the regulars are here, in fact.) I've been dilligently working the other puzzle handouts, which included a very twisty Friday offering from The New York Sun.

Name dropping: just ran into Vic Fleming.

Games looked very sparse last night, with a few groups at the few tables they were. The downside to this location is that the ballroom does close at a definite hour, and the all-night games are only permitted in the hallway outside. I went to bed early last night; perhaps I'll change my tune tomorrow.

I forgot to mention about last night's Brooklyn Crossword Extravaganza - although Eric Berlin was the author of the puzzles, he could not attend in person, so Scott Weiss - who with his wife wrote last year's Friday night contest - hosted this year's festivities.

The Saturday game show is going to be an homage to the NBC show, "1 vs. 100", which will actually be called "1 vs. 100+". This event is said to involve past champions from the ACPT as part of the Mob. Perhaps Bob and I will be tapped to be part of the Mob? We'll see tonight. For now, gotta find some breakfast. And get my shoes. Maybe take a subway ride. Couldn't do that in Stamford now, could we?

Oh, we added some more pix (this time by Bob) to the Image Gallery. It was a comedy of errors trying to get that picture of Stella Daily, so we included some of the outtakes. We'll continue to snap on Saturday, and then perhaps you'll see even more pictures.

Things To Do In Brooklyn

Hey, ACPT attendees! (Yeah, I know it's only December.) You don't have to be stuck in the hotel all weekend. There's a lot to see, do and eat not far from the hotel, whether it's a walk or a bus or subway ride away. Three Brooklyn denizens well known in the world of puzzling - Stella Daily, Francis Heaney and Ken Stern - have created a guide to Brooklyn (Adobe Acrobat Reader required!) with lots of tips on local eateries and even some cultural events if the Saturday entertainment proves to be not what you're looking for.