Star's puzzle maker to appear on Jeopardy

Erik Agard thinks fast on his feet.

He must — Agard, who creates the Star’s crossword puzzles in Caliente, won the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in March when he solved a complex puzzle in just under five minutes, beating out the former champ by about three minutes.

So that quick-thinking skill should serve him well when he appears on “Jeopardy!” Oct. 19. He is mum about how he did, but he did share a few observations:

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

• That Jeopardy board is huge in real life.
• He had to “really rack my brain for one pretty easy answer.” He had to rack it on the harder ones, too.
• And this: “(Host Alex) Trebek should appear on the show the way he showed up to my audition in D.C. — full beard, T-shirt and jeans, looking like a snack.” (For those unfamiliar with the phrase “looking like a snack,” it means he was looking good.)

Catch Agard on “Jeopardy!” at 4:30 p.m. on ABC, Channel 9.