Records & Contributions
Game Shows
Jeopardy!
Trivia
Crossword
Jeopardy!
- Season 32, regular season (fall 2015): 13 wins, $413,612
- Season 32 Tournament of Champions: runner-up ($100,000)
- All-Star Games (spring 2019): runner-up (as “Team Ken” with Ken Jennings and Monica Thieu) ($100,000)
- Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT) (spring 2024): outcome TBD
Trivia
- I've taken part in the World Quizzing Championships each year from 2020 to 2023.
- 2021 Quiz Olympiad (Krakow, Poland): participant with Team USA
- Online Quiz League USA: 2nd place, Season 1 Division I (with "Minority Rapport"); semifinalist, International Culture Challenge Season 1
- Trivia Nationals 2019: several medals and top finishes, including:
- Pyramidal History, Pyramidal Music, and Pyramidal Arts presented by ACE: 1st place in all
- Not-A-Race: 3rd place (with Pam M., Brad R., Patrick F., Arianna H., Alan L., Clifford G., Hans V-W.)
- O’Brien’s Irish Pub: 3rd place (with Yogesh R., Drew S., Daniel B., Steve O., and Idris M.)
- Sporcle Presents Majority Rules: 1st place (with Brian F., Matt F., Patrick F., Josh H., Daniel B., )
- Sporcle Presents Think Different: 2nd place (with Hans V-W.)
- Pairs Quiz: 5th place (with joon pahk)
- 5x5: Semifinalist
- Topical Top Dogs: 5th place overall; 3rd in “Kitchen Sink” category; 2nd in “High Brow” category
- LearnedLeague: As of summer 2019, I compete in “Rundle A,” the most competitive division of play.
- Championship placements: 2020 (7th of 510), 2021 (6th of 635), 2022 (9th of 663), 2023 (19th of 786)
Crossword
- 2019 Indie 500: 62/198 overall (69th percentile); 6/47 among rookies, no errors
- 2019 Lollapuzzoola 12: 68/258 overall (74th percentile); 4/52 among rookies, no errors
- New York Times Daily Crossword personal best solve times (on app):
Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
2:15 | 2:15 | 2:39 | 2:46 | 4:02 | 5:04 | 6:05 |
Quizbowl
Writing
Talks
Miscellaneous
- 2022 N. Gordon Carper Lifetime Achievement Award, Academic Competition Federation
- 2010 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament: All-Star and 2nd-ranked individual scorer (with Georgetown Day)
- 2010 PACE National Scholastic Championship: All-Star and top individual scorer (with Georgetown Day)
- NAQT Intercollegiate Championship Tournament: Division II Champion (2011, with Yale B); Division I Champion (2013, with Yale A)
- ACF Nationals: Champion (2011, with Yale), Champion (2012, with Yale), top individual scorer (2023, with Chicago A)
- Chicago Open: Champion (2015, with Matt B, Tommy C, and Auroni G), Champion (2023, with Jordan B, Geoffrey C, and Will N)
- For more, see QBWiki
Writing
Talks
- "Secrets of the Memory Champions: How Thousands of Years of Mnemonics Research Can Drive Game Show Success -- And, Perhaps, Offer A Path to Enlightenment," delivered at Nerd Nite DC, April 2019
- I wrote 90+ quizzes for the The New Yorker magazine's online "Name Drop" feature, from November 2021 through its cancellation in summer 2023.
- LearnedLeague MiniLeagues: Philosophy 2 (winter 2020), African-American History and Culture (winter 2021), Advice (spring 2022)
- Charity Trivia Tournament for The Bounceback Foundation (Minneapolis, MN, September 26, 2019; with Erik Nelson and Colby Burnett)
- Many quizbowl question sets
- I have done some independent crossword puzzle construction, but have been on indefinite hiatus from that since early 2020.
Miscellaneous
- I was once described as the Internet's "most GIF-able human." Please don't try to verify this.