Clue: This sharp Brooklyn teacher and former “Jeopardy!” champion is set to revisit the popular quiz show next week.
Answer: Who is Maria Wenglinsky?
The longtime teacher at St. Saviour High School in Park Slope, who was at one time the biggest female money winner in “Jeopardy” history, will return as a contestant on the megahit game show for a special tournament in celebration of the blockbuster game show’s 30th anniversary.
“I can tell you that I don’t think I did badly at all,” said Wenglinsky, 45, who was barred from revealing too many details about the upcoming show, which was recorded in January in Los Angeles.
Wenglinsky, who teaches Latin and European history at the girls Catholic school, was invited back for the “Battle of the Decades” — a five-week tournament that has already began airing. It brings back the best champs to compete for a grand prize of up to $ 1 million.
“All of these people are very good at playing Jeopardy and I was very surprised to be one of the people to be chosen to do it,” said the Bay Ridge resident, who has won $ 134,300 for correctly answering brain-wracking questions in her two stints on the show.
During her appearances on the show, Wenglinsky was able to provide the answers for such clues as “this outlaw’s father was a Methodist preacher” (Who is John Wesley Hardin?) and “wear your outer wear in this country” (What is Outer Mongolia?).
Wenglinsky said she was just as nervous to play on the show this time around as she was in eight previous appearances, in 2005 and for a champions tournament in 2006.
I’m a true honest amateur with Jeopardy.
“It’s very, very scary,” she said. “You’re on national television and really might make an idiot out of yourself.”
Still, the Salt Lake City product, who earned a Ph.D in classics from Columbia University, said she prepared for this Jeopardy stint the same as she did for the others: by not really preparing at all.
“I’ve tried to watch the program on television and I’ve tried to read the newspaper,” said Wenglinsky. She doesn’t riffle through boxes of flashcards before filming, like she has seen many other contestants do, or spend any time studying.
“I’m a true honest amateur with Jeopardy,” she said, adding that her best strategy is to “pay attention and be interested” all the time.
Wenglinsky, who has taught her poodle how to respond to commands in Latin, said that for the most part she and her husband, Harold, and their 10-year-old son Martin James, lead pretty ordinary lives.
But she has been recognized by strangers in the supermarket, she said.
Wenglinsky’s appearance will air on April 4. She will compete against another Brooklynite, Dan Pawson, a global health consultant.
nmusumeci@nydailynews.com
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