Rachel Horn Still In Jeopardy!

Rachel Horn, the Walnut Hills High School sophomore, told me that the hardest part of being in the "Jeopardy!" teen tournament was keeping the secret, not being able to tell anyone how she did.

Well, she has to keep the secret a little longer in the $75,000 two-week tournament. She advanced tonight to the semi-finals.

Horn, 15, of Hyde Park, stunned her competitors on tonight's telecast, correctly answering 28 of 30 questions. She won with $33,199, despite losing $2,000 on a daily double. She nearly doubled the total for second-place finisher, Melissa Luttmann, 14, from Memphis ($18,400). Third was Janelle Lamber, 17, from Brooklyn ($11,200).

What obviously helped Horn was practicing for the competition by watching the show using a "flashlight buzzer system" rigged by her father, David. She often had first shot at each question by being the first person to press the button after host Alex Trebek read the clue.

"It helped with my timing, so I could get in as soon as we're able," she explained to me.

In my Life section story today, Horn told me that "everybody has been pestering" her about how she did on the show. The two-week tournament (ending Feb. 22) was taped in two days last month (Jan. 14-15). Now she'll have to keep the secret a little longer. As she told me: "All I've been able to say is: I can't tell you. You have to watch the show."

I'll let you know when she's on again.