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Since You Asked: Repeat 'Jeopardy' contestants write their names each time Wednesday Jan 4, 2017 at 12:01 AM You gurus are great at tracking down the mundane stuff, and here's one that's been bugging me.  When a returning "Jeopardy" champion returns, does he have to write his name again, or does it carry over? — Duane M., via phone   As you may have noticed, contestants' names are electronically handwritten then displayed on their podium for the viewers at home.   For your query, we checked with the record-holding Jeopardy contestant, Ken Jennings ... well, the blog he keeps about his experience winning a consecutive 74 games, meaning he was on for one more in 2004. Anyway, if you were a fan during his run, you may recall Jennings found a different way to write his three-letter name for every appearance.  Jennings said producers vetoed some of his more avant-garde attempts, such as writing his name backward or in Crillic. If you're wondering how contestants use a light pen on a screen, it's a light pen, according to jeopardy-faqs.com, run by an employee of the company that makes the switch they use to buzz-in on the show. Though contestants can see what they wrote ahead of time, and if they don't like how they wrote their name the first time they can do that part over, the Jeopardy FAQs site says. But the light pen is deactivated after the song is complete. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.