I’m a regular reader of your column, and I watch the game show Jeopardy! Could you be a guest host or a contestant? Either would be incredible!

—Ralph Vaccaro, Greenville, S.C.

Alas, no. Guest hosts are auditioning to be the regular host, and he or she will be young and charming. That puts me out of contention right there! And I don’t have the temperament to study for competition—or the buzzer skills, for that matter!

Can you make the sum of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 equal 100? You must use two minus (-) signs and one plus (+) sign and keep the numbers in the same order on one side of the equation.

—Maye Lamb, Alabaster, Ala.