The secret life of Mr. Mahnken

Evan Mahnken, a chemistry and physics teacher who has taught at ARHS for seven years, has a whole big life outside of the classroom, where he lives phone-free, travels the world solo, and takes part in highly competitive annual puzzle challenges that draw contestants from near and far. 

For example, Mahnken recently attended the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) in Stanford, Connecticut, and won 90th place out of 800 total participants. “My goal has always been to be top 100,” said Mahnken. 

Players competed to individually solve a gauntlet of seven puzzles, nine of whom made it to the playoffs and solved an eighth puzzle. 

“The goal is to solve them accurately in a very short amount of time, and you lose points for every minute you spend and for every mistake you make,” said Mahnken. “Ideally, you want to be fast and accurate.” 

This tournament focuses on crossword puzzles, “kind of like New York Times style,” said Mahnken, noting that the person who runs the event is Will Shortz, the editor of the New York Times crossword.

He also noted that the person who makes the Spelling Bee, Sam Ezersky, was there, alongside the person who curates the Wordle, Tracy Bennet.

“Wyna Liu, who does the Connections, wasn’t there [this year,] but has been in others,” he said. “So all the big names in word games are there.” 

This year, Mahnken attended this tournament for almost the 9th year in a row. “I skipped one for the COVID year, but this year I had my best performance,” said Mahnken. “It’s a lot of fun. There is a competition, but the vibes are not competitive. It’s almost more like a crossword convention.” 

While Mahnken earned his best performance ever, he “still could’ve done better. If I hadn’t made that one error on a puzzle, I probably would’ve ended up top 60 or 50,” said Mahnken. 

Although the tournament is moving to Philadelphia, which is a further distance to get to, Mahnken “almost certainly will [attend next year].” 

And why not? When not teaching or solving puzzles, Mahnken is a big traveler, and this would add a new trip to his list. 

Out of all places he’s been, Tokyo has Mahnken’s heart, with its delicious cuisine and something new to discover in every corner.

“The city really comes alive with the New Year’s celebrations,” said Mahnken, calling it breathtaking. “There’s one section of the imperial palace in Tokyo that you’re only allowed into two times a year, and once is right after New Year’s for the emperor’s New Year’s speech. That was cool.” 

This year featured live music, and everyone going out and having a great time. Residents and special guests also donned traditional garbs. 

While the food was indeed delicious, and the best of countries he had visited as a whole, there hasn’t been a place that beat the single best meal Mahnken has ever had in Milan, Italy. 

“I went to a Michelin three star restaurant, and it was 12 courses. I remember there was squid ravioli, caviar pasta, and a really well seasoned raw tomato. It was such high quality,” said Mahnken. 

Mahnken said his worldly travels help him broaden his perspective among the world about his favorite topics.

“I’ve been to see a couple of cool science landmarks, and I’ve gone to see the platinum meter stick and the platinum kilogram in Paris,” said Mahnken. He also enjoys  “the metric system and other scientific landmarks where cool things happen.”

Mahnken typically solo travels, as the idea of setting his own agenda appeals to him. 

“You kind of do whatever you want, and when I’m solo traveling I’m pretty fast, I can hit of a lot in one day,” said Mahnken. 

Mahnken also uses his tablet to take photos which he brings with him for travel, keeping the photos for the memories. 

“I don’t really post them anywhere; they’re just for me, although I’ll show people if they want to see,” said Mahnken. 

Mahnken has been living a phone-free lifestyle for years and he has noted many outcomes that result to that. 

“You’d be surprised how people got by without phones for hundreds of years,” said Mahnken. “I think it makes me better at navigating, because rather than looking at where something is telling me to go, I’m looking at an actual map, learning the surroundings and looking for landmarks.” 

Mahnken is looking forward to the places he plans to visit soon. “Fingers crossed these actually happen,” said Mahnken. He hopes to see Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, and Morocco this summer. South America is also a destination that’s on the top of his list, as well as Southeast Asia.