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Not every netgame is a copy of a popular gameshow. Some take the best aspects of a few gameshows and merge them together in a wonderfully original premise.

Such is the case for "FastTalkers", a netgame that its creator, Chico Alexander, calls "Password meets Crosswits by way of Caesar's Challenge".

A puzzle is shown, a question is asked, the answer is placed IN the puzzle and the puzzle is solved. It's really that simple. Of course, to answer the questions, you need to have a nearly Ken Jennings-like knowledge base. And to solve the puzzles usually takes a masters degree in crosswords.

But what makes it difficult is also what makes it fun. That and the fact that you're playing against any number of individuals, making this a party game for the intellectual.

The "bonus game" is your standard endgame out of the playbook of Barry & Enright Productions...with a "FastTalkers" twist. The winner adds words to a solved puzzle - first being the world "FASTTALKERS" before becoming sequential letters - to build up a jackpot for the second part, where you must evade "The Black Hole"!

In 2002, Chico retired from hosting the show and let Dean Scungio take over. But, after a few years, Chico took the reins back.

Now, the reins are out of HIS hands and we'll see if HE has the "mental quickfire" he's asked of his contestants. And Dean will be there as well!)