Correct. $ is an anonymous scalar (which autovivifies to 0 and increments in $++). There's also anonymous array @ and anon hash %. The hash form you can see in action here, in the one-liner mad-libs code: http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Mad_Libs#Perl_6

This. This thread right here is the magic of Perl.

I also attended the unveiling yesterday; If I remember correctly, I'm about 95% sure your assumption is correct.