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brownthrasherWow, I really stank this year. I'm going to blame lack of recent puzzling; but I was slower, and there were some that I just couldn't get.
Back to Stamford this year! Easy drive down 95. Mom got to the hotel before me, and gifted me with a Fitbit. We met the CT folks (this year Bob, Dave, and Marion) at the bar, later went to a steak place including Jan and Glenn, but missing Tereza. Then the evening program of crosswords on ipads (team included Mom, Marion, Haley Gold), courtesy of the Museum of Math, and a presentation on the puzzle archiving by champion junior David Steinberg. Wine and cheese, I met up with several old friends, including LLamas Peter and Steve; Robert (Moy); also Brent who wrote a book about remembering people's names. Afterwards I hung out with the gamers, playing Concept with Scott Weiss and Jeopardy with Mike Shenk (third place!).
Nex day puzzles--number one was synonyms for wet blanket; number two was continental divide; number three was distorted city names; number four was 'to a' puns; number five was irrelevant added Bs; number six was reversed company names; and number seven was 'and' spoonerisms. On number two I missed two squares--variant spelling of parchisi, politician's name Thune I hadn't heard; and HERD for HIRE. On number five I struggled with the SE section, uncompleted (ABSTRUSE clues), and number seven it was the SW section, missing DOC of all things, wedging a CREVICE into an ORIFICE. Mom ended up two places ahead of me, good for her.
We went out for chinese food the next night, mostly the same group, and the evening program included a brief film about a palindromist, recap of Dr Fill's performance (many errors but stil damn fast, and he beat me this year), and Patrick Creedon telling stories about Wordplay on its tenth anniversary.
The talent show was mostly songs about crosswords this year, with Merl Regal giving us some wordplay, and a couple happy birthdays to Miriam, not 89 years old. I was able to finish the B clues in 8 minutes; Andrew Feist demolished it in 4. The C finals were close, just seconds apart, and Tyler fell down when he lost to Dan by a half second. Ophira and Pliska did a great job with the commentaries this year. I retrieved my glasses, and went back home.
33%ile, same as my second year 2006. Better next year!
Back to Stamford this year! Easy drive down 95. Mom got to the hotel before me, and gifted me with a Fitbit. We met the CT folks (this year Bob, Dave, and Marion) at the bar, later went to a steak place including Jan and Glenn, but missing Tereza. Then the evening program of crosswords on ipads (team included Mom, Marion, Haley Gold), courtesy of the Museum of Math, and a presentation on the puzzle archiving by champion junior David Steinberg. Wine and cheese, I met up with several old friends, including LLamas Peter and Steve; Robert (Moy); also Brent who wrote a book about remembering people's names. Afterwards I hung out with the gamers, playing Concept with Scott Weiss and Jeopardy with Mike Shenk (third place!).
Nex day puzzles--number one was synonyms for wet blanket; number two was continental divide; number three was distorted city names; number four was 'to a' puns; number five was irrelevant added Bs; number six was reversed company names; and number seven was 'and' spoonerisms. On number two I missed two squares--variant spelling of parchisi, politician's name Thune I hadn't heard; and HERD for HIRE. On number five I struggled with the SE section, uncompleted (ABSTRUSE clues), and number seven it was the SW section, missing DOC of all things, wedging a CREVICE into an ORIFICE. Mom ended up two places ahead of me, good for her.
We went out for chinese food the next night, mostly the same group, and the evening program included a brief film about a palindromist, recap of Dr Fill's performance (many errors but stil damn fast, and he beat me this year), and Patrick Creedon telling stories about Wordplay on its tenth anniversary.
The talent show was mostly songs about crosswords this year, with Merl Regal giving us some wordplay, and a couple happy birthdays to Miriam, not 89 years old. I was able to finish the B clues in 8 minutes; Andrew Feist demolished it in 4. The C finals were close, just seconds apart, and Tyler fell down when he lost to Dan by a half second. Ophira and Pliska did a great job with the commentaries this year. I retrieved my glasses, and went back home.
33%ile, same as my second year 2006. Better next year!
