A bit of a delayed entry here--I took the day off from work on Thursday 3/15, and drove into Brooklyn. I stopped at the Wareham liquor mart to check out their cider and mead, otherwise straight on in with no major traffic problems. I met Mom at the Marriott. She had gotten tickets to a play that night, Seminar. After a little rest we took the subway to the theater district and walked around Times Square a bit, including the M&M store (much better than the Hershey store). There were a lot of people dressed up like cartoon characters, like Spiderman and Elmo. We ate dinner at an Irish restaurant which was okay. On the way to the play we passed the opening of Death of a Salesman; Martin Short was standing outside. We went to our show, which included Alan Rickman and Jerry O'Connell. It was okay, but several of the jokes went over my heard.
The next day, Friday, we ate breakfast in the hotel, then went sightseeing--first to the United Nations. They were ripping up the fancy circle for the official entrance; the visitors entrance was a tent with metal detectors and bag scanners. There were several world art exhibits, including one of quilts/fabric by or for women seeking rights; also pictures of the Japanese tsunami. The pictures of the previous UN Sec Gens were all small rugs done by Iran. We took a tour with a guide and recorders that could be programmed to different languages; we saw the Nobel medal, a Buddhist stupa, and displays on the UNs work with disarmament, freedoms, and development plans, as well as the General Assembly and Security Council rooms. All very dated to the fifties. We went looking for lunch and ended up at a Chinese restaurant with a very international clientele. Then we took a cab to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan art, which I enjoyed but Mom didn't get. It included modern Indian paintings, and lots of buddhist figurines and mandalas. Then back in the subway to the Marriott, where the puzzlers were gathering. For dinner a bunch of us went to an Italian restaurant around the block, Queen (the Mortons closed this year) and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner, some people going back to watch the palindrome competition. After dinner I played a round of Peter Gordon's Celebrity, then we had Bananagrams at the bar.
Saturday was competition day. We went out for breakfast at a diner down the street which was good. Mom found her friend from Reynolds who was a rookie and shared our room that night. Puzzle 1 was a little tricky, with a letter addition theme. Puzzle 2, Boustrophedon, was more tricky, with alternate rows of clues reading backwards. Puzzle 3 took phrases that started with two initials, such as PR, and added a third, such as CPR. I felt well about the first three and hadn't heard of any errors. We broke for lunch at Panera's, which handled a large lunchtime crowd with good organization. I picked up a couple crossword books, and admired a wreath made of solved puzzles (but underbid the silent auction). Back in the room again, Puzzle 4 was straightforward--movie title mashup, Puzzle 5 put theme answers partially diagonally (easier than usual for #5), and puzzle 6 killed me with its EEW/IEOH crossing. I will not soon forget IM Pei's first names. My only wrong answer the whole weekend. For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant on Montague, Mom and me and her friend (Daphne?). For the evening entertainment there was a talk by Matt Ginsberg on his crossword solving computer program, which failed on puzzles 2 and 5 but otherwise did fairly well. Then a multipart game from Puzzlenation--I teamed up with Jan O'Sullivan, and we finished about 30th. (Andrew came in second, all by himself).
Sunday came, I was happy with being in the top sixty or so, despite my error (which was fairly common). We had breakfast again at the diner, and went in for Puzzle 7, which was a basic addition puzzle. So I ended up in my desired spot at 10% pretty much exactly. No trophies for us this year--Mom in fifth for age, I in fifth for New England. I did get a button for beating Dr Fill. The finals were good. I theoretically was faster than the third place B finalist. Tyler Hinman again led the pack in accuracy, and Dan Feyer in speed. Then back home again to the Cape, with just a short nap along the way.
I saw many of the regular crowd there again--Dave, Bob Kerfuffle, Nancy and Beth, Jan, Peter and Robin. Michael Sharp stopped at our table Friday night at the bar, but was unfortunately too sick with GE the next day for the competition. Brief hellos to Ryan and Brian, Andrew, Robert. I met the other Cape Codder, Ed Foster. Also Laura Dove, a psychiatrist from middle Massachusetts, who finished one place above me in my region--she was very nice, but will have to be my nemesis next year. Steve King was back again, and did a good job in the talent show. I did beat Jan this year, who must have made an error in the final puzzle. I didn't see Roberta, but she did well, as did Peter. Missing this year were Steve Smith and Marion Strauss, due to family issues; also Ulrich and chefBea.
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