OK, last post before taking off from Brooklyn. Puzzle #7 was exciting & down to the wire -- I think I had three words left to finish when time was called. Neverthless, it was a fun one, and was followed by a restorative walk along the Brooklyn Promenade, and then back for the final round, which was exceptionally thrilling. Tyler Hinman confirmed that he has, as a neighbor said, "the heart of a champion" as he won for his 5th straight year in a genuine nail biter. More (probably way too much) about all that later, but for now, this is Gingy saying that I hope that you're down with the message I've been trying to put across -- happy puzzling!

Here's my result for Puzzle #2, just for grins. We received clean copies of all the tournament puzzles, so I'll be able to share with all you disciples out there. Cheers!

P.S.

After Puzzles 5 & 6, my ranking went from 521 to 498 -- very proud, but a double-edged sword, because if I go down after #7, I'll be a little crushed. Whatever. Shaking it off. Sort of.

Further proof that I'm at some kind of alternative MIT function: guy in front of me wearing the classic formula-blah-blah-blah-more-equations "...and then there was light!" Remember that one from the Phone Home program, kids?

Sorry for the incessant 'Tute talk, but it's inescapable. And when I said Will was standing on the podium in the previous post, of course I meant stage -- Will is way too cool to stand on a podium. I may have used up a good bit of my command of the English language already. Egad! Or alas!

The Big Day, Part 1 of ___

OK, this blog thing is harder to manage than I thought. I couldn’t write at all during the day yesterday, then during Game Night, I took the laptop and did a sort of live running commentary, but of course, the wireless doesn’t extend to this airplane hangar of a banquet hall, and then there was the editing that needed to be done (!), and next thing you know, it’s 9:00 on Sunday morning already, and we’re back for #7, the last of the open-swim puzzles, before the finals . So I guess I’ll try to capture yesterday during the day, then toss up our Saturday night ramblings, and then try to sum it all up, if possible.

Here we are, official folders, name badges, pencils, hats, and Will Shortz on hand (the guy in the blue shirt way back there on the podium). The deal on Saturday is, there are six puzzles, three in the morning and three in the afternoon. These each have different degrees of difficulty, as indicated by the allotted time for completion. So the first was a 15 minute puzzle, which I finished in 8 minutes – stomach knotted & hands a-sweat throughout! Worse than my faint memory of the SATs, impossible to remind self that had willingly spent money this time and that no college admission was actually riding on finishing this motherfracking puzzle. Ten-minute break between puzzles, and then #2, a 25 minuter, and right away, the breathing gets easier & the sweat dries up, because one look tells me I will NEVER finish this thing in 25 minutes, so why try? Now I can just do my methodical Cappy thing: all the Acrosses, all the Downs, back & forth so I don’t miss any boxes, and get as close as you can. Should explain scoring: 10 points for every correct word entered across & down, so partial credit is available! 25 bonus points for each full minute you finish early (and they only count full minutes, not down to the wire seconds), but that bonus will be reduced by 25 points for each letter that is omitted or entered incorrectly, up to but not beyond the point the bonus returns to 0. 150 bonus points for a complete & correct solution.

This is Brendan Emmet Quigley, author of the 2nd puzzle and not looking anything like the tweedy British professor type that his name suggests. As someone here said, “I think of Brendan as my nemesis” and if you’ve ever done one of his puzzles (he’s a regular in the Times), you’ll agree. He SEEMS nice, all I’m-just-handing-out-puzzles, but he’s kind of the devil.

One word, in between two rounds of 3 puzzles each, and an evening of "fun" and "games" -- or really, it's a number: 521. That's my ranking out of approximately 680 contenders, after scoring 4 puzzles. But that's without the score of #5, on which I got, I think, 27 answers out of about 151 possible words -- word on the corridor is that it was the hardest #5 in memory, and #5s are always the hardest puzzle of the tourney. Dan, for his part, is NOT LAST. And we still have smiles across our faces, and we're going to go down a few drinks to celebrate! More tomorrow! Good night, Gingyville.

ACPT Day 1

OK, I'm in the lobby lounge with my coffee & my laptop, the PA is playing an all-funk XM radio station -- "Flashlight" anyone? As for the tourney, I don't even know where to begin. It's a little like being at an MIT reunion, because geek meter is WAY over in the red section. And yet, these geeks are speaking a language I can actually understand -- I'm down with what they're trying to put across, if you get my drift. So does that make them different, or does it, come on, admit it, make me a geek too? If so, I guess I'm picking up that banner and waving it proudly (what choice do I have? I'm a registered participant!). Anyhow, here's the deal so far:

We didn't get in until about 9:00, which we will know for next year is a little too late, because there was a first round of puzzles starting at 8:00, for which prizes were awarded at the wine & cheese reception starting at 10:00. However, we hadn't stopped for supper on the way, and Dan learned the hard way what it is to come between a Capricorn and her primary needs. When he suggested that maybe we could make do with peanuts at the bar until the food at the reception, I think the tone of my voice ("Are you KIDDING?!!!") caused his whole life to flash before him. A quesadilla and some delicious short rib sliders later, all was well in Gingyville. On to the reception....

Actually, too much for words -- I think I'll let the pictures do the talking (and forgive any misalignment -- I'm new to this formatting, but am loviung the opportunity to publicize my life a little too much!) (Dan, on the other hand, just wants to make sure I don't ever use his last name, so he can't be Googled -- can't be too careful in the age of gotcha journalism!).

Stacks of crossword puzzles at the reception desk -- we know we're in the right place.

Our room at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott -- very lush, I must say: a pillow top mattress and extremely high thread count sheets (that post's for you, Martha).

My peeps...

The Bartholomews, the first people we talked to -- super nice. They live in Brooklyn, so they walk over to observe only: "The puzzler, in its natural habitat...."



Dan, ready to give it his all!

What's a 7-letter word for a Saturday puzzle?

Tyler Hinman, champion of the last 4 tournaments, including the one in "Wordplay" -- he won one of the puzzles and chose the "KenKen" bottle of sake for his prize -- still a frat boy at heart.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod OHMYGOD it's WILL SHORTZ!

Merl Reagle, puzzlemaker extraordinaire (and shorter than he looked in "Wordplay").

So that's it for now. Must go pick up registration packet, wake Dan up, and start firing up the little grey cells. More to follow, denizens of Gingyville!

Off to Brooklyn!

So Dan and I are set to roll out to Brooklyn, to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (http://www.crosswordtournament.com/), hosted by Will Shortz of the NYTimes Puzzle & NPR, and featured in the delightful 2006 film "Wordplay" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492506/). I'm nervous, but pretty psyched to hang out with people who share my somewhat fanatical devotion to the NYTimes crossword puzzle -- people who know what orts, efts, and the Villa d'Este are (if you have to ask...). I'll try to update as we go along, and if nothing else, the puzzle has already sucked me into the blogosphere, so I suppose that's progress. Or is it the Borg? Hmmm....more to come!