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Anyone else here going to Brooklyn this weekend for the annual Crossword Puzzle tournament?

mcd1400de wrote:Anyone else here going to Brooklyn this weekend for the annual Crossword Puzzle tournament?

Nahhh. I'll stay here and do a few on my own.

ulysses5019 wrote:

mcd1400de wrote:Anyone else here going to Brooklyn this weekend for the annual Crossword Puzzle tournament?

Nahhh. I'll stay here and do a few on my own.

What, no other crossword fans on this board?? I'm quite surprised.



(Wait... is it just because I work for a credit card company?)

mcd1400de wrote: What, no other crossword fans on this board?? I'm quite surprised.

Sorry, word games have never been my strong suit.

Has the big tournament moved back to Brooklyn? I thought, from seeing the movie Wordplay, that it had moved out to the 'burbs a few years ago.

Similar to my trivia ability, I am good but not great at crossword puzzles. Better than a majority of people, but not in the same class as the folks who win these things. Drove my college roommates nuts by doing them in ink, though, so it was worth it. Maybe one of these years, I'll attend the tournament.

mcd1400de wrote:What, no other crossword fans on this board?? I'm quite surprised.

Not the prosaic kind, but the cryptics, especially Emily & Henry's from The Atlantic. Completing them is right up there with serving an ace and running a category on the J! show. Best wishes!

mcd1400de wrote:

ulysses5019 wrote:

mcd1400de wrote:Anyone else here going to Brooklyn this weekend for the annual Crossword Puzzle tournament?

Nahhh. I'll stay here and do a few on my own.

What, no other crossword fans on this board?? I'm quite surprised.



(Wait... is it just because I work for a credit card company?)

I am a HUGE crossword fan! I was so disappointed to learn that after many years in Stamford, the annual tournament had been moved to Brooklyn. Not that Brooklyn is a million miles away, but Stamford is very close to where I live. Anyway, I've never attended, but have always wanted to. Have you gone before? Are you going to do all three days? I would love to hear all about it upon your return! GOOD LUCK!!!!

mcd1400de wrote:Anyone else here going to Brooklyn this weekend for the annual Crossword Puzzle tournament?

Keep an eye out for a young fellow named Jason Keller. (He may be wearing orange pants.) If you run into him, tell him you know both me and Jason Idalski.

Woo-hoo to Mark Dixon, winner of the C division!

http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2009 ... s/divc.htm

Talk about being in good company: the 2006 winner of the C division was Ken Jennings.

Way to go, Mark!

Congratulations, Mark! Excellent work!

Congratulations, Mark! Excellent work!

Congratulations, Mark!

I see several familiar names in the rankings, including the legendary Trip "Norman" Payne, who was the overall runner-up. My longtime friends Rob and Dave Mackey placed 24th and 67th. J! champion Leslie Frates came in 54th.

Congrats to all of them, too!

Congrats, Mark!

I'd love to do that sucker one of these days, but I'm afraid I'd have the same problem I have with Wheel of Fortune -- Brain Vapor Lock.

I did work some of the championship puzzles from a few years back -- they got reprinted in one of my crossword puzzle books.

Way to go, Marc! Too bad I didn't know about this earlier- I would like to try it sometime.

Where do you sign up?

popcultmaven wrote:Woo-hoo to Mark Dixon, winner of the C division!

http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2009 ... s/divc.htm

Talk about being in good company: the 2006 winner of the C division was Ken Jennings.

Good going, Mark!

Congrats Mark!

popcultmaven wrote:Woo-hoo to Mark Dixon, winner of the C division!

http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2009 ... s/divc.htm

Talk about being in good company: the 2006 winner of the C division was Ken Jennings.

Congratulations!

How are the different divisions determined? --Bob

Congrats!

popcultmaven wrote:Woo-hoo to Mark Dixon, winner of the C division!

http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2009 ... s/divc.htm

Talk about being in good company: the 2006 winner of the C division was Ken Jennings.

Well, that was fun! It's quite an experience solving a puzzle while standing at a whiteboard with almost a thousand people watching your every move, lol. Thanks for all your congratulations!!

I honestly didn't expect to win the final; I'd placed 3rd over the 7 preliminary puzzles, making it in by just 2 minutes over the next guy. But Roberta, the 1st place finisher, had done so well that she'd earned a full 52-second head start on me. Somehow I managed to make up that entire gap, and then some.

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:Congratulations, Mark!

I see several familiar names in the rankings, including the legendary Trip "Norman" Payne, who was the overall runner-up. My longtime friends Rob and Dave Mackey placed 24th and 67th. J! champion Leslie Frates came in 54th.

Congrats to all of them, too!

This year's A finals were practically a repeat from last year -- Trip once again finished first, several minutes ahead of the now 5-time-consecutive champ Tyler, but blew two letters (to a huge groan from the crowd). So Trip had to wait and hope Tyler either messed up or failed to finish in the 20-min. time limit. Tyler agonized over the last two squares for what seemed like forever... then the flash came and boom, he was done, with barely a couple minutes to spare.

But the weirdest part was what happened with the other A finalist. Francis and Trip had identical scores in all 7 rounds, a first amongst finals qualifiers. Fortunately, they tied for second; had they tied for third, they'd have had to compete in a "puzzle-off".

(In fact, there was a FOUR way points tie for 1st place, another first; the tiebreaker, highest score on puzzle #7, separated out first and fourth from those two. The fourth place guy was actually a B -- you can qualify "above" your own level, if your scores are good enough. He went on to win that final, which he told me made a perfectly good consolation prize, lol.)

Anyway, Francis also finished ahead of Tyler on the final puzzle -- but, true to form, made the same exact mistake that Trip did, to an even bigger groan. And the final irony: the last word Tyler filled in to win was COLEADERS, with the clue, "They're tied at the top".

It was a ridiculously exciting finish. As far as puzzle tournaments go, anyway.

popcultmaven wrote:Woo-hoo to Mark Dixon, winner of the C division!

Woo-hoo, indeed!....big-time congrats!!!!!