Tournament Time: Part Two

One day and six puzzles later, I have proved once again that I am soooooo not a speed solver! My ranking in the competition, out of 684 registered contestants? A solid #630. Which proves you don't have to be good at it to love it.

We started off with an easy-peasy lull-you-into-complacency puzzle, got into the nitty gritty with puzzles #2 and #3, broke for lunch, and came back to reasonably challenging #4, then an impossible #5, followed by what I expected to be a smooth #6 -- which turned out to be a little tougher than I'd expected.

I don't expect puzzle #7 -- served up for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow -- to advance me any in the rankings. Not that it matters, mind you. No, no, it's really all about the experience of being among fellow puzzle fans. Yessiree. That's what it's about. ;)

That and entering the raffle for a NYTimes puzzle-related prize (I'm going for the cookie jar); seeing Jim Jenista with his pants down (see him in his fine regalia in Nancy Shack's tournament photos gallery); discovering the clever puzzle-related artwork of Emily Jo Cureton (I bought a "Visibly Blank Expression" tote that called to me for some unknown reason but, really, I wanted to own them ALL); and did I mention meeting and chatting with tablemates between puzzles?

And now I have to go rest up for tomorrow's challenge. And the piece-de-resistance, the final three at the big board!