A Lesson a Day ...

If you solve the NYTimes puzzle online, as I did today, you'll run into a bit of a problem filling in the grid. There's more to the theme entries than meets the eye, so you'll have to either remember where those squares occur or devise a way to indicate that the unfilled-square isn't really unfilled. What I did was type an askerisk into the appropriate square; for some reason only the programmer knows, that placed an open circle, not an askerisk, in the spot, but that was okay as it hardly mattered what was there, only that something be there temporarily.

It was a neat twist that didn't take long to figure out ... unlike my experience at the ACPT, where time pressure tends to freeze the brain.

And I know it's the time pressure that does the freezing, because at home I handily solved all the tournament puzzles -- except the infamous #5, of course -- without reference to the answer key. Okay, okay, some of that was re-solving but still ... places where I'd been stumped were suddenly glaringly obvious. Puh-lease! (The piggy puns were real groaners, btw -- boartoxinjections? oy!)

Back to the puzzle at hand ... I mean, on the screen ... I learned a new word today: basinet (this wouldn't be obscure crosswordese, would it?). Googling the word, I found that, according to its Wikipedia entry, it can be spelled three ways: bascinet, bassinet, or basinet. I also found that there is a jazz singer, Cynthia Basinet, known for her take on the Eartha Kitt classic "Santa Baby," and well enough known for her work in Africa to have been nominated recently for the Nobel Peace Prize. It would have been nice -- and I think with the same level of difficulty -- to see her clued for the entry rather than a medieval piece of armor.

There was also a geography lesson for me in this puzzle: India's Malabar Coast, 525 miles of southwest India coastline. Further googling also reveals a London company, Malabar, that sells designer fabrics handwoven in India. I shall definitely have to check them out!

Not A Crossword But Not To Be Missed

This is one of the things I missed Friday night when I had to go home to rest up for the competition Saturday: Amanda Yesnowitz's KenKen song via Cole Porter's "CanCan."

What a treat! And many many thanks to Nancy Shack for posting this to YouTube for all to see.

The musicians are crossword constructors John Lampkin (bass), Victor Fleming (coffee cup) and Harvey Estes (guitar).

Tournament Time: Part Three

Tyler Hinman did it again, in a thrilling finish. If you weren't there ... if you enjoyed the excitement of the final A Division round in Wordplay ... you owe it to yourself to download the Quicktime video of this year's A Division Final kindly posted online by Nancy Shack. Wait for the download (it's a large file and takes a while). Then thrill to the drama as the 3 top players -- Trip Payne, Francis Heaney, and Tyler Hinman -- all with identical scores -- vie for the championship. (Fair warning, though: I wasn't able to actually watch this, as my Quicktime software is woefully out of date.)

Or just watch the very end as the light finally dawns for Tyler:



As for me, I proved once again that I am soooo not a speed solver, one reason I really enjoy getting the collection of tournament puzzles, with the answer sheet, at the end. I solve them again, in leisure, at home, able to just enjoy the puzzles' clever twists and turns as they (slowly) reveal themselves at last.

So, this year: I finished at 635 out of a field of 685.

Next year: God willing and the creek don't rise, as my Mom used to say, Ellen and I have vowed to return, complete with hotel room rental so we can have the full Tournament experience and won't have to miss the evening festivities.

Oh, and I shall practice diligently in an attempt to climb up into the exalted ranks of those who place among the 500's in the rankings. Not that I'm competitive at all. But the challenge has been made.

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!

Tournament Time: Part One

I arrived at the Brooklyn Marriott for the 32nd Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament tired and wet (I'd been working all day ... and it was raining).

I hadn't intended to ... and didn't ... attend the opening night festivities, interested though I was to hear what the more famous crossword bloggers (they have been at it for quite some time, after all, and I have only just begun) had to say about online experiences. To do that, I'd have to: 1) stay awake; 2) either eat a very late dinner indeed or go without; and 3) arrive home in the wee hours of the morning. So, alas, I missed the blogger talk, the appearance of KenKen inventor Tetsuya Miyamoto and the "Pick Your Poison" contest (I probably would have chosen the cryptic in Round 2).

Never fear, however: I have my spy, who has orders to report back.

I picked up my registration packet, however, gathered up the puzzle goodies on the goody-table, and found my friend, rookie tournament attendee Ellen, happily chatting with others at a table near the registration desk. After registering (there were constructors put to work manning the table), I joined the group at Ellen's table for some pleasant anticipatory chit-chat. Indeed, the atmosphere was, as usual, one of cheerful anticipation. And, of course, we were surrounded by the truly great joy of this tournament: the world's nicest, friendliest people.

So I startled a couple of folks by taking my leave. Once home and properly fed, I looked over the goodies in the registration packet with the ones I'd grabbed from the desk. First up: "The World's Hardest Crossword" from, apparently, a 1965 issue of Esquire magazine. It came with the promise of a $100 prize to "one person or team, selected at random," who manages to correctly solve & submit the puzzle by Saturday at 8 p.m. It's a 23x23, and I managed to fill in the grand total of two entries. There is no doubt that I will not be winning that Benjamin!

Looking for easier fare, I found a puzzle by Todd Gross, which I put aside for later. Then there was a copy of Friday's puzzle from the Times, which I appreciated as I hadn't picked up Friday's paper. Joe DiPietro had put two stacks of fifteens in this Friday challenge, but I've confronted those before and sometimes managed to solve them, so I wasn't too intimidated. I should have been intimidated. Heh. Or maybe I was just too tired. So it proved to be a solving pleasure to move on to the much easier but still interesting "Bonus Puzzle by Puzzazz.com." This one posed a question that was to be answered by anagramming circled letters in the puzzle; however, I got the answer from the question and the number of letters in the answer alone before I even put pen to grid. Well then of course I still had to solve the puzzle just to be sure I was right. Right? Right! Yes, Ellen, I was right, and yes, the puzzle was still fun to solve, and, no, it was not too easy, either: I still have the lower right corner to fill.

Also in the packet, should one be so inclined *and* have time and money to spend: a flyer for Will Shortz's Wonderful World of Words at Mohonk Mountain House November 13-15, and a flyer for Stan Newman's Crossword University 10-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise January 14-24, 2010.

Oh, my goodness, don't I wish! I've been to Mohonk Mountain House and just did not want to ever leave (warning: it's expensive). And what could be a better excuse to indulge in a cruise than 10 days' worth of crosswords? Especially at the prices listed in the flyer -- now, that's a deal!

Well, I'll just sit here and dream a bit. Meanwhile, the 32nd Annual Tourney awaits -- time to shower, get some breakfast, and be on my way to greet the day at the Brooklyn Marriott.

It's A Pangram

When I see a "series ender" XYZ in a puzzle, I immediately start to scan for the appearance of all the rest of the alphabet in the grid. Sure 'nuff, constructor Kevin G. Der gave us a bonus: the ever-elusive pangram. We also got some "bonus" letters -- that's the theme, folks -- hinted at in the old street cry (think newsboys back before any of us was born) at 57 across. And an added treat for this sci-fi movie / TV fan: references to both Star Trek and Star Wars. Neat!

I solved this one in two spurts: half on the commute in to work and half on the way home from work, which included its own "bonus" stop-off at the Union Square Barnes & Nobel to visit the 2nd floor offering of puzzle books.

I wanted something different. Hence, the rows and rows and rows of Will Shortz publications just seemed ... sad. And I already had the two Fraser Simpson New-Yorker-style cryptic books ... these are such a delight, I was hoping for a third. I do hope another is in the works! I rejected an offering of ... ahem ... adult ... themed "dirty" crosswords, not that I mind, particularly, I'm just not in the mood.

And then I spotted the orphan: one lonely copy of the Mensa Big Book of Acrostics, Vol 2, by Michael Ashley. One hundred Acrostics that I figured would be good practice for the every-other-Sunday Times Magazine offering. So I brought it home with me and settled down at once to #1, which I ended up solving in its own two spurts: half before bed, the other half before breakfast. I needed to look up only one entry, the 4-letter answer to "Author of Buddenbrooks" and probably didn't really need that if I'd been a little less impatient.

New to me, from this puzzle, is the name "Old Scratch" for Satan. The American Heritage Dictionary explains that the term was used in New England (so I should have known it) but now is mainly a US Southern expression (which explains why I'm not familiar with it). "Old Nick" also apparently refers to Satan. Good to know. They're sure to turn up in crosswords some time.

Double Trouble

Alas and ALACK, Tuesday brings us broken hearts and on Wednesday, we GRIEVE (unless of course we incorrectly filled in ROI instead of REI for the "King, in Portugal," clue, in which case we spend some downtime wondering what it is to GRIOVE ... yes, yours truly did that!

The theme is all about shifting gears, for all you licensed drivers out there, and there is quite a bit of shifting to do. If the clue is "nada" and you're already entered ZI for a 5-letter word, you'd naturally think of ZILCH, wouldn't you? I would and I did. Sorry -- think again! Likewise, the three-word entry for "For Shame!" is not TSK and the 3-letter "monk's title" is so not FRA. Think a Jaguar is a CAR, especially in a driving-themed puzzle? No, no, no. Likewise, gnats are not PICKY (that would be nits, not gnats), even though 3 of those 5 letters are correct. Given _ A _ E R, would you say a "hoops player" is a LAKER? Nahhhhh, too specific!

Keep your hand on that gear shift while you go for a ride in this puzzle, a NYTimes debut, I believe, for constructor Susan Gelfand. I'll be keeping my eye out for that name -- 'cuz in spite of the grieving and that Dickensian cry, this puzzle was *fun* !