The NYT was Puzzle 3 at the BCPT. I got kinda stuck near the corner of ATEDIRT (which I couldn't parse until the whole answer appeared) and DISSIDENT (which I wrote, erased, and re-wrote).
Yesterday (technically today as I write this, but it says "Tuesday" up top), I solved this old CS puzzle on paper in 1:49. [See below for visual "proof".] It felt like a record pace halfway through, but I managed not to choke! Long answers helped - there were about a dozen clues I didn't even see. Two of my personal fastest puzzles now are by Martin Ashwood-Smith, two by Peter Gordon. They're smooth!
9 comments:
so where can i put money down on you to dethrone tyler?
I think there are several futures markets online, where you can start a pool and lose plenty of fake money! I want to bet on Howard.
Joon -- if these markets exist there will be plenty of money on you to win the "C" title (assuming you don't pull an Amy and win the "B" title)
Bet on me, and you will most definitely lose plenty of fake money.
Keep betting, and eventually the little Monopoly guy with the top hat and monocle will drop by to repossess your car - it's not a pretty sight.
That said, 10 gherkins on Joon for C, and 3.14 more on Dan to crack 2 minutes while blindfolded.
going into 2009 i thought i was not a lock, but at least a favorite to win C. then i couldn't go to the tournament. i did the puzzles by mail (on paper), and ... i ended up with bad crossings on three different puzzles. ouch. so i would have been 75th had i done this in brooklyn, which is not exactly what i had in mind (i was hoping for 30th-40th). so you never know.
but i figure with another year and another 2000+ puzzles under my belt, i'll be better next year. i'm hoping to make the B finals, which would make that C title a pretty risky wager. but i don't think i'm likely to pull an amy, especially as john beck is (against all odds) still B-eligible.
Woo Dan... that is really spooky. My personal paper record is also 1.49... and it was on that exact same puzzle. I better enjoy the one and only time I seem to have channeled you!
Anne, that's amazing! Sounds like I was channeling you, no?
Dan,
No.
(Me = fluke time, you = normal time.)
...says the woman who finished the ACPT puzzles a minute faster than me!
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