Since I've got something more substantial to say than "Add your times here," let's make this a separate entry and everything else will auto-post as usual. I'll schedule a couple ACPT posts for Saturday and Sunday, as well. For now, I thought we could dedicate a thread to ACPT plans, strategies, predictions, and trash-talk.
Why don't we take those in order... Can't make Friday night plans, because I've got a family dinner. It's my mom's birthday! Which will be great, but then my whole family is staying the weekend in hopes of seeing me win the ACPT. So that's inadvertently piling on a whole bunch more pressure, at least to make the finals.
(Win or lose, I'm definitely not blogging a long wrap-up this year. Super busy next week, in part because I'm leaving soon for a three-month job in Michigan.)
I don't think I'm actually going to share my strategy, since most of my closest competitors will be reading this... But rest assured, I do have a strategy. Oh yes. And it's different from my usual strategy, which is "solve until your fingers ache". I've probably done about 50% of the training this year compared to the last few years, and even this week, I haven't felt like I'm in tip-top shape. Fortunately, my not-quite-tip-top is still pretty good.
More interestingly, "strategy"-wise: the constructor list, leaked by Will to BEQ, includes Patrick Blindauer (puzzle 2 or 5, right? surely something that will stump Dr. Fill) but doesn't include Maura Jacobson (so Merl will surely give us a breezy, punny puzzle 6, right?). Even money on Patrick Berry for the finals? Lynn Lempel's gotta have #1 or #4? It's fun to speculate, but I wouldn't put anything past Will after he hit us with Byron Walden on puzzle 1 a couple years ago.
Predictions! Not including myself, I'll say the top three are Anne, Tyler, and Plot. Bold, right? As for trash-talk, I think Plot and I have had that fairly well-covered here and on Facebook. It seems so out of character to jaw about the ACPT, because of how freaking nice all the top contenders are, right? (Wrong! You have no idea how nasty it gets in the finalists' sequestration room -- it's like an NHL game in there! Katie Hamill spit in some dude's face a couple years ago! Anne took a swing at me with one of her braids! Not really, but wouldn't that be awesome?) I hope nobody's put off by the lack of traditional decorum. I'm just having some fun when I remind Plot that he can beat me on all the easy puzzles he wants, but he has no chance to take me down in the finals.
Anyway! I kid because I love, and also because I am threatened. Please come say hello this weekend - I want to hang with as many people as possible, especially if they actually visit this site. Safe travels to the out-of-towners, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday morning!
11 comments:
The image of Anne swinging a braid at you is now my standing happy-place image. Thank you for enabling me to get myself out of any bad mood imaginable. See you Saturday!
That's it. I'm bringing my hockey sticks!
I'm warning you, I've had 2 whole penalty minutes this year in a local floor hockey league, so I've upped my well-earned bad-ass goon rating considerably ;).
Seriously, gonna be a fun weekend, looking forward to it.
LOL, Dan! I've now imbued all braids with SuperGlue for enhanced, hockey-stick-like swinging. Seriously, looking forward to seeing all of y'all great friends and competitors, and will expect to be cheering the A finalists on from the seats this year...
My goal is to beat Dr. Fill. If that means I have to accidentally spill a drink on Matt Ginsberg's laptop, so be it.
See you all in a couple of days! Can't wait to see those ninja-braids.
I think you are dead on with your predictions for who does what. Lynn Lempel makes a good easy puzzle, so she will lead off, and Berry's themelesses are brilliant. Hell, all his puzzles are brilliant. And Reagle should get the #6 slot because that would tame his sneakiness factor down (which cost me a top ten finish two years ago).
My goal is to improve from last year while being the same level of hungover on Saturday.
Doug, if you require me to bump you and the aforementioned drink into the laptop, just let me know.
Ninja-braids?? NINJA-BRAIDS??? Just for that, I think I'll wear my hair down at some point. Y'all won't recognize me!
Look forward to seeing you. I am working for Helene again because she is so nice.
Hey ... we'll enjoy it WITH you or WATCHING you. Love, Mom, a/k/a MODFWOTCDWOTBDWOTADWOLT (or, at least that's how I remember it -- and it has 100 letters)
I can't think of a retort that would top your veiled threat of NHL-style violence in the finals room. You win this round :)
Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.
Oh man, now my regrets in life include not getting to be in the finalists' sequestration room (even though I was "eventually" a Division C finalist) when Katie spit in a dude's face. LOL!
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