NYT (p) 2:15 ... LAT 1:43 ... CS 1:45 ... ND 1:25 ... JON 2:23 ... BEQ 3:54 ... BW #6 5:16
Solved the NYT at the Westchester tournament, where it was puzzle #1.
Sunday, 10/30/11
NYT 5:39 ... LAT 4:42 ... MR 5:47 ... BG 5:22 ... ND 3:40 ... CS 1:58 ... WP 3:15 ... Diagramless (p) 9:25
Friday, 10/28/11
NYT 2:26 ... LAT 2:11 ... CS 1:38 ... ND 1:49 ... CHE 1:44 ... WSJ 4:44 ... BEQ/TO 2:47 ... MGWC 5:22 ... AR #47 (p) 14:50
Thursday, 10/27/11
NYT (p) 4:12 ... LAT 3:03 ... CS 1:37 ... ND 1:57 ... BEQ 1:52 ... FB 3:42 ... TM #11 4:14
Sunday, 10/23/11
NYT 4:58 ... LAT 3:43 ... MR 4:41 ... BG 4:00 ... ND 3:54 ... CS 2:47 ... WP 4:00 ... Acrostic 6:50
Saturday, 10/22/11 & Pleasantville
NYT 3:18 ... LAT 2:10 ... CS 1:55 ... ND 2:12 ... Acrostic 6:17
Last night I rode the train up for the 15th Annual Pleasantville Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held for the first time at Will Shortz's beautiful new Westchester Table Tennis Center. I'll write about it later if I have time...
... well, not much time. But I'll note a few relevant things.
Last night I rode the train up for the 15th Annual Pleasantville Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held for the first time at Will Shortz's beautiful new Westchester Table Tennis Center. I'll write about it later if I have time...
... well, not much time. But I'll note a few relevant things.
- Met a few new NPL members (new to me, not the NPL) at the annual Magic Wok dinner organized by Adam Cohen.
- That table tennis center is shiny and neat - I would have liked to grab a paddle and play, but all fifteen (maybe twenty?) tables were in use at 9pm on a Friday.
- I managed to solve the tournament puzzles before having to judge them. The finals grid (very impressive) will appear this Thursday, the rest next Mon-Wed. Wednesday's puzzle will be the debut of blog-commenters-turned-ACPT-buddies-turned-constructors Sara Kaplan and Barry "KarmaSartre" Franklin. Sara, a Westchesterian, was in attendance, and asked if I would speed-solve against her on her puzzle, which I was happy to do. I didn't beat her by much - it would have been close if Will hadn't changed a few words in one of her corners.
- During the Introduction Of The Judges, Will Shortz mentioned this site and the fact that I usually don't write anything to go along with my times. Well yeah, it's not a blog! While he set the room atwitter by revealing that I can do a Monday NYT in 1:20something and a Newsday in 1:06, it should be noted that Tyler Hinman can, too. It's not like I'm lapping the field here - I'm just the only one running around shouting "Look at me!!"
- Chips 'n' beer reception chez Shortz. Deb Amlen takes phone calls from NYT.com staff who are trying to deal with the online puzzle snafus, while she just wants to have some wine. Will reads emails on his iPad, noting that the first correct answer to the Patrick Berry contest came in at 10:17 pm. He didn't say if it was Jeffrey Harris, but it had to be, right? I feel good that it did not take me 17 minutes today to solve the puzzle and get the meta. But that's because it was an easy meta. (Or I'm just on a roll - I was the first correct MGWCC answerer!)
- The contest was pretty cool, though we connoisseurs shouldn't be as blown away by it as many commenters seem to be - it's an impressive meta given the constraints it placed on the daily puzzles, but I felt those puzzles suffered as a result. (Since Patrick Berry was making them, they were still comfortably above average - just not up to his usual snuff.) Always glad when Will tries something new, and now I want to pull out Adventures in Puzzling and get back into that...
Friday, 10/21/11
NYT (p) 6:13 ... LAT 2:36 ... CS 1:42 ... ND 2:01 ... CHE 2:16 ... WSJ 5:30 ... MGWC 3:30
Tuesday, 10/18/11
NYT 1:42 ... LAT 1:38 ... CS 1:39 ... ND 1:14 ... BT 2:18 ... TO 2:45 ... AR #45 (p) 14:50 ... AR #46 (p) 18:30
Sunday, 10/16/11
NYT 5:31 ... LAT 4:18 ... MR 4:17 ... BG 5:33 ... ND 3:29 ... CS 2:07 ... WP 2:08 ... Split Decisions (p) 9:40
Computer is back up to speed, but I'm so busy I probably won't be solving again until Tuesday.
Computer is back up to speed, but I'm so busy I probably won't be solving again until Tuesday.
Saturday, 10/15/11
NYT 3:28 ... LAT 2:53 ... CS 1:42 ... ND 5:22 ... Labyrinth (p) 4:45 ... TM 5:31
Solving on a different computer where I don't have the usual apps. Anyone want to send me the Fri/Sat CS and ND puzzles in Across Lite? (all set, thanks!)
Solving on a different computer where I don't have the usual apps. Anyone want to send me the Fri/Sat CS and ND puzzles in Across Lite? (all set, thanks!)
Friday, 10/14/11
NYT 3:16 ... LAT 2:32 ... CS 1:46 ... ND 2:15 ... CHE 2:22 ... WSJ 4:05 ... MGWC 2:57
Solving is on hold until I get some computer issues straightened out...
Solving is on hold until I get some computer issues straightened out...
Sunday, 10/9/11
NYT 5:07 ... LAT 5:09 ... MR 5:28 ... BG 4:43 ... ND 3:19 ... CS 2:05 ... WP 4:31 ... Acrostic 7:20 ... AR #43 (p) 12:40 ... AR #44 (p) 16:20
Friday, 10/7/11
NYT 1:53 ... LAT 2:54 ... CS 1:42 ... ND 1:50 ... CHE 1:53 ... WSJ 5:54 ... MGWC 1:59
Thursday, 10/6/11
NYT 1:52 ... LAT 2:13 ... CS 1:48 ... ND 1:47 ... BEQ 2:17 ... FB 4:20 ... TM #9 6:37
Tuesday, 10/4/11 & "Behind the Puzzle"
NYT n/a ... LAT 1:47 ... CS 2:00 ... ND 1:23 ... BT 2:36 ... TO 2:33
Following is the way-too-long story of constructing my first New York Times crossword, published today...
SPOILERS below if you haven't solved it.
SPOILERS, I say.
SPOILERS!
Okay.
JUGGLING PINS was the first theme idea I ever had, back in '08 when I was first getting into crosswords. I used to juggle regularly with my drummer friend Brad during summer theater stints in the early 2000s. But we never juggled at home in New York, and I haven't kept up with the hobby.
It occurred to me that JUGGLING PINS was a perfect (and original) theme-revealer, so I tried to come up with three other phrases ending in anagrams of PINS, like GO FOR A SPIN, CHEESE NIPS, and I don't know what else, but I never ended up with a usable set.
Fast forward a year, when Brad sent me a text saying "dude. do you have free time this week. wanna go to the park and juggle?" We didn't, but that reminded me of my aborted theme, and triggered the idea that the PINS could be scattered throughout the grid instead. When I laid out the revealer entry near the bottom, I saw that I could cross CLOWN through the central "L" and arrange the PINs to create a cool visual "aha".
From there I spent most of the summer constructing the grid. My first attempt was 76 words, and when I ran the design by Patrick Blindauer, he wisely advised me that it would be too ambitious, what with all the diagonal constraints. I think I ended up using the tweaked 78-word design that he sent back, so thanks Patrick!
The two key elements for me were to have a PIN in each of the eight possible configurations, and to array them as if the CLOWN were juggling them. The problem with that was that I couldn't use the bottom few rows of the grid, so I thought the "dropped" PIN in the SW corner would be a cute touch.
Once ENTERTAINED (or ENTERTAINER) fit nicely as a long Down, I tried to come up with a symmetrical entry that could also be tied to the theme, but that was too much for a novice to handle. I didn't (and still don't) have a word list other than Matt Ginsberg's database, so I filled the grid very slowly. No doubt a veteran constructor could come up with better fill -- and I considered asking one for help -- but I figured it would be good enough to pass muster for a Tuesday. Not too much crosswordese, I hope, and the only iffy-for-a-Tuesday entries might be DONEN and CERA (and at least there's one for each generation there).
Then I waited six or eight months to actually send it to Will, because I was re-thinking corners, tweaking clues, and doubting whether the puzzle would be good enough at all. I'm interested to see how many clues were changed, since I generally went with inoffensive rather than innovative (I'll update this post when I see the final version [[UPDATE BELOW]]). Will accepted the puzzle exactly a year and a day ago, and I got the email in the middle of a twelve-hour tech rehearsal in Michigan.
And there you have it: my first submission, my first publication, and possibly the only puzzle you'll ever see from me in a newspaper. I haven't had any other good ideas since then, and constructing isn't that much fun for me anyway. I'll stick with the solving for now.
More details after seeing the published version...
Well, 44 of my clues survived verbatim, and another 16 were edited but retained my general idea. Much better than I was expecting! I had CLOWN clued [Circus performer (seen here 54-Across)], to make it extra-clear that the clown is juggling those pins. Interested to see how many people get that...
Otherwise, I'm pleased that the shout-outs to favorite shows The Amazing Race and Arrested Development (topical!) survived. ALEC was originally [Brother of Stephen, Daniel, and William], because I have a brother named Stephen. I liked [Words unsuitable for The New York Times] for OATHS. And my most creative clue didn't survive: [The IT girl, maybe?] for NERD. I suspect that NYT style would render that as "I.T.", which would kill the joke even if Will liked it.
Oh! And I solved it in 1:25, which included some typing snafus...
Following is the way-too-long story of constructing my first New York Times crossword, published today...
SPOILERS below if you haven't solved it.
SPOILERS, I say.
SPOILERS!
Okay.
JUGGLING PINS was the first theme idea I ever had, back in '08 when I was first getting into crosswords. I used to juggle regularly with my drummer friend Brad during summer theater stints in the early 2000s. But we never juggled at home in New York, and I haven't kept up with the hobby.
It occurred to me that JUGGLING PINS was a perfect (and original) theme-revealer, so I tried to come up with three other phrases ending in anagrams of PINS, like GO FOR A SPIN, CHEESE NIPS, and I don't know what else, but I never ended up with a usable set.
Fast forward a year, when Brad sent me a text saying "dude. do you have free time this week. wanna go to the park and juggle?" We didn't, but that reminded me of my aborted theme, and triggered the idea that the PINS could be scattered throughout the grid instead. When I laid out the revealer entry near the bottom, I saw that I could cross CLOWN through the central "L" and arrange the PINs to create a cool visual "aha".
From there I spent most of the summer constructing the grid. My first attempt was 76 words, and when I ran the design by Patrick Blindauer, he wisely advised me that it would be too ambitious, what with all the diagonal constraints. I think I ended up using the tweaked 78-word design that he sent back, so thanks Patrick!
The two key elements for me were to have a PIN in each of the eight possible configurations, and to array them as if the CLOWN were juggling them. The problem with that was that I couldn't use the bottom few rows of the grid, so I thought the "dropped" PIN in the SW corner would be a cute touch.
Once ENTERTAINED (or ENTERTAINER) fit nicely as a long Down, I tried to come up with a symmetrical entry that could also be tied to the theme, but that was too much for a novice to handle. I didn't (and still don't) have a word list other than Matt Ginsberg's database, so I filled the grid very slowly. No doubt a veteran constructor could come up with better fill -- and I considered asking one for help -- but I figured it would be good enough to pass muster for a Tuesday. Not too much crosswordese, I hope, and the only iffy-for-a-Tuesday entries might be DONEN and CERA (and at least there's one for each generation there).
Then I waited six or eight months to actually send it to Will, because I was re-thinking corners, tweaking clues, and doubting whether the puzzle would be good enough at all. I'm interested to see how many clues were changed, since I generally went with inoffensive rather than innovative (I'll update this post when I see the final version [[UPDATE BELOW]]). Will accepted the puzzle exactly a year and a day ago, and I got the email in the middle of a twelve-hour tech rehearsal in Michigan.
And there you have it: my first submission, my first publication, and possibly the only puzzle you'll ever see from me in a newspaper. I haven't had any other good ideas since then, and constructing isn't that much fun for me anyway. I'll stick with the solving for now.
More details after seeing the published version...
Well, 44 of my clues survived verbatim, and another 16 were edited but retained my general idea. Much better than I was expecting! I had CLOWN clued [Circus performer (seen here 54-Across)], to make it extra-clear that the clown is juggling those pins. Interested to see how many people get that...
Otherwise, I'm pleased that the shout-outs to favorite shows The Amazing Race and Arrested Development (topical!) survived. ALEC was originally [Brother of Stephen, Daniel, and William], because I have a brother named Stephen. I liked [Words unsuitable for The New York Times] for OATHS. And my most creative clue didn't survive: [The IT girl, maybe?] for NERD. I suspect that NYT style would render that as "I.T.", which would kill the joke even if Will liked it.
Oh! And I solved it in 1:25, which included some typing snafus...
Monday, 10/3/11
NYT 1:47 ... LAT 1:49 ... CS 1:53 ... ND 1:14 ... JON 2:15 ... BEQ 4:05 ... PB2 2:32
I'm a little under the weather, which is why I solved so late and relatively slowly. But I'm very excited for 10pm tonight, when my NYT constructing debut drops! My write-up about it will post at that time.
I'm a little under the weather, which is why I solved so late and relatively slowly. But I'm very excited for 10pm tonight, when my NYT constructing debut drops! My write-up about it will post at that time.
Sunday, 10/2/11
NYT 4:35 ... LAT 4:49 ... MR 3:55 ... BG 5:57 ... ND 3:40 ... CS 2:09 ... WP 2:44 ... Cryptic (p) 5:10
Saturday, 10/1/11
NYT 3:15 ... LAT 3:06 ... CS 2:23 ... ND 3:14 ... Rows Garden untimed, on the hard side but I didn't get stuck
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