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This weekend was the third annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Days, a benefit for the Morgan Hill Library Foundation. It was held at the Morgan Hill Library, and this was the first year I wasn't traveling and was able to attend. Saturday was all seminars about crossword puzzles, sudoku, cryptics, and the fascinating Japanese puzzles found on Nikoli's web site. I purchased a book of variety sudoku and had it signed by the authors, Wei-Hua Wang and Thomas Snyder, both of whom gave excellent presentations. There was also a panel discussion on crossword puzzle construction led by Andrea Carla Michaels, who has had a number of early-week puzzles published in the venerable New York Times and who co-authored today's puzzle with Tony Orbach.
Today was the day of the actual tournaments, sudoku in the morning, which I skipped, and crosswords in the afternoon. We did three crosswords from next week's New York Times, donated by Will Shortz, and though I came in only two minutes behind the third finalist, I had two errors in puzzle 2. This surprised me somewhat, but I haven't really been at the top of my game lately with all the cat troubles and Amy being gone for so long. I'm hoping to turn in seven more perfect puzzles at the ACPT next month, even if I don't better my times.
The final puzzle, which will be published in the Times on Friday, was not all that difficult, and I finished it (sitting in the audience) only a couple of minutes behind the first-place finisher, Eric Maddy. Considering that he had about a one-minute head start before the puzzles were handed out to those of us in the cheap seats, I was pretty pleased. Eric won the Alameda tournament in 2009 and consistently places in the top 3-4% at the ACPT, though I don't think he's ever been a finalist. He's also the first person to register for the Alameda tournament (which I run) this year, having handed me a $20 bill this afternoon. Thanks, Eric, and congratulations on another well-deserved victory!
As most of you know, the second annual Bay Area Crossword Puzzle Tournament will be held Saturday, September 12, at 10:30am at Alameda High School. Last year's Tournament was a rousing success (we raised almost $1,000 for the California Dictionary Project), and with double the prizes and a custom puzzle created for the Tournament by five-time ACPT champion Tyler Hinman, who will also be appearing at the tournament as our celebrity judge, this year's promises to be even better!
Early registration is just $20, but you have to have it in the mail by June 30. You can read all about the tournament and print out a registration form at the official Tournament web site. After June 30, registration goes up to $25, and at the door it will be $30, so it pays to register now.
I hope to see many of you in September!
The Second Annual Bay Area Crossword Puzzle Tournament, to benefit the California Dictionary Project, will be held on Saturday, September 12, in Alameda, California. Registration before June 30 is just $20. This year's Tournament features a Sunday-sized puzzle created specially for the Tournament by five-time ACPT winner Tyler Hinman, who will also appear in person.
This was a great event last year with 53 contestants. This year the prizes have doubled to a $100 Amazon gift certificate for the winner, a $50 Amazon gift certificate for second place, and a $25 Amazon gift certificate for third place, and we hope to attract 100 contestants of all different skill levels. This is already the premier crossword-only event in the Bay Area, so register early and we'll see you in September!
I've been invited to an audition in Culver City for people who passed the Jeopardy! online test. Until today, I had no idea I'd even passed the test, which IIRC was given almost a year ago. I'm flying to LA on March 11 for an audition on March 12. They originally invited me February 11, but I'll be in Hawaii that day, so I asked to reschedule, and fortunately they said yes.
If anyone has been to a Jeopardy! audition at the Sony Studios in Culver City, what is the process like? What should a 40-something white male nerd wear? How should I try to differentiate myself from the scads of other 40-something white male nerds who will no doubt be auditioning that same day? I've been on one game show (the now-defunct Merv Griffin's Crosswords) a couple of years ago, but they were desperate for contestants (small money, lots of shows per season, no name recognition), so it wasn't hard to get on once I passed the written test. Jeopardy!, I'm led to believe, is much more selective.
