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BOSTON CROSSWORD PUZZLE TOURNAMENT
April 11, 2010
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2nd ANNUAL CHICAGO CROSSWORD TOURNAMENT
April 17, 2010
Chicago, IL
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aboard Celebrity Solstice
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January 9-16, 2011
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34th ANNUAL AMERICAN CROSSWORD PUZZLE TOURNAMENT
March 18-20, 2011
Brooklyn, NY
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THE END for "Crosswords"?
According to this article, it may be curtains for "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" - the show has gone on indefinite hiatus. Repeats along with a smattering of new, unaired shows ("Crosswords" produced 225 episodes this season) will begin in September.
What do you thinK? Will you miss the show? Did you think the puzzles were too easy? Too hard? Too Timothy Parker?Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Another Crosswordy "Crosswords" Player
This past Wednesday, Amy Reynaldo, author of "How To Conquer The New York Times Crossword Puzzle", appeared on "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" - did she conquer Timothy Parker's daily stumper? Watch and find out!Labels: Amy Reynaldo, game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
"Merv Griffin's Crosswords" Renewed
Promising a "bigger and better" Season 2, host Ty Treadway has revealed on his blog that planning is now underway for the second year of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords". With very few syndicated game shows now making it past the first year, this is an accomplishment.
Program Partners, the show's syndicator, has confirmed that the show is a "firm go" for Year 2, and has already begun work on expanding their program portfolio by announcing a new talk show for Marie Osmond, set to premiere in Fall 2009.
The show's New York outlet, WNBC, has already renewed the show and possibly will pair it with a new syndicated daytime edition of "Deal or No Deal" with Howie Mandel.
Here's the link if you want to be a contestant.Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Watch Patrick Jordan on Crosswords
On Friday, in those cities that still get two episodes of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords", competition solver and top constructor Patrick Jordan appeared as a contestant. Nancy Shack has made this YouTube presentation possible. Here are the links to the two parts of his appearance...
Part One
Part TwoLabels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords, Patrick Jordan
"Crosswords" Is Great Fun!
Hey, we caught the first couple episodes of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" and we think it's off to a fine start. It's airing in good time slots in many markets (including New York) and has a lot of the old, traditional game show trappings that have gotten lost in recent shows, like announcer (Edd Hall), neat-looking set (by Bob Rang, who's worked on Merv's shows for over 30 years), and catchy theme music (actually an old stock theme of Griffin's which he wrote for a busted pilot called "Buzzword").
The contestants are apparently crossword-savvy, knowing to match case and tense in answering the definitions (even if the puzzle makers don't - we've already been hearing reports of inaccuracies in the puzzles) and understanding some answers are two words. The producers are expecting the audience to be, too, as a lot of this background information isn't really explained. Puzzles are pretty good so far; haven't seen any "writing" credits so I don't know exactly who the constructors are, other than "puzzle producer" Timothy Parker.
The one tricky part of the show is the introduction of "spoilers" into the second round of the game. These are people who can steal one of the two playing positions if the two active players can't come up with the correct answer.
We're hopeful of a nice run for this show, so please watch it and tell your friends to. This is a great advertisement for our hobby and profession.Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords, Timothy Parker
Get Your "Crosswords" Early
NBC has announced a special primetime network broadcast of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords". The show will air one time only on Saturday, September 8 at 8:30 p.m. (NBC publicity simply titles the show "Crosswords". Hmmm....
This is similar to a stunt MyNetwork is running to promote Twentieth Television's "Temptation", by giving that new syndicated show a network window.
"Crosswords" will begin airing in syndication on September 10, and syndicator Program Partners has announced that a whopping 225 episodes will be produced during the first season to keep repeats to a minimum.
UPDATE: Due to an NBC scheduling change, the prime-time broadcast of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" has been cancelled. It will still begin in syndication on September 10, but will just not have the primetime preview.Labels: Merv Griffin's Crosswords
"Crosswords" Creator Griffin Dead Of Cancer, 82
(Edited from a previous post)
Merv Griffin, the 82-year-old talk-show icon and game show creator who was rediagnosed with prostate cancer in July, has died.
Griffin's newest show, "Merv Griffin's Crosswords", with Ty Treadway as host, is set to premiere September 10 on stations around the country. The show reportedly will keep its name as a tribute to its creator.
Griffin, who started as a band singer with Freddy Martin's orchestra, hosted a late-night talk show for CBS that went up against similar offerings from Johnny Carson on NBC and Joey Bishop on ABC, then took his show into syndication where it did much better thanks to earlier time slots in most markets.
Griffin was responsible for creating two of the biggest game shows of all time - "Jeopardy!" in 1964 and "Wheel of Fortune" in 1975. Although they did well on network television, the syndicated versions - entering their 24th and 25th seasons in the fall, respectively - made Griffin a very wealthy man. He also had interests in closed-circuit racetrack betting very early in that game, and also owned hotels and other real estate, including (at one time) the Resorts hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Meanwhile, "Merv Griffin's Crosswords", presently in production at Tribune Studios in Hollywood, is still looking for contestants. Give the contestant staff a call at (323) 762-8282 if you think you've got what it takes to play the crossword game.Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
"Merv Griffin's Crosswords" Books Due In October
St. Martin's Griffin is going to be publishing five volumes of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" tie-in books, edited by Timothy Parker, who is going to be supervising the puzzles used on the show.
There will be three full-size volumes - 100 Easiest Puzzles, 100 Easy Puzzles, and 100 Easy To Hard Puzzles, and there will also be two pocket volumes. It is not known if these are going to be puzzles actually used on the show, or if they are from the Universal Puzzle archives.
Search on Amazon for these and other crossword titles, and anything you buy helps fund our activities.
Labels: Merv Griffin's Crosswords
New Definition For EDD
"Merv Griffin's Crosswords" announcer HallLabels: Merv Griffin's Crosswords
"Ooooh! My show has a new name!"
First, it was "Let's Play Crosswords." Then, for a brief time, it was "Let's Do Crosswords."
Finally, it's now settled. The new name of the crossword game show soon to start taping in Chicago and on your TV's this fall is... "Merv Griffin's Crosswords".
Like the man says, "Oooooh!"Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
"Let's Play Crosswords" Solves Its Host Problem
Ty Treadway, a name more associated with soap operas as both actor ("One Life to Live") and talk host ("Soap Talk"), crosses over to game shows and has been named host of "Let's Play Crosswords". The show is set to begin production sometime this summer in Chicago.Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Merv Griffin Bringing New "Crosswords" To NATPE
How they'll resemble for-real crosswords is anyone's guess, but Merv Griffin's got some new ones up his 81-year-old sleeve.
Program Partners, the syndicator behind the recent success of anything with the name "DeGrassi" on it, has optioned "Let's Play Crosswords", based on a concept by the creator of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!", to this week's NATPE television programming convention in Las Vegas. We'll keep you posted on the success of this venture.
Crosswords and game shows have been blended before with varying success: some formats were hits, like "The Cross-Wits" (a celebrity-driven show featuring kriss-kross style puzzles, the more recent version of which boasted Merl Reagle as a writer) and "Scrabble" (which boasted some very clever crossword-style clues for its words), and some were flops (a 1960's pilot called "Crossword" which was hosted by perennial Groucho toady George Fenneman is as dull as dishwater).Labels: game shows, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
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