|
 |
|
Visit our puzzles page to see our newest puzzles!
[Online puzzles require
Across Lite.
Get it now!] |
|
 |
|
SIMON & SCHUSTER MEGA CROSSWORD BOOK #7 (Out Now!)
"Themeless" (17x Themeless)
(Dave)
2010 ACPT Pictures
Galleries of Recent Events
|
|
 |
BOSTON CROSSWORD PUZZLE TOURNAMENT
April 11, 2010
Boston, MA
2nd ANNUAL CHICAGO CROSSWORD TOURNAMENT
April 17, 2010
Chicago, IL
CROSSWORDS LA TOURNAMENT
May 1, 2010
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
WILL SHORTZ' WONDERFUL WORLD OF WORDS (Created by Gloria Rosenthal)
November 12-14, 2010
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York
CRUISEWORD
December 5-12, 2010
aboard Celebrity Solstice
Email for details
STAN NEWMAN'S CROSSWORD UNIVERSITY CRUISE
January 9-16, 2011
aboard Holland America Line's Ryndam
34th ANNUAL AMERICAN CROSSWORD PUZZLE TOURNAMENT
March 18-20, 2011
Brooklyn, NY
|
|
 |
 |
|
Most Recent Posts
Archives
Contents © 2007
The Puzzle Brothers
Masthead Photo by
Nancy Shack
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
|
|
BOB AND DAVE MACKEY
|
|
 |
Will Will Pong For Charity Tomorrow
Will Shortz is among the celebrities taking part in "So You Think You Can Pong", a charity table-tennis event to be held Wednesday, January 13, at Spin New York, on 23rd between Madison and Park. The beneficiary is 826NYC, a non-profit that helps young people with their expository writing skills.
Other participants in the tournament will include hockey player Sean Avery, actors Mike Myers, Catherine Keener and David Schwimmer, authors Sarah Vowell and Dave Eggers, and chef Mario Batali.
You can support Will or any of the other celebrities via a donation or you can even play in the tournament should there still be spots available. For more information visit their website.Labels: Will Shortz
The Case Of The Missing Acrostic
ACPT "Dinner Impossible" Airs Tonight On Food Network
Please watch - or set your VCR's, if you still like to use tape, for - tonight's "Dinner Impossible" episode. You will recall that during this past February's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the buffet menu was kept hush-hush. Reason for that was it hadn't even come to fruition until hours before the buffet, thanks to daring chef Robert Irvine. The story of the weekend will be told in tonight's episode, "Crossword Puzzle Crisis", giving viewers another look inside a corner of Will Shortz' puzzle empire - and hopefully boosting up attendance at the next tournament next February, just as "Wordplay" did.
Food Network has up its episode page for the show including many of the tasty recipes from tonight's episode. Basically, he created a number of dishes, each based on a famous saying. Such as "soup to nuts" yielded a coconut soup with carmelized nuts. The dishes were then described and tournament attendees including five-time champion Tyler Hinman had to guess the sayings the dishes were based on.Labels: ACPT 2009, Food Network, Robert Irvine, Tyler Hinman, Will Shortz
As Crossworders Gather In Boston...
...looming is the possiblity of the Boston Globe print newspaper folding. The Globe carries a weekly Sunday crossword alternately authored by Henry Cook and the team of Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon. For a brief period last year, Liz Gorski was doing some puzzles filling in for Hook. It's too early to think about the crossword's fate now.
We are not at the Boston tournament due to other commitments today but we wish the competitors well and hope to bring you news of whoever is victorious there. Will Shortz is directing the tournament, using next week's NYT puzzles. Ironically, Shortz' boss, The Times Company, owns the Boston Globe.Labels: Boston Globe, Elizabeth Gorski, Emily Cox, Henry Hook, Henry Rathvon, Will Shortz
Chef Revealed
Will Shortz and Robert Irvine - the Food Network chef who will be creating today's luncheon menu - commandeered the ballroom for an interview this morning. The filming is for Irvine's series, "Dinner Impossible".Labels: ACPT 2009, Robert Irvine, Will Shortz
Sunday Morning In Brooklyn
Snow, foreboding a larger storm this evening and tomorrow, is starting to fall outside the Marriott. The Puzzle Brothers went to bed around 1:00 a.m. after playing some Fluxx games with the likes of Joni Dashoff and Doug Hoylman and members of his crew.
We understand that there was filming at 3:30 a.m. this morning for a Food Network segment related to the luncheon this afternoon. We still don't know who the chef is that is concocting our meal, but Will Shortz noted that it's going to be revealed sometime this morning.
Game Show Night
We'd like to thank the three ladies who joined us on our "Family Feud" team, including Susan Boardman, Harriet Geller and Fiona Newman (our scribe from Canada). Although we didn't get on stage to play the game we thank you for your enthusiasm!
The "Chain Reaction" game was actually the show's current endgame, which has been used in various forms on other Bob Stewart shows like "Go". Two contestants alternate words in asking a question to get a third player to say a word, name or place.
Stan Newman's trivia games were a lot of fun; he says he'll be asked back to do the next one in about ten years.Labels: ACPT 2009, Doug Hoylman, Fiona Newman, Harriet Geller, Joni Brill Dashof, Susan Boardman, Will Shortz
Will Watch
Heads up for "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" fans: Will Shortz will be appearing in the role of Expert on the program next week. The "Ask the Expert" lifeline is new to the show this season and the experts rotate roughly every week.Labels: Will Shortz
FOX Publicity For This Week's "Simpsons"
I'll leave it to you to figure out which one is Merl and which one is Will.
And does Matt Groening still draw all these himself after 450 or so episodes?Labels: Merl Reagle, The Simpsons, Will Shortz
"The Simpsons" To Spoof The Crossword World
In an episode airing on Sunday, November 16, "The Simpsons" will delve headlong into the world of crosswords. "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words" casts Lisa as a whiz at crosswords, so she enters a local tournament. Meanwhile, Homer sees the seamy side of crossword tournaments with its underworld betting scams, and winds up having to bet against his daughter in another tournament. Will Shortz and Merl Reagle will provide their own voices for the episode.
According to some reports, there will be a tie-in with that day's New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.Labels: Merl Reagle, The Simpsons, Will Shortz
12th Westchester Crossword Tournament
BOB MACKEY MAKES HIS A DOUBLEBob Mackey makes room for another trophy on his increasingly crowded mantel as he has taken his second straight Westchester Crossword Tournament. Jeffrey Schwartz placed second, and Elaine Lippman was third.
Elaine finished the stage puzzle - next Thursday's New York Times puzzle, constructed by Doug Peterson - first, but left one letter blank, giving Bob, who finished perfectly in second place, the win. Jeffrey Schwartz finished not soon after Bob.
 Taking a cue from past ACPT winners, Bob didn't react to Elaine's call of "Done" - he just kept plugging away at his puzzle. Even after he walked over and saw the one blank square on Elaine's grid, he still didn't realize he was the winner until Elaine was announced in third place.
The tournament program was the same as in previous years - the first three puzzles were the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday puzzles from the ensuing week's New York Times. (Brace yourselves for an unusually shaped grid for Monday's puzzle by Patrick Blindauer - that's all I'm going to say.) The first place finisher from each puzzle goes on stage to complete Thursday's puzzle. Elaine was first on the Monday and Tuesday puzzles; Bob got to the podium by finishing second on Tuesday by the slimmest of margins. Jeffrey was in third place on Puzzle 3, getting in by benefit of first-in finisher Ken Stern having one wrong square, and second place on that puzzle was Bob. (Thanks to Ellen Ripstein for the correction.)
Stan Kurzban acted as head judge, and other judges included Pat Merrell, Ellen Ripstein, Nancy Schuster, Frank Longo, Patrick Blindauer, Tony Orbach, Deb Amlen, Ashish Vengsarkar, Mike Nothnagel, Caleb Madison (who became the youngest NYT constructor ever this past year), and - much to the relief of the elite solvers - Howard Barkin.
As always, the tournament was held for the benefit of the Pleasantville Fund For Learning, with our hosts supplying coffee and pastries for our enjoyment. All in all, a great night - and we're already looking forward to next year.Labels: Ashish Vengsarkar, Bob Mackey, Elaine Lippman, Ellen Ripstein, Howard Barkin, Jeffrey Schwartz, Patrick Merrell, Westchester Tournament, Will Shortz
Westchester Tournament Tonight
Just a reminder... this evening at 7:30 is the Westchester Crossword Tournament, at St. John's Episcopal Church, 7 Sunnyside Avenue, Pleasantville, New York. The tournament is run by Will Shortz and benefits the Pleasantville Fund For Learning. $30 to compete as a single, $45 for a team, payable at the door. Bob and I hope to see you there tonight.Labels: Westchester Tournament, Will Shortz
Second US Sudoku Championship Announced
Thomas Snyder will try to regain his title at the 2nd Annual U.S. Sudoku Championship, sponsored by the Philadelphia Inquirer and hosted by Will Shortz. It will take place from October 24-25 at the Philadelphia Conference Center. Top prize in the expert bracket will be $10,000. More information in the link at the sidebar.Labels: Sudoku, Will Shortz
12th Westchester Tournament Announced
The Pleasantville Fund For Learning has announced its annual evening of crosswords, and this year it's a little earlier (shades of the ACPT!). The 12th annual tournament hosted by Will Shortz on his own turf will be Friday, October 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Format should be the same as in years past - three preliminary puzzles (October 6, 7 and 8 NYT puzzles) with the podium puzzle being Thursday's.
Last year's tournament was won handily by our own Bob Mackey. Will he repeat? Come on out to the St. John's Episcopal Church on October 3 and find out - and if you can't be here, we'll be sure to let you know.Labels: Bob Mackey, Westchester Tournament, Will Shortz
An Eight Letter Word For Table Tennis....
An April 5, 2008 peek into the world of competitive table tennis, featuring a man who claims to play table tennis for the same reasons many solve crossword puzzles.Labels: Will Shortz
It's a Will Thing
Mr. Shortz will pop in this Friday (2) on the syndicated "Martha Stewart Show." We'll see if Martha is more of a crossword lady or a sudoku girl. But hey, Shortz gets a sweeps episode! Good work.
Also, a very nice job on the 25x in the July Games magazine. Harvey Estes has put together a winning puzzle that does not contain any words shorter than five letters.Labels: Harvey Estes, Will Shortz
ACPT Registration Open, Programs Announced
"41 Days and Counting!" says the banner atop the home page of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. And with that, Will Shortz has announced the evening events and opened registration.
The Friday games will feature Eric Berlin's "Brooklyn Crossword Extravaganza" brainteasers.
Saturday will be Game Show Night, and also featured will be a film by Ed Stein called "Wordploy". (Hmmm...)
For Sunday, Grant Barrett, co-host of the radio program "A Way with Words", will be taking over from Neil Conan as co-commentator of the Sunday B and A finals along with the ever-stalwart Merl Reagle. Barrett and his radio co-host Martha Barnette will hand out the prizes at the awards luncheon.Labels: acpt, ACPT 2008, Eric Berlin, Grant Barrett, Martha Barnette, Merl Reagle, Neil Conan, Will Shortz
Important Medical News!
Well, that's what they say in commercials, but this may hold some water. It's been long thought that mental exercises such as crossword puzzles help keep the brain active and may help ward off later-life dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Now, the author of "The Memory Cure", Dr. Majid Fotuhi, has teamed up with Will Shortz to present "The New York Times Crosswords to Keep Your Brain Young: The 6-Step Age-Defying Program".
This was one of two new NYT books issued by St. Martin's Griffin last week. The other, "Crosswords for Two", compiles 200 puzzles (including, I hear, one by yours truly) designed to be shared.Labels: Majid Fotuhi, New York Times, Will Shortz
It's MEGA-Tastic!
Just got my copy of the new Simon & Schuster MEGA Crossword Puzzle Book, Volume 1. This just came out in bookstores today. Wow! This is enough to keep me busy for weeks on end. For the list price of $13.95, you get 300 original crosswords, including a healthy selection of 75 15x's, 75 mixed 17x's and 19x's, and 150 21x's. Many of your favorite authors in the old Crossword Puzzle Book series are represented here, and there are some new names too (including - and correct me if I'm wrong - the construction debut of Amy Reynaldo).
John Samson still continues as editor, now with three times the workload, as there will now be 900 puzzles used per year - approximately three times the amount required by a New York Times or Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
While I'm plugging things, I must put in a word for the 2008 New York Times Sunday Puzzle Appointment Book, from Pomegranate Press. It's a neat compilation of all the Sundays from October 2003 to October 2004, including a neat Leap Day puzzle by Patrick Merrell. One puzzle is misattributed to Kyle Mahowald instead of Joe DiPietro, but that's just a minor quibble. Neat package, nice paper that takes my favorite gel pen quite well. Got it for a gift in '07, bought it for myself in '08.Labels: Amy Reynaldo, Joe DiPietro, John Samson, Kyle Mahowald, New York Times, Patrick Merrell, Simon-Schuster, Will Shortz
Westchester Tournament Report
BOB MACKEY WINS WESTCHESTER
Nancy Taubenslag, Jeff Schwartz Take Second, Third Places
Bob Mackey unquestionably earned his place on the podium at tonight's 11th Annual Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, hosted by Will Shortz and held at the St. John's Episcopal Church in Pleasantville. Although he backed into his podium placing as a result of a first-finisher's gaffe on the Tuesday, October 30 puzzle, he did finish the third puzzle in record time. Nancy Taubenslag had the first puzzle nailed (Dave Mackey was a very close second), and Jeff Schwartz was the third puzzle's representative.
All three competitors did the Thursday, November 1 puzzle perfectly, but Mackey finished first to take his first-ever Westchester title. Taubenslag was second, Schwartz was third.
Other winners of stuff at the tournament, which benefitted the Pleasantville Fund For Learning, included:
Team Winners: 1. Alyssa Jacobs/Maria Pouvin; 2. Amy Berg/Mike Robinson; 3. Don Wasson/Susan Faber
Under 25: Oliver Hill (17-year-old who just had his first NYT puzzle published)
Seniors: Casey Julian
Pleasantville: David Bethian
Rookie: Jack Martin
The puzzles were constructed by Fred Piscop, Gary Steinmehl, Ken Stern and Larry Shearer.
Head judge Stan Kurzban headed a team which included three former winners at the ACPT: Nancy Schuster, Miriam Raphael, and Ellen Ripstein. Also aboard: Patrick Merrell, Adam Cohen, Paula Gamache, Mike Nothnagel, Patrick Blindauer, Frank Longo, Tony Orbach, David Kahn, Dave Tuller, Meredith Mennett of St. Martin's Press, and the aforementioned Messrs. Piscop and Stern.
A gallery of pictures is now up.
Photo by Dave Mackey - and yes, we doctored up that grid so we don't spoil the puzzlesLabels: Bob Mackey, Westchester Tournament, Will Shortz
11th Westchester Tournament Next Friday
The Puzzle Brothers would like to remind you that next Friday, October 26, is the 11th annual Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which will be held in the community room of the St. John's Episcopal Church in Pleasantville, at 7:30 p.m.
The tournament will once again be hosted by the one and only Will Shortz, a resident of Pleasantville. Many important editors, constructors and solvers are expected at the event as either contestants or judges.
Again, the tournament will consist of the four New York Times puzzles from Monday-Thursday of the following week. The first three puzzles are played at tables and the fourth puzzle is used as a ACPT-style stage playoff for the individual championship.
Prizes including crossword books from The Village Bookstore will be given in several categories including individual (won last year by Dan Katz) and three awards for team play (winners included The Puzzle Brothers).
There will also be a dessert buffet afterwards, so come hungry. Be sure to say hello to The Puzzle Brothers and the future Mrs. Puzzle Brother!
UPDATE: Tracy, unfortunately, is not able to come tonight. She will however be at Brooklyn and you can congratulate her on becoming Mrs. Puzzle Brother at that time.Labels: Westchester Tournament, Will Shortz
"Wordplay" Set For October 16 PBS Debut
As part of its "Independent Lens" series, PBS will be broadcasting the Patrick Creadon documentary "Wordplay" on Tuesday, October 16. Please check your local PBS station schedule for airtime. I believe that this is the first time that "Wordplay" will be airing on television in any form.
"Wordplay", as you may already know, profiled New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz, some of his colleagues, and solvers competing at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, at that time held in Stamford, Connecticut.Labels: acpt, Will Shortz, Wordplay
It's Like A Crossword Tournament Without Letters!
The Philadelphia Inquirer has announced the first Sudoku National Championship, hosted by Will Shortz. It will take place from October 19-20 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
Besides Shortz, who has overseen the production of almost as many sudoku books as New York Times puzzle anthologies, participants will include crossword creator Merl Reagle, World Sudoku Champion Thomas Snyder, and World Puzzle Champion Wei-Hua Huang.
The tournament will take the form of a compressed ACPT: games and social opportunities Friday night, then into the trenches on Saturday. Contestants will have the opportunity to choose their skill level in three rounds of competition plus a bonus round before the finals later that afternoon. The awards dinner will be early Saturday evening. The grand prize in the expert bracket is $10,000, the Intermediate champ gets $5,000, and the easy grand prize is $3,000.
Registration for the tournament and all activities is $50 for adults and $10 for children 17 and under. For more information, visit the web link in the sidebar.Labels: Merl Reagle, Sudoku, Wei-Hua Huang, Will Shortz
Will Shortz Raises The Rates Again
I just got word that Will Shortz has once again raised his rates for puzzle contributors.
The lucky person who constructs the June 3, 2007 Sunday puzzle will be the first to enjoy the new rates, which for Sunday puzzles will be a cool grand, up from $750. The daily rate is increasing too to $200. These once again put the Times at the forefront of the puzzle industry as far as contributor rates (until, of course, Peter Gordon decides to go his traditional one dollar more for Sun dailies).Labels: New York Times, Will Shortz
Last Tango In Stamford
As alluded to in our year-end wrapup (see sidebar for link), Will Shortz has sent out an e-mail to 2006 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament participants that confirms that this will likely be the final year for the tournament at the Stamford Marriott.
"After 30 years at the Stamford Marriott Hotel, the event is likely moving to a new and larger site in 2008," states Shortz in his mass e-mailing. Last year's tournament drew about 500 competitors,
In other tournament-related news, Shortz and ace constructor Merl Reagle help Oprah Winfrey kick off the February Sweeps on Thursday with an appearance on her talk show as part of an episode entitled "How'd They Do That?"Labels: acpt, Merl Reagle, Will Shortz
|
