Well, I'm down here at the A.C.P.T. having a grand old time. There's a fun & games night on Friday, and the pressure isn't as great as in the real tournament, but there are still some prizes to be won. So at one point, they hand out three puzzles and you can choose whichever one you want, and the first person to finish in each category gets a prize. There was a Spiral, a Cryptic, and a Split Decisions, so I chose the easiest one for me, the Spiral. And on this particular night, it went very well and I think I finished it in three or four minutes.
Well, Dear Reader, I didn't win. I heard from none other than Philbo (who finished second in the Cryptic solve!), that last year's winner Paolo Pasco finished the Spiral in ONE MINUTE (!), and then finished the cryptic in TWO (!!), winning both categories.
You know, I tell people that I do Monday puzzles in under five and most Saturdays in, say, fifteen minutes or less (today's was 10:52), and then I tell them that I'm going to the tournament and they say "Are you going to win?" And I just laugh and laugh. Seriously. If I finish in the top half of all solvers I'm pretty satisfied. Sigh.
So anyway, another thing about the tournament is that they have a list of all the competitors, and everyone gets to say what they do: "Technical Writer," "Student," "Attorney," etc. For the past few years I've entered "bonvivant." I did so again this year, but it was changed (and I have a guess as to who might have done it!) to "Blogger." Hah! Sounds like somebody misses ol' HAFDTNYTCPFCA!
So on to the blogging then.
The upper right took me the longest. I spent too much time thinking of language when reading "House in Milan" (ARMANI), I was not familiar with the term RANDOMWALK (Mathematical process used to model unpredictable phenomena), and I didn't know that the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy was awarded in the NBAFINALS. I don't think I've watched a full game of basketball since Bird and McHale were on the court together.
Finally, I love the clue for AYCARAMBA (Expression of surprise ... or dismay). It was Apt!
- Horace
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