MADness—the Blog

It was crosswords week at MAD About Movies (here and here), and to close it out properly I should give you the run-down on results from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament held this weekend in Brooklyn.

Dan Feyer, still the champ

Congratulations to Dan Feyer, the returning champ who successfully defended his title.  (Conveniently, I have a pic of his from last year’s tournament, above.  He is, understandably, still smiling.)  The competition among super-speedy solvers is especially fierce.  Sometimes a minute or two, or less, is all that separates the top times during a series of puzzles, and one bad guess can derail any hopes for a title.  To make it onstage for the finals is a feat in itself.  To win, and to defend the championship against five-time winner Tyler Hinman (2005-2009) and Anne Erdmann, onstage at the finals for the second year in a row, is a big deal.  Great job, Dan, and congrats to all the finalists.

Here are this year’s champs for the three top divisions:

A – Dan Feyer
B – David Plotkin
C – Jeffrey Dubner

Congrats!  A lot more info, including pics and links, at the ACPT site.

Will Shortz congratulates Dan Feyer on winning the 2011 ACPT

Someone at Visual Thesaurus* has kindly uploaded the finals video to YouTube so we call can see.  Check it out below, and keep in mind that the finals puzzle is an open-grid themeless, and the solvers have the toughest of three sets of clues.  In other words, solving the puzzle—period—is hard.  In under seven minutes—fuggedaboutit!

[*=Ben Zimmer]

ACPT – “A” Division Finals – 2011
Part 1 of 2

From left to right on the boards:  Anne Erdmann, Dan Feyer, Tyler Hinman. 

ACPT – “A” Division Finals – 2011
Part 2 of 2

Master of ceremonies:  Will Shortz.

Gram Crackers
Cracker Pack #7

    

Extra!  Extra!  The March puzzles have arrived!  At the MAD Puzzles page, of course.

If you’re a fan of crosswords, you ought to consider the hajj to Brooklyn later this month.  The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is March 18-20, and you’ll be sure to find a great bunch of people and lots of fun.  All the details are at the ACPT website.

Gram Crackers
Cracker Pack #6

    

This month’s new puzzles are here.  They arrive every first Monday of the month, and you can find them at the MAD Puzzles page.

Gram Crackers
Cracker Pack #5

    

Gram Crackers are crosswords puzzles on a smaller scale, with a twist.  Each first Monday of the month, a new pack of puzzles goes live.  You can find out more, and download puzzles, new and old, at the MAD Puzzles page.

Gram Crackers
Cracker Pack #4

Gram Crackers
Cracker Pack #3

    

         

Hey, it’s the first Monday of the month, meaning:  another set of Gram Crackers is here!  Find the “cracker pack” on the MAD Puzzles page.  Enjoy!

     

I will have more to say later, but for now I’ll just point you to the MAD Puzzles page for the latest and greatest—new crossword puzzles called Gram Crackers.  Enjoy!

UPDATE (Tues.):

An étude is an instrumental composition, usually of short duration, usually of considerable complexity, often used for teaching or practicing musical technique.  From the French for “study,” the word is well-known to anyone who does crosswords.  It seems to me a fair term to describe the idea behind Gram Crackers (though don’t expect the virtuosity of a Chopin or Lizst, okay?).

Gram Crackers are intended to be lighter fare.  They’re smaller puzzles, ones you should be able to polish off more quickly than your average end-of-week themeless.  That’s not to say they are easy.  The cluing will tend to be on the tough side, and I’ve tossed in a twist or two to add to the challenge.  No puzzle, no matter how small, should be too easy, right?

For a constructor, working on a smaller scale presents certain constraints.  Except for the size and shape of the grid, I’ll stay with the usual conventions—rotational symmetry, no two-letter words, etc.  The challenge, as always, will be to fill the grid as interestingly as possible, and keep the crud to a minimum.  I’ll also aim to add variety to grid designs, and see what the limits are.

Till now, I’ve posted puzzles here without a schedule, but beginning with Gram Crackers I’ll publish on a more regular basis.  Look for new ones on the MAD Puzzles page the first Monday of every month.  That will be my schedule for the rest of this year and through next year.  At that point I’ll see if the idea still has legs, or if it’s time to try something new.

Gram Crackers, by the way, come in a pack of two.  Here’s hoping you can’t have just one.

Étude, Op. 10, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
Vladimir Ashkenazy

You may have heard reports of a crossword sighting, and we can now confirm.  MAD Puzzle No. 8 is in building.  If you want it, I’d recommend looking in the Puzzles room.

That one is new, this one is not.

Notice anything odd?

Of course not.  Congratulations on a job well done!

Are you stumped?  I’ll explain, after the jump.

More »

 

First things first, the new crossword puzzle is here.  It’s a 19×19 themeless, and as always, you can find it at the MAD Puzzles page.  Scroll down for MAD Puzzle 7.

In other puzzle news, I had the Thursday (6/24) crossword in last week’s New York Times.  It had a tricky theme and turned out to be a difficult puzzle for lots of people.  If you’re a regular Times puzzle subscriber, you’ve either done it or know where to get it.  It’s available at the Times site here (subscription required); or use the direct link for the Across Lite version here.  I was happy with most of the feedback.  You can read Jim Horne’s commentary here (at Wordplay) and Sam Donaldson’s take here (at the Fiend).  My favorite comment may have been this one (at Rex Parker’s site):  “I am extremely satisfied that I finished this puzzle correctly, however, I think Mr. Farmer was showing off.” 

My next puzzle at the Times is due to run a week from tomorrow, next Thursday, July 8.

---

In non-puzzle news, I was honored and pleased to hear this week I’ve received the Versatile Blogger Award.  It’s especially gratifying to get it from Edward Copeland, a writer about movies that I enjoy and respect.  I’ll have my response, and pass along the honor to others, in the next few days.