Interesting Article!

Here's an article from today's Newark Star-Ledger about the upcoming Stamford tournament.... and you'll never guess who they managed to wrangle an interview out of!

Stamford Habitue Helps Make Jeopardy! History

Stamford veterans and NPL members will immediately recognize the gentleman at left as Scott Weiss. You have him to thank for this history making moment on last Friday's episode of "Jeopardy!" - for the first time in 5,190 episodes, all three players wound up with the same exact score. All three men will return on Monday to play another game.

Using his vast store of knowledge honed from years of advising College Bowl at his school (Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland, which took 4th place in the recent Region 3/4 Championship Tournament), Scott already has banked $61,001 in his three days on the program. He's also done well at Stamford, too. A scan of the last ten years or so shows him placing consistently in the top 30, with an 11th place finish in 2004.

We wish Scott all the best on "Jeopardy!" and at the tournament next week.

Photo Courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment

Record Number Of Competitors Expected For Stamford Tourney

The 30th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is already shaping up to be the biggest ever - and this is more than a week before Will Shortz gives the command to turn the papers over and begin solving.

We hear from one of our sources that there are approximately 620 registrations for the tournament so far; we're not sure if this includes non-competitors. It would almost certainly mean that this year's contestant pool will be the largest ever. Last year's tournament saw a record 498 contestants try their skill. I'm sure Will expected a bump in tournament attendance in the wake of "Wordplay", but you think he could have expected this many people coming to the tournament when he started it 30 years ago? (The earliest years of the tournament saw approximately 150 contestants per year, mostly from the New York metropolitan area.)

As a result of the huge number of people scheduled to descend on the Mariott, one change has been made to Friday evening, where Allie's Restaurant traditionally hosts the dinner party held by members of the New York Times crossword forum (the Cru). Marriott management has negotiated a buffet dinner in lieu of eating at Allie's. The menu will include grilled flank steak, lemon chicken breast and penne pasta. Additionally, reservations are not being accepted for the restaurant the two evenings of the tournament. My advice is to try to find some good food off site. (Paging Tim Zagat...)

"Nobody Puts Nucky In A Corner!"

While we're counting now the DAYS until Stamford, I wanted to put in a plug for Simon & Schuster #254. As you well know, 7x7 corners are a very hard thing to pull off. Frank Longo's done it in a 19x called "Four Corners" which includes four 7x7 corners, and of course it's at a price - this creates four alleys of 3-letter words. But it's a nice construction nevertheless and there's not a lot to quibble with in the corners. Pick up a copy and give it a try.

One Month To Go!

Exactly one month from today, I will wake up in a hotel room at the Stamford Marriott - probably off maybe three hours sleep from playing parlor games into the night - wipe the sleep out of my eyes, shuffle downstairs, and await THE STANDINGS.

Yep, that time is drawing near. We're exactly 26 days from the beginning of the 30th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and this is probably the final go-round at the Stamford Marriott as Will Shortz is looking for a new venue for the expanding tournament.

Yes, it's a tournament, and yes, it's competition. But this is perhaps the best time of year to meet and greet your favorite constructors and solvers you've seen in the movie "Wordplay", as practically everybody who's anybody in the world of crosswords comes to the tournament. There are lots of opportunities for public social gatherings and cliqueish room parties.

If you haven't already registered (and why haven't you?), go to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament website and join the fun.

As for us, our reportage of Stamford is going to be much improved over last year with the addition of a third correspondent, Tracy Meyer, on Team Puzzle Brothers. Additionally, we will be blogging live from the finals again, so if you can't make it to the tournament, point your browser right to the Puzzle Brothers and refresh to your heart's content as you get the latest updates direct from Stamford and fresh pictures of the goings-on.

Now, on a personal note, let me strike my own fear into the hearts of my competitors. My times have been improving. I have been training with such diverse materials as New York Magazine crosswords (as there is always a Maura Jacobsen puzzle in the tournament) and the most recent compilations of New York Sun crosswords (I just finished the Thursday volume). I haven't been doing as much online solving because I really don't want to get caught up in what other solvers are doing. I've gotta worry about my times. My goal this year is to get into the top 100. Considering I was 107th last year and 185th in '05, I can do it.

FoxTrot Makes The Crossword Scene

The answer to the punchline is, "No, but I've never had reason to try."

April 2007 Games Magazine

Now on newsstands, featuring the first solo 21x by Puzzle Brother Dave, "Presidential Portrayals." Enjoy!

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?"

Rex Parker Did The New York Times Crossword...

...his blog is a lot of fun and here's what he thought about the Tuesday, January 16 puzzle.

Also, I don't know what the land speed record is for getting paid, but I found a $135 check in my mailbox two days after my puzzle ran. Thanks, NYT!

We're Here!

We are pleased to soft-open our new domain, http://www.thepuzzlebrothers.com. It's all you've already come to know and maybe also love about The Puzzle Brothers.

The first thing I promise you is a much better picture of The Puzzle Brothers on our masthead. (We will get Tracy on it stat.)

You'll also notice that we're going to be featuring puzzles of our own design here. Please, please, please, do not distribute these puzzles. These puzzles are our creations, for some reason or another editors didn't want them, so you get them for free. We'll put a few up a month.

Robert has authored a little treatise on what we thought to be the best and worst in the puzzle world this year. Follow the link to your left to read it.

Tomorrow, Robert is going to be interviewed for a major New Jersey newspaper on being quite possibly the top solver from New Jersey these days. We'll definitely pass along word when it's published.

But for now, enjoy our new site, and our old blog, and please note we're still tweaking some design aspects of the site. We'll get it right yet.

Yours puzzlingly,
Bob and Dave Mackey
THE PUZZLE BROTHERS

Times Has Come Today

Dave Mackey, that rakish Puzzle Brother guy, gets his third publication in the New York Times today. Have fun! (New York Times Premium 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).

ACPT Registration Now Available

The registration forms are now available for the 30th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, to be held March 23-25 in Stamford, Connecticut. (The chances are mighty good you knew that already.) The Friday night games will feature a special "Time Capsule" contest with a $200 cash prize, a visit from a Norwegian crossword editor, and special Norwegian-style crosswords constructed (in English, thank goodness) by Frank Longo.

The Sunday luncheon awards presenter this year is Richard Maltby Jr., the Broadway composer and cryptic crossword constructor.

Site Expansion News

We are soon going to be moving to our own domain! We will soon be located at www.thepuzzlebrothers.com. Bookmark us now so you don't be caught by surprise one day when we've moved out, leaving old, half-completed Harle crossword books with cover illos by John Langton in our wake. We will be expanding to include more blog coverage as well as some of our own original puzzles for you to solve gratis! (That's free, y'know.) Robert is going to be working on an all-new site design which will incorporate our blog and the galleries of the tournaments and events we have already covered.

Look soon for our take on the year in puzzles, including the puzzles that grabbed us the most and the events that helped make 2006 a memorable one for crossword fans. And of course, with Stamford looming near, the Brothers (along with the lovely Tracy, who will be blogging and shooting pix) are getting ready for another trip to visit "the dysfunctional crossword family", as Merl Reagle so nicely put it.

Planning Further Ahead

Will Shortz's Wonderful World Of Words will be in residence at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York, the weekend of November 9-11, 2007. The Puzzle Brothers are already marking their calendars.

Puzzle Brothers Pre-Holiday Double Header

We've got twice the puzzles and twice the fun for you in the Los Angeles Times this week. Links will soon magically appear to the online applet version and the .PUZ files (for cruciverb.com members only) for...

Dave's Wednesday, December 20, 2006 puzzle Solve Online or Download Puzzle File

Robert's Saturday, December 23, 2006 puzzle Solve Online or Download Puzzle File

Happy Holidays to all our friends, and watch for some big news concerning our long overdue site expansion.... and remember... STAMFORD IS ONLY THREE MONTHS AWAY!

Stan's Stickler: Will It Stump You Today?

If you remember the exploits of the Brothers at the Paramus-based Community Blood Services tournament a few months ago, you will remember that the final puzzle, by Stanley Newman, was quite a bear for the competitors, notably the A clues. Stan has given Joe Solver a bit of a break today by supplying the B clues for this puzzle as it appears in today's Newsday. Good luck!

Crossword Creators Shine Again On "Twenty-One" Reruns

GSN has announced that they are taking the reruns of the short-lived NBC quiz show "Twenty-One" out of mothballs, beginning Wednesday, January 3 at 10:00 p.m. and rerunning the following Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Crossword fans may remember New York Sun puzzle editor Peter Gordon's appearance on the show, as well as that of his "second chance" helper - Newsday puzzle editor (and all-time champion from "The Challengers") Stanley Newman.

If You're Not Shopping On Black Friday

Check out the Friday New York Times crossword puzzle (a themeless, of course), authored by Puzzle Brother Dave. Hope you enjoy it.

You must be a subscriber of NY Times Crosswords to do the puzzle online, on the timed applet or in Across Lite.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

LA Times Puzzle by Robert Mackey!

Do it online at the LA Times website or download it if you're a member of cruciverb.com.