This time from MAXIM Magazine. (I haven't actually gotten the issue with the review in print yet, but I'll be otherwise distracted when that issue comes to my house.)
http://www.maximonline.com/entertainment/reviews.aspx?p_id=12009
Friday, June 23, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Constructor Kendall Twigg dies
Sad news to pass along this morning: constructor Kendall Twigg, who took up the craft of puzzlemaking just a few years ago in his mid-80's, has passed away three weeks after being hospitalized after a fall.
Like so many nascent constructors, Mr. Twigg received much guidance and inspiration from Nancy Salomon, and then eventually branched out from under her tutelage and produced a number of puzzles on his own. Most recently, Mr. Twigg was producing later-week difficulty pizzles.
A quick guide to when Kendall Twigg was published in the LA Times and NY Times, based on Barry Haldiman's databases...
NYT Mon 07/19/04 (with Nancy S.)
NYT Mon 11/01/04 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Fri 11/19/04 (with Nancy S.)
NYT Mon 11/29/04 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Tue 12/28/04
LAT Fri 03/11/05 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Fri 06/03/05
NYT Mon 08/01/05
LAT Sat 08/27/05
LAT Sat 01/07/06
Thank you, and rest in peace, Kendall.
Like so many nascent constructors, Mr. Twigg received much guidance and inspiration from Nancy Salomon, and then eventually branched out from under her tutelage and produced a number of puzzles on his own. Most recently, Mr. Twigg was producing later-week difficulty pizzles.
A quick guide to when Kendall Twigg was published in the LA Times and NY Times, based on Barry Haldiman's databases...
NYT Mon 07/19/04 (with Nancy S.)
NYT Mon 11/01/04 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Fri 11/19/04 (with Nancy S.)
NYT Mon 11/29/04 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Tue 12/28/04
LAT Fri 03/11/05 (with Nancy S.)
LAT Fri 06/03/05
NYT Mon 08/01/05
LAT Sat 08/27/05
LAT Sat 01/07/06
Thank you, and rest in peace, Kendall.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Another Modest Proposal...
Today's Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle by the always reliable Nancy Salomon is - you guessed it - another marriage proposal puzzle.
As in a puzzle that appeared several years ago in the New York Times (January 7, 1998, by Bob Klahn - here's the background info and here's the puzzle, if you're a registered user), one of the bottom theme clues is WILLYOUMARRYME, and one of the crossers is YES, clued appropriately (with the same exact clue from the Klahn puzzle, in fact).
E-mails to puzzle editor Rich Norris asking for more information were not returned, but I would assume the intended result was achieved.
If you want to do today's puzzle, either download the .PUZ file at Cruciverb or do it at the LA Times website.
Quote Of The Day #2
From the "Wordplay" review in the Newark Star Ledger (a fine newspaper that carries the Los Angeles Times puzzle):
This Just In: Tyler Hinman has won Stamford for the 36th week in a row, eclipsing Trip Payne's old record of 35.
And then, finally, it concentrates on a crossword-puzzle tournament which Shortz hosts every weekend in Stamford, Conn.
This Just In: Tyler Hinman has won Stamford for the 36th week in a row, eclipsing Trip Payne's old record of 35.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Quote Of The Day
Scanning a lot of the coverage of the "Wordplay" movie, opening today in NYC, I found this interesting quote from Patrick Creadon.... obviously he's spent a lot of time in our world, but how he can fit this answer into 12 squares is a little beyond my ken...
Will mentioned a really great clue the other day, which was, "It turns into a different story." It was a like a 12-letter word, and the answer was, "Spiral Staircase." Isn't that great?
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Crosswords 101
Thou Shalt Not Repeat Theme Answer Words Elsewhere In The Diagram, Particularly In The Same Section Of The Puzzle.
Will at Borders: a brief report
Well, thanks to the Lincoln Tunnel being clogged (forgot you only have one tube going into New York at that hour), Bob and I pulled into NYC just a tad late to hear Will's opening remarks at Borders on Tuesday night. For about thirty minutes Will fielded questions from the crowd, the usual sort of questions Will gets about his job.
Then, a contest! (Oooh!) Will distributed copies of the New York Times puzzle for June 14, 2006 and offered prizes for the fastest solvers, and two bonus drawings for passes for the "Wordplay" movie when it starts its run in NYC.
Suffice it to say that one Puzzle Brother won his passes to the film legitimately, finishing first in just over 4 minutes to the gasps of the crowd, and the other (who wasn't quite so fast) lucked out in the drawing. (So now you know why we're not on the NYT applet today.)
Will then signed copies of the companion book to the "Wordplay" movie (published by St. Martin's Press), a neat little paperback that actually includes crosswords you can solve from the NYT and the entire brace of puzzles from both the 2001 (Ellen Ripstein's year) and 2005 ACPT's. The book pretty much follows the contour of the movie and even includes information on how you can make your own crosswords.
Then, a contest! (Oooh!) Will distributed copies of the New York Times puzzle for June 14, 2006 and offered prizes for the fastest solvers, and two bonus drawings for passes for the "Wordplay" movie when it starts its run in NYC.
Suffice it to say that one Puzzle Brother won his passes to the film legitimately, finishing first in just over 4 minutes to the gasps of the crowd, and the other (who wasn't quite so fast) lucked out in the drawing. (So now you know why we're not on the NYT applet today.)
Will then signed copies of the companion book to the "Wordplay" movie (published by St. Martin's Press), a neat little paperback that actually includes crosswords you can solve from the NYT and the entire brace of puzzles from both the 2001 (Ellen Ripstein's year) and 2005 ACPT's. The book pretty much follows the contour of the movie and even includes information on how you can make your own crosswords.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Will Shortz at Borders Next Tuesday
In conjunction with a tie-in book to the movie "Wordplay", Will Shortz will be doing an in-store at Borders, 10 Columbus Circle, on Tuesday, June 13 at 6:00 p.m. The Puzzle Brothers, both somehow omitted from the movie, will also be in attendance.
UPDATE: As part of the promotion of the film, Will Shortz will be appearing on "Late Show with David Letterman", Monday, June 12, at 11:37 p.m. EDT on CBS. Paris Hilton will also be on the show... wonder how long it would take her to do a NYT themeless? (Speaking of, congrats to Robair for finishing in an utterly blazing 4:46 on this past Saturday's NYT puzzle, making my 15:02 look absolutely sick by comparison!)
UPDATE: As part of the promotion of the film, Will Shortz will be appearing on "Late Show with David Letterman", Monday, June 12, at 11:37 p.m. EDT on CBS. Paris Hilton will also be on the show... wonder how long it would take her to do a NYT themeless? (Speaking of, congrats to Robair for finishing in an utterly blazing 4:46 on this past Saturday's NYT puzzle, making my 15:02 look absolutely sick by comparison!)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Don't Count The Crossword Out Yet
Op-ed piece from The Kansas City Star (that's what I are) from someone who thinks there's still a place for crosswords in a Sudoku world. (Thanks to Van Vandiver for the link.)
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Stella Daily Lost on "Jeopardy!"
Stella defends some of her wrong responses on her blog, but that Final Jeopardy! practically screamed out "Harper Lee". Oh well, we enjoyed watching Stella on TV for a half hour.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Stella Daily on "Jeopardy!"
Stella Daily has been playing a game of "I've Got a Secret" with us for the past several months. Now the secret's out (and we've been sitting on this news, at Stella's behest, since Stamford): the talented constructor and speedy solver is a contestant on Friday night on "Jeopardy!". If you want to see a video clip of Stella, please go to the "Jeopardy!" Hometown Howdies" page. GOOD LUCK STELLA!Thursday, May 18, 2006
"Nipple" Clue Hits The USA Today Puzzle
Say it ain't so, Timothy Parker! At about 5:30 this morning I was really shocked to see a really suggestive clue in the usually milquetoast USA Today crossword.
Weeks after constructor Lynn Lempel and editor Will Shortz opened up a major can of worms with the presence of the word SCUMBAG in a New York Times grid, the USA Today puzzle by Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke yielded the clue "Nipple ring (var.)" for the word AREOLE.
AREOLE (a variant of AREOLA) is usually clued in terms of botany or general biology/anatomy, but never to my knowledge in terms of being the dark area surrounding the nipples in humans. Yes, we all have nipples (most of us, anyway), but there's a part of me that thinks this subject is still not fair game for crosswords.
My two cents.... discuss.
Weeks after constructor Lynn Lempel and editor Will Shortz opened up a major can of worms with the presence of the word SCUMBAG in a New York Times grid, the USA Today puzzle by Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke yielded the clue "Nipple ring (var.)" for the word AREOLE.
AREOLE (a variant of AREOLA) is usually clued in terms of botany or general biology/anatomy, but never to my knowledge in terms of being the dark area surrounding the nipples in humans. Yes, we all have nipples (most of us, anyway), but there's a part of me that thinks this subject is still not fair game for crosswords.
My two cents.... discuss.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Our First S.A.Q. (Seldom Asked Question)
Most websites have F.A.Q.'s. Here, we have S.A.Q.'s, Seldom Asked Questions. Our first question was sent in by.... gee, this question is so seldom asked, I don't think anyone's ever asked it.
As far as we know, Walter Mackey is not related to the Puzzle Brothers. Nor is there a Walter Mackey in our family who gets confused for the creator of those s.o.b. Super Sudokus.
Thank you for not writing! More soon, so keep it here, dear!
Are you guys related to Walter Mackey?Gee, that's a good question, whoever you are that didn't ask it. For the uninitiated, Walter Mackey is the name of the gentleman who concocts those "Super Sudoku" puzzles for Dell's Sudoku magazines. They're the devils where you have a 16x16 grid and need to not repeat a number in any row, column, 4x4 box or (and this is the killer) long diagonal.
As far as we know, Walter Mackey is not related to the Puzzle Brothers. Nor is there a Walter Mackey in our family who gets confused for the creator of those s.o.b. Super Sudokus.
Thank you for not writing! More soon, so keep it here, dear!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Not Just A Job...A Career
My initial appearance in Games World of Puzzles is now out, in the July 2006 issue. It's a 21x called "Career Day". Run out and buy some copies and give 'em to orphan kids or shut-ins. You'll be glad you did.
The Biggest Joke In Crosswords Today
"Look how fast I did the Times Puzzle today! 57 seconds!"
So probably says the kook known as fwongstaal on the New York Times Crossword Puzzles timed applet. Every single damn day.
Guess what? It isn't funny anymore.
And we're going to do something about it.
We made a proposition to the New York Times online contingent at the Stamford tournament two months ago that anyone with what is regarded as a "superhuman" time on the New York Times timed crossword applet should be thrown out of the forums. We'd still like to see that happen, but we have something more intriguing to propose, and we're not so sure how the progress on this is going.
We believe there can be some sort of "cookie" on the site itself or on the user's computer that if a solver opens up the non-times Across Lite version of the puzzle, the solver can not compete on that day's timed applet. We think it's possible to do. And we think, at this point, with the ten or fifteen jerks who think it's a riot to cheat on the applet, it's necessary.
We also think every one of the other good solvers on the applet -- Barry Haldiman, Tyler Hinman, Susan Hoffman, Amy Reynaldo, Byron Walden, and a few others we're too modest to mention -- is appalled that this should keep going on with nothing in place to stop it. We've got to start putting some serious pressure to stop this cheating. Take a look at it this way: the SudokuFun website, which features a new Sudoku game nearly every ten minutes, almost never has cheaters. There is a healthy honor system in place over there, with their moderator James Pitts promising from the start that anyone who cheats by using solving applets would be banned for life from the site. Why can't it be that way at the Times?
This little board of "Today's Best Times" means absolutely nothing when you take into account the dozen or so scurvy little cheaters. So the last part of this is a challenge. Those of you who "do" this puzzle on the timed applet in under two minutes...how about starting tomorrow, you do the puzzle on the timed applet at 10PM sharp, once it goes up, before you have even seen the puzzle? Then you'll be one of two things: hailed as a superfast solver, or totally humiliated. Better yet, why don't you go to Stamford next year? If you can solve a puzzle in 57 seconds as you claim, fwongstaal, surely you can beat Tyler Hinman. There's an easy $4000 for you right there. And if Tyler wins, it's $4000 of your money he wins. That oughta make it damn interesting.
So the screws are on, you cheaters...and the joke is over. Don't insult the real solvers anymore by cheating.
So probably says the kook known as fwongstaal on the New York Times Crossword Puzzles timed applet. Every single damn day.
Guess what? It isn't funny anymore.
And we're going to do something about it.
We made a proposition to the New York Times online contingent at the Stamford tournament two months ago that anyone with what is regarded as a "superhuman" time on the New York Times timed crossword applet should be thrown out of the forums. We'd still like to see that happen, but we have something more intriguing to propose, and we're not so sure how the progress on this is going.
We believe there can be some sort of "cookie" on the site itself or on the user's computer that if a solver opens up the non-times Across Lite version of the puzzle, the solver can not compete on that day's timed applet. We think it's possible to do. And we think, at this point, with the ten or fifteen jerks who think it's a riot to cheat on the applet, it's necessary.
We also think every one of the other good solvers on the applet -- Barry Haldiman, Tyler Hinman, Susan Hoffman, Amy Reynaldo, Byron Walden, and a few others we're too modest to mention -- is appalled that this should keep going on with nothing in place to stop it. We've got to start putting some serious pressure to stop this cheating. Take a look at it this way: the SudokuFun website, which features a new Sudoku game nearly every ten minutes, almost never has cheaters. There is a healthy honor system in place over there, with their moderator James Pitts promising from the start that anyone who cheats by using solving applets would be banned for life from the site. Why can't it be that way at the Times?
This little board of "Today's Best Times" means absolutely nothing when you take into account the dozen or so scurvy little cheaters. So the last part of this is a challenge. Those of you who "do" this puzzle on the timed applet in under two minutes...how about starting tomorrow, you do the puzzle on the timed applet at 10PM sharp, once it goes up, before you have even seen the puzzle? Then you'll be one of two things: hailed as a superfast solver, or totally humiliated. Better yet, why don't you go to Stamford next year? If you can solve a puzzle in 57 seconds as you claim, fwongstaal, surely you can beat Tyler Hinman. There's an easy $4000 for you right there. And if Tyler wins, it's $4000 of your money he wins. That oughta make it damn interesting.
So the screws are on, you cheaters...and the joke is over. Don't insult the real solvers anymore by cheating.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Mark Your Calendars
The 30th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is scheduled for March 23-25, 2007. Our calendar is already marked in ink.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
"Wordplay" Set To Rock Tribeca
Patrick Creadon's incredible documentary "Wordplay" is a selection for this year's Tribeca Film Festival, set to begin next week in New York City. The film will be screened on Wednesday, May 3 at 5:30 and Thursday, May 4 at 1:30 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square, and on Saturday, May 6 at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 7 at 1:30 p.m. at AMC Loews Village VII. All tickets are $12.00.
There is a great poster out for the film. It has a crossword grid in the background, random letters morphing into a Benday rendition of Will Shortz's giant head, and a group of puzzlers standing with New York Times puzzles - namely, Al Sanders, Ellen Ripstein, Tyler Hinman, Merl Reagle, Trip Payne and Jon Delfin.
On a related subject, Nancy Shack has completed the DVD of the goings-on at Stamford this year. You can watch the Friday night Sudoku and Ken Jennings Quiz Bowl games, as well as all three finals and the awards ceremony. Plus, letters to Will Shortz. The video runs 2 hours, 22 minutes, and costs $3.50 for a DVD and $5 for a VHS. I've already got mine on order, and the price makes it a great bargain. You may order if you've got a PayPal account by clicking here.
There is a great poster out for the film. It has a crossword grid in the background, random letters morphing into a Benday rendition of Will Shortz's giant head, and a group of puzzlers standing with New York Times puzzles - namely, Al Sanders, Ellen Ripstein, Tyler Hinman, Merl Reagle, Trip Payne and Jon Delfin.
On a related subject, Nancy Shack has completed the DVD of the goings-on at Stamford this year. You can watch the Friday night Sudoku and Ken Jennings Quiz Bowl games, as well as all three finals and the awards ceremony. Plus, letters to Will Shortz. The video runs 2 hours, 22 minutes, and costs $3.50 for a DVD and $5 for a VHS. I've already got mine on order, and the price makes it a great bargain. You may order if you've got a PayPal account by clicking here.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Word Of The Day: SURI
We start a new feature here after a week or so off for vacation, and that's the "Add of the Day", where we take a word that isn't in Crossword Compiler yet and recommend you add it, because in a few weeks the word will be everywhere.
Today's word is SURI. Why should you add this word? Because it's the name that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes gave their illegitimate hellspawn -- err, new baby daughter, born just yesterday. And if you've read the news, it was supposedly a "quiet birth", performed without painkilling drugs, and with barely any conversation in the room.
We had hoped Tom would more fully subscribe to this, as far as boasting of eating the mom's placenta. Which makes him no better than a cat. How's that cord tasting right about now, Tom?
Anyway, the new word for the day is SURI...learn it, live it, love it!
Today's word is SURI. Why should you add this word? Because it's the name that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes gave their illegitimate hellspawn -- err, new baby daughter, born just yesterday. And if you've read the news, it was supposedly a "quiet birth", performed without painkilling drugs, and with barely any conversation in the room.
We had hoped Tom would more fully subscribe to this, as far as boasting of eating the mom's placenta. Which makes him no better than a cat. How's that cord tasting right about now, Tom?
Anyway, the new word for the day is SURI...learn it, live it, love it!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Other Starbucks Griping....
Amy Reynaldo and Trip Payne didn't win this thing, either. And they're as hacked off as we are.
Starbucks Contest: It's Over
Don't even bother. They have their winner, and I am guessing that the winner probably figured out what would be the most cutesy-pie correct answer possibility and called in at 5:00 p.m. with the correct answer WITHOUT benefit of solving the crossword.
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