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.

Pleasantville Tournament

Dan Katz Wins Tenth Pleasantville Tournament

Dan Katz proved to be the best puzzler at Friday night's Tenth Annual Pleasantville Crossword Tournament, hosted by Will Shortz and benefitting the Pleasantville Fund For Learning. All three finalists (chosen from the best times on each of three upcoming New York Times puzzles) completed the puzzle for Thursday, November 2 - and I know you will all be talking about this puzzle on Friday, November 3 - in under seven minutes, and Katz had the fastest time.

The Puzzle Brothers also made a statement as team solvers, winning one of three pairs of trophies in the Team competition. (Dave and Bob actually had the best team time on all three puzzles, finishing the Tuesday, October 31 puzzle by Patrick Blindauer ahead of all other competitors.) The two other pairs of trophies were awarded to the runner up solvers on two of the other puzzles. All winning contestants also won their choice of puzzle books from St. Martin's Press, publishers of the New York Times crossword puzzle books.

Among the crossword luminaries acting as judges were former Stamford champions Nancy Schuster and Ellen Ripstein, and ace constructors Jim Page, Paula Gamache, Fred Piscop, Pat Merrell, Frank Longo, and Patrick Blindauer.

Dan Katz photo by Dave Mackey; Puzzle Brothers photo by Tracy Meyer

A Pleasantville Way To Spend An Evening

Pleasantville, New York is best known for being the headquarters of two things: Reader's Digest and Will Shortz.

This Friday, Mr. Shortz runs a puzzle tournament in his own backyard as the 10th Annual Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament is held at the St. John's Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Avenue. The tournament puzzles will be advance copies of the New York Times puzzles for Monday, October 30 through Thursday, November 2. (This will effectively recuse The Puzzle Brothers from the timed applet for four days.)

The tournament, said to be friendly and informal, will benefit the Pleasantville Fund for Learning. It costs $30 to enter as a single competitor, or $45 to enter in the team competition. Your Puzzle Brothers will be in the team competition.

The festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. and for more information, call the Village Bookstore at (914) 769-8322$

Welcome Back, Cruciverb

After what seemed like an eternity, Kevin McCann's indispensable cruciverb.com website is back online. He had been having some major connectivity problems that have just now been rectified.

I would encourage you to give Mr. McCann a little something for your troubles, if you're not already a member. Being a member gives you access to the incredible database of puzzles as well as access to Los Angeles Times puzzles as .puz files, among other niceties.

Robair's Weekend Thank-You's

Now that the dust has settled on the second Community Blood Services Crossword Tournament, it's time for me to publicly thank some people who make events like this the high points of my life.

BONNIE SIROWER: Our gracious, word loving presenter, whose tireless work organizing events like this for CBS is appreciated by not only the folks who help her but most importantly the folks who need the help with anything blood related.

WILL SHORTZ: His presence at these events ultimately give them weight and importance, and we couldn't have a more enthusiastic cheerleader for the formal and informal events he presides over.

NANCY SCHUSTER: One of the many examples of living crossword history we have, full of great stories of her battles with Farrar, her days at Dell, and the bad old days of the ACTP...and as we saw with the six puzzles this weekend, still one hell of a super editor.

HELENE HOVANEC: Though not as hands-on as she is at Stamford, we are comforted by her presence at Ridgewood as well.

ADAM COHEN, PAULA GAMACHE, LIZ GORSKI, PATRICK MERRELL and MICHAEL SHTEYMAN: For crafting a stellar set of first-round puzzles, each with their own winning personality and style.

STAN NEWMAN: For what turned out to be a particularly brain-busting finals -- so much so, in fact, that if you superimposed the three finals boards over each other there would still be letters missing.

HOWARD BARKIN: He was my odds-on favorite to take this thing, as his ascent in competitive solving has been particularly rapid...close to me minute by minute and just squeezed me out of the first-place spot in the finals by one minute. A job well done, Howard, and you will be one to watch in the future.

ELAINE LIPPMAN: Another fantastic solver and returnee to the finals, always brings it every finals. Congratulations on your second-place finish.

ERROL FLYNN: I needed you to unlock that top corner, still barren with two minutes left. Tally Ho, Robin.

THE FIELD: Too many to name by name, but a special huzzah to Barry Weprin for taking the B title.

BOOKENDS: I was not sure that this bookstore would be an apt place to hold this, but apparently it is a heavy hitter in the world of celebrity bookings and maybe one of the last great indie book sellers in the East. Thanks for giving us a nice place to solve.

And all the sponsors who supplied us with food, drink, wine, cheese, wraps.

Two special thank-yous end this thing. A big shout out to my fellow Puzzle Brother Dave, for notching his best-ever finish in a tournament, the first where he did not make an error on a puzzle.

And finally, big thanks to BLOODY, as we have called him, the omnipresent smiley-faced blood drop who pretty much symbolized the weekend and gave us plenty of opportunities for prop comedy. More importantly, he represented the real aim of this weekend: helping people who have had medical problems with their blood, which can often debilitate the entire body. We hope that Bonnie Sirower and her troops can stage this event again next late summer/early fall, because it's a good time for a good cause.

Ridgewood Wrap-Up

OH NO HE DIDN'T!

Bob Mackey Repeats As CBS Tournament Champ

The partially-filled in grid was all that the Puzzle Brothers' own Bob Mackey needed to successfully defend the championship of the annual tournament benefitting the Community Blood Services Foundation in Bergen County, New Jersey.

After the first brace of puzzles, Howard Barkin was in first place, Bob just behind by a minute of solving time, and Elaine Lippman (last year's runner-up) was third. All three puzzlers struggled with the Stanley Newman-constructed puzzle. No one finished, so it came down to correct words, and Bob was declared the winner.

The other Puzzle Brother, Dave Mackey, finished tenth in his best tournament showing to date.

Barry Weprin Triumphant In CBSF B Finals

In the B division final, it was Barry Weprin's day as he cruised to a 10:05 completion time using an easier set of clues on the same grid. Rick Thompson, who had placed first going into the B finals, finished in 13:05, and Pat Whitehead, seeded second, came through with a 13:20 finishing time. Weprin is seen here accepting his trophy from New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz.

The official results will be posted Tuesday on the Community Blood Services Foundation website and will be linked to at that time. More photos will be forthcoming within the next few days.

Greetings from Ridgewood...

The second annual Community Blood Services Foundation crossword tournament is underway at the Bookends book shop in Ridgewood, about a couple of miles from last year's location, Care One at the Cupola.

We've had three pretty good puzzles so far from Adam Cohen, Patrick Merrell and Michael Shteyman. Two puzzles yet to go from Elizabeth C. Gorski and Paula Gamache, and the final puzzle will be by Stanley Newman.

We will have a much fuller report as well as unofficial results later on plus pictures sometime tonight.

Your Puzzle Brothers are doing quite well so far in the tournament.

Still Time To Join The Fun In Jersey!

Just a reminder this Friday and Saturday is the 2nd Annual Puzzle Tournament benefitting Community Blood Services Foundation. Still time to register online, but be aware that online credit card transactions aren't working so be sure to bring your cash or credit card and you can pay there.

The tournament will be held this year at Bookends, on 232 E. Ridgewood Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ. The Friday night Sudoku festivities get underway at 7:00 p.m., and registration for the Crossword tournament begins at 8:30 a.m. the next morning.

Your donation will help Community Blood Services save lives by enabling collection of blood products, processing of bone marrow donors, and collection of umbilical cord blood that can help save the lives of people with leukemia and lymphoma.

Look for both Puzzle Brothers to be on hand, and hopefully we will have our trademarked "almost live" reportage in words and pictures you all so enjoyed at Stamford.