I've been doing crossword puzzles since forever, including daily visits to the online puzzles at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. I thought my solving times were pretty good, so when I saw an announcement at Boswords that anyone could participate in a national online puzzle-solving competition, I signed up. I was one of 159 new participants in a pool of over a thousand cruciverbalists.
The competition took place two days ago, in a format of four different puzzles with difficulties corresponding to Tuesday- to Friday- level NYT puzzles (but with the error-check function disabled).
The first puzzle had a 25-minute time limit for the 66 entries. I finished in 15:20 with no errors, which I thought was pretty good.
The winner finished the puzzle in 2:34. There were five who finished in less than 3 minutes!!
It never ceases to amaze me what people can accomplish when they devote time and energy to developing a skill. Readers who are interested in crosswords should check the Boswords site (and their links to other related websites). They sponsor other competitions throughout the year.
BTW - not from the competition, but for fun try this fiendish crossword clue: "Line just before a comma." (seven letters) (answer in the Comments)
ZXCVBNM
ReplyDeletehttps://nytcrosswordanswers.org/line-just-before-a-comma-crossword-clue/
ReplyDeletewhere does a time of 15:20 place? out of how many places?
ReplyDeleteI-)
Roughly about the middle. There were lots of newbies and amateurs there just for fun. The last puzzle was offered in two varieties - easy and hard, using the same words but with differently phrased clues. About 2/3 of the participants chose the "hard". I took the easy path.
DeleteSorry, I am not getting it. Could someone explain this one for me?
ReplyDeletePearse, look at your keyboard... :-)
DeleteDo you get to see the puzzle before you start the timer? if so, the two minute answers are the time it takes to transfer the answers from a worksheet to the official form.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing bedevils competitive solitaire.
Nobody sees the puzzle before the timer starts. All four puzzles were constructed for the competition and not revealed to anyone ahead of time. There were videos of the fastest completions - amazing to watch.
Deletei'm super stoked when i can finish the mini in less than a minute
ReplyDeleteThe line clue has a Will Shortz feel.
ReplyDeleteSpeed ruins many things: Mozart, single malt and foreplay, e.g.