Check out the ACPT rankings! Steely Dan Feyer has a 4-minute (!) lead over Joon Pahk, Howard Barkin, and David Plotkin. This means that this trio will be scrambling to edge one another out on puzzle 7 Sunday morning, trying not to be left out of the finals. And if any of them have an error and drop 150 points, there’s room for a fast Al Sanders, Francis Heaney, Anne Ellison, or Stella Zawistowski to climb up with a fast 7. Some people pay attention to which teams have to win or lose in which division in order for whoever to make the playoffs—the ACPT is my statistics-and-probability sport.
Fiendster Andy is in 12th, Doug’s in 14th, Derek’s in 59th, and Sam’s in 78th. Sportscaster Ade is skipping the NCAA basketball tournament to compete at ACPT this weekend. (Priorities!) Neville, Angela/PuzzleGirl, Jeffrey/Crosscan, Erin, and Ben are also competing, and Janie is judging.
I’m doing the online version from home. Why, it’s so relaxing! No travel hassles, no sleep deprivation, no ballroom full of noises and your neighbor’s vigorous erasing jostling your table. I’m in first after puzzle 6, but could easily see Jeffrey Harris (the MGWCC meta-walloping legend) swooping in 3+ minutes faster than me on puzzle 7. He has tremendous solving speed.
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It’s ACPT weekend. Good luck on Saturday and Sunday to everyone who’s competing! Remember: The real point is to hang out with fellow crossword buffs and nerd out big time. The puzzles come second. And! No matter how slow you are, if you show up to every puzzle and turn in a paper with some letters filled in, you won’t end up in last place. (The lowest-ranked contestants usually don’t show up for all the puzzles.)
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