Crosswords as Trivia Games

SUMMARY: If I can't do dog agility, I gotta do something

I do a lot of crossword puzzles. (Well, not compared to some people.) Average 2 a day. To get through puzzles, you need not only a good vocabulary but also the ability to free associate, recognize puns, trust your instincts, and know a lot of stuff.

Note for fun: There's a whole world of vocabulary that seems to pop up almost entirely in crossword puzzles, so it helps to have done many many of them; they're almost conventions that one could memorize! For example, "mine entry" or "cave access" is almost always ADIT. "Kimono sash" or "Japanese accessory" would be OBI. Definitions that include "front" or "end" or "back" or "finish", especially with a question mark, often refer to the word itself, not its meaning (e.g., "Road's end?" is STER).  "Oreo" is a favorite word, used in so many ways, e.g., "sandwich treat" or "crumbled ice cream topping" or "favorite snack"...  

In this Sunday's New York Times crossword, just in the numbers 1 through 25 (both across and down, out of 124 numbers), here's some of what I figured out without any letters, or only one, already filled in. I'd classify 8 as trivia, 4 as essentially vocabulary, 1 that could be placed into either category (specialized knowledge), 1 as foreign language. (Answers are at the bottom)

How many can you get?

• Parabolas, essentially (4 letters)
• Trophy winner (5 letters, last is P)
• He planned for a rainy day (4 letters)
• Sled dog with a statue in Central Park (5 letters)
• Jewish month before Nisan (4 letters, 2nd is D)
• Result of a foul on a long basketball shot (15 letters, 1st letter T)
• Band leader Shaw (5 letters)
• Architect Mies van der ____ (4 letters)
• Poi plants (5 letters)
• Printemps follower (3 letters)
• Yamaha competitor (8 letters, 2nd letter A)
• "The Marvelous Mrs. ___ (award-winning Amazon series) (6 letters)
• A sharps (6 letters)
• Aer Lingus destination (4 letters)

Some I didn't get until I had more than 2 letters. Here's some of what I knew so far when I started this post; can you do better than I did with just this info?:

• Start of Euripides signature (7 letters, starts EP)
• Does, as an animated character (6 letters, last 2 ES)
• Chaiken who co-created "The L Word" (5 letters, 1st 2 IL)
• Source of a deferment in the 1960s draft (4 letters, 1st 2 RO)
• Big fan (6 letters, 3rd letter O)
• Tim ____, frequent collaborator with Adam Sandler (7 letters,1st letters H _ R)
• Ancient Greek State with Athens (6 letters, 1st letters A _ T)

Scroll for answers
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• ARCS
• CHAMP
• NOAH
• BALTO
• ADAR
• THREE FREE THROWS
• ARTIE
• ROHE
• TAROS
• ETE
• KAWASAKI
• MAIZEL
• B FLATS
• EIRE (OR ERIN, needed to see a letter other than E to know which)

2nd group, some of which I needed many more letters...

• Epsilon
• Voices
• Ilene  (Never heard of her or The L Word--the risk of trivia!)
• ROTC
• Adorer
• Herlihy (Never heard of him)
• Attica

New Year's Eve at Taj MuttHall

SUMMARY: Poor scaredy Chip.

It's been quite cold at night, so I had high hopes for few or no fireworks so maybe I could go to bed early and comfy, but alas, no.

The day started as a cheerful winter's day. Gave the Rawhides Of Unusual Size from Christmas back to both dogs.  Chip settled in and resumed gnawing like a champ.  Zorro sniffed at it a bit but really had no interest still.  So, in the interest of evidence-based experimentation, I gave him a much smaller one to see what would happen.

He carried it around looking concerned for a while, from one lounging spot to another, never putting it down; never chewing on it, either. Finally he exited the house, and Experienced Human Mom recognized the I'm-Going-To-Bury-This-Amazing-Treasure behavior and grabbed the camera.

He roamed around the edges of the yard behind things for a couple of minutes, pausing briefly at many spots to examine them, so it was tough to get a shot--

And then suddenly he noticed me through the window and froze, stunned beyond belief that I would be so ghastly rude!! as to watch a dog bury a bone!

Stood there for a few moments in righteous indignation, then trotted purposefully out around the side of the house where I couldn't see him. Came back inside a while later with dirt on his nose and no rawhide.

I had many many Human Mom sorts of activities to do around the house, and so the day wound its way onward.

Was still daylight when the neighbors started partying not with fireworks but with music with a heavy drumbeat which apparently Chip interpreted as The Horror Of Devil-Spawned Fireworks.  Hence, large dog in lap in little chair. Not comfy for either of us.  Fortunately, lasted only 15-20 minutes when apparently his razor-sharp, fast-as-lightning mind ascertained that there was no immediate threat.

Zorro, meanwhile, stood watch, not wanting to leave this hotbed of exciting activity and yet making sure that no rawhide thief, such as any malevolent Squirrel!, snuck into the yard.

Then, for the moment, all was right with the world.

BUT WAIT! WHUT IZ? IN YARDZ OF WE?

As the day continued its New Years Eveish way, Zorro periodically appeared with His Precious.   (Note it is now no longer pristine.)

Then it would vanish again. Much amusement occurred in the brain of Human Mom.

Nearing normal bedtime, Human Mom settled with her New York Times crossword, ready for a pleasant and calming activity.  (Heh, advice column heading is "Ladies prefer cats to family members."  Turns out they are the villains in that story. Figures. Cats. Pfft.)

And then, sigh, fireworks began. Not an onslaught, but enough that You Know Who returned in search of a lap. This time Human Mom provided a cushion to make the visit more comfortable for all. Still... hard to complete the nearly completed NYTC.

Hmmm, Human Mom, you not iz get five ov letterz answering of "Chip away at" clue iz? Iz me knowingz! Is "dog go"!

Oh. Iz not. 

Fireworks. Bah.

When Chip would vacate Lapland, Mr. Z occasionally wanted a snuggle of confirmation that he was not being left out.

In due time, all became silent. (Won't mention the due time was 2:30 a.m.)

Happy New Year to all and to all a safe, quiet rest and answers to life's puzzles.

Crossword Results

SUMMARY: I was right--ended up about in the middle.

The complete crossword tourney results are now posted here. I placed 29th out of 57 contestants.

I had perfect scores on the first 3 puzzles but missed 3(! more than I'd have guessed) on the last one. But, even had I had a perfect score on that puzzle--which would've added 225 points to my score--I'd have *still* placed only 27th! And that's because of the phenomenal time bonuses that others received.

Like that last one, which I barely finished in 59 minutes out of the allowed 60--the top placer finished in TWELVE minutes! I'm just nowhere near that league. I can't even hope to get to the Over 65 (age) category--a bunch of those sharp-minded "seniors" finished way above me.

(Details on scoring were in my prior post. Only thing that' interesting that I don't understand is that the maximum number "wrong" appears to be 99 several times--I'm wondering whether that's a "too many to bother counting" score?)

So, OK, I like being in dog agility where I can be within fractions of a second of the winner--or sometimes even win--not 48 minutes slower than the winner! (Although some of my runs have felt like that.) Guess it's back to working my contacts.

Crossword Scoring

SUMMARY: Compared to dog agility scoring--

OK, after that huge post the other day about Qing in USDAA, thought I'd put up some notes about crossword tournament scoring. If I remember correctly, it goes like this:

* 10 points for each correct answer (across and down).
* 150 bonus if your entire puzzle is complete and correct.
* 25 points bonus for each minute under the scheduled time that you turn it in.
* 25 points penalty for each incorrect letter or empty square, subtracted from your time bonus.

We did 4 puzzles--two 15-minute ones (I finished in 7 and 6 minutes, respectively) each with about 70 answers, one 30-minute one (I finished in 8 minutes, if I remember correctly) also about 70 answers, one one-hour one (I finished in... cough...59 minutes) with maybe 120 answers? That last one prevented maybe a quarter of the contestants from finishing within the hour, so i felt pretty good about getting through it.

So a perfect score on all 4 puzzles would've been around 3900, plus 25 for each minute under time--and people were turning in their puzzles in HALF my time, even on the ones I felt pretty fast on!

Sixty people competed. But, unless I misheard, the top 3 scores were in the 650-to-750 range. This tells me that people weren't getting anywhere near perfect scores.

I'm dyin' to see the results and scores. Don't know how long it'll take to post them. Of course, I'm spoiled with our club secretary posting the results for our agility trials within a couple of days--and that's a few thousand runs, with almost 500 dogs in dozens of different heights, classes, and programs. So how hard could it be to post single scores for 60 people? :-)

They probably have to double-check the scorers' marks on the individual pages, and load the results into the computer for all 4 puzzles. I would assume that the computer calculates each person's score (after the scorer has counted errors) so they don't have to do it manually.

Anyway--still eagerly waiting--

No Cross Words at Crossword Tournament

SUMMARY: Different kind of Saturday competition.

ADDITIONS: After original posting time/date--scroll to bottom.

I'd never entered a crossword-puzzle tournament before, but I do a lot of crosswords, so I thought I might give one a try. Summary: It was fun, and I don't yet know how I did, but I didn't win. Now--compare and contrast to dog agility.

FRIDAY--

Dog agility: Spend up to two hours on Friday packing MUTT MVR. Another half hour to an hour printing the running orders, making sure I've got copies of my confirmations, directions to the trials, etc.

Crossword tourney: On Friday, find the registration form that has the address on it.

FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING--

Dog agility: Go to bed Friday at 8. Get up at 4 a.m. Don't feel like eating yet. Take the dogs into the yard, no matter the weather, to potty them, & load them into MUTTMVR. Load cold drinks & refrigerable snacks into the cooler. Make sure I have my banana holders to protect my bananas from all the brouhaha. Drive 2 hours in the dark to the agility site.

Crossword tourney: Go to bed at usual time Friday. Get up at 8 a.m. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and do the crossword puzzle in the paper. Give dogs breakfast. Grab a soda and a banana. Drive an hour to Alameda. (It's the first rain of the new rainfall year, but I don't have to be out in it.)

Dog agility: Spend an hour hauling my gear, setting up my canopy and such, walking and exercising the dogs. Sometimes stand in line to check in or get dogs measured. Find course maps wherever they're located.

Crossword tourney: Park across the street. Walk up the stairs--

-- and through the door, into the room, pick up my name tag, and sit down anywhere.

Just one round out of about five a day.
(List of competitors in running order)

SATURDAY--

Dog agility: Negotiate the day's schedule covering hundreds of dogs and more hundreds of runs in 3 rings, keeping track of how far down the running order the dogs in my current ring are so that I can be there on time and not too early, keeping track of whether a ring is delayed or going faster than planned, check back with the gate steward regularly, refer frequently to my multipage catalog to see what class is next and which of my dogs is in first, etc.

Crossword tourney: Refer to hand-written schedule on wall. From my chair.

Dog agility: Work my buns off all day, probably at the score table, but also tracking down equipment, people, answers, and so on. No time to browse the vendors.

Crossword tourney: Finish a puzzle way early. Go for a stroll and see that the high school woodshop makes and sells dog houses!


Dog agility: Get my dogs out regularly to stretch their legs and/or potty them. Play hard before each run, run with them in the ring, cool them down and reward them afterwards. Check their water. Check whether the sun has moved around and their crates need shade. Apply covers to avert (a) Tika barking at passing dogs or (b) Boost throwing herself at crate sides at active dogs.

Crossword tourney: Browse the students' hallway art looking for pictures of dogs. Here's a painting of a hand painted to look like a doghead.

Dog agility: Admire and pet many other people's dogs as the day goes on.

Crossword tourney: During one break, stroll around the building and discuss this woman's rescue dogs. And admire them and pet them.

Dog agility: Fight my way through the crowd around the accumulator sheets and wait my turn to look at the results for the class I'm interested in (typically 4-5 classes each day for each dog). Find my dog somewhere on the *#(!&# accumulator sheet. Figure out our placement (if it's not obvious). Copy down our time & faults & points & the SCT & the yards & the winning dog's score & ... what?...yes of COURSE that's all important!... When I get home, spend 30-40 minutes typing it all into my database.

Crossword tourney: Wait for them to announce the top 3 finishers. It's not me. Wait for them to post my single numeric score on the web site, sometime in the next few days.   [Update later: I'm about in the middle. Very happy with that.]

Dog agility: Repeat everything for a 2nd full day. Then finish up around 5 or 6 in the evening on Sunday. Potty dogs. Potty myself. Change my shoes and maybe my sweaty socks and shirt. Tear down my canopy and everything and repack the car. Put away all the score table gear. Help tear down and move all the equipment and tables and ring ropes and so on and so on. On the road maybe 7 p.m., exhausted. Maybe take a nap on the roadside on the way. Crash in bed as soon as I get home.

Crossword tourney: Finish at 3 right on schedule. Potty myself. Drive home. Spend the rest of the day doing fun things. Update blog and photos.

Which reminds me: See a lot of other photos, with a brief story narrative, about my day in Alameda including Victorian homes & other old buildings, cool student artwork, and like that, here at my usual photo site.

ADDITION: Added the next day (Sept 13, 2:00p.m. PDT)--

Dog agility: (Typical)
* Organization hosting the trial: The Bay Team.
* Held under rules of sanctioning organization: USDAA
* Benefits: Bay Team is a not-for-profit corporation. Most profits go back into maintaining our equipment for hosting trials. But we also sometimes do demos for other charitable orgs doing fundraisers, and every year we donate money to one or more dog-related charitable org's.

Crossword tourney:
* Organization hosting: Bay Area Crosswords
* Held under rules of sanctioning organization: ACPT
* Benefits: All profits go to The California Dictionary Project, whose goal is to supply every 3rd grader with a dictionary.

Dog agility: Regular celebrity appearances at local USDAA: Greg Louganis, perhaps the greatest Olympic diver of all time, competing with his JRTs and now Border Collie. And doing fairly well, I might add.

Crossword tourney: Celebrity appearance: Tyler Hinman, youngest-ever winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, featured in the film Wordplay, and now an unprecedented 5-time champion. Helped run this event and contributed the final puzzle, which will also be next week's New York Times Sunday puzzle.

ADDITION: Added about 30 minutes after original post:
Oh, yeah, one more thing:

Dog agility: cost to enter 2-day agility competition with 2 dogs: $300.

Crossword tourney: cost to enter one-day crossword tournament: $20

Dog agility: Entire weekend of quality time spent with dogs with lots of excitement and exercise: priceless.

Crossword tourney: A couple of hours of relaxing time doing something fun and different by myself: Priceless.