NYT Xword contest 2017 & 2018
Quote: SOOPOOThird place. Apparently the 'new kid', Erik Agard, crushed it.
David does win $500 and a trophy. He gets another trophy for winning 'the South', as he now competes out of Florida.
As my friend who is a big "Tour de France" fan says, he gets a podium finish!
Congrats to him. What was the problem that kept him in 3rd? Was he just slower than the other 2?
Where did this new erik come from? Did he just find out he could compete or is he younger and just made the jump.
I realize this is a "niche" that requires specialized training, but I am assuming that David -and all the contestants - must be highly intelligent, right?
Quote: gordonm888Congratulations to David. A truly amazing achievement.
I realize this is a "niche" that requires specialized training, but I am assuming that David -and all the contestants - must be highly intelligent, right?
The top competitors are all brilliant. Anyone can enter as it is open to all who pay an entry fee, so I would doubt that "all" the contestants are "highly intelligent", but I'd agree that most are. I think that there are really 6 competitors that have a greater than 0.1% chance to win.
Quote: SOOPOOThird place. Apparently the 'new kid', Erik Agard, crushed it.
David does win $500 and a trophy. He gets another trophy for winning 'the South', as he now competes out of Florida.
As my friend who is a big "Tour de France" fan says, he gets a podium finish!
Much congrats to David! That is an outstanding result!
FWIW, the Friday, March 23 NYT puzzle was authored by...Erik Agard. I've tried to build a puzzle a couple of times, but can't quite get the hang of it. That seems like a real confidence builder, though, to get one published just before the big contest.
Quote: beachbumbabsMuch congrats to David! That is an outstanding result!
FWIW, the Friday, March 23 NYT puzzle was authored by...Erik Agard. I've tried to build a puzzle a couple of times, but can't quite get the hang of it. That seems like a real confidence builder, though, to get one published just before the big contest.
Nice work, David! Looks like he did the best on Puzzle 7 out of everyone.
Quote: beachbumbabsMuch congrats to David! That is an outstanding result!
FWIW, the Friday, March 23 NYT puzzle was authored by...Erik Agard. I've tried to build a puzzle a couple of times, but can't quite get the hang of it. That seems like a real confidence builder, though, to get one published just before the big contest.
A while back I was thinking about how great of a job it would be to write crossword puzzles full time.
I found this article which was really good read:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/58828/how-crossword-puzzles-are-made
Quote: boymimboNice work, David! Looks like he did the best on Puzzle 7 out of everyone.
He did! The winner, Erik Agard, finished 4 minutes behind him, but that was not relevant, as Erik had such a big lead that unless he made an error he was going into the on stage puzzle as the leader. What was relevant was that Tyler Hinman and Joon Pahk needed to beat David to make the finals, but David beat both of them. He ended up two minutes ahead of 4th place
From what I can gather, the winner, Erik Agard, had the best final on stage puzzle in history.
I was wondering what the standards are for penmanship.
Above is link to NY Times article. David is the puzzler on the right as you look at the picture.
Quote: SOOPOOhttps://nyti.ms/2DXje1k
Above is link to NY Times article. David is the puzzler on the right as you look at the picture.
Thanks. The picture looks like the contestants could easily see another's puzzle (especially the middle one), with no partitions between them. Is this just an illusion and the outside two angled in a way to prevent that? I'd presume this is the case?
Quote: MidwestAPThanks. The picture looks like the contestants could easily see another's puzzle (especially the middle one), with no partitions between them. Is this just an illusion and the outside two angled in a way to prevent that? I'd presume this is the case?
They are angled so you can only see your own. They wear headphones so they can't hear the audience yelling suggestions.
Quote: TumblingBonesHow do the divisions work? I took a look at the Tournament web site and discovered the Div B winner is an old colleague of mine I haven't seen in about 10 years. I had no idea she was a competitive puzzler.
From the contest website:
Division A - Everyone
Division B - Contestants who have not won a Division A or Division B prize during their last seven tournaments
Division C - Contestants who have not finished in the top 20% during their last three tournaments
Division D - Contestants who have not finished in the top 40% during their last three tournaments
Division E - Contestants who have not finished in the top 65% during their last three tournaments
He is presently in 3rd place after two puzzles.
No prizes.... just satisfaction.
I'll keep the forum updated.....
Quote: SOOPOO
I'll keep the forum updated.....
Awesome, I enjoy following your posts every year from the contest. Good luck to your son.
My daughter was a junior national champion at Quick Draw pistol shooting. Her best as an adult is 5th place in the national tournament.
Quote: DRichAwesome, I enjoy following your posts every year from the contest. Good luck to your son.
My daughter was a junior national champion at Quick Draw pistol shooting. Her best as an adult is 5th place in the national tournament.
Well he is in second place which qualifies him for the three man finals! Third place is Tyler Hinman who the movie "Wordplay" was based on. First place is a 21 year old 'newbie' who is a crossword puzzle constructor who has not participated in the main tournament before.
It will be streaming live on Facebook soon. Not clear exactly when.
Quote: SOOPOODavid took the bronze. The website which lists him in 2nd place is an error, he said. I'm glad I had one piece of good news this month...
Nice job! Congratulations to him.
ESPN should have picked this up. It was probably one of the few, if not the only, competitive events held in the US this weekend.
Quote: UP84Nice job! Congratulations to him.
ESPN should have picked this up. It was probably one of the few, if not the only, competitive events held in the US this weekend.
Two years ago. when Erik Agard, a then 21 year old, won the tournament he did get ESPN coverage. He had worked as an intern for ESPN previously. Plus he is very photogenic, and wears a Della Donne T-shirt, and sports a GIANT AFRO!
It is easy to find on You-tube the final puzzle offs.
If you google my son (David Plotkin crossword) you can find his on stage events. Maybe 10 years ago he won the C or B division by a split second. The screaming you hear in the background is his mother. His two most recent on stage appearances were both 3rd place finishes. Mother was silent....
Although there is technically no cash prize for winning, he said he gets a free entry into the next NY Times Crossword championship, hopefully held in April. Worth around $200.
So I now can say something positive has come because of the pandemic. It took a while....
Quote: SOOPOOIn the "Crossword Puzzle World" the second most important competition is held in NYC in August, and is called Lollapuzzlooza (or something close...) David won it this year, as it used to have an on line contest and an in person contest. So it was only on line this year. I was able to watch the final puzzle on TwitchTV I think it was called. He said that he will get wikipedia mention as the winner. So I went on line and looked on Wikipedia, and there he was listed as the 2020 winner. What he never told us was that he had won the on line version like 6 out of the last 7 years or so.
Although there is technically no cash prize for winning, he said he gets a free entry into the next NY Times Crossword championship, hopefully held in April. Worth around $200.
So I now can say something positive has come because of the pandemic. It took a while....
That’s amazing! Congrats to you as a proud parent.
What are the differences between the online and live test such that your son excels so much with the online test vs the live one?
Quote: SOOPOOHe excels In both! David is probably fourth or fifth best in the world now. In this most recent event only one kid would have been favored over him. A few of the best did not compete. The kid who would be rated higher came in 4th, and David thinks that kid self handicapped by only looking at Down clues! David has a bunch of third place finishes in the main event. The eventual winner most years has been a guy who is the best in the world by a lot.
But 6 out of 7 years, David beats the guys who is the best in the world by a lot in the online challenge? Totally agree David excels in both, but seems like relatively speaking he excels more in the online (or the best guy excels more in the live challenge). Just curious if some slightly different skill set between online and live explains that. Or maybe it’s random or maybe I’m misunderstanding.
