2024 Crossword competition
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There are 7 handwritten puzzles over 2 days scored for accuracy and time, with the top 3 getting into a ‘puzzle off’ in a packed auditorium. David has made the puzzle off multiple times. When he started and was not in the ‘A’ group he won one year. It’s ‘Google-able’. The last few times he’s made the final 3 but has ended in 3rd place each time.
I’ll be cheering him on from Florida this year.
Anyone interested in his other talents can search this site for the Wizard of Vegas Triathlon.
Or any ‘entomology’ topics.
Six puzzles on Saturday; a seventh on Sunday, followed by the top 3 on a final puzzle to determine the winner.
Quote: SOOPOOMy son, David Plotkin, actually technically a member here, will be competing in the de facto World Championship Crossword Puzzle competition this weekend. I believe the worst he has done since 2016 is 4th place…. but the best he has done is 3rd place.
There are 7 handwritten puzzles over 2 days scored for accuracy and time, with the top 3 getting into a ‘puzzle off’ in a packed auditorium. David has made the puzzle off multiple times. When he started and was not in the ‘A’ group he won one year. It’s ‘Google-able’. The last few times he’s made the final 3 but has ended in 3rd place each time.
I’ll be cheering him on from Florida this year.
Anyone interested in his other talents can search this site for the Wizard of Vegas Triathlon.
Or any ‘entomology’ topics.
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FWIW, David is also recognized by all the top trivia experts as one of the best in the US and internationally. and wickedly funny while playing. Brilliant guy.
Quote: ThatDonGuyLink to the tournament site
Six puzzles on Saturday; a seventh on Sunday, followed by the top 3 on a final puzzle to determine the winner.
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The top few puzzlers often get separated on puzzle # 5. It is traditionally by far the hardest of the 7.
Quote: avianrandyHas your son ever tried out for jeopardy? BBB might be able to offer some tips. I will be glad when they get back to regular play after all the tournaments
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He took the test. He got to the second test and believes he got (likely) nearly all the questions correct. Was told he was on some sort of list to be called but never was.
I truly believe if he makes it to the show he has a chance to be a multi game winner. Hopefully we will find out! He has to start over again with the tests.
This has been discussed here in the past. If by some chance he makes it to ‘the show’ he will absolutely connect with BBB. They’ve met at the previous eclipse in North Carolina.
Another member, Teddys, has also been on Jeopardy and I believe won two shows?
David himself knows a few dozen participants from his Crossword exploits. There’s a large number of expert puzzlers who’ve been on Jeopardy.
As BBB has mentioned, a large part of success is ‘using the buzzer’, so that might be what holds him back if he ever gets the call.
Quote: SOOPOOMy son, David Plotkin, actually technically a member here, will be competing in the de facto World Championship Crossword Puzzle competition this weekend. I believe the worst he has done since 2016 is 4th place…. but the best he has done is 3rd place.
There are 7 handwritten puzzles over 2 days scored for accuracy and time, with the top 3 getting into a ‘puzzle off’ in a packed auditorium. David has made the puzzle off multiple times. When he started and was not in the ‘A’ group he won one year. It’s ‘Google-able’. The last few times he’s made the final 3 but has ended in 3rd place each time.
I’ll be cheering him on from Florida this year.
Anyone interested in his other talents can search this site for the Wizard of Vegas Triathlon.
Or any ‘entomology’ topics.
link to original post
I enjoy your updates every year on this. Please keep us updated.
Go David!
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: avianrandyHas your son ever tried out for jeopardy? BBB might be able to offer some tips. I will be glad when they get back to regular play after all the tournaments
link to original post
He took the test. He got to the second test and believes he got (likely) nearly all the questions correct. Was told he was on some sort of list to be called but never was.
I truly believe if he makes it to the show he has a chance to be a multi game winner. Hopefully we will find out! He has to start over again with the tests.
This has been discussed here in the past. If by some chance he makes it to ‘the show’ he will absolutely connect with BBB. They’ve met at the previous eclipse in North Carolina.
Another member, Teddys, has also been on Jeopardy and I believe won two shows?
David himself knows a few dozen participants from his Crossword exploits. There’s a large number of expert puzzlers who’ve been on Jeopardy.
As BBB has mentioned, a large part of success is ‘using the buzzer’, so that might be what holds him back if he ever gets the call.
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I, with David's permission, highly recommended him for competition on J! to the contestant coordinators about 2 years ago. However, they have had a relatively huge personnel turnover in the past year or so, and my contact was among those who left. That's not all bad news for David, though.
The previous team was more focused on diverse, everyday contestants, to the detriment of stereotypical, perhaps higher-skilled candidates. This new team believes, as does the new head producer, that audiences prefer to find and cultivate superchampions regardless of demographics. So the weighting of skills, personality, success in phases of tryouts, has changed the casting process some.
I've played a couple dozen hard trivia games with or against David, and watched him compete several other times. He has every sign of superchampion ability, and he continues to study and improve his knowledge base. I expect them to cast him within a year, and I expect he will win a ton of money. Fingers crossed...and I'm going to try to help again this season if he needs it.
David is in solo third after the first 3 puzzles. That’s the good news…. The bad news is a ROOKIE is leading! At one point a few years back David was definitely the best in the world his age or younger. But now there are a few younger than him that are around the same caliber.
As mentioned earlier, any of the top 7 or so can make the finals, mostly dependent on diabolical ‘puzzle 5’.
Quote: SOOPOOAs always, thanks BBB!
David is in solo third after the first 3 puzzles. That’s the good news…. The bad news is a ROOKIE is leading! At one point a few years back David was definitely the best in the world his age or younger. But now there are a few younger than him that are around the same caliber.
As mentioned earlier, any of the top 7 or so can make the finals, mostly dependent on diabolical ‘puzzle 5’.
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Has a woman won the competition in the hardest group in the past?
Quote: SOOPOODavid is in solo third after the first 3 puzzles. That’s the good news…. The bad news is a ROOKIE is leading!
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That "rookie" is Will Nediger - here's his bio.
He's a "rookie" only in that he's never competed in this event before. It's kind of like saying that Mario Andretti was a NASCAR "rookie" when he won the 1967 Daytona 500 (and he was; I believe that was his first, and only, NASCAR race).
Quote: DRichQuote: SOOPOOAs always, thanks BBB!
David is in solo third after the first 3 puzzles. That’s the good news…. The bad news is a ROOKIE is leading! At one point a few years back David was definitely the best in the world his age or younger. But now there are a few younger than him that are around the same caliber.
As mentioned earlier, any of the top 7 or so can make the finals, mostly dependent on diabolical ‘puzzle 5’.
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Has a woman won the competition in the hardest group in the past?
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I’m not sure. There has been a woman top level competitor since David started competing but she’s a tad behind the top few men. She may have done better when younger.
https://www.youtube.com/live/CA11uvMBzf4?si=ersFwh5tCDj-vXcY
It’s tough being a dad….
Quote: SOOPOOHe is in 4th place after puzzle 6. He will need to clock puzzle 7 a minute faster than Dan Feyer, who most would say is the best in the world. I’d give David a 5-10% chance.
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It looks like Dan had two errors on his last puzzle that nobody noticed at first; his Puzzle 6 score was reduced to 1750, putting him in 10th (and David tied for third) after the sixth puzzle.
Quote: ThatDonGuyQuote: SOOPOOHe is in 4th place after puzzle 6. He will need to clock puzzle 7 a minute faster than Dan Feyer, who most would say is the best in the world. I’d give David a 5-10% chance.
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Did somebody drop out, or the judges found a mistake in one of somebody's earlier puzzles? He's listed as tied for third after puzzle 6 now.
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Looking at the standings, it appears Dan Feyer must have made a mistake. And David was faster that Tyler Hinman on puzzle 6, which David didn’t expect.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
Quote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
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1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
Quote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
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1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
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It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start. David finished 2nd! I always have to remind myself of this amazing accomplishment. There are a couple billion or so English speaking people who could try to win this. And David was number 2. Prize this year for 2nd was $3k. I’m gonna let him pay for dinner next week!
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
link to original post
1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
link to original post
It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start. David finished 2nd! I always have to remind myself of this amazing accomplishment. There are a couple billion or so English speaking people who could try to win this. And David was number 2. Prize this year for 2nd was $3k. I’m gonna let him pay for dinner next week!
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You should be a very proud Dad. Congratulations!
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
link to original post
1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
link to original post
It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start.
link to original post
"I don't know...that Y looked like an X..."
Quote: ThatDonGuyQuote: SOOPOOQuote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
link to original post
1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
link to original post
It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start.
link to original post
"I don't know...that Y looked like an X..."
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That was just a paid announcer. They have a bunch of judges that seemed to come to a very quick decision that there was no error. But FOR A SECOND I thought he might have won.
Quote: SOOPOOQuote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
link to original post
1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
link to original post
It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start. David finished 2nd! I always have to remind myself of this amazing accomplishment. There are a couple billion or so English speaking people who could try to win this. And David was number 2. Prize this year for 2nd was $3k. I’m gonna let him pay for dinner next week!
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He placed 2nd!! I hadn't heard. That's fantastic! I did get a laugh out of his new profile picture, him at the podium with his back to the camera, working the final puzzle. You must be very proud!
Quote: beachbumbabsQuote: SOOPOOQuote: ThatDonGuyQuote: DRichCongrats to David and Soopoo. It looks like David made it to third place after 7 puzzles.
Are the finals puzzles cumulative with the first seven puzzles or are they stand alone for scoring?
link to original post
1 second head start for every 10 points of lead after the 7 scored puzzles.
link to original post
It didn’t make a difference. The winner won by well more than his head start. David finished 2nd! I always have to remind myself of this amazing accomplishment. There are a couple billion or so English speaking people who could try to win this. And David was number 2. Prize this year for 2nd was $3k. I’m gonna let him pay for dinner next week!
link to original post
He placed 2nd!! I hadn't heard. That's fantastic! I did get a laugh out of his new profile picture, him at the podium with his back to the camera, working the final puzzle. You must be very proud!
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Of course. Thank you! Terapined posted a link if you want to see him in the finals.
