CROSSWORD #312: Themeless Monday

ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY] 
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]

PROGRAM: [Java]

PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]

I crushed the New York Times crossword today in a measly 2:24. That's a personal record. Sure, I did on Across Lite and everybody's faster on a computer. Had I done it on paper, I would have been demonstratively slower. Still, I managed to beat two other perennial top-flight solvers (Amy Reynaldo and Rex Parker) by a few seconds. Then again, I'm not puffing my chest out, as potential Top 10 ACPT candidate Joon Pahk did it in 2:29 on paper. Wowza.

I couldn't find Dan Feyer's time (he's the current reigning champion). But I'm sure it would make my achievement look like the time it takes for an ice age to form.

So if I'm talking speed solving, it must mean it's ACPT time. (That's the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.) Once again, I'll be taking my talents to Brooklyn. But fear not, I will not be taking my speed solving talents. Those will be left at home in Cambridge. (Will I be bringing my speed drinking talents? Perhaps. I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.) Anyway, you can expect some ACPT-related posts these next couple weeks, and perhaps that might tip the scales to convince those on the fence to come on out.

To the mailbag. Patrick DiCaprio of Garden City, NY chimes in with an ACPT-related story:

I actually had a nightmare about the ACPT last night! No joke. Here is what happened:

1. In the first puzzle, we had to use stickers with letters on them instead of writing.
2. In the second, there was a cardboard wheel of some sort attached to a two page puzzle. The second page of which was a normal layout. The first page had only pictures as clues next to single line fills each of which went up by one letter from three to whatever (hard to count when you are dreaming).
3. My favorite though was that the third required us to actually catch a red frog! I caught one outside brought it in and a proctor helpfully came over with a box for me to put it in. When it kept trying to jump out, she "dispatched" it for me.

Am i insane?

Probably. But probably no more insane than those competing in the ACPT to begin with. Face it, the ACPT is not unlike the equally-insane ultramarathons. To the average person, the thought of speed solving difficult puzzles over the course of a weekend and/or running 100+ miles in 24 hours isn't their cup of tea. Roughly 1% of those who are competing have a realistic chance of winning. Most who enter are just looking to finish. And my brother-in-law's father-in-law competes in both of them. Seems like an apt analogy to me.

Anyway, thanks for the email, Patrick. Best of luck to you this year. Stickers or no stickers. Frogs or no frogs.

Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.