Bursting fourth with pride
Apr. 11th, 2010 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuToday was the second annual Boston Crossword Puzzle Tournament, once again wonderfully arranged by Eric Helmuth and Joon Pahk. You may recall that last year I came in eighth, with two puzzles that I "should" have done one clock-minute better on. (For example, in one case, I had 30 seconds left in the minute to check my results, and accidentally took 32.)
My goals for this year were (1) to have fun, (2) to manage my time better, and (3) to find out whether or not last year was a fluke.
I'm pleased that I succeeded at all three goals.
(1) I had a great time, both on and off the "playing field." I sat in front of Ryan and Brian, and they teased me mercilessly about not listening to their podcast, and we chatted about a whole bunch of things. I finally got to meet BEQ. And I got to spend a lot of time chatting with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fauxklore, who was in town for the event, and with a bunch of my local NPL friends. I also saw my Zamir friend Deb S. and Arnold Z-K from my shul.
(2) On no puzzle did I feel that I should have scored in the previous minute; I think (based on the rustling of the room) that I fell one minute behind on puzzle 2, but that was because it legitimately took me that long to finish it. And on puzzle 4, by BEQ and Joon, I think I made up that minute. We'll know for sure later tonight when the detailed results are posted.
(3) And I came in fourth. So now, to some degree, the pressure is off. I don't expect to ever actually crack the top three, but I feel now that last year's top-ten finish wasn't just blind luck.
My goals for this year were (1) to have fun, (2) to manage my time better, and (3) to find out whether or not last year was a fluke.
I'm pleased that I succeeded at all three goals.
(1) I had a great time, both on and off the "playing field." I sat in front of Ryan and Brian, and they teased me mercilessly about not listening to their podcast, and we chatted about a whole bunch of things. I finally got to meet BEQ. And I got to spend a lot of time chatting with
fauxklore, who was in town for the event, and with a bunch of my local NPL friends. I also saw my Zamir friend Deb S. and Arnold Z-K from my shul.(2) On no puzzle did I feel that I should have scored in the previous minute; I think (based on the rustling of the room) that I fell one minute behind on puzzle 2, but that was because it legitimately took me that long to finish it. And on puzzle 4, by BEQ and Joon, I think I made up that minute. We'll know for sure later tonight when the detailed results are posted.
(3) And I came in fourth. So now, to some degree, the pressure is off. I don't expect to ever actually crack the top three, but I feel now that last year's top-ten finish wasn't just blind luck.