Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

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Lollapuzzoola 2

Hello friends and visitors! This is our internet tribute to Lollapuzzoola 2, which was held on August 22, 2009 in Queens, New York. Our tournament consisted of five puzzles for the group, and a sixth puzzle as a final head-to-head-to-head championship round, in two division levels.

The puzzles (in PDF format — download and print):

  • Puzzle 1: Sounds of Silence by Todd McClary (15 minutes, Monday level)
  • Puzzle 2: Just to Shake Things Up… by Brian Cimmet (20 minutes, Tuesday level)
  • Puzzle 3: By George! by Peter Gordon (25 minutes, Thursday level)
  • Puzzle 4: Stranded by Brendan Emmett Quigley (35 minutes, Saturday level) – Check out his site (and puzzle #112) for his own recap of Lollapuzzoola and this same puzzle.
  • Puzzle 5: Making A Scene by Doug Peterson (35 minutes, Sunday level)
  • Puzzle 6: Themeless Finale by Mike Nothnagel (15 minutes, Local Division [Thursday-ish] and Express Division [Saturday -- and published in the New York Times on September 5, 2009])

Three of the puzzles had additional information with them, which are currently not fully included in the PDFs. On Puzzle 2, the center section (the grayed out squares) make a Boggle layout. As a follow-up to the puzzle, fill the center square with any letter you like, and then form the longest word list you can come up with. Francis Heaney won this challenge with a 269-word list. On Puzzle 3, as you cross out letters from the alphabet provided, you are left with a set of letters which can be unscrambled to spell a title. We had hoped to set up streaming audio (or video) for this hint, but so far, we are technologically inept. Also, on Puzzle 5, there were five theme entries for which the clues were presented live. Until we find a way to post that information, you’ll have to figure them out from the crossings.

Next, standings:

P ID 1 2 3 4 5 LOW TOTAL
1 12 Howard Barkin 2095 2100 2100 2100 2095 2095 8395
2 28 Dan Feyer 2100 2090 2085 2095 2100 2085 8385
3 37 Francis Heaney 2095 2095 2095 2080 2090 2080 8375
4 22 Jon Delfin 2075 2065 2080 2085 2080 2065 8320
5 106 Adam Cohen 2080 2085 2065 2050 2085 2050 8315
6 78 Ellen Ripstein 2085 2070 2070 2090 2065 2065 8315
7 64 Stanley Newman 2070 2055 2090 2060 2070 2055 8290
8 66 Joon Pahk 2060 2075 1950 2070 2055 1950 8260
9 80 Jeffrey Schwartz 2055 2080 2015 2040 2075 2015 8250
10 69 Doug Peterson 2065 2000 2075 2075 0 0 8215
11 76 Arnold Reich 2045 2035 2050 2055 2050 2035 8200
12 82 Michael Sharp 2035 2045 2040 1935 2040 1935 8160
13 104 Elaine Lippman 2050 2020 2055 1925 2030 1925 8155
14 32 Peter Gordon 2025 2030 0 2065 2010 0 8130
15 55 Todd McClary 0 2010 2030 2025 2045 0 8110
16 17 Patty Buethe 2000 2015 2045 2030 2015 2000 8105
17 54 Matthew Matera 2030 2025 2020 1990 2000 1990 8075
18 41 Will Irving 2010 1970 1900 2000 2040 1900 8020
19 105 Mark Dixon 1990 1995 1925 2010 2020 1925 8015
20 15 Matthew Besse 1960 1990 1890 2015 1980 1890 7945
21 35 Angela Halsted 2005 2045 1970 1765 1920 1765 7940
22 101 David Bleich 1985 1955 2000 1885 1985 1885 7925
23 44 Jeffrey Krasnick 2040 1940 1875 1755 2060 1755 7915
24 14 Eric Berlin 2020 1950 1915 1835 2025 1835 7910
25 108 Noam Elkies 1945 1910 1855 2020 1940 1855 7815
26 16 Patrick Blindauer 1905 1985 1985 1770 1895 1770 7770
27 53 Michael Marcus 1920 1965 1920 1760 1960 1760 7765
28 96 Amanda Yesnowitz 1970 2010 1800 1710 1965 1710 7745
29 61 James Mudrak 1930 1900 1755 1940 1970 1755 7740
30 36 Craig Harman 1985 1915 1790 1865 1975 1790 7740
31 71 Susan Press 1910 1885 1880 1835 1990 1835 7665
32 52 Patricia Manzo 1985 1755 1860 1875 1935 1755 7655
33 109 Tony Orbach 1935 1960 1825 1840 1915 1825 7650
34 83 Janet Siefert 1890 1905 1845 1785 1995 1785 7635
35 33 David Griffith 1895 1850 1480 1915 1905 1480 7565
36 46 Natan Last 1940 1940 1820 1830 1800 1800 7530
37 95 Jeffrey Wechsler 1955 1775 1815 1215 1925 1215 7470
38 30 Neville Fogarty 1950 1980 1720 1700 1755 1700 7405
39 62 Hugh Murphy 1870 1445 1950 1750 1825 1445 7395
40 86 David Stein 1780 1975 1790 1325 1840 1325 7385
41 100 Tarlach MacNiallais 1915 1925 1395 1615 1880 1395 7335
42 77 Aaron Riccio 1925 1935 1515 1000 1950 1000 7325
43 59 Robert Minsky 1880 1855 1830 1415 1715 1415 7280
44 27 Pamela Feiring 1860 1860 1610 1760 1775 1610 7255
45 74 Amar Rajwani 1865 1865 1770 765 1730 765 7230
46 58 Jennifer Meyer 1845 1690 1270 1780 1865 1270 7180
47 79 Nancy Ross 1900 1835 1650 1385 1740 1385 7125
48 88 Kurt Storm 1885 1785 1440 1185 1955 1185 7065
49 19 Eve Cimmet 1810 1695 1440 1625 1900 1440 7030
50 85 Janie Smulyan 1890 1920 1310 1400 1800 1310 7010
51 70 Darin Phelps 1770 1930 800 1565 1710 800 6975
52 89 Marion Strauss 1805 1835 890 1605 1725 890 6970
53 51 Matt Maloney 1835 1735 1260 1475 1870 1260 6915
54 94 Lee-kai Wang 1630 1825 915 1785 1620 915 6860
55 73 Laura Radloff 1820 1840 980 1375 1785 980 6820
56 114 Ingrid Spangler 1850 1815 1400 1040 1700 1040 6765
57 103 Douglas Shank 1795 1615 1430 1035 1780 1035 6620
58 34 John Haba 1825 1820 1140 0 1810 0 6595
59 107 Eric Orns 1860 1810 760 810 1735 760 6215
60 24 Ron DeStefano 1730 1810 1040 995 1600 995 6180
61 102 Mike Warshaw 1415 1760 840 1260 1680 840 6115
62 81 Kathy Semble 1690 1445 1160 0 1635 0 5930
63 87 Leo Stein 1365 1680 460 1130 1610 460 5785
64 11 Betsy Arnold-Leahy 1630 1610 850 220 1685 220 5775
65 29 Diane Firstman 1450 1545 790 1140 1635 790 5770
66 60 David Moulton 1965 1950 1785 0 0 0 5700
67 31 Ed Goldschneider 1710 1635 610 620 1520 610 5485
68 97 Rebecca Young 1475 1540 310 585 1465 310 5065
69 26 Jeff Edgerton 935 1030 610 1075 1570 610 4610
70 111 Jana Zielonka 1655 1890 370 0 0 0 3915
71 110 Cecil Scheib 1815 1670 0 0 0 0 3485
72 13 Max Berest 475 745 -90 435 980 -90 2635
73 112 Steve Guggenheim 0 1665 820 0 0 0 2485
74 113 Susan Wolman 0 965 0 0 0 0 965

I have two errors that I know of — Puzzle 4 from John Haba and Kathy Semble do not have scores registered. However, we had a couple Puzzle 4s come in with no names on them, so it’s just a matter of matching up handwritings, and we’ll get that sorted out.

In our scoring system, the total is the total of the four best scores (i.e., the lowest score is dropped). Peter Gordon, Doug Peterson and Todd McClary each had a puzzle in the tournament, and received a zero for their own puzzle (and that was the “dropped” score).

The Local finalists were Matthew Besse (3rd place), Matt Matera (2nd place) and Will Irving (1st place). The Express finalists were Howard Barkin (3rd place), Francis Heaney (2nd place) and Dan Feyer (1st place). In that Express final, Dan beat Francis by a mere seven seconds. And in addition to his 2nd place in the Local Division, Matt Matera was also named Lollapuzzoola’s Rookie of the Year.