The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament took place last weekend and, for the third time, Dan Feyer won. Here's the video of the final round:

The big story this year, of course, was Dr Fill, the computer. Although Dr Fill wasn't able to win, he did okay with a very respectable 141st place. See the NYT article here.

Language is a Playground

Language is a playground. When not serving some utilitarian purpose, letters and words flirt and frisk and frolic; sometimes, without supervision, they build spectacular sand castles. As a would-be writer, the most inspiring—and, paradoxically, useful—thing to happen to me was finding others who believed in rolling up their sleeves and playing in the sand.

                                                     ~ Daniel Levin Becker

Clever Clue of the Month

February 2012
Clue: Judges those who steal …............UMPS
Constructor: Steve Salitan; Editor: Mike Shenk
Wall Street Journal, 2/3/12

Two months in a row for Mike Shenk! Congratulations.

Crosswords and Art

In a new exhibit at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah, Linnie Brown and her father, Marnius Wolf have selected 14 sets of crossword clues and answers and created a painting in response to each set. Their paintings are displayed next to each other, with the titles coming directly from the answers to the crossword puzzle.

Read the article here.

Clever Clue of the Month

Please vote for the best clue from February (either by email or in the comments below). The Clever Clue of the Month will be announced on Saturday (the 3rd) at approximately 9:00 PM Central. Here are the nominees:

What pool hustlers do? ..........LAPS
Evening drive ...................REVENGE
Child actress ...................STREEP
Judges those who steal ..........UMPS
Fallout victims .................BABYTEETH

Wagyu

Are you familiar with Peter Gordon's The Week Crossword? It's a weekly puzzle designed for news junkies. Many of the puzzle answers are items that were in the news just a few days ago. This week's puzzle, for example, has WHITNEY HOUSTON, MALACHY (Pekingese who won the 2012 Westminster Kennel Club dog show), ONCE UPON A SECRET, which was clued: 2012 Mimi Alford book subtitled My Affair With President John F Kennedy and Its Aftermath, STEPHEN BREYER (Supreme Court justice who was recently robbed at machete-point), and BRINGING UP BEBE (2012 Pamela Druckerman book subtitled One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting).

The clue in the puzzle that baffled me hasn't actually been in the news recently, as far as I know: Expensive beef. The answer: WAGYU. I don't think people in small towns of northern Minnesota have much exposure to it. I've never heard of it. Maybe I need to start watching food shows on television... 

If there's anyone out there as ignorant as me, wagyu  refers to several breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling. The meat from wagyu cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, increased eating quality through a naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness, and a high market value. In several areas of Japan, beef is shipped with area names. Some examples are Kobe, Mishima, Matsusaka, Ōmi, and Sanda beef. Highly prized for their rich flavor, these cattle produce arguably the finest beef in the world.

In the following video Stephen Alexander gives us an introduction to Cumbraes Pure Breed Wagyu:

Garson Hampfield, Crossword Inker

In this fun little video we learn some valuable tidbits:

• The job of the crossword inker
• How Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type eliminated the need to copy crossword puzzles by hand
• The invention of grid paper in the 1940s