Puzzling!
Tomorrow I’ll be spending 2.5 hours of my Saturday afternoon solving puzzles. Not jigsaw puzzles, but the fun kind. Puzzles with numbers and lines and scrambled-up words.
This is the Google US Puzzle Championship, an online contest to select part of the US delegation to the 2006 World Puzzle Championship in Bulgaria in October.
No, I’m not special*—registration is free and open to all US citizens. The format is simple: 15-ish puzzles with varying point values. You print them all out at noon, submit the answers online as you come up with them, and the two people with the highest score at 2:30 win. The difficulty of the puzzles varies enough to make it both enjoyable and challenging for puzzlers at all skill levels.
I participated in both the 2004 and 2003 championships, but I think last year’s was held while I was in Chicago, and I missed it. I would’ve missed this year’s, too, if my friend Paul hadn’t reminded me last week. (Thanks!)
Hooray for puzzles! Hooray for any sort of mental stimulation, really! Summer can be really boring!
P.S. I’m going to try to flea-bomb and -powder the apartment again tomorrow. Wish me luck.
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* Yes I am. But for other reasons. For instance, I ate a whole pint of Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt today. Mmmmm, special.
Tags: math & puzzles
June 17th, 2006 at 11:57 am
NATALIE!! You told me this too late! As it is the 17th and I needed to register by the 15th… I must be puzzle-less this afternoon and envy you ginormously. =(
Although maybe you hatched this plot to eliminate some of your friends from being potential competition. Sneaky.
Either way, I want an update to find out what I missed!
June 17th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
So sorry! I actually didn’t make the deadline myself, since I procrastinated on registering until last night, but it let me sign up anyway. I guess my entry won’t count, but it doesn’t matter much anyway—I spent most of the time watching the World Cup and only solved two measly puzzles.
I think if you go to the site you can download this year’s test. I’m gonna keep working on the puzzles myself…there are lots that look fun.
June 17th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Sweet! I got mentioned!!!! Yay mental stimulation. Too bad it didn’t work out with the whole taking it and stuff. At least it’s fun. Where is Sara from?
PB
June 18th, 2006 at 10:46 am
California.