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International Rubik's
Cube Competition 2007 |
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Herald Hunt 2006: Fourth
Record Victory for a Team |
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2007 Games of the Year
and Other Awards - by GAMES© |
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One week apart from the
finish of WSPC 2006 |
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Bulgaria 2006: One More
Celebration of Puzzling is Over |
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Al Zimmermann's
Programming Contests: Snakes On A Plane |
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Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle
Design Competition 2006 |
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Results of the 47th IMO,
Slovenia, 2006 |
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Mind Sports Olympiad
returns to London |
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World Gathering 2006 - by
American Mensa |
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MathFest 2006 |
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The U.S. SCRABBLE® Open
2006 - August 4-9 |
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Thomas Snyder Becomes the
2006 Google U.S. Puzzle Champion! |
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U.S. National Rubik’s
Cube Championship - August 4-6, 2006 |
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2006 Google U.S. Puzzle
Championship - This Weekend! |
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Mensa Mind Games® 2006 in
Portland |
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A Pair of Champions at
the National School SCRABBLE® Championship |
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Al Zimmermann's
Programming Contests: Prime Generating Polynomials |
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The 1st World Sudoku
Champion Ever - from Czech Republic! |
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29th Annual American
Crossword Puzzle Tournament |
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1st World Sudoku
Championship - this March! |
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A New World's Record for
Solving Rubik's Cube |
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International Rubik's Cube Competition 2007 |
International Rubik's Cube Competition returns to the Exploratorium in
conjunction with the Caltech's Rubik's Cube Club. The event will take
place Saturday, January 13, 2007, 10am 4:30pm.
Come watch the world's greatest solvers of the Rubik's Cube compete
for the fastest times under improbable circumstances. New World
Records have been set at the last three Exploratorium-hosted Rubik¹s
Cube events. Will it happen again?
Competitors not only solve the cube the standard two-handed way, but
also vie to solve the cube in blindfolded and one-handed tournaments.
The Caltech's Rubik's Cube Club is responsible for hosting all of the
World Cube Association-sponsored Rubik's Cube competitions in the
United States, drawing participation from around the world. The
Exploratorium has been bringing the Caltech-sponsored Rubik's Cube
Club competition to the Bay Area since 2005.
For more details, please visit the official
webpage. |
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Sources:
The Exploratorium |
International Rubik's Cube Championship |
Caltech Winter 2007 Rubik's Cube Competition |
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Posted: December 14, 2006 |
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Herald Hunt 2006: Fourth Record Victory for a Team |
The last Sunday of the past month South Miami hosted an annual event
like no other - Herald Hunt. About 5,000 puzzlers converged on Sunset
Place for an afternoon of piecing together obscure and bizarre clues.
The quickest and sharpest among them won free vacations to Mexico. It
has become a South Florida tradition for thousands of families and
friends, many of whom fly in from other parts of the country to
compete.
Herald Hunt is a game where clues are everywhere - on movie posters,
antique cars and even half-nude mannequins. Barry, the longtime Miami
Herald humor writer, and Shroder, a former editor for The Miami
Herald's Tropic magazine, have been coming up with twisted clues and
solutions for the Hunt since 1984. The Hunt's treasure map was printed
in Sunday's Miami Herald along with the initial clues.
This year three-time winners Steve Friedland, Mark and Mindy
Engleberg, and Brian O'Neil won a record fourth Hunt! The four won a
five-night trip to a beach resort in Cancún. It's similar to the
all-expenses-paid vacations they won to the Dominican Republic, Alaska
and New Orleans for winning previous Hunts.
Our Congratulations to the winners and participants!
For more information about Herald Hunt, please visit its official
webpage. |
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Sources:
Miami Herald |
Herald Event Marketing |
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Posted: November 29, 2006 |
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2007 Games of the Year and Other Awards - by GAMES© |
As part of the GAMES© annual Buyer’s Guide to Games, the magazine
presents their annual awards for Traditional Game of the Year,
Electronic Game of the Year, and Best New Game in various categories.
The list of winners for 2007 can be found at the GAMES©
website, as well as in the December 2006 issue of the magazine (on
newsstands October 31, 2006).
For more information, please visit GAMES©
on-line. |
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Posted: October 28, 2006 |
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One week apart from the finish of WSPC 2006 |
WSPC stands for World's Smartest Person Challenge. The contest is held
by International High IQ Society. This year it runs from July 1st
through October 31st.
There is no entry fee and the contest is open to anyone worldwide who
wishes to attempt it. The questions have kept advanced math and
specific cultural knowledge to a minimum, and require knowledge of
only simple, universal concepts to solve.
The contest itself is in the form of a PDF document, the one can
easily print our and work with at his leisure. The answers are then
entered through the website. Deadline is midnight October 31st, New
York time.
Top 25 contestants will receive money prizes and the Top prize is
$1000.
For more detailed information, please visit the official WSPC 2006
website. |
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Posted: October 25, 2006 |
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Bulgaria 2006: One More Celebration of Puzzling is Over |
This year the 15th World Puzzle Championship took place on 7-12
October, 2006 in Borovets mountain resort, Bulgaria. The resort is
located 1300 m. above the sea level in the Rila mountain - not far
away from Sofia.
What were the main "heights" for this year's Championship?
Teams from 23 countries have participated in the competition. No
special unexpected surprises from the "seeded" players and teams.
Ulrich Voigt became the Champion for the second consecutive year (five
titles so far). The US team made one more step towards the 10th
jubilee title, winning their 9th team title in Bulgarian mountains.
Our congratulations to the participants, winners and organizers!
For more detailed information on the WPC 2006, including
individual and
team results, please visit the
WPC 2006 website.
See you in Rio next year! |
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Sources:
WPC 2006 |
WPF |
US
Puzzle Team |
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Posted: October 24, 2006 |
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Al Zimmermann's Programming Contests: Snakes On A Plane |
A new contest in the series of Al Zimmermann's Programming Contests
has been launched at the end of the summer: Snakes On A Plane. The
contest is based on
Serhiy Grabarchuk's original
Neo Matchstick Snake problem presented at
mathpuzzle.com in 2003. Later the concept had been extended at
Erich Friedman's
website.
The current Al Zimmermann's contest will last through the second half
of November. Also, the results of the previous contest - Prime
Generating Polynomials - are
available.
A traditional cash prize for the first three winning entries is
proposed again. Total prizes are $500.
Participating is free. To enter a contest, you just need to register.
Once registered, you may submit your solutions whenever you like, they
will be automatically judged and the results page will be updated
accordingly. An associated discussion group for the contest is
available.
For more information, please visit the official Contests website:
www.recmath.org/contest/. |
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Posted: October 1, 2006 |
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Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition 2006 |
54 puzzles entered this year's Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design
Competition. Just as in the previous years the Competiotion was held
in conjunction with IPP26, this past July in Boston, USA. The goal of
this annual Competition is to promote and recognize innovative new
designs of mechanical puzzles.
The Maze Burr by Kagen Schaefer became the Puzzle of the Year
receiving the Puzzlers' Award and Grand Prize (The Puzzlers' Award is
selected by IPP attendees, the rest prizes are selected by Judging
Committee). Floppy Cube by Katsuhiko Okamoto won First Prize,
while Second Prize went to A Chance Meeting by Tatuo Miyamoto.
Three extra puzzles received Honorable Mention awards. These are:
Box With a Tree by Hiroshi Iwahara, Cover It Up by Robert
Reid and Sequential Star by Lee Krasnow.
Our congratulations to the winners!
To see more details (available in PDF version too) on the winners, all
the participating designs, rules and schedules visit the
Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition home page. |
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Posted: September 29, 2006 |
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Results of the 47th IMO, Slovenia, 2006 |
This year the 47th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) has been
hosted by Slovenia, on July 6-18, 2006. The competition itself took
place in the country's capital Ljubljana on July 12 and July 13.
Almost 500 young mathematicians from 90 countries all over the world
have participated in the Olympiad.
For more information about the event, including its
results,
photo gallery,
problems and solutions, and the IMO
history, please visit the official site of
IMO
2006.
The 48th IMO 2007 will be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam. |
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Posted: August 28, 2006 |
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Mind Sports Olympiad returns to London |
After three years in Manchester the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is
returning to London, and entry fees have been reduced! The anniversary
MSO 10 will take place at the University of Westminster campus on
Marylebone Road, facing the London Planetarium.
The event runs for nine days, from August 26th to September 3rd.
Contestants may enter tournaments on a per-event basis, or take
advantage of the Olympiad season tickets that will be available for
the entire 9 days at £125 (juniors under 19, £95), or the day tickets
at £30 (juniors £22). In addition to the traditional MSO Gold, Silver
and Bronze awards, cash prizes will be offered where there is prize
sponsorship.
For more detailed information on the event, please visit the
MSO
official website. |
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Posted: August 25, 2006 |
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World Gathering 2006
by American Mensa |
Commemorating Mensa’s Diamond Anniversary (60 years), American Mensa
hosts a special, once-in-a-lifetime, celebration - the World Gathering
2006 (WG 2006). The event promises a week of enlightening experiences
from Tuesday, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006. The WG 2006 will
take place at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Florida. Located near
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, the resort is nestled around a
15-acre lake and is one of the largest single-level convention hotels
in the eastern United States.
Mensans from across the globe are registering to join this truly
fascinating and rewarding adventure. Just imagine: space travel,
cartoon characters, sugar-white beaches, unique flora and fauna and
historical treasures in the Sunshine State of Florida.
Actually the WG 2006 will combine several events in one. These are:
a) the celebration of Mensa’s 60th anniversary;
b) American Mensa’s Annual General Meeting;
c) the annual meeting of the International Board of Directors;
d) a meeting of the American Mensa Committee;
e) super-sized opportunities to meet Mensans from all over the globe
(approximately 2000 Mensans have already registered for the event).
Welcome to join the World Gathering 2006!
For more information about the event, please visit the
WG 2006 official site. |
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Posted: August 7, 2006 |
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MathFest 2006 |
The MAA's Annual Summer Meeting - MathFest - is always an intimate
celebration of mathematics and mathematicians, a program rich with
varied events and activities for everyone who loves math. This summer
MathFest 2006 will be held on August 10-12, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Though online registration is closed already, it will be possible to
register on-site in the Knoxville Convention Center.
Just as usual, the event will feature the prestigious Hedrick Lecture
Series (in the mornings), while in the afternoons you will be able to
choose from a great variety of Invited Paper Sessions, Contributed
Paper Sessions, Minicourses, Special Programs, and Student Activities.
There will be also special highlights for students.
Also don't forget to visit the MathFest Exhibit Hall in the Knoxville
Convention Center, which will feature a wide selection of publications
and technology in mathematics and related fields.
And on top of that the social calendar will embrace such fun events as
the Tennessee Riverboat Dinner Cruise, the Tour of Cades Cove/Smoky
Mountains, and the Appreciation Banquet for Don Albers.
To learn more about the event, including schedules, projects,
registration, housing and travel information, etc., please visit the
official
MathFest page. |
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Sources:
MAA Online |
MathFest |
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Posted: August 7, 2006 |
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The U.S. SCRABBLE® Open 2006 - August 4-9 |
This year the National SCRABBLE® Championship has been renamed the
U.S. SCRABBLE® Open (USSO). The National SCRABBLE® Association (NSA)
and Hasbro feel that the new name better reflects the international
participation this annual event draws.
The USSO 2006 takes place this August at the Arizona Biltmore in
Phoenix, AZ. It has begun on August 4 and will last through August 9.
This summer's event promises to be bigger and better, with traditional
ESPN capturing for telecast later this fall.
For more information on the event, including
live coverage, please visit
the USSO 2006 official site. |
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Sources:
National SCRABBLE&® Association |
The USSO 2006 |
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Posted: August 6, 2006 |
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Thomas Snyder Becomes the 2006 Google U.S. Puzzle Champion! |
Quoted from
wpc.puzzles.com:
Thomas Snyder, a chemistry graduate student at Harvard, solved 22 out
of 23 puzzles, scoring 370 out of a possible 385 points, to win the
2006 U.S. Puzzle Championship title.
Thomas finished just one point ahead of Wei-Hwa Huang, who also solved
22 of 23 puzzles. Zack Butler was third place with 353 points,
Jonathan Rivet was fourth place with 350 points, and Dan Katz was
fifth place with 305 points. The top three, Thomas, Wei-Hwa, and Zack,
will be joined by Roger Barkan in representing the US at the World
Puzzle Championship in Bulgaria in October, 2006.
The top Canadian scores were very close: Karen Andrien (282), Terry
Newton (279), Byron Calver (278), and Derek Kisman (263).
The top international scores were: the 2005 World Champion Ulrich
Voigt of Germany (335), Denis Auroux of France (333), Taro Arimatsu of
Japan (320), and Andrey Bogdanov of Russia (309).
Please read the more comprehensive review on the 2006 U.S. Puzzle
Championship results at its
official website and specifically at
the 2006 Summary Page. |
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Posted: July 31, 2006 |
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U.S. National Rubik’s Cube Championship - August 4-6, 2006 |
Every January the Exploratorium hosts International Rubik's Cube
Competition. But this year there is a summer opportunity for die-hard
fans to watch the nation's Rubik's Cube puzzle-solvers warm up for the
international title with a competition for the title of United States
Champion.
Highlights of the competition include the 3x3x3 speed solve and
blindfold cubing rounds. Competition begins at 11 a.m. each day from
August 4 through 6, at the Exploratorium. The event is presented in
conjunction with the Caltech Rubik's Cube Club.
For more information on such a puzzling competition, including
Registration, please visit the
U.S. NRC Championship 2006 site and the special
Exploratorium's page. |
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Sources:
U.S. NRC Championship 2006 |
The Exploratorium |
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Posted: July 23, 2006 |
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2006 Google U.S. Puzzle Championship - This Weekend! |
The Google U.S. Puzzle Championship is announced to be held on
Saturday June 17, 2006 at 1pm ET. To participate, please read the
rules and
register here before June 15 (!), 2006.
The top two U.S. contestants will be selected to join the U.S. Team at
the World Puzzle Championship in Bulgaria on October 7-12.
Get your chance to attend this year's World Puzzle Championship now!
Good luck! |
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Posted: June 13, 2006 |
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Mensa Mind Games® 2006 in Portland |
This year’s Mind Games® were hosted by Oregon Mensa on April 21 - 23,
2006. Just as in previous years the competition was an intense weekend
of play - a 40-hour gaming marathon. Mensans have judged and critiqued
games released in the past year and awarded the Mensa Select® seal to
the top five of them. The winners of this year are (in alphabetical
order):
- Deflexion (manufacturer: Deflexion)
- Hive (manufacturer: Smart Zone)
- Keesdrow (manufacturer: Pywacket LLC)
- Pentago (manufacturer: Mindtwister USA)
- Wits & Wagers (manufacturer: North Star Games)
Board games, card games and other types of table and party games are
eligible for the event. Games may be for one or more players. The
competition is not open to games that are incomplete or not yet in
production. Video, electronic, or computer games or any games that
take an inordinately long time to set up and play cannot be
accommodated. The entered games are judged on aesthetics,
instructions, originality, play appeal and play value.
Next year's Mind Games® will take place in Pittsburgh, PA, on April
20-22, 2007.
For more information on Mind Games®, please visit
mindgames.us.mensa.org and
us.mensa.org. |
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Posted: April 29, 2006 |
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A Pair of Champions at the National School SCRABBLE® Championship |
Aaron Jacobs, 14, and Nathan Mendelsohn, 13, from the Pierce School in
Brookline, MA became the new 2006 National School SCRABBLE® Champions!
The 2006 National School SCRABBLE® Championship took place at the
Hynes Convention Center, Boston, on April 21-22. It is estimated a
million students in 20,000 schools play the popular word game as part
of their curriculum. Only 196 players, students in grades 5-8, from 23
states made it this year to the Championship with a $5000 first prize!
The winners will go on to play SCRABBLE® against some of the world’s
best adult players this August.
For more information on the event, please visit
The School SCRABBLE© Program official website. |
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Posted: April 29, 2006 |
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Al Zimmermann's Programming Contests: Prime Generating Polynomials |
A new Al Zimmermann's Programming Contest is launched: Prime
Generating Polynomials. The contest started on March 13 and will last
till June 13, 2006. The contest, as usual, is intended for people who
like to compete on programming challenges, and spend much of CPU
and/or brain power on them. At the same time you don't need to write a
computer program to enter. You can enter whether you use a computer,
manual calculations, or tea leaves to solve the problem.
The contest offers a traditional cash prize for the first three
winning entries. Total prizes are $500.
Participating is free. To enter a contest, you just need to register.
Once registered, you may submit your solutions whenever you like, they
will be automatically judged and the results page will be updated
accordingly. Also an associated discussion group for the contest is
available.
For more information, please visit the official Contests website:
www.recmath.org/contest/. |
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Posted: March 22, 2006 |
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The 1st World Sudoku Champion Ever - from Czech Republic! |
A 31-year-old Czech economist, Jana Tylova, became the top Sudoku
player in the world. The 1st World Sudoku Championship (WSC1) was held
on March 10-11, 2006 in Lucca, Italy. The puzzle event was organized
by nonzero edizioni, together with the World Puzzle Federation and
Lucca Tourist Board.
85 puzzle-solvers from 22 Countries took part in the two-day event in
Lucca: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands,
Philippines, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Switzerland,
Turkey, United Kingdom, USA and Venezuela. The youngest contestant was
15-year old Roland Jago, Germany, and the oldest was 61-year old of
Martino Nacca, Italy. Women made up around a third of the competitors.
The nine finalists were from six countries: two from Czech Republic,
two from USA, two from Japan, and one each from Hungary, Slovakia, and
Serbia and Montenegro. And the top three solvers are:
1st place: Jana Tylova, 31, an accountant from the Czech Republic,
2nd place: Thomas Snyder, 26, a Harvard University graduate student,
3rd place: Wei-Hwa Huang, 30, a software engineer for internet search
engine firm Google in California.
Our Congratulations!
During the ending ceremony, which was held at the Ducal Palace in
downtown Lucca, Ms Tylova was presented with her winner's trophy by
Wayne Gould, the retired Hong Kong judge most recently known for
helping to popularize Sudoku.
For more information about the event, please visit the official site
of
WSC1. |
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Posted: March 20, 2006 |
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29th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament |
It is less than a week left for the nation's oldest and largest
crossword competition to take place in Stamford, Connecticut. This
year American Crossword Puzzle Tournament will mark its 29th
anniversary.
Traditionally, eight original crosswords are created and edited
specially for this event. Scoring is based on accuracy and speed.
Prizes are awarded in more than 20 categories, including a $4,000
grand prize. The Tournament also features evening games, guest
speakers, and even a wine and cheese reception...
For more details please visit the ACPT official site:
www.crosswordtournament.com. |
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Posted: March 19, 2006 |
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1st World Sudoku Championship - this March! |
It's almost a year since Sudoku has rocketed from one in a row
championship-like logic puzzle to the latest puzzle craze all over the
world. Naturally, as the year is over it would be extremely intriguing
to figure out who could possibly be the world #1 Sudoku solver. That's
what the 1st World Sudoku Championship (WSC1)
will be about! The Championship will be held in Lucca, Italy, on March
10-11, 2006 by
nonzero s.r.l. with the support of the
World Puzzle Federation and APT Lucca.
Each country may select up to six people to attend the championship.
Teams from more than a dozen countries are already registered. If you
think you've got what it takes to represent the U.S. on the world
stage, please visit wpc.puzzles.com as soon as possible (!). It's
almost deadline!! First try this sampling of
Variety Sudoku (PDF: 638 KB) puzzles and then submit your results
by completing the U.S. Sudoku Team
Registration Form.
For more information on WSC1, please visit the WSC1
official website, and for more information on the U.S. Sudoku
Team, please visit
wpc.puzzles.com as soon as possible!!
Sources: |
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WSC1 |
WPF |
wpc.puzzles.com |
nonzero s.r.l. |
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Posted:
February 8, 2006 |
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A New World's Record for Solving Rubik's Cube |
On Saturday, January 14, 2006, a new world's record for solving
Rubik's Cube puzzle has been set. A 20-year-old California Institute
of Technology student Leyan Lo turned the tiled brain-twister from
scrambled to solved just in 11.13 seconds!
Leyan Lo is part of Caltech's Rubik's Cube Club, a brainy clutch of
students that hosted the competition at the Exploratorium museum in
San Francisco. Lo's record-setting time came early Saturday, among his
first five tries in the preliminary rounds.
The record-setting solve caught competitors and Lo himself by
surprise. But his time of 11.13 seconds broke the previous record of
11.75 seconds, set by Frenchman Jean Pons at the Dutch Open
competition last year.
To learn more about this story, please visit
this page. |
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Posted: January 17, 2006 |
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Last Updated: January 30, 2008 |
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