Windhover (Larry) & Lucina

Windhover & Lucin, July 24, 2015

Jazzbumpa and Grand Kids

In front: Samantha, Emily and Nate.

Behind: Danny, Alexa, me, Amanda, Ryan.

July 2, 2015

Melissa Girls Weekend

Kazie China Trip

View of intricate design on one of many buildings in Beijing’s Forbidden City

Kay and Barry ride in a rickshaw to the Hutong district in Beijing

Display at a jade factory –not everything is green!

Barry on the Great Wall

Barry and Kay in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven

Small section of the famous Terra Cotta Soldiers in Xi’an

A scene from the Tang Music and Dance Show. Text displayed at the side of the stage at various intervals gave information on the different stages of Tang Dynasty history.

A couple posing for a wedding photo. We saw many Mercedes and other luxury cars everywhere.

Kay in front of the Buddhist Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an. China has four main religions: Buddhism, Muslim, Christianity and Taoism

Lao woman with her hair piled on top of her head in Long Shen, on the way up to the Dragon Spine Rice Terraces near Guilin

Barry and Kay at lunch in a restaurant near the top of the rice terraces. We loved the way food is served on huge lazy susans centered on all restaurant tables.

Scenery on the Li River, on which we cruised for a few hours

Many of the translated signs were amusing—this was a place selling selfie sticks.

Family outing? We couldn’t believe this!

Shanghai—view from the 88^th floor of the Jinmao Tower, tallest building in China at 1,380 feet.

Kay and Barry on the Bund, a riverside promenade on the opposite side of the Huangpu River from Jinmao. Here the buildings date from the British era and remind me a lot of downtown Sydney.

Silk spinning from the chrysalises at the silk factory in Suzhou.

The Fourth Minnesota Crossword Tournament

The Fourth Minnesota Crossword Tournament was held at the historic Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul on June, 14, 2015. 

 

The tournament website has not released the final scores yet. The winner (Expert) is Carl Voss. Andrew Ries (very very talented constructor) finished second and Mike Weepie finished third. (Updated: Please click here for final scores.)

Boomer and I stayed over 2 hours. Here are some photos we took.

Local tournament constructors: : C.C., Tom Pepper, George Barany, Victor Barocas, Michael David & David Liben-Nowell. Missing David Hanson (Rosebud).

  

Jon Berman, Johanna Fenimore, Don Gagliardo, Andrea Carla Michael & Amy Reynaldo (Orange) all live outside Minnesota and could not make the trip. Their names & pictures are all shown in this big screen before the tournament.

 

Thanks for the picture, Chase Maxwell

  

A few words from Liz Boyd (The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library) before the tournament.

Constructor is introduced before each puzzle. Here is Tom Pepper.

 

Here is George Barany.

 

Solving has started.

Constructors are mingling in the back. 

 Victor Barocas, David Liben-Nowell & Michael David

  C.C. & George Barany

    Victor Barocas & George Barany

 Victor Barocas, David Liben-Nowell & Michael David

 Michael David, David Liben-Nowell & Victor Barocas

 Michael David & Tom Pepper

 

Special thanks to Liz Boyd & Ann McKinnon of the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library for their hard work running this annual event.

Also a big "Thank you" to Victor Barocas for making our puzzles tournament-ready. Victor was heavily involved in every step of the puzzle-making, from the theme set development to the final clues. While we were enjoying the Memorial Day weekend, Victor was busy editing and converting the puzzles.

Thanks also to our constructors. It was a privilege working with you for this event. 

Thanks to all the tournament sponsors & solvers also. You made this possible.

Joann & Gary 1964 Prom

Big Easy Ott

From Big Easy (March 13, 2015)

"Next time OTT appears in a puzzle you can insert this. I was passing there today and stopped and took this picture. It is right down the street from ZYDECOs, which occasionally showed up."

Constructor Peg Slay

Steve (Peg's husband) & Peg (Her avatar name: C6D6 Peg)

Argyle Dear Santa the Real Master