Brain Trust – New York Times

Last Friday afternoon, in the hallway of a Marriott in the center of Stamford, Connecticut, attended by the forty -seventh crossword championships, Will Salar, Will, with joy. The veteran puzzles received old friends by stirring up to the homeland. The first signers nervously smiled, looking at the signs of the name of others in the hope of taking a look of preferred crossword creation. Some stormed chat groups or working on one of the many crossed words stacked on the welcome schedule. “electrical!” I was designed in my notebook, smiling passionately in the scene despite my efforts to be an unwanted observer.

Before the end of last week, I thought about myself as a crossed person, as much as I do the Times puzzle regularly and some speed. I had, since I saw the 2006 documentary “WordPlay”, he dreamed of attending the championship, but sometimes, and sometimes I meditate on my cross friend about how it might be fun to spend a full weekend in puzzle performance. I had no idea what I was. In the tournament, I faced puzzles who could end the mystery of the Sabbath in three minutes. I met a fan that, when presenting an installed name, mentioned precisely the number of crossed words that this person published in the Times. I saw a screaming wearing a Phantom costume of the opera, which is full of head and mask printed on the network and a rose trunk was a giant pencil.

“There are no unofficial puzzles here,” I wrote in my notebook after the wine and cheese reception at the end of the night, where I sip the Pinot Grigio and listened to the creations trying to express the euphoria they feel, and while they were aware of a crossed word, they actually realize that they meet together, and that they will get the ability to complete the elegant presence.

On Saturday, I did six puzzles with competitors, I could not complete one of them in the special thirty minutes, and I felt very proud that I was not completely out of my role. But like a majority of approximately 1,000 people in the championship who had no hope to reach the final round (Grand Prix: $ 7500) my time was next to this point. The point was society, common love and language participants owned. In the hotel’s elevator after the first puzzle session, strangers became direct companions in the weapon while they were committing the clues they did not get: “Wait, how is the bowl of three letters for” Cash on Hand “?” The puzzles they all completed were sufficient to start a conversation, to continue and chat when they reached their floors, and then laid plans to lunch together.