|
|
|
|
Tom Vasel: Goodies!!
OK, well I wasn’t able to post last week due to extreme business at our school.
Or something like that.
I was busy, okay!
Anyway, I thought I would make it up to you this week - so I’m including a contest (for 10 Geekgold!), and an exclusive interview (not part of my series)! Hopefully that will make up for the missing last week.
So onto the contest. This one is easy! What I did was take pictures of the numbers “1” through “10” from different games. You have to guess which games! The first person (or the person with the most correct) is the winner!
I’ll try and make the next contest a bit more challenging.
On to the interview! This one was with Doug Hoylman, a crossword and Scrabble champion.
His bio:
General bio: Born in Montana in 1943. Went to MIT and U of Arizona. Tried teaching college math for a few years, then went into actuarial work. In 1975 I moved to the DC area and started working for GEICO. I retired in 1999.
Puzzles: I’ve been entering crossword tournaments since 1986. I won the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament six times, from 1988 to 2000. I enjoy puzzles of many kinds, and am a member of the National Puzzlers’ League.
Games: I participate in games groups four to six times a week. One of these is a Scrabble club; the others, including several Games Club of Maryland chapters, play a variety of board and card games, mostly the “designer” or “German-style” strategy games.
Tom: You’re obviously someone who enjoys word games. What “word” board games do you enjoy the most, and why? Which are the best for increasing language skills?
Doug: You may be asking the wrong person about this, since I seldom have the opportunity to play word games other than Scrabble; my Scrabble club plays only that, and the other games groups I go to rarely play word games. Besides Scrabble, word-spelling games I enjoy include Boggle, BuyWord, and Word Seek. Probably there are lots of others out there that I’d like if I could find people to play them with. Under a broader definition of “word game”, there are games like Taboo and Password, which might actually be more helpful for real-world language skills (other than spelling); thinking of different ways to express something is a more worthwhile skill than anagramming or learning every obscure word in the dictionary.
Tom: Tell us what it’s like to be part of a Scrabble Club....
Doug: Generally, Scrabble clubs play the game somewhat more formally than people tend to play at home. The box may say “2 to 4 players”, but tournament and club games always have two players, or occasionally two teams. We use chess clocks, giving each player 25 minutes of playing time during a game, with a penalty for going over. Challenges are checked by a third party, using the Official Word List (a second edition of which will be effective on March 1st, requiring us to get used to new words like QI and ZA).
Some clubs have procedures for who plays who, and keep records of results. My club doesn’t go that far, but we do have one person at each meeting designated as “director of the week”, who helps match up players of similar strength, along with checking challenges.
A listing of local clubs affiliated with the National Scrabble Association can be found at www.scrabble-assoc.com.
Tom: What are the benefits and disadvantages of playing Scrabble on such a competitive level? Doesn’t the person with the larger vocabulary always win?
Doug: Vocabulary (or, strictly speaking, word knowledge--you don’t have to know what they mean) is certainly important in Scrabble, but it’s far from being the whole game. You also need anagramming skill, rack management (i.e., the letters you keep after a play should give you a good chance of making a good play next time), placement (put words where they’ll help you in the future but not your opponent), various other strategic abilities, and some psychology. (You probably should be discussing this with one of the 962 players in the country who have higher ratings than me.)
Tom: Tell us more about the Crossword Puzzle Championship, and how it works...
Doug: The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is held every year at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut, usually in mid-March (in 2006 it’s March 24-26). In recent years attendance has been in the 400’s. It has been directed from the beginning (1978) by Will Shortz, now crossword editor of the New York Times and “the Puzzlemaster” on NPR. The tournament itself takes place Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning. On Friday and Saturday evenings there are informal competitions and other events. This year’s events include a trivia quiz presented by “Jeopardy!” champ Ken Jennings, and a screening of the new documentary “Wordplay” about Will and the tournament.
During the tournament, there are seven puzzles that everyone does, six on Saturday and the last one on Sunday morning. Time limits range from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on size and difficulty. The puzzles are scored for accuracy, with bonus points awarded for finishing early. After the seventh puzzle is scored, there is a final playoff round, involving only the top three players in each of the top three divisions (there are five divisions, assigned according to one’s record in prior tournaments) solving on giant grids in front of the audience, with color commentary. These nine players get cash prizes ($4,000 for the Division A winner), and many others get trophies.
More info at www.crosswordtournament.com
Tom: Doug, what factors do you attribute your wins to?
Doug: I’m almost embarrassed to say that I never really worked very hard at preparing for crossword tournaments. I just seem to have natural abilities which fit very well with crossword solving: spelling, fast reading, making associations quickly, wide interests, a memory for words and names I’ve seen only a few times, the ability to look at a partly-filled-in entry and quickly see what words would fit. I’m sure that most of the people who have been winning in the past few years have devoted a lot more effort to preparing for it than I ever have; but I’ve had my share of the glory. It’d be great to win again, and I make my best effort during the tournament, but I’m not going to spend long hours training.
Tom: Have any of your crossword skills translated over to boardgaming?
Doug: Not in any way that I can think of (assuming we’re not talking about word or trivia games).
Tom: But don’t puzzles and games use the same set of thinking/logical skills?
Doug: In a broad sense, I suppose so. Certainly many crossword tournament participants and National Puzzlers’ League members are also avid game players (and not just word or trivia games).
Tom: Well, as an expert, what tips would you give to both crossword and Scrabble enthusiasts?
Doug: Crosswords: Do plenty of reading, and watch for words and names that are likely to show up in puzzles. To get a quick start on a puzzle, look for a fill-in-the-blank clue; they’re usually easy. Remember that clues are often deliberately ambiguous, and think about other possible interpretations. And of course, do lots of crosswords and other word puzzles, and look up the answers you don’t get.
Scrabble: Know all the acceptable two- and three-letter words. Look for common prefixes and suffixes in your rack; they’ll help you find long words. Seek out opponents who are better than you; you’ll lose, but you’ll learn something. Think ahead: Will this play set up something good for my opponent? Are the letters left on my rack conducive to a bingo next turn?
Tom: When it comes to puzzles, do you enjoy other puzzles other than crossword puzzles? Have you ever come across a crossword that you couldn’t complete?
Doug: I enjoy a wide variety of word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, and so on.
Yes, I’ve come across many crosswords that I couldn’t complete. It happens less often with the newer type of puzzle than it did with the older ones (e.g., NY Times pre-Will Shortz), which relied more on Siberian rivers, Hawaiian trees, and other stuff that nobody ever heard of.
Tom: Are there any particular magazines you would recommend for puzzles / games?
Doug: Games: Knucklebones.
Puzzles: World of Puzzles.
Both: Games.
Tom: Let’s talk about games. What are you favorites?
Doug: A sampling of favorites: Alhambra, Balderdash, Blokus, Bohnanza, Caylus, Chronology, Ingenious, Master Labyrinth, Octiles, Power Grid, Puerto Rico, Robo-Rally, Settlers of Catan and most of its variants, Ticket to Ride. But I like variety and am always glad to play something new.
Tom: Tell me about how you went from playing Scrabble to exploring all these other games....
Doug: I played games like Monopoly, Clue, canasta, and hearts with my family and friends in childhood, but my current level of involvement in both puzzles and games can all be traced to Games magazine, which a co-worker introduced me to in the early 1980’s. It was there that I first learned about crossword tournaments, Scrabble tournaments, and the National Puzzlers’ League.
Games magazine is also indirectly responsible for my current attendance at multiple games groups. It reported my first win in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 1988; a woman I didn’t know saw the article, noted that I lived in the Washington area, called me up and invited me to her weekly games group in Potomac MD. I began attending, and eventually learned about other such groups in the area. (Anita died three years ago, but the Potomac group is still going strong.)
Tom: How do you approach playing games? Is it all in fun, or do you take them quite seriously? Do you play differently than you might in a tournament?
Doug: I always play for fun. Of course, winning is more fun than losing, and I always try to win, but (even in tournaments) not to such a degree as to take the fun out of it.
Tom: Going back to Scrabble, do you have any memoriable moments from games? Like great moments - using all the tiles from the rack, etc.?
Doug: My most memorable Scrabble tournament play was when my opponent played ZING and I extended it to SOCIALIZING.
Tom: Doug, thanks for your time. Any final thoughts for my readers?
Doug: Fine with me.
Final thoughts: I enjoyed the interview, and I hope your readers find it interesting. Anyone wanting more information on the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the National Puzzler’s League, the National Scrabble Association, or Games Club of Maryland, feel free to contact me.
Edited by Tom Vasel
March 20, 2006
Well, folks, guess that’s it for this week. Hopefully the contest and interview will satiate the two readers I have. Happy gaming!
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.tomvasel.com
Posted by Tom Vasel on Mar 20, 2006 at 03:01 AM in Columnists, Tom Vasel / 2151
Comments:
You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free, but if you appreciate the news, previews, reviews and other material posted on Boardgame News, please consider becoming a member to keep the info flowing to your screen!|
1. Fearsome Floors
Posted by Cemile Guldal on Mar 27, 2006 at 01:41 PM | #
|
|
I am also very sad :(
1. Fearsome Floors
Posted by Jonathan Benjamin on Mar 27, 2006 at 02:12 PM | #
|
|
To add to the other answers:
2. Heimlich & Co.
Posted by W. Eric Martin on Mar 27, 2006 at 03:11 PM | #
|
|
3, 5 and 9 are the ones I was pretty sure of. I also new 1 and 10.
I believe 3 is Gold Rush or Eureka!
Posted by Brent Mair on Mar 27, 2006 at 06:02 PM | #
|
Next entry: Musings on… Sports Games (#31)
Previous entry: Spielbox's Spiel des Jahres Sweepstakes
