People: Day 208: Cross words

Day 208: Cross words, originally uploaded by madmolecule.

I first started solving crosswords when I was about 20 years old; I was sitting at home one night and thought, out of the blue, a crossword puzzle sounds like fun, so I went to the store and bought a book of them.

Now, 16 years later, I finish the NY Times puzzle every day. (The NYT puzzle starts at "very easy" on Monday and gets progressively harder through the week. The Saturday puzzles, not Sunday, are the hardest. Sunday puzzles are bigger, but not as hard as Saturday. Saturdays are killers.)

In March of 2005, I went to Stamford, Connecticut and competed in the National Crossword Tournament. I finished 81st out of 455, which I guess means I'm 81st in the nation.

Now I work five or six crosswords a day, on average. If I go on vacation, I take a bunch of them with me, because I get edgy if I go a day or so without one.

Yes, those are all puzzlies I've finished and saved. I have a couple hundred more, if anyone needs some.

(For the 365 Men's Club: Hobbies.)