Puzzle Day the Movie

Check out the movie Marty Cheek made from Puzzle Day photos!  Thanks Marty!

The Puzzles

The Sudoku puzzles used in the competition, generously created for us by reining US and World Sudoku Champion Thomas Snyder, are now available on his blog.  The adult crossword puzzles we used, of course, will be appearing all this week in the NY Times and can be found on their site.

Congratulations to…

Congratulations to all our competitors! Here are the winners from Sunday’s event:

Adult Crossword Tournament:

Eric Maddy, First Place
Brian Kulman, Second Place
Claudia Zarnow, Third Place

Other perfect scorers: Allison Zaum, Deborah Adams, Michael Blake, Ann Livingston, Paula Hewitson, Jay Keller, David Schwartz, Brent Svendlaft, David Chambliss and Ilene Levine

Youth Crossword Tournament:

Mark Holmstrom, First Place
Alex Holmstrom, Second Place
Nithin Nedyanchath, Third Place

Adult Sudoku Tournament:

Eric Maddy, First Place
Allan Lebovitz, Second Place
Dave Holmstrom, Third Place

Youth Sudoku Tournament:

Tara McLaughlin, First Place
Mark Holstrom, Second Place
Garima Lunawat, Third Place

Judges’ Award for Best Handwriting

Crossword
Youth: Anuva Mittal
Adult: David Chambliss

Best Overall Morgan Hill Competitors

Adult: David Chambliss
Youth: Mark Holmstrom

Amazing Day!

Thank you to everyone who made today such an amazing event! We’ll post photos, rankings and other information as they become available, so check back later. If you have photos, please post them to our Flickr group, send them to us at info@svpuzzle.org, or write and tell us where you have posted them.)

Things to do tomorrow

Puzzle Day is listed in the SJ Mercury News as one of the 3 Things to Do Tomorrow (p. 5E)

Valley puzzle day is ripe for solving

Check out the annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day, featuring crossword and Sudoku tournaments for kids and adults, giant community crossword puzzles, workshops and a puzzles marketplace, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Morgan Hill Library, 660 W. Main Ave., Morgan Hill. $5 tournament registration; free for all others. www.svpuzzle.org.

Strengthen your mind

Marty Cheek has a great column in today’s Morgan Hill Times, Strengthen your mind with Science Alive, Puzzle Day covering our event.

Puzzle Day is also listed in the Alternate 101 calendar (p, 2), inserted into the paper.

SAT Workshop added

In addition to the full day of puzzle workshops we have planned (see the full schedule here), we’re adding in a free SAT workshop for anyone interested, presented by Huntington Learning Center.

The SAT Workshop covers a wide range of topics related to college entrance
exams and the college application process, including:

• Factors influencing college admissions and facts about how college entrance
  exam scores are used.
• Information you should know about the SAT.
• Strategies to improve your score.
• Tips on preparing for college entrance exams.
• An overview of the college admissions timeline.

The workshop is geared towards college bound HS students, their parents,
educators, and school administrators. The length of the presentation is
approximately from 30-45 minutes, and all material will be provided for
participants to follow along and keep.

The workshop will be held in the library’s group study room at 2:30pm.

Critic’s Pick

Puzzle Day is listed as a Critic’s Pick in today’s Mercury News!

Crosswords and sudoku for everyone

The answer: Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Morgan Hill Library, 660 W. Main Ave. The question: When and where will the second annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day be held? Presented by Friends of the Morgan Hill Library, this sudoku and crossword tournament splits competitors into two divisions: youth (ages 8 to 15) and adult (ages 16 and older). Puzzles for the adult crossword tournament are provided by Will Shortz; they will appear in the New York Times soon after the contest, so South Bay competitors get a sneak peak. Puzzles for the youth crossword tournament are being created just for this event. Participants can register at 11 a.m. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. Competition begins at noon. For more information, go to www.svpuzzle.org.

- Pamela Moreland, Mercury News

Sal Pizarro Column

San Jose Mercury News Columnist Sal Pizarro has a note about Puzzle Day in his column today!

Bringing the community together with puzzles

Check out the column in today’s Morgan Hill Times: Bringing the community together with puzzles.

(Please note, however, that the youth tournament is for ages 8-15)