College Puzzle Challenge Recap

Here are my notes from the College Puzzle Challenge this past Saturday:

12:29: CPC intro runs late. Team Redundant Squad sets up shop in the "CSB 5th floor lounge thing". That is our official location.
12:55: 78th overall with 1 non-pre puzzle solved.
3:57: after realizing we've forgotten to update for a while, we are now in first at Columbia and #39 overall
4:27: #34 overall. Sandwiches are yummy. Also, music videos are annoying.
5:07: Malaise sets in. We're down to 44th. Robin is folding shit with no idea of how to proceed. Sam thinks he's made a breakthrough but he hasn't. Brad is on a sandwich run. That, at least, is good.
6:27: We were in 2nd, but after 3 quick solutions, we're back in 1st at Columbia, 48th overall.
10:20: IM IN UR PUZEL KUNFUSING UR TEEM. But on the bright side, we finally solved the shirt.

10:44: IT'S A FUCKING WHALE??!?

At around 10:44 I stopped posting as we went into high gear for out last hour and fifteen minutes. Somehow, though, we got sniped at the end, and wound up in second place. Still, not a bad showing for a team of three in a year full of labor intensive puzzles. It was definitely another fun experience and I'm kind of inclined to do it again next year, when my sailing team friends are guaranteed to not have sailing. Well, at least the ones who've graduated.

The Final Standings

A List of Every Puzzle (With Solutions)
(I really liked Lettergate, which was "the shirt", Tails of Adventure, and Form 1515a, but there were a bunch of good puzzles. Just not How to Succeed in Business. That one was LAME.)

P.S. Just so you're not confused, that's Brad in the picture, not Ethan like the Powerpoint says. We lost Ethan and Katie at the last minute and Brad was Katie's replacement.)

THE RETURN

I am back! Sorta! This is a bit lame for a return post, but I just wanted to remind you all that I am alive and, with midterms over and the script for the first episode of my Columbia soap opera finished, I can get back to my true passion: PROCRASTINATING! BLOGGING!

I'm gonna ease back into it with a pair of unrelated links:

-An Opinion Piece on the Writer's Guild strike by Damon Lindelof, co-creator and head writer of Lost. I'm posting it for two reasons. First, I think the writer's guild deserves our support. Second, I think it's one of the best, most well-structured opinion pieces I've ever read. Read, study, take notes. You'll thank me later.

-Zakk Snyder's Watchmen Blog. So what if there's not much on it yet. There should be cool stuff soon. And there's a release date!

Random Thoughts about Columbia

Thought 1: After three years, we've finally got a good supermarket in town. Westside is relatively cheap, has a huge selection, has friendly employees, and replaced my moldy cheese without any fuss. It's really amazing how accustomed I'd come to Morton Williams's terribleness. Going grocery shopping makes me happy now.

Thought 2: I think Columbia used the smelliest fertilizer for ever single bush on campus. Our whole school has smelled like manure for a week. WTF?