1. I explored Pike Street Market and ate my body weight in samples: high-end dried beef, amazing cheeses, fruits that might have been plucked from the tree moments before. As I was leaving, I passed one last fruit stand, which like all the others had a young person out front with something to give away.
“Would you like to try a dinosaur egg?” she said.
“No, I’m fi– what did you say?”
So of course I had to try the dinosaur egg, and it was delicious. It was, in fact, a pluot, a plum-apricot hybrid. I’m not sure how much luck they’re going to have selling these as dinosaur eggs, but I wish them all of the best.
2. One highlight that didn’t make it into my report: Sitting around with a handful of NPLers late on Sunday night, solving a puzzle in which various movies and TV shows were reinterpreted as Shakespearean scenes. Fueled by a combination of adrenaline and exhaustion, it didn’t take long before our two actors had us in near hysterics. (You try saying “Goodly Duke” a dozen times. It sounds like what Wayne and Garth would say when introducing a flashback, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it??) It was a fine and silly coda to an excellent week.
3. On the plane ride in, I sat next to a man traveling with his wife and two tween-age kids. I noted early on that he had given his kids a puzzle to solve — the classic SEND + MORE = MONEY cryptarithm — and occasionally he would dip into a puzzle book he had brought with him. So I told him why I was going to Seattle, and that drop-ins were welcome. He nodded and hmmmed and asked no questions. I figured, well, doesn’t hurt to try, and went back to my book.
So I was pretty much floored when he showed up Thursday night, and joined in with the introductory mixers. Then he showed up again Saturday, smack in the middle of the puzzle extravaganza, which is a bad time to arrive, because that’s not the sort of thing you can jump into late. I felt bad for the guy, but needn’t have. A while later he joined in the after-hour games just like anybody else, and when I went to bed at 2:30 a.m., he was just getting ready to play something else. Apparently he didn’t head home until nearly 4:30 a.m. I don’t know if he’s going to join the NPL, but clearly my recruitment efforts were not wasted.
6 Comments
I got Craig’s e-mail address–turns out he’s a juggler, too, so he’ll be a good person to keep in touch with after I move to Seattle. I’ll make sure to invite him to local puzzle gatherings.
I wish someone had publicised it to me, I was in Seattle the whole weekend and never heard about it :<
Next year, Joanna! Providence, RI! If you would cross the city to attend, believe me, it’s worth thinking about crossing the country.
Eric: I live in Australia… so unlikely. On holiday in the US for the summer.
Oh… err, yes, I suppose you are thereby excused. Sorry about that.
Eric,
Thanks for the heads up about ConPac. I enjoyed the few activities I was able to participate in and generally really liked the “vibe” of the group. I don’t know yet if I’ll necessarily join right away–that might depend on whether I can get my wife interested (I already have juggling, volleyball, and LEGO Robotics that I do without her so it might be difficult to make time for another pursuit if she doesn’t participate too). I have gotten her to help me with some puzzles (your RighTangles, for example, and a cryptic crossword) but I think she may be a bit intimidated by the difficulty level. I’ve never been much of a crossword (or word puzzle) person but I’m enjoying the cryptics. I may try to find some easier ones to ease my wife into them and see where that takes us.
Whatever I end up doing, I’ll certainly be sure to refer others to the NPL when it looks like there might be interest. I have a couple of Seattle area friends who I think might be interested but were not available that weekend. When I see them I’ll share some puzzles I snagged and tell them about the conference.
So, thanks again for the invitation and the hospitality (to you and to Hooligan, Hyperion, Dart, and especially Panther who made it her personal mission to make sure I found fun stuff to do).