We have with us now the winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. His name is Tyler Hinman, and he joins us from the NPR bureau in Chicago.
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Hi, Tyler.nba jerseys
Mr. TYLER HINMAN (Winner, American Crossword Puzzle Tournament): Hi. How are you?cheap gucci
HANSEN: I’m well. How are you?
Mr. HINMAN: Doing pretty well.
HANSEN: Third win in a row, huh.light snow
Mr. HINMAN: Yeah.
HANSEN: So, what’s your secret? How do you do it?
Mr. HINMAN: It’s a lot of practice more than anything else.cecilia I just do a lot of puzzles and try to learn something new when I see it.
HANSEN: Really? Did you learn anything new this year?
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Mr. HINMAN: Nothing springs to mind immediately. Fortunately, I was able to do everything that I came across. In the final puzzle, one of the clues was secesh – S-E-C-E-S-H – and it’s a lot easier when you hear the clue aloud than when you read it, because when you read it you’re likely to mispronounce it as I did. And the answer turns out to be reb, because secesh, of course, is short for secessionist.
HANSEN: Ah.
Mr. HINMAN: And that was a – error that tripped up a lot of us because it crossed an ambiguous entry – carpenters tool – all of us had level, which was the easiest answer to come up with, and it turned out to be bevel, with that B in reb.
HANSEN: Wow. So those were the pitfalls, some rather diabolical clues in the final puzzle, yeah.
Mr. HINMAN: Oh. That’s right.kappa shoes
HANSEN: You know, the final round has been described as a contest between you and the constructor, not you against the other contestants. Would you agree with that?
Mr. HINMAN: More or less. Really, you’re just trying to get to the puzzle and hope it’s good enough.
HANSEN: Yeah, and was it hard this year compared to the two years before, harder?
Mr. HINMAN: It’s difficult to compare because each has been difficult for its own reason. But yeah, this year was – this year was very hard. I think it actually took me longer than either of the other two championship puzzles. It was very close to the time.
HANSEN: Yeah. Do you have a good luck charm?
Mr. HINMAN: Yeah. Actually, I’ve worn the same T-shirt on Sunday for each of the past three years – not every Sunday over the past three years, but every Sunday at the tournament. There’s a Web site called homestarrunner with some very funny flash cartoons, and there’s a character on there named Trogdor, who’s a dragon. And I have a shirt with that character on it that I’ve worn every Sunday at the competition that I’ve won.
HANSEN: You’re not like the baseball players who, like, won’t wash the shirt or…
Mr. HINMAN: Oh, I wash the shirt. Yeah.
HANSEN: Okay. Tyler, what do you do when you’re not doing puzzles and crossword tournaments?
Mr. HINMAN: I work nights, actually, as a bond trader in Chicago. Still, kind of, going through – I had some growing pains in that regard, trying to get better at it so I can make a decent living off of it, but it’s interesting work.
HANSEN: Yeah. So after you win a tournament like this, do you, sort of, fast from crosswords for a while or do you get right back into it, you know, the next day?
Mr. HINMAN: Oh, I still do them. I might not do as much speed solving. Right before the tournament, I tend to do a little more training on paper with a stopwatch and so forth. I won’t really do that as much after the tournament. I’ll do the same number of puzzles, but it’s more likely to be at a more leisurely pace so I can enjoy them a little more.
HANSEN: And can Will assume that you’ll be showing up at next year’s tournament in Brooklyn?
Mr. HINMAN: That’s the plan.
HANSEN: Tyler Hinman, three-time American Crossword Tournament champion. cheap bags
Congratulations and good luck next year.
Mr. HINMAN: Thank you so much.