Ubragg and Rafael Furcal

Those of you who had been keeping up with this season's highly competitive PCS know that the ultimate winner, ubragg, opted for the Rafael Furcal bobblehead as his prize. Well, ubragg was kind enough to send on pictures from the other side.

Wrote ubragg: "BTW, I attached some pics of Raffy getting adjusted to his new surroundings. Included you will find the unboxing, meeting my cat Kit-Kat, and visiting my local chapter of the Dodgers Steroid-User Hall of Fame."

Thanks ubragg for the great pics, and glad to see / hear that Raffy made it through the USPS' delicate handling okay. Congratulations again on winning Season II of the PCS! (Now please don't let that cat knock Raffy off the countertop.)

Final PCS Rankings and Prizes and Bad Maps!

FINAL PCS RANKINGS

To nobody's surprise, UBragg dominated the last 3rd of the puzzle season and clinched the season ending standings by solving the Grand Finale Puzzle while at a luau feasting on roast suckling pig.

More interesting was the battle for 2nd place and the other prize spot. Over the last 3rd of the season, 4 puzzlers occupied #2: mr customer, bwrightson, josh s, and keven c. In the end, it was josh s who edged out drewdez.

Congratulations to UBragg and Josh S for their expert puzzling. Here are the final rankings:

(900 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	667
2	4	josh s	568
3	3	drewdez	550
4	5	j steve	511
5	2	keven c	492
6	8	quadsevens	461
7	6	mr customer	456
8	7	fanerman	431
9	12	dunkhawk	320
10	9	ll cool l	283

Others receiving votes: bwrightson 273, rbnlaw 250, golem 203, berkowit28 174, neeebs 145, erin 140, matt 120, jose 115, wicks 105, karina 80, dusty baker 75, m.l.a.s.f. 60, andrew 50, stolenmonkey86 50, danielle 50, m.s.t.i. 10, dangarion 10, dusto magnifico 10, fred's brim 10, javier 10, jesus 10.

And as has become final ranking tradition, here's your graph of the Top 7:

(click image to enlarge)

And since I'm a graphaholic, I shall proffer up a perhaps more telling one where the vertical axis is % of maximum possible PCS Points instead of absolute points:

(click image to enlarge)

PRIZES

So UBragg, here are your two prize options:

1. A Rafael Furcal Bobblehead of the type pictured below, courtesy of SoSG Sax:
2. The opportunity to create a puzzle next season (you know the drill UBragg).

UBragg, send us an email or comment here to let us know which one you want. Josh S gets the unselected prize. Congratulations once again! And thank you all puzzlers for your participation this season. I hope you've enjoyed solving the puzzles as much as Sax, Orel, and myself have had thinking of and creating them.

BAD MAPS

And finally, a few of you commented on your map-making abilities through the course of the puzzle. Here's Dusty Baker's:

(click image to enlarge)

I especially like the various Norwegian translations scribbled off in the corner. And in terms of sketching a properly-oriented compass - you crushed it, Dusty. I assumed it helped you correctly draw that arrow in the southwesterly direction.

If anyone else has a map they want to submit, feel free to do so (karina?...)

Updated PCS Rankings

So the season comes down to one last 150-point grand slammer on Oct 1. Remember, because of the uneven number of puzzles, the succubus will not be in effect in the last week, so no points will drop off the back end.

With this in mind, there are 8 puzzlers still mathematically alive for one of the top 2 prize spots:

• ubragg*
• keven c*
• drewdez*
• josh s*
• j steve
• mr customer
• fanerman
• quadsevens

And just to review for the new puzzlers, our season-ending prizes will be awarded as with previous puzzle prizes, as follows:

• The 1st place finisher will get his choice of either a physical, tangible prize (to be revealed later, but before he must make his choice) or the opportunity to create a future puzzle, as jose, mr customer, and ubragg have done this season.
• The 2nd place finisher will get the prize option that wasn't selected.

*still mathematically alive for 1st place

Here are the full rankings. Much like the 2007 college football season, it seems like there's a new #2 each week. This week it's Keven C:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	581
2	5	keven c	477
3	4	drewdez	475
4	2	josh s	439
5	3	j steve	404
6	9	mr customer	360
7	7	fanerman	356
8	6	quadsevens	343
9	10	ll cool l	283
10	8	bwrightson	273

Others receiving votes: rbnlaw 235, dunkhawk 170, neeebs 145, erin 125, matt 120, jose 115, berkowit28 99, wicks 90, karina 65, golem 64, dusty baker 60, andrew 50, stolenmonkey86 50, danielle 50, m.l.a.s.f. 45, m.s.t.i. 10, dangarion 10, dusto magnifico 10, fred's brim 10, javier 10, jesus 10.

So rest up for the Grand Slam Finale Puzzle, which drops 7am Thursday, October 1!

Updated PCS Rankings: Rbnlaw and Neeebs Surge to Top

WTF? It's true, I double-checked the numbers and somehow both rbnlaw and neeebs narrowly edge out UBragg to claim the #1 and #2 spots, respectively, with their skillful solving of yesterday's puzzle. Ubragg retains the 3rd spot.

Must be the succubus. She works in mysterious ways.

Anyhow, here are the full rankings:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	13	rbnlaw	608
2	16	neeebs	601
3	1	ubragg	595
4	5	josh s	492
5	8	j steve	444
6	3	drewdez	425
7	4	keven c	406
8	6	quadsevens	374
9	7	fanerman	356
10	2	bwrightson	348

Others receiving votes: mr customer 331, ll cool l 190, erin 135, jose 125, dunkhawk 120, berkowit28 109, wicks 90, matt 90, karina 65, danielle 50, m.l.a.s.f. 45, m.s.t.i. 10, dusto magnifico 10, dangarion 10, fred's brim 10, dusty baker 10.

Ok, this gag is past its half-life, so I'll just paste the real rankings here to make sure nobody missed the fine print:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	595
2	5	josh s	492
3	8	j steve	444
4	3	drewdez	425
5	4	keven c	406
6	6	quadsevens	374
7	7	fanerman	356
8	2	bwrightson	348
9	9	mr customer	331
10	T-14	ll cool l	190

Others receiving votes: rbnlaw 185, neeebs 145, erin 135, jose 125, dunkhawk 120, berkowit28 109, wicks 90, matt 90, karina 65, danielle 50, m.l.a.s.f. 45, m.s.t.i. 10, dusto magnifico 10, dangarion 10, fred's brim 10, dusty baker 10.

Next puzzle 7am Monday, September 21, from Orel!

Real Updated PCS Rankings

Here are the real rankings. The biggest PCS news stories this week are:

• Josh S overtakes 2nd place!
• Due to his uncharacteristic struggles with the last puzzle, the gap between UBragg and the field decreases, though his lead is still 100+ points.
• J Steve took a huge leap from #8 to #3, largely because he didn't lose any points from Mr Customer's puzzle falling off the back end.
• BWrightson's recent absence has dropped him like a rock from #2 to #8. Let's hope he shows up next Monday.

Anyhow, here are the real full rankings:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	595
2	5	josh s	492
3	8	j steve	444
4	3	drewdez	425
5	4	keven c	406
6	6	quadsevens	374
7	7	fanerman	356
8	2	bwrightson	348
9	9	mr customer	331
10	T-14	ll cool l	190

Others receiving votes: erin 135, jose 125, DunkHawk 120 Berkowit28 109, wicks 90, matt 90, karina 65, danielle 50, m.l.a.s.f. 45, m.s.t.i. 10, dusto magnifico 10, dangarion 10, fred's brim 10, dusty baker 10.

Next puzzle, 7am Monday, September 21, from Orel!

Updated PCS Rankings

UBragg's uber-cerebral puzzle has shaken up the rankings (except the top two spots). With few solvers, the points awarded to the 4 who did get it were particularly valuable vs the rest of the field: Keven C and drewdez each jumped 3 spots to #4 and #3 respectively; Quad jumped 2 spots to #6, and J Steve jumped one spot to #9.

And I can't quite figure it out, but Erin somehow jumped 2 spots to re-enter the top ten despite not even getting partipation points. Must have something to do with the succubus.

And UBragg was given the average score of his previous 6 puzzles, which was 85.

Here are the full rankings:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	645
2	2	bwrightson	438
3	6	drewdez	425
4	7	keven c	406
5	3	josh s	402
6	8	quadsevens	374
7	5	fanerman	366
8	8	j steve	354
9	4	mr customer	343
10	12	erin	185

Others receiving votes: jose 175, berkowit28 149, rbnlaw 145, wicks 100, ll cool l 100, neeebs 95, loney fan 70, karina 65, matt 60, m.l.a.s.f. 55, dunkhawk 50, danielle 50, m.s.t.i. 10, dusto magnifico 10, dangarion 10, fred's brim 10, dusty baker 10

Next puzzle, 7am Thursday, September 17!

Updated PCS Rankings: She Owns You

"I'm coming after you next, Josh S and Keven C!"

The succubus mistress is in complete control, and she knows it.

BWrightson is the latest contender to fall under her spell. Despite a +50 for solving the Dead Sailors Puzzle, his point total went nowhere as the succubus drained him of the 50 points he gained from the Countdown Puzzle. Fortunately for him, she abused UBragg even more - despite also solving the latest puzzle, UBragg's point total actually dropped by 50 points. And #3 Josh S gained on both of them. So the gaps at the top are closing.

Resistance is futile. One way or another, she'll suck you dry.

Here are the full rankings:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	624
2	2	bwrightson	528
3	3	josh s	463
4	5	mr customer	419
5	4	fanerman	406
6	T-8	drewdez	375
7	10	keven c	356
8	6	quadsevens	309
9	T-8	j steve	304
10	7	jose	268

Others receiving votes: berkowit28 206, erin 185, wicks 150, neeebs 135, rbnlaw 135, m.l.a.s.f. 134, loney fan 120, ll cool l 100, karina 65, m.s.t.i. 60, matt 60, danielle 50, midnightdrive 50, dunkhawk 50, dangarion 20, dusto magnifico 10.

Updated PCS Rankings

It seems the Dodgers weren't the only ones to take last Thursday off. Some top contenders and puzzle regulars - most notably Mr Customer and BWrightson - either forgot it was a puzzle day or had more important things to do (yeah, right). In anycase, BWrightson maintaings his #2 spot behind the seemingly undislodgeable UBragg, while Josh S leaps to #3. And Jose moves within 3 points of archrival Quadsevens, while Neeebs rockets ahead of his archrival Karina by commenting while Karina failed to. Well played, Neeebs. Well played.

Here's the full rankings:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	674
2	2	bwrightson	528
3	5	josh s	416
4	4	fanerman	398
5	3	mr customer	383
6	7	quadsevens	309
7	8	jose	306
T-8	6	j steve	275
T-8	9	drewdez	275
10	10	keven c	263

Others receiving votes: berkowit28 192, wicks 150, m.l.a.s.f. 144, erin 135, loney fan 130, ll cool l 100, neeebs 85, rbnlaw 85, fred's brim 75, m.s.t.i. 60, midnightdrive 50, matt 50, dunkhawk 50, dangarion 30, dusto magnifico 10, awesome 10.

Sidebar to be updated shortly.<\p>

Updated Rankings and Vegas Odds

A lot of movement in the rankings this week:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Puzzler	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	649
2	4	bwrightson	528
3	2	mr customer	433
4	3	fanerman	398
5	8	josh s	378
6	6	j steve	325
7	5	quadsevens	309
8	7	jose	256
9	10	drewdez	225
10	14	keven c	200

Others receiving votes: berkowit28 192, wicks 160, mlasf 144, erin 135, loney fan 130, ll cool l 100, karina 75, neeebs 75, fred's brim 75, m.s.t.i. 60, midnightdrive 50, dunkhawk 50, dangarion 40, dusto magnifico 20, awesome 20, rbnlaw 20.

And it looks like Vegas has started taking bets for the last third of the puzzle season. Here are the current odds:

Favorites:

• UBragg (3 to 1) - The overall favorite, but with one prize under his belt, will he grow complacent?
• BWrightson (9 to 2) - Can he can catch UBragg before the rolling 7-puzzle methodology succubus mistress catches him?

Legitimate Contenders:

• Mr Customer (6 to 1) - Previous champ suddenly finds a lot more worthy competition surrounding him.
• Fanerman (8 to 1) - Experts agree: if he would quit his job, Fanerman could come home with the puzzle title.
• Josh S (8 to 1) - And after she catches BWrightson, she's coming for you, Josh S.
• QuadSevens (10 to 1) - While he is outshining archrivals Loney Fan and Jose, Quad has to prove he can keep up with the new generation of puzzlers. Must also work on his word-puzzle skills.
• J Steve (10 to 1) - Ranking-wise, he seems to hang around the 5-to-10 range. Pretty long odds to jump to the top.
• Drewdez (25 to 2) - If UBragg is Kobe and BWrightson is LeBron, then is Drewdez Derrick Rose? It's exciting to think of the possibilities if everything falls into place.
• Jose (13 to 1) - Former champ's bugaboo seems to be motivation.

Longshots...but not totally impossible:

• Keven C (16 to 1) - Clearly has potential, but doesn't always show up.
• Berkowit28 (33 to 2) - Nobody questions his motivation, but lately he's been inconsistent.

True Longshots:

• Wicks (30 to 1)
• Loney Fan (36 to 1)
• Erin (36 to 1)
• MLASF (36 to 1)
• LL Cool L (36 to 1)
• Fred's Brim (36 to 1)
• Neeebs (60 to 1)
• Karina (60 to 1)
• M.S.T.I. (60 to 1)
• DunkHawk (60 to 1)
• The Field (24 to 1)

So there you have it. Who's your money on?

Next puzzle 7am Thursday August 13!

Of Media Guides and Satin Jerseys

Ubragg chose the puzzle, so Mr. Customer got the media guide. And not only did Mr. C send us a picture of said guide in his mitts, but he also included the above Photoshop, explaining:

I'm thinking we need a 1940's Satin Road Jersey throwback night! Pretty spectacular.

Can you imagine? Juan Pierre would be nothing but a blur or reflected satiny goodness!

PCS Rankings and Prizes: The Domination of UBragg

Well, it's a foregone conclusion that UBragg has won the middle third of the puzzle season. Congratulations! Mr Customer comes in 2nd, essentially flip-flopping the previous prize-time rankings.

So UBragg, this is what you've won: your choice of either the chance to create a puzzle for your fellow puzzlers sometime in the last third of the season, or the lovely media guide pictured below, courtesy of SoSG Orel:

Mr Customer, you get what remains. Here are the full rankings:

(800 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	720
2	2	mr customer	533
3	3	fanerman	461
4	6	bwrightson	428
5	5	quadsevens	374
6	8	j steve	350
7	4	jose	331
8	9	josh s	298
9	7	berkowit28	276
10	13	drewdez	175

Others receiving votes: erin 135, mlasf 134, loney fan 130, keven c 130, neeebs 90, fred's brim 90, karina 80, gil gamesh 75, wicks 70, msti 60, ll cool l 50, midnightdrive 50, awesome 35, rbnlaw 35, dangarion 30, dusto magnifico 25, brandon 15.

...and did somebody say...graph?

(click image to enlarge)

What's that? Nobody said 'graph'? Too late. Here are my observations:

• UBragg and Mr Customer were neck-and-neck through Puzzle #7. Starting with #8, UBragg created modest but consistent separation between himself and Mr C, who himself had modest but consistent separation from the rest of the field. But with this last puzzle, UBragg shut the door on everybody.
• Fanerman is Mr Consistency. Consistently very good, but can he be great?
• BWrightson is rocketing up the rankings at an unprecedented pace. But interpret his steep upward curve with a grain of salt, for as a relatively new puzzler, he has yet to encounter the rolling 7-puzzle-methodology succubus enchantress that has brought veteran puzzlers to their knees. Oh, she's coming for you, BWrightson. Oh yes. She's coming for you.
• Quad is Mr First Half. Last year he dominated the first half, then faltered (relatively speaking) in the 2nd half. This year he led through the first 5 puzzles, but when he was barely edged out for a prize spot at Puzzle #6, he nosedived before staging a moderate recovery the last 2 puzzles. What will the last third of the season bring?

So them's my thoughts. UBragg, please let us know which prize you want, either in the comments or via email. And tune in for SoSG Orel's debut puzzle offering on our next off-day, Thursday, July 23, 7am!

Updated PCS Rankings

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	ubragg	620
2	mr customer	552
3	fanerman	461
4	jose	354
5	quadsevens	337
6	bwrightson	315
7	berkowit28	311
8	j steve	285
9	josh s	214
10	loney fan	193

Others receiving votes: keven c 180, mlasf 129, drewdez 100, fred´s brim 90, awesome 85, karina 75, gil gamesh 75, neeebs 75, msti 70, wicks 70, erin 60, llcooll 50, midnight drive 50, dusto magnifico 35, rbnlaw 35, dangarion 30, brandon 15

Next puzzle Wednesday, July 15, 7am - Grand Slam! Prizes to be announced and awarded shortly after.

Updated PCS Rankings

Read 'em and weep:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	608
2	2	mr customer	552
3	3	fanerman	461
4	5	jose	354
5	7	berkowit28	351
6	6	quadsevens	312
7	4	j steve	310
8	8	loney fan	293
9	12	bwrightson	240
10	T-16	keven c	180

Others receiving votes: josh s 151, m.l.a.s.f. 129, fred's brim 90, awesome 85, m.s.t.i. 80, karina 75, neeebs, 75, gil gamesh 75, wicks 70, drewdez 50, erin 50, ll cool l 50, natalie 50, midnightdrive 50, dusto magnifico 45, rbnlaw 35, dangarion 30, brandon 15, lauro 10, nic j 10, rob 10

With today's rankings release comes a brief overview of the major PCS rivalries:

• UBragg vs Mr Customer - The fight for puzzle supremacy rages on. Mr Customer edged out UBragg for the top spot in the first prize give-away, but UBragg has since surged ahead and shows little sign of slowing down. But I'd advise both to keep an eye out for threats both past and future in the form of ex-champ Jose and relative newcomers BWrightson and Keven C, all of whom are quietly inching upwards.
• QuadSevens vs Jose - These were the two who battled each other throughout last year, with Quad dominating the 1st half and Jose dominating the 2nd half. Is the same trend going to hold true this year?
• QuadSevens vs Loney Fan - Yes, Quad has two arch-rivals. I am unsure of the origins of this one, but its genesis may lie with SoSG March Madness or SoSG Baseball. The two are separated by a mere 17 points.
• Neeebs vs Karina - I'm not sure why, but I'm throwing down this rivalry right now. It seems appropriate. They've been within a few PCS points of each other all season long and now find themselves tied at 75.
• Berkowit28 vs Forgetting it was a Puzzle Day, Lacking Pop Culture Knowledge, Lacking a Color Printer, Misreading Martin for Milton, Facing Puzzles That Are Solved Differently Than Previous Puzzles, and Not Having Even Two Colored Pencils Much Less Seven - How much misfortune can one man take? Despite being disadvantaged again and again by fate's cruel sense of humor, this week he still managed to enter the top 5. And I thought Jim Abbott's no-hitter was impressive.

So there you have it. And don't forget, there are two puzzles next week:

• Monday, July 13, 7am
• Wednesday, July 15, 7am - Grand Slam!

Updated PCS Rankings

Thanks for the heads-up on my miscalcs gents - there was a glitch in my scoring spreadsheet. I think these are the corrected rankings below, please double-check:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	ubragg	601
2	2	mr customer	544
3	3	fanerman	451
4	4	j steve	360
5	6	jose	354
6	5	quadsevens	319
7	7	berkowit28	289
8	8	loney fan	223
9	T-14	m.l.a.s.f.	169
10	9	karina	165

Others receiving votes: neebs 154, bwrightson 150, josh s 141, dusto magnifico 116, m.s.t.i. 110, keven c 100, natalie 100, lauro 96, fred's brim 90, awesome 85, gil gamesh 75, brandon 65, wicks 60, ll cool l 50, midnightdrive 50, stolenmonkey 50, dangarion 30, rbnlaw 25, nic j 10, rob 10.

Next puzzle Monday, July 6, 7am, courtesy of Mr Customer!

Updated PCS Rankings

Lots of movement this week, the most significant shuffle being at the top, with UBragg usurping Mr Customer for the top spot. And overall, although the top 10 is still comprised by the same 10 puzzlers, every position has changed:

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	2	ubragg	587
2	1	mr customer	558
3	4	fanerman	451
4	5	j steve	410
5	3	quadsevens	379
6	8	jose	311
7	6	berkowit28	304
8	7	loney fan	173
9	9	karina	165
10	10	neeebs	154

Others receiving votes: dusto magnifico 126, natalie 100, lauro 96, fred's brim 90, mattya 90, m.l.a.s.f. 90, wicks 90, awesome 85, gil gamesh 75, josh s 70, m.s.t.i. 70, brandon 65, stolenmonkey 60, keven c 50, ll cool l 50, bwrightson 50, rbnlaw 25, dangarion 20, nic j 10, rob 10.

Next puzzle Thursday, July 2, 7am!

Updated PCS Rankings

Although Mr Customer hangs on to the top spot, Ubragg's making good on his promise to keep the pressure on! And remember, with the next puzzle, points start getting lost off the back end...

(750 possible points)

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	mr customer	558
2	2	ubragg	537
3	3	quadsevens	469
4	4	fanerman	438
5	6	j steve	410
6	5	berkowit28	314
7	7	loney fan	253
8	8	jose	233
9	10	karina	165
10	9	neeebs	164

Others receiving votes: m.s.t.i. 150, natalie 150, dusto magnifico 136, brandon 115, wicks 100, lauro 96, mattya 90, gil gamesh 85, m.l.a.s.f. 80, awesome 75, andrew 70, josh s 60, stolenmonkey 60, keven c 50, rbnlaw 25, dangarion 20, fred's brim 15, damon 10, nic j 10, rob 10.

Next puzzle Monday, June 22, 7am!

Updated Rankings and Puzzle Prizes!

Congratulations, Mr Customer, for your last minute clutch performance in the Bear/Cub/Owl puzzle. It's catapulted you to the top of the rankings! And while the critical battle for 2nd place was closer than I expected, UBragg did manage to squeak by QuadSevens by a measly 3 points. Talk about drama: it turns out three separate then-seemingly-inconsequential twists of fate kept Quad out of 2nd:

1. If we had kept this last puzzle at the originally-planned 120 points instead of bumping it to 150, Quad would have beaten UBragg by 15 points -or-
2. If Quad has won Puzzle #5 outright instead of tying, Quad would have beaten UBragg by 3 points! -or-
3. If we had awarded both Quad and Mr Customer the full 100 points for their tie in the above puzzle instead of the average of 1st and 2nd place points, which we almost did, Quad would have beaten UBragg by 3 points.

If any one of these events had occurred, Quad would have claimed a prize spot. Alas, as the Bear says, "upon waves of chance, fate's vessel is tossed, but a course can be found where prizes are lost." But don't feel too bad for Quad. If I recall correctly, he was the recipient of at least two if not three or four prizes last year.

Anyhow, Mr Customer, let us know either in the comments or email if you want the O-Dog poster courtesy of SoSG Orel, or the make-a-future-puzzle prize option.

Here are the full rankings:

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	2	mr customer	508
2	3	ubragg	462
3	1	quadsevens	459
4	4	fanerman	388
5	7	berkowit28	314
6	6	j steve	310
7	5	loney fan	253
8	8	jose	233
9	10	neeebs	164
10	11	karina	155

Others receiving votes: Natalia 150, m.s.t.i. 140, dusto magnivfico 126, brandon 115, lauro 96, mattya 90, wicks 90, gil gamesh 85, andrew 70, m.l.a.s.f. 70, awesome 65, stolenmonkey 60, keven c 50, bfred's brim 15, rbnlaw 15, damon 10, dangarion 10, josh s 10, nic j 10, rob 10.

And here's a fun graph illustrating the race to the first set of prizes:

(click image to enlarge)

Next puzzle Monday, June 15, 7am!

PCS Rankings & Prizes Revealed

So as mentioned, after tomorrow's puzzle, we're giving away our first set of prizes! There will be two prize options:

1. The 24"x36" O-Dogg poster pictured below (stamped #00576 of 20,000), courtesy of SoSG Orel:
2. The opportunity to create the second-ever reader-written Off-Day Puzzle. You can be Buzz Aldrin to Jose's Neil Armstrong. Or Jan Ullrich to Jose's Lance Armstrong. Or Kenny G to Jose's Louis Armstrong. Whichever metaphor you prefer, you will be granted the power to create a puzzle - either write the whole thing top-to-bottom as Jose did, or dream up the concept and send it to us and we'll write it up - and we'll use it as a future Off-Day Puzzle¹.

So after tomorrow's puzzle, whoever sits atop the PCS Rankings will get their choice of the two prize options. Whoever is 2nd gets what's leftover (although the considerable responsibility of creating a puzzle can be declined if desired).

Anyhow, that's what's at stake. And it looks like it'll be a tight race for these two prizes. Here are the updated rankings:

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	quadsevens2	384
2	3	mr customer2	358
3	2	ubragg	331
4	5	fanerman	275
5	6	loney fan	253
6	4	j steve	235
7	7	berkowit28	220
8	12	jose3	158
9	8	natalie	150
10	9	neeebs	149

Others receiving votes: karina 140, m.s.t.i 140, dusto magnifico 111, brandon 100, lauro 96, mattya 90, wicks 90, andrew 70, m.l.a.s.f. 70, stolenmonkey86 60, awesome 50, keven c 50, damon 10, dangarion 10, gil gamesh 10, josh s 10, nic j 10, rob 10.

¹assuming it doesn't totally suck

²quadsevens and mr customer tied for first in Jose's Puzzle and each received 94 PCS Points, the average of the 1st and 2nd place point totals

³since jose created the last puzzle and thus had to sit it out, he was awarded his average score from the previous 6 puzzles, which was 38 points

Next puzzle, Thursday, June 11 (tomorrow), 7am. As a Grand Slam Puzzle it will be worth 150 points instead of the usual 100 (I know yesterday I said 120, but the guys at SoSG corporate have since increased our budget). So get some rest and good luck!

New PCS Rankings

With his strong showing in the last two puzzles, UBragg has passed Mr. Customer for #2, and is only 9 points behind Quad for #1. Loney Fan has also made a big jump from #13 to #6. Here are the full rankings:

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	quadsevens	290
2	3	ubragg	281
3	2	mr customer	264
4	T4	j steve	225
5	T4	fanerman	200
6	T13	loney fan	190
7	T7	berkowit28	170
8	T10	natalie	150
9	6	neeebs	149
T10	T7	karina	130
T10	T7	m.s.t.i.	130

Others receiving votes: jose 120, dusto magnifico 101, brandon 100, lauro 96, wicks 90, mattya 90, andrew 70, m.l.a.s.f. 60, stolenmonkey86 60, damon 10, dangarion 10, gil gamesh 10, nic j 10, rob 10

Next off-day puzzle, 7am PT, Monday June 8!

New PCS Rankings

Ok, slight adjustment to the scoring system which dynamically takes into account the number of correct solvers when calculating point totals. Here's how it now work:

• The total number of correct answers are counted.
• If you are in the 2nd half of all correct solvers, you get 50% of full value. For example, in a standard 100-point puzzle, if 10 people answer correctly, the sixth through tenth solvers get 50 points.
• The first half of correct solvers will get a linearly graduated point total between 100 and 50. In this same example, the 1st solver gets 100, the second 90, the third 80, the fourth 70, and the fifth 60. As mentioned above the sixth through tenth get 50.
• Thus, it's a self-adjusting scale wherein the more difficult the puzzle, the bigger the reward for the top solvers (relative to the subsequent solvers).

With this new system in place, Quad hangs onto first place after finishing high enough relative to his closest pursuers in the Cosmic Conundrum puzzle. But Mr. Customer inches closer. And with her victory, Karina leaps into the top 10 for the first time, landing in a 3-way tie with M.S.T.I. and Berkowit28 at #7.

Here are the full rankings:

Current Rank	Previous	Player (Wins)	PCS Tour Points
1	1	quadsevens	227
2	2	mr customer	214
3	T4	ubragg	193
T4	T4	fanerman	150
T4	T4	j steve	150
6	T12	neeebs	139
T7	3	berkowit28	120
T7	T16	karina	120
T7	T7	m.s.t.i.	120
10	T12	jose	110

natalie 100, brandon 100, wicks 100, mattya 100, dusto magnifico 91, loney fan 90, lauro 86, andrew 70, stolenmonkey 60, m.l.a.s.f. 50, gil gamesh 20, damon 10, dangarion 10, rbnlaw 10

Next off-day puzzle, 7am Thursday May 21!