Puzzle Championship Update: Ivana vs Zrinka & Weiß vs Hudák

Time for an update on Ivana Štiptová vs Future Mrs EK (a.k.a. Zrinka Kokot) in the World Puzzle Championships:

Now look closely at Zrinka. Do you see that cavernous valley? That's the lead she's opened up on Ivana, who was game for 5 or 6 rounds, but ultimately no match for Zrinka's ample talents.

And now, the Sax vs EK throwdown, otherwise known as Phillip Dweiß, er, Phillip Weiß vs Peter Hudák:

It seems Huuds was toying with Weiß through 10 rounds, then decided to turn on the gas. Thanks for playing, Phillip!

PS Here's Zrinka's facebook page. Note to Zrinka: if we're gonna be together forever one day, confirming my friend request already would be a good start...

Update: updated results show Weiß managed to bribe the judges to negate Round 10, which put him at 13th place, above Hudák (16th) in the final standings. Outrage! Two losses in one day. At least Zrinka (57th) beat Ivana (73rd).

Focus On Puzzle Hotties: Ivana vs Zrinka

Sax made the mistake of bringing my attention to the 19th World Puzzle Championships.

And yes, there's been talk of Thomas Snyder, the top US guy, currently leading the competition (update 9:30am: he's dropped to #3!); Sax's boy Phillip Weiß; Mehmet Sevim, the pre-tournament favorite; and Peter Hudák, my dark-horse candidate.

But there's another, far much more compelling, individual matchup: Slovakia's Ivana Štiptová vs Croatia's Zrinka Kokot.

Ivana is the only full-time female on Slovakia's National Puzzle Team. But... Zrinka was the first ever female to make Croatia's National Puzzle Team. And so far, through five rounds*, they're pretty evenly matched. Zrinka currently stands at #57 out of 105 competitors with 343 points, and Ivana at #60 with 319 points:

Full results here

And...on the off-chance that you're wondering what these two Puzzlers look like, well here's Ivana, from her facebook page:

Ivana Štiptová
Slovakian National Team Member

And here's Zrinka, from the Croatian National Team Photo:

Croatian National Puzzle Team

Whoa. Ivana, you're a cute girl, and I love how you proudly wear your nation's colors. But Zrinka, whoa...ti si lijepa. Marry me Zrinka!

Who will finish on top?
	Zrinka
	Ivana
Free polls from Pollhost.com

P.S. to Sax: Do you hear the footsteps? Hudák has closed to within 2 places of Weiß...

*strangely, the first five rounds are numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. Part of a puzzle perhaps?

World Puzzle Championship GT (Oct 24-29)

Pretty exciting times in Poland, where Paprotnia (30 km outside Warsaw) becomes the center of the puzzling universe for the 19th Annual World Puzzle Championships.

I can't find live coverage from the Kuznia Napoleonska hotel (just look at those wonderful pastries!), which must be part of that whole Fox / Cablevision dispute. And without live coverage, I know that we'll be missing some great evening entertainment; just look at that Broadway-level production style of "Chicago"! Who says puzzle solvers don't know how to live it up and let loose in luxury? Start the car, I know a whoopee spot, where the gin is cold, but the piano's hot!

But the intrigue is running high, as there has been a lot of corridor chatter about Wei-Hwa Huang being awarded an "exemption" spot (despite coming in with a woeful 19th place, a fateful decision which kicked Zack Butler off the postseason roster. Allegations of Huang "juicing" during the sudoku competition (i.e., working with a 0.5mm HB lead rather than a standard 0.7mm lead; as well as using a "double-clutch" mechanical pencil mechanism) were received without comment from Huang's agent.

So how will the US team perform this year? Coming after last year's heart-breaking second-place finish to powerhouse Germany, can we expect Will's team to again come up a little Shortz?

As this competition extends over the course of this exciting week, PLEASE keep your WPC comments confined to this GT.

So when does this World Series start again?