I’m afraid I was too busy accepting congratulations to collect a full set of grand final results, so those will have to wait until I can pinch them from the Times xwd club site.
Qualifiers from the two preliminaries were, in finishing order:
Morning
1 Tim Smith
2 Peter Brooksbank
3 David Howell
4 R Crabtree
5 Richard Grafen
6 Philip Dodd
7 Peter Biddlecombe
8 Michael MacDonald-Cooper
9 Neil Talbott
10 Philip Meade
11 N Robinson
12 C Williams
(I finished in about 25/26 minutes, and I think Tim Smith finished in 18 or 19. I should have been quicker but struggled for a while with a four-letter answer in the first puzzle with checking letters that allowed many possibilities.)
Afternoon
1 Helen Ougham
2 J Roberts
3 Phil Jordan
4 Simon Chillingworth
5 Sir John Sparrow
6 Lord Aberdare
7 D M MacArthur
8 John Marshall
9 Mick Hodgkin
10 Chris Brougham
11 R Cuthbert
12 Brenda Widger
Afternoon times were something like 15-20 minutes slower, and 13 of the first 25 had a mistake (mostly the same one, but I won’t mention any answers here, so that you can do the puzzles unseen when they appear in the paper).
The set of puzzles for the final seemed even tougher than last year. I got on fairly well with the first one – 10 mins or so, though I had one answer left to complete, and as it turned out, one wrongly filled in at that point. Each of the others was quite a struggle, but I eventually finished them, returned to number one and found my mistake, which meant that something I knew should be true about the unentered answer could now be true. I put my hand up at about 37:50, knowing that most people were still working, but not knowing whether any other hands had gone up. Eight seconds later, David Howell (1997 champ and second last year) finished. In the format used before 2006, that would probably have meant that David and I would have had to sit down for an extra puzzle to reach a decision. I’m mighty glad to have avoided that experience! A while later (I didn’t see this bit happen) Philip Dodd and Philip Meade put their hands up simultaneously. Older readers will remember that Phlip Meade finished second several times in the glory days of John Sykes, so it was good to see him back. It was also good to see bloggers Neil Talbott (talbinho) and (from fifteensquared) Mick Hodgkin making their first finals, along with John Marshall who has been sending in times for the cryptic RTC contests here.
It turned out that Helen Ougham had finished first, but in a reversal of last year, it was her turn to have a couple of wrong answers. Commiserations to her, David Howell who was so close, John Henderson (first hand up in the morning, but with a wrong answer that was very plausible), Shane Shabankareh (13th in the morning), and Tony Sever – about 16th in the morning. And of course, we’ll never know how Mark Goodliffe would have got on with these puzzles in the heat of battle.
Quick idea about the championship puzzles and our unofficial RTC contests: I’m going to leave them out of the weekly contests, but have a separate contest for the 9 championship puzzles, open only to those who weren’t there and haven’t seen any more news about the puzzles than appears in the paper or other public places. I’ll say more about this when it’s clear what the schedule is for publishing the championship puzzles.
Ali
1 Mr P Biddlecombe (90, 2)
2 Mr D Howell (90, 3)
3= Mr P Meade (90, 4=)
3= Mr P Dodd (90, 4=)
5 Mr N Talbott (90, 6)
6 Mr P Jordan (90, 8)
7 Mr P Brooksbank (90, 9)
8 Mr T Smith (90, 10)
9= Mr C Williams (90, 11=)
9= Mrs B J Widger (90, 11=)
11 Mr R Crabtree (90, 16)
12 Mr S Chillingworth (90, 17)
13 Mr M Macdonald-Cooper (89, 7)
14 Mr J Roberts (89, 14)
15 Mr R Grafen (89, 15)
16 Dr H Ougham (88, 1)
17 Mr N Robinson (88, 13)
18 Mr M Hodgkin (88, 18)
19 Prof R Cuthbert (87)
20 Sir John Sparrow (84)
21 Lord Aberdare (81)
22 Mr J Marshall (75)
23 Mr D MacArthur (69)
24 Mr C J Brougham (52)
I suspect the number of right answers for the last few finalists will indicate to Richard Browne how tough these puzzles were. Last year, the man in last place had about 85 clues correctly solved.
I thought that the three puzzles in the final were absolutely spot on in terms of difficulty and fairness (and quality). I’d love to be able to blame an obscure literary reference or dubious clue for my costly mental block on the last two answers, but I can’t. Thanks to the setters & editor (& organisers), and congratulations again Peter.
Another unlucky solver was A.A.P.Thorpe, who was 14th in the first qualifier after coming 8th in last year’s final. I expect both he and I would have been all correct in this year’s final had we made it. There was nothing that I found particularly difficult, though I was slower than I feel I ought to have been – however, that was perhaps because I’d just solved the three puzzles from the second qualifier about half an hour earlier.
Another factor in the poor showing of people from the second semi-final could in fact be the short time between that and the final. I expect Helen Ougham may be wondering whether things might have been different if she’d had more time to recoup – and if she isn’t, then I certainly am!
Carole H., Fermo, Italy
And I’ll look forward to attempting the championship contest!
Barb
PS: Isn’t J Marshall also one of the regulars here?
Well done, Peter, and many thanks for all your hard work on this most enjoyable and very useful site.
Ann H
Now off to have plastic surgery and be given a new identity by the Times (!)
I am disappointed the Times website can’t bring itself to celebrate your victory. I had to search on your name to find the page.
Adrian, Moscow
For my part, unfortunately the afternoon session continues
13 Angus Walker
More to do with the errors committed by faster solvers rather than any improvement in my performance.
Just over a year ago you said you would buy me a drink if I made it to the final. Having not done so, you did, in fact, buy me a drink (unwittingly) – cheers!
I must say I had a great time in the pub(s) afterwards – the only occasion each year that I meet with people who understand my Times crossword addiction.
Angus Walker
I wonder if anyone will be able to publish all the times? I did my run in about 36m and, of course, am now dying to know where I came overall…
All the best
David
2 in five mins less down to 50 mins approx
still outside the top 24 natch
is an improved showing for me
used the first session trio as a practice
for the 2nd it worked
very close to 100%
but for one wrong tense and one bogus anagram
and a whole mess of discussionable clues
that can’t be until publishing times
though the the final trio were to be found
in the physical paper but not the online
so analyses forthcoming?
first time at the final proper for me
slightly dreamlike experience
learnt a just a little more
congrats to pb
alanjc
JohnPMarshall
David Meek: I doubt that times will be available – my understanding is that all energies are devoted to getting the order right, and after the first few finishers, I doubt they record times.
– Mark Thakkar.
Evan Simpson
PS Congratulations!
I was wrong about the numbers in the two rounds – the difference was only 73 to 61.
Who doesn’t find crosswords a slog
He’s been champion twice
But still offers advice
To neophytes such as Fog(gyweb)
Congratulations!