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Rows Garden #112

ROWS GARDEN 112 — HARDER

ROWS GARDEN 112 — EASIER

Rows Garden 112 Harder — Solution

Rows Garden 112 Easier — Solution

The second annual Minnesota Crossword tournament went well, definitely an upgrade from last year, and it was an interesting experience to see a room full of people solve one of my puzzles. And I enjoyed catching up with fellow Minnesota puzzle lovers I had met before and meeting some for the first time. The weather wasn’t ideal, and they had the St. Paul Winter Carnival to compete with, so if it’d be up to me, a Saturday in June would be just dandy next year. But I enjoyed contributing a puzzle to the event, and hope for the tournament to continue to grow and thrive.

Enjoy the puzzle!

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Andrew J. Ries, February 5th 2013 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Puzzles, Rows Garden

Rows Garden #111

ROWS GARDEN 111 — HARDER

ROWS GARDEN 111 — EASIER

Rows Garden 111 Harder — Solution

Rows Garden 111 Easier — Solution

For those in the Twin Cities area, there is the second annual St. Paul crossword tournament coming up this Saturday, February 2nd. In an exciting development, all of the puzzles this year are custom-made especially for the event. All the puzzle constructors, including yours truly, have had puzzles published in the New York Times. And if you can’t make the trip, there are plans on selling the contest puzzles separately for a small charge (more info on that in the following weeks). Find out more info, and sign up, HERE.

As for this week’s puzzle, I really liked how it turned out, especially compared to last week’s struggle. I hope you agree. Enjoy!

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Andrew J. Ries, January 29th 2013 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Puzzles, Rows Garden

Rows Garden #73

ROWS GARDEN 73 — HARDER

ROWS GARDEN 73 — EASIER

Rows Garden 73 Harder — Solution

Rows Garden 73 Easier — Solution

Cool weekend! First, I won the Marbles-sponsored crossword tournament at the Mall of America, getting revenge on what is quickly becoming a hard-fought Twin Cities crossword rivalry with Victor Barocas, who bested yours truly on the big boards in March at the St. Paul tournament. Vic’s a great guy, though, so the rivalry doesn’t get past more than cordial trash-talking. And I got a chance to meet some more local puzzlers, and I even got my uncle Rick to compete, and he was able to finish all 3 puzzles in the time allotted. I reminded him that being able to do that isn’t something to be looked upon lightly, and congratulated him for his efforts. It wasn’t so long ago that I myself found Tuesdays and Wednesdays challenging to complete.

And then on Sunday I was reminded that the local daily paper was running a spotlight on Aries Puzzles. I had done the interview a few weeks ago and I had forgotten that it was running, so it was a nice surprise. What’s better, they featured a video of me solving a crossword on their website, which you can see HERE , along with the article.

Those who “like” Aries Puzzles on Facebook already know this, of course, which reminds me: if you want all your Aries Puzzles-related news when it happens, be sure to “like” this site (see the sidebar). After you do that, enjoy this week’s offering!

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Andrew J. Ries, May 1st 2012 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Puzzles, Rows Garden
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