43 people played; attendance was bolstered by an improved time slot. Your GM guaranteed everyone an on-time, one-hour finish, which was achieved even with a great deal of humor and fun. Four puzzles were played by all contestants. Each puzzle had categories drawn from history, general knowledge, sports and a bit of geography thrown in for good measure.

           The first puzzle categories were: Civil War Battles in Maryland or Pennsylvania; Triple Crown winners; Famous fashion designers from USA, France or Italy; Signers of the Articles of Confederation; and Heisman Trophy Winners since 1960. These were played across the letters A, C, G, S and W. Leonard Omolecki led the pack with a score of 15 out of a possible 25. He was closely followed by Richard Irving and Winton Lemoine with 14 each.

           Puzzle 2 sought Gilbert & Sullivan operettas; Men's Olympic Alpine skiing gold medalists; Italian cathedral cities; Gettysburg Generals and Popular American magazines across G, M, P, R and S. English gamer Ed Kendrick knew every G&S operetta, but didn't know any American magazines. Larry Lingle got all the generals, but none of the skiers. Rod Lee and Rich Fetzer both scored 15, closely followed by Eric Brosius and Winton Lemoine with 14 and 12 respectively.

           The high score dropped to 13 (Gordon Rodgers) for puzzle 3. Categories were Queen albums; major inhabited Caribbean islands; Olympic Gold Medal figure skaters; Holy Roman Empire Imperial Free cities in 1792; and Tony Award Best Musical winners over D, G, H, N and S. Many people did not think of 'Greatest Hits' for Queen and Haiti is not an island. Hispaniola is. 

           The final puzzle had a bonus 6th category: Julie Andrews movies; Cities in Thurn & Taxis game or Swiss cantons; Jethro Tull albums; Books of the New Testament; First names of Gilmore Girl characters; and Images of people on Sgt. Pepper album cover with letters A, L, M, P and T. Richard Irving led the pack with a high score of 15 out of a possible 30. Once again Winton came in tied for second with Rod Lee, Ted Simmons and Eric Brosius. 

           Total top scores for all four heats were: Lemoine 46; Brosius 45; Irving 44; Ted Simmons 42; Ted Drozd 42; Rodgers 40 and Ed Kendrick 37. Ted Drozd had the most consistent scores (13, 10, 10, 9) while Roderick Lee had the highest standard deviation scoring 11, 15, 5 and 13. Winton did not 'win' a single round, but his two second place finishes and good showings on the other puzzles amassed enough consistent right answers to just edge fierce competitors Eric Brosius and Richard Irving. Rich took third beating Ted Simmons on the 4th puzzle tie breaker.