According to northskysocial.com/posts/beginn... "We have sent out ~1,050 invites and have ~280 users on our PDS so far. . . We’ve got 6,123 more waitlisters (and growing)". The whole Migration Report section is worth a look.
I know, I know, I'm trying to be patient <drool> <drool>
Posting this via Red Dwarf (which seems a bit rough but intruiging). Does it increase PDS load enough for me to consider it more of a backup than a usual thing to use, or is that not so much of an issue?
Or if you can't follow that (due to the partial outage) but for whatever reason can see this post, go directly to status.bsky.app in a web browser.
Only the lower right is an odd function; the others are even.
Agree this is a great warm up.
An educational graphic titled Which One Doesn’t Belong. The image asks viewers to find a reason why each of four mathematical graphs does not belong, using a provided list of calculus terms. The four graphs are arranged in a square grid. The top-left shows a periodic cosine wave oscillating between positive and negative one. The top-right shows a standard upward-opening parabola with its vertex at the origin. The bottom-left shows a rational function with a vertical asymptote at the y-axis, where both sides of the curve approach positive infinity. The bottom-right shows a cubic curve that passes through the origin and increases from the third quadrant to the first. To the left of the graphs, a list of suggested vocabulary includes Domain and Range, Continuous and Discontinuous, Differentiable, Increasing and Decreasing, Concave Up and Concave Down, and Point of Inflection.
This "Which One Doesn't Belong" warm-up question generated some rich student discussions today in Calculus class. The word bank was helpful in nudging them to include curve sketching terms in their justifications. #ITeachMath #MathSky #WODB
One thing I learned at #ACPT this year is that I'm fast enough to make B finals if things go right. This year they didn't - I had a mistake in 2 different puzzles that I'd have caught if I'd checked more thoroughly.
But it's doable!
Anyway, I had a great time as always. Puzzle people are the best.
Just got home and immensely grateful for a fabulous time at #acpt. I got to talk to so many fun, kind, and incredible people and solve brilliant puzzles. Can’t wait for the next one. Thanks to everyone who made this weekend so kickass 💫
It was a delightful weekend at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, in its last year in Stamford, CT. The finals featured an exciting win by Erik Agard @e-a-rly.bsky.social over Will Nediger @bewilderingly.bsky.social and David Plotkin. Congrats to all! #acpt
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHEX...
A wizened old man takes a selfie with several dozen crossword solvers behind him including an amazing constructor (and competitor) flashing a peace sign
Reviewing my photos from #ACPT - I took a quick selfie with the rest of the solvers in the downstairs ballroom before we started puzzle 7 this morning and just noticed @gppasco.bsky.social flashing a ✌️lol
Oh hi! I follow a bunch of crossword people on Bluesky (some of which I met up with at the tournament), but I keep finding new ones. I expected a bit more on the ACPT hashtag during the tournament but it looks like a significant number posted after they got home.
Ooh nice. Congratulations.
Don't you hate it when a new, blindingly fast, young upstart comes in and disrupts all the rankings? /s #ACPT
Oh, is THAT why Will Shortz always tells the story about how they changed the scoring system after #ACPT number 1 so that "add all Es to blanks" doesn't help your score?
(Apparently some people haven't figured that out).
P.S. Thanks for judging!
So glad I made it to #ACPT this year!! Being behind the scenes as an official has been super fun and I’m excited to do it again next time (even though while marking puzzle 5 grids my brain dissolved into a pile of mush 🤡)
So in order to do my part I need to reduce the blue ink which needs to be spilled on my grid? (do not fear, I do that on my own on puzzle 5 without doing it for the sake of the judges).
(background: blue is the color used by judges to mark correct answers on a mostly-empty grid)
In which the world learns of the @mikenothnagel.bsky.social #ACPT exercise program: volunteer for a judging position, the more responsibility the better, and travel from one hotel conference room to the next on a more or less continuous basis the whole weekend.
"I'd rather have a puzzle in front of me than a frontal puzzectomy."
-- Dorothy Parker, early #ACPT contestant
I think it was the 2023 ACPT probably when I was asking a lot of people who had been on Twitter where they went and collecting people's handles.
I probably am not supposed to admit this out loud, but I enjoyed this year's #ACPT Puzzle 5. Didn't finish it, but did enjoy it. Really nice theme befitting a puzzle 5.
If memory serves I made this account specifically for the crossword content.
I'm back from lunch at the #ACPT having left a nametag to reserve my seat but kept my pencils and reading glasses with me. You can never be too careful about the cutthroat crossword solvers trying to sabotage the competition.
Meme of Shaq saying "I owe you an apology. I wasn't really familiar with your game."
Every veteran at the ACPT when a hotshot rookie comes in and stuns everyone with their blazing speed:
Definitely have been having fun. As for your other item, let me just say that puzzle 2 was by Brendan Emmett Quigley and..... uh.... well I will say it was fun but I seem to keep only focusing on one of your two points.
@gamesmagazine.bsky.social is celebrating the 2026 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament by joining Bluesky! Woohoo!
#ACPT
As someone who first came to the #ACPT in Brooklyn, I could perhaps quibble with the exact years in the caption, but that doesn't change the overall sentiment. Has been strange planning out the weekend and realizing I have a bunch of place-specific knowledge about the event.
If I seem impatient because I am eagerly awaiting my invite, remind me (or rather, help me remind myself) that y'all have not been slacking on invites, y'all have been BUSY! Great to hear about all the activity giving that talk, generally getting the word out, etc, etc.
Prepared for the #ACPT by pair-solving a Saturday New York Times puzzle with a boyfriend (who innocently asked, after pair-solving a Thursday, "wait, they get harder than Thursday, right?"). The most fun kind of preparation! 🏳️🌈
