{"id":8859,"date":"2018-12-16T21:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T05:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/?p=8859"},"modified":"2019-01-05T08:33:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-05T16:33:19","slug":"ask-dr-sudoku-16-v-for-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmpuzzles.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/ask-dr-sudoku-16-v-for-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Dr. Sudoku #16 – V for Victory?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Q: Are you going to write about your experiences in Prague this year? Did you expect you would ever win the World Puzzle Championship?<\/i><\/p>\n

Several people have asked if I would write a report on my experiences this year as I finally became World Puzzle Champion. Long ago, before I started this site, I would frequently write live blogs<\/a> during or shortly after puzzle events, capturing the \u201cheat\u201d of competition. Some wanted to see me write an epilogue, after so many close runner-ups, to conclude a chapter in my life. Many of these championship stories (when posted in the late aughts) were the first ways people learned about me. I now prefer to let my own volume of written and edited puzzles speak more for me. <\/p>\n

The live blogs capture my moments of great success and also great failure, as someone writing with full transparency and passion about what it is like to compete. I shared photos of “dirty laundry” — the stupid mistakes a competitor can make. I gave complaints earned and unearned against event organizers (the \u201cSo yeah, [insert event] happened\u201d posts). I wrote an open letter that led to disqualifying a cheater and another that unfortunately did not lead to any WSC competition changes and continuing questions about what a Sudoku is almost 10 years later, \u2026.<\/p>\n

I stopped posting on that blog in 2013, with a primary focus on my own scientific career and a secondary focus on growing GMPuzzles. The reconnecting with science jobs was a major reason I stopped going to competitions from 2014 until 2017, \u201cretired\u201d from competitive puzzling in a sense. I never fully explained that choice, and I\u2019ve never explained a few things that have had the most impact on my adult life. I\u2019ve separated my very public \u201cpuzzle life” from my private life. <\/p>\n

This time it is hard for me to answer questions like \u201cdid you expect you could win this year?\u201d or \u201chow does it feel?\u201d without starting from a more private angle. <\/p>\n

For the very private and introspective angle<\/b>, continue here<\/a> (note: some sadness\/personal loss covered).<\/p>\n

To go straight to the competition report<\/b>, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Playoff story and video annotation<\/b> is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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