2004 US Puzzle Championship: More of a genius?

Date published: June 26, 2004

Well, I got 133rd place this year. Last year I was 208th (see previous journal entry). So at first glance it appears that I did a lot better. Interestingly though, this year there were only 447 people who competed verses the 749 from last year. So basically I scored about the same, but definitely a bit better. Below is a bar chart of this year's results with the chart from last year below it for comparison. To find out where I fell in each chart, just estimate where 116 would be on the test score axis of the 2004 chart, and 85 in the test scores axis of the 2003 chart. In both years, I fell on the other side of the hump, meaning I did better than the majority. Horray for me!

In case you're curious, here's a link to the official 2004 results page. It has the actual test as well as the answers and a break down of how many people got each question right.

This year's top three winners were Roger Barkan (last year's runner-up), Jonathan Rivet, and Joseph DeVincentis. A press release on the World Puzzle Federation's website states that "Jonathan and Joseph will be the two new U.S. Team members who will compete at the World Puzzle Championship in Opatija, Croatia in October." Normally, first and second place get spots on the U.S. team, but I think Roger Barkan must have already been on the team, thus second and third place won spots on the U.S. team.