Glenn Whaley of Little Rock, operations manager with the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, won the 9th annual Arkansas State Crossword Puzzle Championship this afternoon at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. It was her second time to win the title. Beth Levi of Little Rock, a clinical professor at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, won the Sudoku competition for the seventh time. She also won in 2015.
Defending champion and retired Judge Ellen Brantley of Little Rock was second in the crossword contest. She is a two-time winner and this year marks her third time to finish second. Duff Campbell of Little Rock, a professor of mathematics at Hendrix College in Conway, was third.
Clinton School student Kathryn Baxter of Glenside, Pennsylvania finished second in Sudoku. Baxter is the first Clinton School student to ever place in the top three finishers in either the Sudoku or crossword puzzle competition in the contest’s nine year history. Andrew McCauley, an architect and contractor from Little Rock, was third.
The championships were conducted by Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming who constructs puzzles for the New York Times, USA Today and other major publications. Oliver Roeder of New York, senior writer and puzzle editor for FiveThirtyEight, spoke on “Gridgate” about alleged plagiarism in the crossword puzzle world. Roeder’s presentation will soon be posted on www.clintonschoolspeakers.com
The Clinton School has hosted the competition since its founding in 2007.
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