Blogoversary contest details

The Nerd Guru First Blogoversary Scavenger Crossword Contest Spectacular!

Yes, that’s a mouthful but it could win you $50.

On Thursday, January 10, 2008 I will put up a special post very early in the morning Eastern Standard Time. It will be a JPEG of a crossword puzzle (2 JPEGs actually, one for the puzzle and one for the clues) whose clues refer to posts I’ve made since this blogs inception (meaning, it includes the reference topics). Most of the answers can be found directly in the posts, but some you have to be clever and derive the answer from something in the post and your own knowledge.

Here’s an example of the harder kind:

“The jersey number normally worn by the rookie Isiah Thomas burned bridges with.”

If you do a search on this blog with the phrase “Isiah Thomas burn bridges” you will discover a post telling the story of problems NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas had with a particular, rather famous, contemporary. Unless you’ve lived under a rock the past 20 years, you probably know that players normal jersey number once you determine his identity. So, if this were a clue, the correct answer would be:

“twentythree”

So here’s what you do:

1. Download and print off the JPEGs I will post on Thursday.
2. Complete the puzzle, making heavy use of the blog search
3. Scan your finished puzzle
4. Email it to me at petecj2@gmail.com

The first person to send in a completed puzzle will win a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate. People related to me by marriage or birth are not eligible but people I work with are. When a winner is determined, I will post the solution.

If there is such a hugely underwhelming response that nobody wins by the time the Super Bowl kicks off, I’ll keep my $50 and pout in a corner 8). Hopefully, somebody will be ambitious enough to go for it so I don’t look like an idiot (or, a bigger idiot than I already am, depending upon your perspective).