Every night these days, promptly at 10PM (6 on weekends) Eastern time, I do the the next day's Times crossword in competition mode. That is, I "Play Against the Clock." The first 10 to finish, get "points" as do the fastest 10. The "fastest" scores are worthless because so many people cheat (they do the puzzle in the paper, in the non-timed online version, or just go the the Times puzzle forum, and then speed type into the timed applet. So even though the points don't mean anything, at least the first 10 KNOW their points are honestly earned. The best I've ever finished was 4th (Sept. 21, 2008).
The end. Fini. No Mas. Now that the Times publishes the solutions immediately, you don't need me any more. The Times Puzzle Blog has more than enough information, and the solutions are often there. Thanks for visiting; come back now and then to see what's happening in my life. 'Til then, Cheers, and happy puzzling. It's been a swell bunch of years.
