Thanks for the commiserations; yes, I was one of the hundred that qualified for the final only to see the trophy snatched from under our very noses (it was ours precious; honest!)

The conditions at Stationers Hall weren’t great; wonderfully historic setting but no aircon which on a day like Sunday with a hundred nervous sudoku-ers (? or sudoku-ists?),at close quarters made the day interesting to say the least. Exam-like conditions with Independent staff invigilators almost outnumbering competitors. Five puzzles to solve in 50 mins (regionals were four in 45 mins) with the silence only broken by the ‘Zippp’ of the timers as yet another rival finished ahead of you, the perspiration level increasing exponentially as each new declaration pushed you further away from and eventually out of qualification for the ‘Super final’ of the ten fastest.

I finished around the 20th mark, although it was difficult to know just how many earlier finishers had correct entries. Anyway, not good enough for the top ten who were called out to (muted) applause (me?, bitter?, never!)and led away behind closed doors to fight it out between themselves. Eight men and two women compared to the 68/32 % split of the main competition, Mr Bellig eventually emerging victorious.

The rest of us were sent on our merry way with a pretty decent goodie bag and the condolences of our supporters “Failure doesn’t negate the whole purpose of your recent existence sweetie, just look at the nice ‘FINALIST’ t-shirt they gave you; you can wear it to work tomorrow….”

Ah well, back to wretched anonymity, my moment in the sun over, at least until next year….. (but we’ll be back precious; yes we will and then they’ll see….).