PUZZLERS MEETING FOR SHOWDOWN DOWNTOWN TONIGHT.Byline: Rick Coca Special to the Daily News They call him ``Elfman.'' But he's no wintry assistant, nor a gangster, nor an off-kilter superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. . Leon ``Elfman'' Marzillier is a ``puzzler'' - a person who enjoys solving puzzles. Tonight, Marzillier and about 150 of his word-sleuth cohorts, with noms de plume like ``Spyder,'` ``Mercury'' and ``Dragonfly,'' will gather at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or to convene the 166th National Puzzlers' League The National Puzzlers' League (NPL) is a nonprofit organization focused on puzzling, primarily in the realm of word play and word games. The group has three aims: to further the pastime of word puzzles, to raise the standard of puzzling to a higher intellectual level, and to convention with a puzzle extravaganza. The group was founded in 1873, dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of puzzle games. ``Puzzling can be addicting,'' said Marzillier, 60, of Granada Hills, describing his borderline obsession with certain puzzle games. ``My wife wouldn't use the word 'borderline.''' Marzillier, a mathematics professor at Los Angeles Valley College LAVC redirects here. For the software library, see libavcodec. The university is adjacent to Grant High School. Often called "Valley College" or simply "Valley" by those who frequent the campus, it opened its doors to the public on September 12, 1949, at which time the campus was and this year's convention host, said his love affair with puzzle games began as a boy growing up in Cumbria, England. ``My father used to do the crossword puzzles in the Sunday paper. It became a family thing. My father, brother and I, on Sundays, would solve the puzzles.'' Invented as a ``word cross,'' in 1913 by British-born Arthur Wynne, and published in the New York World The New York World was a newspaper published in New York from 1860 until 1931. It played a major role in the history of American newspapers. The newspaper was unsuccessful until it was purchased by Joseph Pulitzer in 1883. , crossword puzzles became increasingly popular, Marzillier said. ``The art of a good puzzle is to make it difficult, but not unsolvable.'' The convention ``puzzlers'' range in age from 9 to 90, which leaves Marzillier hopeful that puzzle playing will survive for years to come. ``I'm not saying it's going to be big like Nintendo,'' Marzillier said. ``But part of the population is interested in crossword puzzles.'' Marzillier said the popularity of certain television shows like ``CSI CSI Crime Scene Investigator CSI CompuServe, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) CSI Crime Scene Investigation (CBS TV show) CSI Christian Schools International : Crime Scene Investigation'' prove that. ``They find clues and solve puzzles to find out how a person died,'' Marzillier said. The nom de plume nom de plume n. pl. noms de plume See pen name. [French : nom, name + de, of + plume, pen. that a puzzler uses is both a nod to the English tradition of puzzle writers and a way for participants of different backgrounds and ages to stand on even ground. They also might be a puzzle. ``Elfman contains the three initials of my name, Leon Francis Marzillier,'' he said. ``Plus, I'm not very tall.'' Rick Coca, (818) 713-3705 rick.coca(at)dailynews.com |
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