Trip Payne

@puzzletrip.bsky.social

Professional puzzle creator and editor. Into immersive theater, the Oscars, Eurovision, and Scrabble. Expect lots of pimping of my Sporcle quizzes.

I’m in Virginia for a Scrabble tournament, and I just had a very Southern meal at the hotel restaurant: shrimp and grits, buttermilk biscuits, sweet tea. LA, I love ya, but why can’t you do a meal like this properly?

1. RISE LIKE A PHOENIX (14, AUS) 2. Molitva (07, SRB) 3. Nous les amoureaux (61, LUX) 4. Waterloo (74, SWE) 5. Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (88, SUI) 6. Dansevise (63, DEN) 7. Poupée de cire, poupée de son (65, LUX) 8. Un banc, un arbre, une rue (71, MON) 9. Euphoria (12, SWE) 10. Zitti e buoni (21, ITA)

It is bizarre to me that all of a nation’s journalists are incapable of determining whether a politician is alive or dead. Of all the indictments of the US press, this has to be high on the list.

I don’t care about team sports, so for the US v Belgium soccerball event, I’m going to root for “best ever version of The Mole” over “godawful Netflix version of The Mole”.

My last 10 ESC #1s: 1. Cha Cha Cha (FIN, 23) 2. Bara Bada Bastu (SWE, 25) 3. In Corpore Sano (SRB, 22) 4. 10 Years (ISL, 21) 5. My Lucky Day (MOA, 18) 6. Liekinheitin (FIN, 26) 7. La Venda (ESP, 19) [X. On Fire (LTU, 20)] 8. Nendest... (EST, 24) 9. Sound of Silence (AUS, 16) 10. Gravity (CYP, 17)

Last 10 ESC winners ranked: 1. Zitti e buoni (21) 2. Toy (18) 3. Wasted Love (25) 4. Stefania (22) 5. The Code (24) 6. Arcade (19) 7. Tattoo (23) 8. Amar pelos dois (17) 9. 1944 (16) 10. Bangaranga (26) Not one of these would have been my pick to win its year. #Eurovision