2008 Grand Amagrammy Awards was the 11th annual running of the Best of the Best. As usual the standard was very high as one would expect.

We had 46 voters, somewhat less than last year's record, but quite a satisfactory voter turnout. 600 people are on reminder list, so less than 10% ever vote, despite all sorts of encouragements from me to do so.

The Forum has run well this year, with usually well over 1200 posts per month. There has been the usual battle with spammers, but we seems to be winning at present and we have not had any spam at all in the last month or two. Thank you to our Forum Moderators for removing spam soon after it appears.

Also it is always pleasing to see new members joining us, and also to see old members dropping in to participate, even after several years absence.

I trust that people are happy with the Ranking system and approve of the addition of the Grands to the scoring equation.

From the first few votes, it was clear that Chris (aka Horrid Stretchy Pus) was going to win this category. The traditional battle for 2nd and 3rd occurred with Rick and Rosie being the more consistent performers and keeping the rest of the pack at bay.

Rick's award here was his 7th Grand Anagrammy.

1

  Christopher Sturdy

53  

What is forgetfulness? = Losing where stuff's at.

2

  Rosie Perera

34  

Theological discussions = God, soul, sin, social ethics.

2

  Rick Rothstein

34  

A lesbian romance = I can bear no males.

4

  Adie Pena

28  

An elephant's memory = Phenomenal mastery.

5

  Tony Crafter

24  

Skeletons in the cupboard = Bones unlocked their past.

Rosie established an early lead and very soon opened up a big margin, romping home 26 points clear.

1

  Rosie Perera

57  

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull = All on set think Lucas and Ford enjoyed making this.

2

  Tony Crafter

31  

John Keats 'Ode On A Grecian Urn' ~ hooks reader on an ancient jug!

3

  Scott Gardner

28  

Claude Monet, "Impression, Sunrise" = Painted Seine in summer's colours.

This was a landslide win to Ellie who consistently scored more than double the points of her nearest rival. It is just such a beautifully apt and concise anagram, that I am not surprised it did so well.

1

  Ellie Dent

70  

A crisis on Wall Street ~ will start a recession.

2

  Christopher Sturdy

29  

The Democrats and Republicans in America = Obama and McCain rule this President race.

2

  Ellie Dent

29  

The Mars Landing = Damn earthlings!

The December Anagrammy winnner, by Mey, was no surprise as a winner here. It is another of those remarkable anagrams of a man who has kept us anagrammers amused for eight years. We will miss you, Mr Bush.

1

  Meyran Kraus

59  

George Bush = "Bugger! Shoe!"

2

  Tony Crafter

36  

The former Ugandan President Idi Amin Dada = Murder and death personified in a mad giant.

3

  Adrian Hickford

33  

US President-elect Barack Obama = Democrats take Republican base.

After big margin wins in the first four categories, it was nice to see a closely fought category. Andrew was always in contention, but Dharam put a lot of pressure on him during the competition.

1

  Andrew Brehaut

43  

France's Arc de Triomphe = Charmed centre of Paris.

2

  Dharam Khalsa

41  

eBay auction = I can beat you.

3

  Rosie Perera

35  

Yosemite National Park = Area many like to stop in.

Another very close event, this time with Tony and Andrew going neck-and-neck, often tied for the lead. Ultimately, Tony just made it by three points.

1

  Tony Crafter

31  

RULES FOR A LIFE THAT'S FULL OF HARMONY Live sim... = FULL RULES THAT FAMED ROMEOS KEEP Live for toda...

2

  Andrew Brehaut

28  

Rodgers and Hammerstein hit musical "The Sound of Music" = Fond Miss teaches smug Austrian children to hum "Do Re Mi".

2

  Tony Crafter

28  

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of t... = 'A Tale of Two Cities' - This commences with th...

  Total points:

206 

from 35 votes

I was aware that Tony had dominated this category this year, but I did not realise by how much until I harvested the winners for the Grands. He won all 12 competitions, sharing one win with Don Rogers. Tony's biggest challenge was deciding which ones of his classic joke-to-joke anagrams that he would run in the Grands. He selected three which took the first three positions.

1

  Tony Crafter

51  

Three Texan surgeons were arguing about who had ... = An 80-year-old Texan rancher gashed his hand o...

2

  Tony Crafter

43  

A man and his wife are woken at 3 a.m. by a loud... = The duty-sergeant answered the police station'...

3

  Tony Crafter

39  

Read this question, come up with your answer and... = Answer: She was hoping that the man would appe...

The standard in the Special Category really improved in the second half of the year, with Adie really developing some sophisticated skills in this department. However, voters tended to favour the traditional poem-to-poem anagrams, and Andrew's brilliant example of this genre was a clear favourite.

It was a very close battle for 2nd and 3rd places.

Rosie's win was her third Grand this year and takes her total to five. Mey's two wins this year's Grand Anagrammy, gives him 40 awards. Despite a quiet year, Mey picked up two Grands, bring him up to a big total of 40.

1

  Andrew Brehaut

39  

The Lady of Shalott by Lord Tennyson

2

  Rosie Perera

22  

The Gashlycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey

3

  Meyran Kraus

21  

A Soldier

4

  Adie Pena

20  

Phrase Shaper

5

  Tony Crafter

19  

SHOWER PROTOCOL

I could not pick a winner here prior to the competition. Early voting was close, but over time, Chris opened and maintained a small gap to win by five points.

1

  Christopher Sturdy

32  

A lack of preparation = A fool.. a prick.. a parent.

2

  Tony Crafter

27  

Reusable condom = Doubles romance!

3

  Rick Rothstein

21  

The human reproductive system = Her cunt... it's due to have my sperm.

3

  Rick Rothstein

21  

Delightful breasts = Thus, bra gets filled.

As always, this was a battle of the two giants, with no change in the pattern of results. Mike has one this award 8 times and has 18 Grand Anagrammy Awards.

1

  Mike Keith

59  

Anagram Artist 3.05

2

  William Tunstall-Pedoe

41  

Anagram Genius Version 9

3

  Andrew Trevorrow

4  

Anagrams 2.4 (Macintosh)

Through out the whole competition, Chris's General winner looked like an easy winner. However, Ellie's great Topical entry caught up, briefly led, but was equalled by Chris with the last vote.

Three wins for Chris takes him to five grands all-up. Ellie had two wins this time and also has five Grands in total.

1

  Christopher Sturdy

27  

What is forgetfulness? = Losing where stuff's at.

2

  Ellie Dent

27  

A crisis on Wall Street ~ will start a recession.

3

  Meyran Kraus

17  

George Bush = "Bugger! Shoe!"

4

  Dharam Khalsa

12  

eBay auction = I can beat you.

5

  Rick Rothstein

11  

A lesbian romance = I can bear no males.

6

  Tony Crafter

11  

I'd do anything! = Had no dignity.

7

  Ellie Dent

10  

The Mars Landing = Damn earthlings!

8

  Rosie Perera

9  

Theological discussions = God, soul, sin, social ethics.

9

  Rick Rothstein

9  

Nailed to the Cross = Leads one to Christ.

10

  Andrew Brehaut

9  

France's Arc de Triomphe = Charmed centre of Paris.

Traditionally, the winner of Special wins here. The Tradition continued with an easy win to Andrew. Three Grands for Andrew this year brings him up to 11 altogether.

1

  Andrew Brehaut

32  

The Lady of Shalott by Lord Tennyson

2

  Meyran Kraus

13  

A Soldier

3

  Tony Crafter

13  

A man and his wife are woken at 3 a.m. by a loud... = The duty-sergeant answered the police station'...

4

  Adie Pena

9  

Anagram Crossword Puzzle

5

  Tony Crafter

9  

SHOWER PROTOCOL

6

  Tony Crafter

9  

Read this question, come up with your answer and... = Answer: She was hoping that the man would appe...

7

  Adie Pena

9  

Phrase Shaper

8

  Adie Pena

8  

A Very Visual Puzzle

9

  Rosie Perera

8  

The Gashlycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey

10

  Tony Crafter

6  

(Grumpy patron): "Waitress! Is this coffee or te... = (Trim young waitress): "It's tea, then. Our cof...

Dharam Khalsa

A very easy choice to make. Dharam has taken to anagramming like a natural, displaying talents in all styles of anagrams including even the occasional rude one. This was, of course, her first Grand.

Scott Gardner

There were three contenders here: Scott, Rosie and Rick. The problem was that all had won this award at one point in time. Can you be Most Improved twice? Yes, when no one else really fits the bill. Scott's improvement was greater than the other two. Scott does not post many anagrams, but those that he does post are always nomination quality and often winners.

Scott has won seven Grand Anagrammies.

Adie Pena

Another easy choice. Adie is always one of the most frequent posters, gets nominated in every category within the first week each month, and consistently wins every month. He was only 44 points behind Tony for the DFE Award, the closest margin in years.

Adie has now won three Grand Awards.

Tony Crafter

Another well-deserved win this year. Tony dominates the longer categories, but always performs well in the short categories, too. He always wins multiple awards each month. A quiet month for Tony is winning only two awards! 41 wins in a year puts him in the same league as Anagramming Gods, Mey Kraus and Richard Grantham.

This was his second DFE award and his 9th overall Grand.