The 2009 Grand Anagrammy Awards

2009 Grand Amagrammy Awards was the 12th annual running of our best of the best anagrams of the past year.

We had only 35 voters, the lowest in many years, but equal to the monthly average this year. Unfortunately, getting the Anagrammy Awards on Facebook has not made much impact on voter numbers. There are over 110 people on our email reminder list, meaning that less than one third actually vote.

Fortunately, the Forum remained quite busy this year, with usually well over 1000 posts most months. We are winning the battle with spammers by improving our ability to block their posts. Thank you to our Forum Moderators for removing spam soon after it appears.

As with last year, 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. However, there was no new member that was good enough and active enough to win this year's Rookie of the Year Award


GENERAL:

As usual, the General Category was a close affair for most of the three days. Anyone of the first six could have won an award. Neil's witty anagram led for much of the way until the last 12 hours, when Adie passed him with his December winner. It was good to see occasional poster, Paul Lusch pick up a Grand, his second. He last won in 2005. Neil Ramsay, who has been much quieter this year, picked his third Grand.


1

  Adie Pena

27  

You can't teach an old dog new tricks = Work on educating old cats. They can!

2

  Neil Ramsay

25  

First base Second base Third base A home run = Smooch Rate breasts Hand in briefs Use a bed.

3

  Paul Lusch

23  

Righteous indignation = Idiot shouting in anger.

4

  Meyran Kraus

20  

If love isn't here ~ then life is over.

4

  Tony Crafter

20  

At the vicar's sermon, I think: ~ 'Is it over? Thank Christ! Amen.'

ENTERTAINMENT:

Great win for Dharam here coming in nearly 20 points ahead. She was never in doubt.


1

  Dharam Khalsa

42  

Conceptual artist Andy Warhol = A red soup can! Why not call it art?

2

  Meyran Kraus

23  

Fourth "Indiana Jones" movie by Steven Spielberg = I have a big problem, just one: Ford is seventy-nine!

3

  Scott Gardner

22  

The novella "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens = A rather classic book enchants every small child.

TOPICAL:

A fairly close contest. View looked the strongest on Day One, with Rick also in contention. However Adie polled more strongly in the second half of the event.


1

  Adie Pena

36  

The U.S. says "Good-bye!" = Yes, Bush goes today!

2

  Andrew Brehaut

30  

The Normandy landing site = A silent morning then... D-Day.

3

  View

28  

The Climate Talks = Task: Halt ice melt!

PEOPLES NAMES:

Very good win here for Adie, who never looked like losing.


1

  Adie Pena

39  

President Obama = Man to be praised.

2

  View

27  

President Barack Hussein Obama = He's boss in a bankrupted America.

3

  Tony Crafter

20  

Piers Morgan. Simon Cowell. Amanda Holden = Nerd on panel. Megalomaniac. Oh...Miss World!

OTHER NAMES:

Dharam took an early lead here and was never in doubt.


1

  Dharam Khalsa

37  

Himalayan Mount Everest = A summit nearly to Heaven.

2

  Dharam Khalsa

24  

Amnesty International = Meant to nail tyrannies.

3

  Scott Gardner

23  

The Palestinian Territories = Anti-Israeli protest in there.

MEDIUM LENGTH:

I had Mey down as the likely winner here and Tony as runner-up and at first voters agreed. However, on the final day, Chris came into contention and won by just two points.


1

  Christopher Sturdy

27  

President Obama - so good they inaugurated him twice = George Bush - a dimwit idea you'd spit at more than once!

2

  Meyran Kraus

25  

Whose accents are these? 1. "Burn da ganja, mon!... = 1. Sting's 'Jamaican' 2. An Americanized Hugh L...

2

  Rosie Perera

25  

Miss California's breast implants funded by pageant = And it seems super big tits and small brain can pay off.

LONG:

With the new rule to reduce the number of entries to a mazimum of three per entrant, the field was reduced to two from Dharam and three from Tony who had won this category 10 ten times in 2009. Given Tony's track record, I would have predicted that he would have won. However, Dharam led strongly earlier on. Tony came into contention but not close enough to win. Ultimately, Dharam's two entries tied, giving her two wins in this category.


1

  Dharam Khalsa

30  

Basic Wedding Cake Recipe 6 cups soft cake flou... = Recipe for Upkeep of a Happy Marriage 1/2 gal...

1

  Dharam Khalsa

30  

The U.S. Postal Service created a postage stamp ... = After a month of extensive tests, the appointe...

3

  Tony Crafter

28  

THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE TODAY. The telephon... = NO MORE TOMORROWS A solemn Stephen Stein retu...

SPECIAL:

Three entrants here and all reduced the entries to three each. While Mey and Tony looked like dominating the event, Adie squeezed into third place towards the end. It is a very fair result that each of them won an award in this category, given the brilliant work involved in this category.


1

  Meyran Kraus

22  

This sonnet by Shakespeare was anagrammed into a sonnet for Spring with an unusual constraint

2

  Tony Crafter

18  

THE TIGER By William Blake.

3

  Adie Pena

15  

Valentine Day Anagram Puzzle

4

  Meyran Kraus

14  

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 24

4

  Tony Crafter

14  

AUSSIE RECRUIT'S LETTER HOME.

RUDE:

This was a start to finish win for Chris's whose recent Rude winner was the voter's favourite. Chris won two Grands this year, giving him a total of seven.


1

  Christopher Sturdy

30  

An utter poser I knew... = Pretentious wanker!

2

  Larry Brash

16  

Praise genitals = "It's a large penis!"

3

  Adie Pena

14  

Practised fellatio = Delicate art of lips.

SOFTWARE:

Early on William's Anagram Genius was fairly close behind Mike's Anagram Artist, but Mike opened an unassailable lead to win yet again. Mike has won this award nine times and now has a total of 19 Grand Awards.


1

  Mike Keith

46  

Anagram Artist 3.05

2

  William Tunstall-Pedoe

31  

Anagram Genius Version 9

3

  Andrew Trevorrow

5  

Anagrams 2.4 (Macintosh)

Overall Part 1

This category is Traditionally close and was again this year. I was the early leader, but I expected to be beaten by some of the excellent anagrams here. Certainly two of the best won here in a tie.


1

  Dharam Khalsa

10  

Conceptual artist Andy Warhol = A red soup can! Why not call it art?

2

  Adie Pena

10  

President Obama = Man to be praised.

3

  Larry Brash

9  

Prostate Specific Antigen = Test if cancer is eating Pop.

4

  Meyran Kraus

8  

It's a life worth living ~ if I win that girl's love!

5

  Tony Crafter

8  

At the vicar's sermon, I think: ~ 'Is it over? Thank Christ! Amen.'

6

  Larry Brash

8  

Laughter is the best medicine = The genial side is much better.

7

  Neil Ramsay

7  

First base Second base Third base A home run = Smooch Rate breasts Hand in briefs Use a bed.

8

  Adie Pena

7  

You can't teach an old dog new tricks = Work on educating old cats. They can!

9

  Paul Pan

7  

Pandemics = Meds panic!

10

  Paul Lusch

6  

Righteous indignation = Idiot shouting in anger.

11

  David Bourke

6  

Caster Semenya = Yes, a secret man!

Overall Part 2

It is always hard to pick who will win this one given the high standard. Traditionally the winner of the Special Category is the winner and the tradition continued with Mey's win. Mey had two Grand wins this year, relatively quiet for him. He has amassed a total of 42 Grands since 1998.


1

  Meyran Kraus

16  

This sonnet by Shakespeare was anagrammed into a sonnet for Spring with an unusual constraint

2

  Meyran Kraus

11  

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 24

3

  Dharam Khalsa

11  

The U.S. Postal Service created a postage stamp ... = After a month of extensive tests, the appointe...

4

  Tony Crafter

10  

A blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker ba... = A cowboy went into a Starbucks and ordered a c...

5

  Adie Pena

10  

Valentine Day Anagram Puzzle

6

  Meyran Kraus

9  

On Shakespeare

7

  Tony Crafter

9  

VINCENT by Don McLean

8

  Tony Crafter

9  

THE TIGER By William Blake.

9

  Tony Crafter

8  

THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE TODAY. The telephon... = NO MORE TOMORROWS A solemn Stephen Stein retu...

10

  Tony Crafter

7  

AUSSIE RECRUIT'S LETTER HOME.

AWARDSMASTER'S CHOICE FOR BEST ROOKIE ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR:

No winner this year.

Unfortunately there was no new member who stood out this year. The few new members that we had did not stay around long or failed to win any awards.

AWARDSMASTER'S CHOICE FOR MOST IMPROVED ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR:

Dharam Khalsa

Dharam was Rookie of the Year last year, and continued to show great development as a very accomplished anagrammatist, winning 16 monthly awards, showing skills in short and long anagramming. Her showing in the Grands was phemonenal, winning six awards, a feat rarely achieved.

AWARDSMASTER'S CHOICE FOR MOST CONSISTENT ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR

Adie Pena

I was undecided early on whether Mey or Adie would be granted this award. Both had been quite consistently successful during the year. Mey had won more awards, but Adie had higher DFE points. I decided to see how they both performed in the Grands before making my final decision. This award gave Adie six Grands, equalling Dharam's feat.

DANIEL F. ETTER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR

Tony Crafter

Another well-deserved win again this year. Tony continues to dominate the longer categories, but is often up there in the short categories, too. He often wins multiple awards each month, including seven in November. This year he won 44 monthly awards.

This was his third DFE award and his 11th Grand Anagrammy.


Congratulations to all the winners. Thank you all for voting.


The Anagrammy Awards