The 2010 Grand Anagrammy Awards

2010 Grand Amagrammy Awards was the 13th annual running of our best of the best anagrams of the past year.

We had 31 voters, which was a bit disappointing given the fact that nearly 40 people voted in last month's competition. We averaged in the mid 30's each month for the year.

The Forum remained very busy this year and we reached the 100,000 posts mark during the year. At that point we closed the Forum for an hour as a mark of respect for the recent death of Mick Tully. A suggestion was accepted that we rename the Awardsmaster's Choice for Most Consistent Anagrammer of the Year as the Mick Tully Memorial Award.

Spamming has been virtually eliminated for the Forum and the rare one that does slip through the filters is quickly deleted by one of the Forum Moderators. Thank you, folks, for your assistance.

It was pleasing to see some new members joining us, and old members dropping back to participate.

GENERAL:

I think that we had a pretty fair idea which one of Mey's anagrams would win here, even before voting started. This is one of the most perfect anagrams that I have ever seen, being totally cognate and relevant. It has what William Tunstall-Pedoe referred to as the "WOW!" Factor.

It was no surprise then, when Mey took an early lead while half a dozen anagrams fought it out for 2nd and 3rd place awards. That was where the real excitement was. Mey's runner-up was no surprise either, but I was struck by how close mine and the others were to it in the final tally.

My third place gave me my 17th Grand Award.

1	Meyran Kraus	37	Italian crime boss = A Sicilian mobster.
2	Meyran Kraus	19	Premenstrual = Lunar tempers.
3	Larry Brash	18	Our golden wedding anniversary = We're old, gray and on nine IV drugs.
4	Meyran Kraus	17	Really bad eyesight = Barely see daylight!
4	Ed Pegg Jr	17	Triple chocolate square = Atherosclerotic plaque.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Mey looked strong here as well for much of the competition with 1st and 2nd place at the halfway point. However, View came out the pack that were close behind and jumped into first place on the very last vote. A closely-fought category with at least 5 potential winners here.

This was View's first Grand anagrammy despite winning 32 monthly awards over the last six years. Well done, View!

1	View	24	'The Social Network' = Owner likes to chat.
2	Meyran Kraus	23	Michelangelo's art in the Sistine Chapel = Masterpiece shall shine on that ceiling!
2	Rosie Perera	23	Dante's Divine Comedy = Vice, demons, and deity.

TOPICAL:

Dean's anagram here really impressed me with its relevance and perfect flow. So, it was no surprise that he took an early lead and was 5 points clear after 24 hours. He increased that lead slightly over new member, Harshal, whose December win in this category was well deserved.

1	Dean Mayer	40	The Pope's view on contraception = It is one concept he won't approve.
2	Harshal M	32	New Year coming soon = A worsening economy?
3	David Bourke	21	The coastline of Florida and Louisiana = The fauna, flora and soil is coated in oil.

PEOPLES NAMES:

While this category was close in the early stages, the ultimate winner, Neil, was four points clear at the end of Day One. He maintained and extended that lead by the end of Day Two.

This win was Neil's 4th Grand Anagrammy.

1	Neil Ramsay	29	Springsteen = Spent singer.
2	Adie Pena	22	The assassin Lee Harvey Oswald = Analyses revealed shot was his.
3	Meyran Kraus	21	France's emperor Napoleon I = A person of real prominence.

OTHER NAMES:

This category contained an obvious stand-out favourite and it was not surprising to find, Andrew had a massive 19 point lead by midway point. He expanded that to an impressive 22 point margin at the close of play. This was the win by the biggest margin in this competition.

This was Andrew's 12th Grand. It is a pity that we do not see more of him these days.

1	Andrew Brehaut	48	McDonalds Restaurant chain = Standard lunch to Americans.
2	Meyran Kraus	26	The messaging website Twitter = It's the biggest new time-waster!
3	Scott Gardner	21	The Apple Corporation = Laptop, iPhone creator.

MEDIUM LENGTH:

This was one category where it was hard to pick the eventual winner. By 24 hours, Scott had opened a small lead in which was looking like a close competition with a couple of Mey's list-type anagrams. Ultimately, Scott maintained his small lead to win.

This was Scott's 8th Grand Award.

1	Scott Gardner	28	Washington + Jackson + Harrison + Tyler + Fillmo... = Madison + Van Buren + Polk + Johnson + Grant + ...
2	Meyran Kraus	24	Male puberty entails: - Hairiness issues - F... = Men's mid-life crisis contains: - Loss of ha...
3	Meyran Kraus	22	The Kubler-Ross model, also known as the five st... = Five stages of BP drilling: 1. Get bad rig 2. ...

LONG:

Some excellent and very funny anagrams were in the final here, Mey's quiz anagram was soon a clear leader and was 11 points clear by the halfway point. That lead ballooned out to to 17 points at the end.

1	Meyran Kraus	39	How Smart Are You? 1. You're participating in a... = How Stupid Are You? Choose an answer for each...
2	Meyran Kraus	22	Dear Ethan, I read your letter in bed and my he... = Hey Jane, Look, you didn't read my previous e...
2	Tony Crafter	22	HELEN'S DIARY ON A CRUISE SHIP. DEAR DIARY - DA... = DADDY'S PHONE CALL. Rrriiiiing, rrriiiiing......

SPECIAL:

The big problem for Mey here was choosing three out of eight of his monthly winners, all gems in their own right, for the final competition. His choices were well made and the voters agreed, giving him 1st, 2nd and 3rd., a feat never previously achieved.

1	Meyran Kraus	36	[Here's the Beatles song anagrammed into an eight-lines song detailing Paul's eight correct World Cup predictions from t...
2	Meyran Kraus	31	Below is George Herbert's poem 'Easter' anagrammed into 4 successive short poems dealing with each of the 4 seasons;
3	Meyran Kraus	20	Thanksgiving Day
4	Tony Crafter	17	ANNOUNCEMENT: International Alert Levels Raised!
5	Scott Gardner	10	I fancy Tom Cruise

ANAGRAM SOFTWARE:

As usual, this was a two-horse race, with WIlliam's Anagram Genius, starting with a small lead, but as in last seven competitions, Mike's Anagram Artist caught and passed it, winning by 18 points. I have noticed a drop off in people voting in this category in recent years, with just 18 people voting in here.

1	Mike Keith	44	Anagram Artist 3.05
2	William Tunstall-Pedoe	26	Anagram Genius Version 9
3	Andrew Trevorrow	9	Anagrams 2.4 (Macintosh)

RUDE:

This category was fairly close all the way through, with Mey just one point ahead of David at the end of Day One, the same margin as at the end of competition. David and Mey had three entries each and so it was always likely that one of them would win. Mey's most recent monthly winner was the best in my opinion and deserved the win.

1	Meyran Kraus	25	Horse's genitalia = This is a large one!
2	David Bourke	24	Fingered up the arsehole = For heightened pleasure!
3	Meyran Kraus	17	Teen lad's first lay = It ends really fast!
3	David Bourke	17	A cunt often has ~ a stench of tuna.

Overall Part 1

As expected, Mey's winner in General was the winner here and it was never in doubt, By the end of the first 24 hours, he was five points clesr and extended that to to seven points in a field where there were 40 anagrams that received at least one point.

1	Meyran Kraus	21	Italian crime boss = A Sicilian mobster.
2	Andrew Brehaut	14	McDonalds Restaurant chain = Standard lunch to Americans.
3	Dean Mayer	9	The Pope's view on contraception = It is one concept he won't approve.
4	Meyran Kraus	9	Premenstrual = Lunar tempers.
5	Rik Sengupta	8	What in god's name ~ was the man doing?
6	Meyran Kraus	6	Michelangelo's art in the Sistine Chapel = Masterpiece shall shine on that ceiling!
7	Scott Gardner	5	Washington + Jackson + Harrison + Tyler + Fillmo... = Madison + Van Buren + Polk + Johnson + Grant + ...
8	Neil Ramsay	5	Springsteen = Spent singer.
9	Meyran Kraus	4	Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' = Depict all persons and the Saviour.
10	Ellie Dent	4	Thomas Arne = A short name.

Overall Part 2

Mey took the first four places here. What more can be said about the man who has dominated the long categories (especially in Special) this year.

1	Meyran Kraus	24	[Here's the Beatles song anagrammed into an eight-lines song detailing Paul's eight correct World Cup predictions from t...
2	Meyran Kraus	23	Below is George Herbert's poem 'Easter' anagrammed into 4 successive short poems dealing with each of the 4 seasons;
3	Meyran Kraus	15	Thanksgiving Day
4	Meyran Kraus	12	How Smart Are You? 1. You're participating in a... = How Stupid Are You? Choose an answer for each...
5	Tony Crafter	10	ANNOUNCEMENT: International Alert Levels Raised!
6	Meyran Kraus	7	Dear Ethan, I read your letter in bed and my he... = Hey Jane, Look, you didn't read my previous e...
7	Tony Crafter	5	RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS By The Carpenters
8	Scott Gardner	4	I fancy Tom Cruise
9	Tony Crafter	3	HELEN'S DIARY ON A CRUISE SHIP. DEAR DIARY - DA... = DADDY'S PHONE CALL. Rrriiiiing, rrriiiiing......
10	Larry Brash	2	An eighty-six year old man went to the local doc... = "Now, on the lengthy trek north-west, nearing ...

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

Harshal M.

There were two new members who won one monthly award this year, Ivan Andonov and Harshal. Ivan was a place-getter in one of the General Category competitions, whereas Harshal won a Topical event. Also Harshal was very active in the Forum when first appeared in the latter part of the year. Taking these factors into account, I chose Harshal.

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

Dean Mayer

There were two contenders here, Mike Mesterton-Gibbons and Dean Mayer. Although Mike won more awards, he has not been active in the Forum for some months. Dean impressed me with his recent entries, especially his winner in the Grand with the winning anagram in this competition in the Topical Category. These two wins were Dean's first Grand Anagrammies.

MICK TULLY MEMORIAL AWARD FOR MOST CONSISTENT ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR

Tony Crafter

Tony had a great year and it was disappointing not to see him winning in any of the above categories. He has won at least one award each month and topped the year with six wins in the November competition, giving him a total of 37 awards this year. He scored just over 900 DFE points, a feat rarely achieved, beaten only by Mey's new DFE record of nearly 1100 points.

It is also very appropriate that he won the inaugral Mick Tully Award, having been one of Mick's good friends.

This was Tony's 12th Grand Anagrammy.

DANIEL F. ETTER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR ANAGRAMMATIST OF THE YEAR

Meyran Kraus

Really, what more can be said about Mey's performance this year? He performed well in every category, but shone out in the Special Category winning 9 times this year. He was often successful in the shorter categories as well. He won a total of 43 awards in the monthly competitions, while not a record (his 48 wins in 2006 is the record), it was very impressive.

Ten Grands in one year is, of course, a new record, beating Richard Grantham's eight Grands in 2001, and takes him to a total of 52 Grand Anagrammies.

This was his sixth DFE award.

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

The Anagrammy Awards