Here are the official results of the 2014 Grand Anagrammy Awards.
We had a reasonable turnout of voters - 37 voters, well short of the highest ever last year, but better than some of this year's competitions.
As usual, there were great anagrams competing, all of the best for the year.
Chris Sturdy led from the beginning to the end, with a sizeable gap over Mey Kraus and Dean Mayer early on. Ed Pegg Jr was a strong finisher, moving into second place, while Dean Mayer stayed in the top 3 for most of the competition.
1st:
Christopher Sturdy
38
Twenty six letters of the alphabet = Best of all, they shape written text.
2nd:
Ed Pegg Jr
27
Money is the root of all evil = Some love the irony of it all.
3rd:
Dean Mayer
24
Money - having lots ~ may solve nothing.
Mey started strongly in this category, followed by a group (David early on, Tony midway and Adie towards the end) who jostled for the minor positions. Mey broke well clear as the contest developed. He won by 9 points.
1st:
Meyran Kraus
35
Masterpiece painting 'Mona Lisa' = An enigmatic smile appears on it.
A big winner here for Mey with one of his funniest anagrams. He started strongly and cruised in for an easy win.
1st:
Meyran Kraus
39
Oscar maintains that he is not guilty of Reeva's death = Is this a fact, mister? I hear you haven't a leg to stand on!
Rick's winner here was one of my favourites and it was no surprise that he won by a massive margin with the equal highest score for an individual anagram, leading from start to finish.
1st:
Rick Rothstein
46
The comedian and actor Robin Williams = A more-than-brilliant comic is now dead.
Julian Lofts led by a small margin throughout the competition, with challenges from Chris Sturdy and View. He finished 5 points clear of Chris, whose anagram I really liked. and who nearly led at times, as did Mey's funny Abbey Road offering.
1st:
Julian Lofts
31
The San Andreas Fault = Unsafe land's a threat.
The list anagrams remained very popular and in fact dominated this category, as they did every month of 2013. Tony, always strong in this genre, was never in doubt, winning with the biggest margin of the event, 15 points.
1st:
Tony Crafter
37
The Attributes Women Look For In A Man
Warm
Empathetic
Loving
Likeable
Humorous
Understanding
Nice looks
Gentle
=
Attributes Men Look For In A Woman
Blonde
Impish
Go-getter
Kind
Natural
Owns a home!
Cute,
Keen
En vogue
Rich
Slim, tall
Like last year, this was again the closest category of the event, with nedesto having a small lead early in the event, challenged by Tony and Mey early on. Tony kept within a few points of the lead and finished strongly to win by just one point.
1st:
Tony Crafter
21
Lady: Do you drink?
Man: Yes, beer.
Lady: How many beers do you drink a day?
Man: Three 6-packs.
Lady: How much is it per 6-pack?
Man: It's about ten dollars.
Lady: How long have you been drinking it?
Man: Fifteen years.
Lady: Hmm... I see. So, one 6-pack costs ten dollars and you have three packs per day which means that you're spending nine hundred dollars a month. In twelve months, it will be ten thousand eight hundred dollars. Is that right?
Man: Seems about right.
Lady: So, in one year you spend ten thousand eight hundred dollars which, disregarding inflation, puts your spending over the past fifteen years at a massive one hundred and sixty two thousand dollars - correct?
Man: Correct.
Lady: Whew! Do you know that if you had not drunk those beers, the money could have been invested in a step-up interest savings account? After adjusting for compound interest over the past fifteen years, you could have now bought a Ferrari!
Man: Do you drink?
Lady: No.
Man: So where's your Ferrari?
=
This conversation ensued after an old lady rang an NHS hospital based in England:
'I'd like some information on a patient named Mrs Nancy Bundy. She was admitted suddenly last Sunday with chest pains and I just wanted to check if her condition has improved, or deteriorated?'
'Do you know what ward Mrs Bundy's in?'
'Yes, ward N, room 6F'
'I'll put you through to the nurses' desk...'
'Ward N staff-nurse; how can I help?'
'I'm phoning about your patient, Nancy Bundy, and to ask whether she's improved or deteriorated?'
'I'll check her notes... Yes, I'm happy to say that Nancy has improved. She's regained her appetite and her pulse is sound and steady. After some extra tests tonight she should be well enough to be discharged at around 6 o'clock tomorrow evening.'
'Gosh, that's wonderful! I'm very glad and grateful; thank you very much, young lady!'
'That's okay. You seem very relieved, are you a friend or a near relative?'
'Neither, I'm Nancy Bundy in room 6F. Nobody tells you fuck all around here.
No surprises again this year. Mey dominated this category all year with amazingly complex entries, such that it must have been diffcult for him to pick three final choices for the competition. (These were my exact words last year!) However, this year, Tony performed very well and was always in the running for a minor placing. However he did better that by tying for first place, with Mey picking up a third place award.
Eq1st:
Meyran Kraus
30
A war sonnet is anagrammed into another sonnet about peace, which also contains a visual constraint detailed below it
Eq1st:
Tony Crafter
30
THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER A Poem by Lewis Carroll
3rd:
Meyran Kraus
32
About Paris
This was one that I thought I may have had a chance of winning, when opened a small lead on the second day. However, nedesto finished strongly, coming in with a five point lead.
1st:
nedesto
24
Shit myself = Filthy mess!
So hard to choose between so many great. Chris led from early on and was never really in doubt as the winner. Chris was the early leader, well-challenged by View, Rick and Tony at different times, but moving well clear by the latter stages of the competition. Chris won this last year as well.
1st:
Christopher Sturdy
38
Twenty six letters of the alphabet = Best of all, they shape written text.
With Mey dominating the Special Category again this year, he was always going to win here again.
1st:
Meyran Kraus
22
A war sonnet is anagrammed into another sonnet about peace, which also contains a visual constraint detailed below it
No winner this year.
There was no real stand-out rookie this year who won any awards.
David Bourke
I have decided to pick an experienced anagrammatist who made something of a come back after a prolonged quiet period in the Awards. He did not win any awards from mid-2012 until May 2014, and then picked up 11 awards in the next 8 months on his return to active anagramming. Always witty and clever, David Bourke is back in form and deserved this award.
Tony Crafter
As usual, this award goes to the second highest scoring member either in number of awards or DFE points (and usually both). Again, this goes to Tony Crafter for yet another solid year of top-quality anagramming in all categories, but specially the Long and Special. Tony had 31 monthly winners and accumulated 811.27 DFE ponts. Now a retired gentleman of leisure, Tony obviously has plenty of time for anagramming.
Meyran Kraus
As it has become a long tradition, Mey continued to excel in all categories, but in particular, he continued his dominance in the Special Category. He again broke the 1000 mark for the year, with the second-highest score ever, accumulating 1153.64 DFE points, about 40 points short of his 2012 record.
As you may be aware, Mey has indicated he will be cutting back his involvement in the Awards because of work commitments. As much as he will be missed, this may well open the field up to some hot competition. Mey says he will still have some involvement but not at his current level.