Jason Zuffranieri, a multiple-time Jeopardy winner and Upper School statistics teacher at Greenhill, has been invited to compete in the 2023 World Sudoku and Puzzle Championship.
The competition, located in Toronto, begins on Oct. 15 and runs for a whole week. It consists of both solo and team puzzles, with participants from over 20 countries.
In order to be considered for the tournament, Zuffranieri had to complete a qualifying test comprised of varying puzzles and sudokus in under two and a half hours with no outside support.
“I quickly corrected something and submitted mine a minute and a half early, which gave me a bonus, helping me get the win,” Zuffranieri said.
The event consists of two components: the Sudoku Championship and the Puzzle Championship.
“The Sudoku part is not just typical puzzles,” Zuffranieri said. “They will change the rules or make it so that you have to solve an equation to get the number or use Roman numerals as instructions.”
Then comes the logic puzzle part of the competition – combining individual and team activities.
According to Zuffranieri, for some of the puzzles, each person on the team is given a separate part to solve and one person’s answer may help another person finish their part.
To prepare for the upcoming tournament, he has been reviewing previous years’ puzzles and practicing whenever he has a spare moment. He often carries around a clipboard with puzzles and sudoku grids.
On a more local level, Greenhill has its own Logic Puzzle Club, run by senior Daniel Walker and sponsored by Zuffranieri.
“He is a great sponsor,” Walker said. “He typically provides the puzzles, and then we get to work. He won’t give us the answer, but he will guide us through it, giving us pointers.”
Zuffranieri also teaches AP Statistics, bringing his puzzles into his classrooms.
According to junior Sophie Fiedelman, if students finish their in-class work early, Zuffranieri and the class will play “almost any puzzle you can think of,” including Wordle, Heardle and Connections.
“It is a fun way to take a break,” Fiedelman said.