Nov 15, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Palmer Mebane ’12 took first place in the 2011 World Puzzle Championship, becoming the first American to win the individual title in 12 years.

Following a close, two-day battle with Ulrich Voigt, Germany’s seven-time world champion, Mebane emerged victorious in the Nov. 12 playoffs in Eger, Hungary and was named the new world champion.

“I’ve been working hard the whole year to get better at this. I must have done tens of thousands of puzzles between now and the last world championship,” said Mebane, who recently seized first place in the 2011 U.S. Puzzle Championship with a record score before moving on to this year’s world competition. ““Improving meant simple things like knowing when to guess, when to do things logically, and just avoiding mistakes. It also meant specifics such as what to look for when doing a certain kind of puzzle and what signs might suggest a certain technique might be applicable.”

Mebane also participated on the U.S. team, which won first place in the puzzle championship’s team category.

A recap of Mebane’s WPC experience can be read on his blog, which also features some of Mebane’s own puzzle creations. He has also authored two competitions at Logic Masters India, which holds monthly puzzle and Sudoku contests.

The World Puzzle Federation is an international organization dedicated to puzzles. It follows the Olympic standard, and brings together puzzlers from around the world for the annual World Puzzle Championship (WPC). The federation strives to provide a means for an international exchange of puzzle ideas, stimulate innovations in the field of puzzles, and foster friendship among puzzle enthusiasts worldwide.