Thanks to reader Nancy for pointing out to me that the winners of the Starbucks Ultimate Coffehouse Crossword Competition have been posted on the Starbucks site.

If anyone is interested, the tiebreaker puzzle can be found here. It’s an extremely challenging crossword puzzle and I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be able to solve it in a timely fashion. There’s a good discussion of the tiebreaker puzzle on the Diary of a Crossword Fiend blog.

The final trivia question was: Who was Captain Ahab’s first mate?

Answer: Starbuck

This has rightfully upset a few people since it makes the end seem anticlimactic. It also means that the prize may have been won by someone who didn’t even solve the final crossword and, judging by how quickly the prize was won, this may very well be what actually happened. In the end, I don’t begrudge the winner because whoever he/she is looked past everything else and saw the puzzle for what it really was, knowing the answer before it was even posed. They outwitted us all and we are humbled.

It is a shame to have wasted such a great crossword puzzle though.

My answer is in at 2:04 EDT. I know that others are calling in the answer, so I’m expecting a tie-breaker tomorrow. Will Shortz posted on crossword bebop today expressing hope that there will be a great tie-breaker round. Well Will, I think you’re going to get your wish.

Presumably, today will be the last day of the Starbucks Ultimate Coffeehouse Crossword Challenge. I’m planning to post here when/if I have entered an answer for the final puzzle.

I’d like to offer one last shout out to Crossword Bebop for covering the competition well. And to anyone who has come by this site because of the challenge should fell free to come back any time.

It must be because of the Starbucks Crossword Challenge.  The best discussion of the final puzzle is going on over at Doug’s blog and I’ve added my thoughts to the fray.  So, if you’re here looking for hints, check out his blog.

I didn’t make it to a Starbucks today to try to pick up the puzzle for the crossword competition, but from what I’m reading in some blogs, maybe it wouldn’t have been woth the effort anyway. I’ll try to see if I can get a puzzle tomorrow.

On the Starbucks website, there are instructions on how to get puzzles through the mail. It’s a pain, but you can still get the puzzle even if your local Starbucks drops the ball.

Starbucks Gossip tells readers how to win free coffee for life. You do it by solving crossword puzzles.

Starbucks Coffee has enlisted puzzle master Will Shortz to create six crossword puzzles for a competition called “The Ultimate Coffeehouse Crossword Challenge.” Starting this Sunday a special crossword puzzle will appear in the Sunday Edition of the New York Times sold at Starbucks Coffee.

It’s not entirely clear how you win, but there seems to be a treasure hunt involved as is usually the case with these types of competitions. The final instructions will be included with the final puzzle.