Here are two crowd images, each moving east to west. The excitement, as they say, is palpable. With the mics at 120°, the chatter is diffuse, except when someone is directly in range. Most conversations are about finishing time, clever clues, or answers that might have been wrong. The post-puzzle mob is the main scene for gossip about the leaders.

The venerable, sagacious, and sleek-piped Will Shortz emcees the tournament. Here, he makes housekeeping announcements before the first puzzle begins. “Large-print clues for the visually-impaired?” “I was gonna get to that.”