Spies, stakeouts, and a spoonful of good luck

2023 Blammo champion Grant B. ’24 shares his secrets to success

STORY Owen Y-L. ART Freepik

Clad in three layers of pants, his dad’s coat, sunglasses, and a black mask, Grant B. ’24 appeared ready to brave a winter storm. But, this disguise was just one paart of an elaborate plan to win the fourth-annual schoolwide game of Blammo.

That day, he had woken up at 6 a.m., took the train from Burlingame to San Francisco, and ultimately ambushed his unsuspecting target at a coffee shop.

“My silhouette looked nothing like me. I was this six-foot-two massive man, like an ominous presence,” Grant said, recalling that his target was “really startled” when he appeared.

In the game, which commenced on Jan. 11, each upper school student who signed up was assigned a target; their goal was to tag (or “Blammo”) the target while the target was not carrying their spoon. By the time the game ended on Mar. 22, only 12 of the initial 185 players remained.

After months of gunning for first place, Grant was finally crowned the 2023 Blammo champion at an all-school spirit assembly with a whopping nine Blammos. His prize? A giant golden spoon and 30,000 spirit points for the juniors.

A lot of behind-the-scenes planning went into Grant’s victory. He recruited his friends as scouts to monitor targets’ whereabouts, and even went as far as to maintain a spreadsheet with his targets’ class schedules so he could find the perfect ambush opportunity.

These efforts paid off; once, Grant tagged five people in a single lunch period, more than most other players attained in the entire months-long game.

As his lead widened, Grant’s fixation on winning also grew.

“Blammo was my life,” he said, adding that the only time he didn’t hold his spoon was in the shower. “My parents thought I was absolutely insane. They were like, ‘Grant, you need to stop.’”

However, with success also came mounting pressure. Grant recalled that “no one wanted me to win” and he even considered giving up at one point.

“The overwhelming competition from the other three grades was so discouraging. I felt like no one was supporting me in my Blammo endeavors,” Grant said. However, after a pep talk from his parents, he decided to persevere.

Over the three months, Grant overall enjoyed the game and the connections he made through it.

“It brought me closer to people in my grade and also forced me to get to know more people in other grades that I never would have met otherwise,” he said.

Grant says he likely won’t participate next year and wants to give others a chance at victory, “but if I do, my strategies are going to have to be a lot crazier than this year,” he hinted.

Crossword: Nueva edition

BY Marcus H.

Blammo 101: Grant’s Tips

Stock up: In Blammo, to be caught spoonless is to meet a doomed fate. To avoid this, Grant says he kept a few spoons in each pocket at all times, dangled some off of his backpack, and even attached one to a metal band around his wrist.

Get creative: To maintain his lead, Grant needed to devise unique and, at times unusual, strategies. Once, he considered pretending to be a pizza delivery employee to catch his target off guard.

Across

2. Squid relatives

7. Tishby of "The Island"

10. Once around the track

13. 2000 pounds

Teamwork makes the dream work: Grant attributes much of his success to his network of scouts and allies—including his parents, whom he described as “super into the game.”

Down

1. Happy

3. Something you might do when you're not 1-Down

4. Gambling inits.

14. Sound booster, for short

15. Impressive display

17. Deli meat named for an Italian city

19. Talked to on Instagram

21. 10th grade trip

22. It's a long story

25. Director Anderson

26. Energy

28. Veal or chicken dish, for short

30. Math teacher at Nueva

32. Departing faculty member

35. The eighteenth syllable of Japanese Hiragana and Katakana

36. Zero

37. Some species of 2-Across can produce this

39. Riot Games game, abbr.

41. Over your head

43. Nueva event that has samosas, abbr.

46. Case for a dermatologist

49. Inverse trig function

51. Antisemitic rapper

52. "Silly me!"

53. Secretly include on an e-mail

54. T-shirt sizes, for short

55. Blow away

56. Dines at home

5. Pal of Piglet

6. Relative by marraige

7. Port of Japan

8. Luxury hotel chain

9. "...to fetch __ of water"

11. What two theatergoers may share

12. Opposite of post

16. Commericals

18. Olympian Jesse

20. Once more

23. Fitting

24. Knight's protection

27. Artistic imitation

29. Insignificant

31. Thesaurus listing

33. Winter wear

31. Thesaurus listing

34. "The Matrix" hero

38. Carne ___ 40 "Survivor" group

42. Air safety org.

44. Cornfield bird

45. Ancient Andean

47. Brain and spinal cord: Abbr.

48. Slippery swimmers

50. Outer: Prefic

51. Colorful carp