I finally had a chance to sit down and try my hand at the puzzles from this year’s Westwords Crossword Tournament. Given the talent involved amongst the organizers and constructors, I had high expectations, and I was not disappointed.
So let’s put those puzzles under the microscope and see what’s what!
Puzzle #1: Brace for Turbulence by Kevin Christian
The tournament launched with this 16×15 grid loaded with two-word entries (ROUGH CUT, SAVAGE GARDEN) where the first word (the west word) was a synonym for “wild,” aligning with the revealer WILD WEST.
It was a solid starter puzzle with a nice flow and cluing that knocked any solving ring rust from the competitors and prepared them for the day’s events. My only qualm was the repetition of ALL with ALL EARS and AFTER ALL, but that’s more a personal preference than any fault with the construction.
Interesting grid entries included CAJOLED, SALINAS, BEER RUN, and VALLEJO, and my favorite clues were the dual usage of the clue “Pizzazz” for ZING and BRIO, and “Online ‘Reader’ whose name is hidden in ‘Nunavut News'” for UTNE. Nice bit of Crostic-style cluing there!
Puzzle #2: Suspension of Disbelief by Willa Angel Chen Miller
The second tournament puzzle was a freestyle 16×15 with a grid-crossing spanner nicely tying the grid together. It was definitely tougher than Puzzle #1, but the stellar fill and engaging cluing made this one of my favorite puzzles of the tournament.
Miller absolutely made the most of this themeless and jammed loads of long entries into an elegantly constructed grid.
Interesting grid entries included DEAR LORD, EGGS BENNY, SAINTLY, and the pair of WE SHOULD TALK and I BLAME YOU, and my favorite clues were “Device that can affect its user’s balance” for ATM, “Big name in construction” for LEGO, “Two objects in a row?” for OARS, and “The rest of the day?” for SIESTA.
Puzzle #3: State Lines by Amie Walker
The third and largest puzzle of the tournament was this 21x puzzle where the themed entries across were clued with state nicknames — “Beehive state?” for GENERATING BUZZ or “Gem state?” for PEARL CLUTCHING) — and crossed entries where the state abbreviation for that state-specific clue was concealed in the down entry. (CA crossed the entry clued “Golden state?” for example.)
This was really smart and well-executed construction, managing it six times in the grid and never feeling shoehorned-in or inorganic. The simple title not only hinted at the cluing but allowed solvers to add “crossing” to “State Lines” subconsciously. This puzzle was a treat.
Interesting grid entries included HAT TIP, BARBIELAND, OBI-WAN, and SATSUMA, and my favorite clues were “Bird with a notable top spin?” for OWL, “What’s rhymed with ‘pretty mama’ in the Beach Boys’ ‘Kokomo'” for BAHAMA, and “This is so you-coded” for DNA.
Puzzle #4: Go Dubs! by David Steinberg
With this devious 15x, Puzzle #4 in Westwords could build a similar reputation to the eternally-challenging Puzzle #5 at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
The toughest puzzle of the tournament, this very clever entry from Steinberg featured several entries clued with words starting with W where you had to ignore the W to read the actual clue.
For instance, one clue was “Witch”, but the actual clue was “Itch” and the “W” was a directional hint. The answer, HANKERING, had to be entered into the grid facing west, like GNIREKNAH. Each themed entry followed this pattern, giving us EIGHT literal west-running words for Westwords (as confirmed by the revealer)!
Interesting grid entries included ACETIC, RENATA, PRELAW, and VAIO, and my favorite clues were “One thing, or two people” for ITEM and “Performance at 100-120 BPM” for CPR.
Puzzle #5: L.A.byrinth by Nate Cardin
After Puzzle #4’s trickery, it was nice to have some clear directions to follow with Puzzle #5, an 18×15 grid where Cardin’s clues literally directed solvers through a series of LA roadways grayed out in the grid from top to bottom. Each clue containing part of the pathway through the grid was written like someone giving you directions, i.e. “Okay, now take the 101…” for ENTRY LEVEL COURSE.
Using number-based clues that both hint at the answer and feel like proper conversational directions is a narrow tightrope to walk, but Cardin does a terrific job balancing the style with the substance. This felt totally different from every other puzzle in the tournament and the visual element was great fun.
Interesting grid entries included CORONAL, WAVES HI, and SO SORRY, and my favorite clues were “Board game with ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ and ‘Scooby-Doo’ versions” for CLUE and the very appropriately thematic “Like one navigating a freeway maze, hopefully” for ALERT.
Puzzle 6: Final by Caitlin Reid
The final puzzle for the tournament boasts a different set of clues for each of the divisions — Beach and Mountain — and Reid constructed a puzzle with loads of intriguing entries and personality to spare.
The Beach cluing was smooth and accessible while still testing solvers, while the Mountain side offered some very challenging trivia and clever wordplay to keep competitors guessing to the very end.
Interesting grid entries included ROSHAMBO, AU REVOIR (very fitting), LIVE IT UP, COMIC-CON, and ADORBS.
As for favorite clues, here’s a list:
BEACH: “Word before can or tan” for SPRAY
BEACH: “Like a town that’s hardly worth a dot on the map” for ONE-HORSE
BEACH: “Las Vegas institution with a silent partner?” for PENN AND TELLER
MOUNTAIN: “Current law maker?” for AMPERE
MOUNTAIN: “Seat in the House of Lords?” for ARSE
Overall, I really enjoyed my first experience with Westwords. (I have the puzzles from the 2024 event but haven’t solved them yet). Solvers have high expectations when it comes to crossword tournaments these days, and the creativity and skill level of the constructors for this year’s Westwords puzzles absolutely did not disappoint.
We got several different puzzles playing on the Westwords gimmick, some delightful visuals, and a host of terrific clues for fresh grid fill and classic crossword words alike.
If you’ve never tackled tournament-style puzzling before, I would highly recommend giving Westwords a try. The puzzles are tricky and fair in equal measure, and I enjoyed the arrangement of puzzle difficulty throughout the day.
West Coast puzzlers, you’re in excellent hands.
Did you attempt this year’s Westwords tournament puzzles, fellow solver? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!
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