Tag Archives: crossword con

Crossword News Roundup: Tournaments, Classes, Videos, and New Puzzles!

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The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was this past weekend, and once again, it was a highlight of the puzzly year! Congratulations to new champ Erik Agard and everyone who competed for Stamford’s last hurrah hosting the event.

If you want to watch the live-solved finale, you can check it out here:

While ACPT has come and gone, more tournament fun is on the way! Registration is now open for both Lollapuzzoola and the Midwest Crossword Tournament.

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Saturday, August 15 will be the Saturday in August for this year’s Lollapuzzoola 19.

New York City will again host the event, which features divisions for Express solvers (speed solvers), Local solvers, and Pairs solvers!

You can check out our thoughts on last year’s tournament puzzles here!

Saturday, October 3 marks the next edition of the Midwest Crossword Tournament.

The University of Illinois Chicago Student Center East will host this year’s event, which features divisions for Individual and Pairs solvers at two difficulty levels: Chicago Fire for the experienced solvers and Minnesota Nice for newer solvers. And you’re welcome to participate online as well!

Not only that, but they’re seeking a constructor from the Midwest or with ties to the Midwest to construct a themeless puzzle for this year’s event. What an opportunity!

And if you’re looking to get a better sense of MWXWT in a nutshell, I’ll be delving into last year’s tournament puzzles next week!

If you missed out on this year’s Crossword Con panels, they’ve been posted online for you to enjoy. Please make some time for them, they’re a glimpse into the present AND future of puzzles.

And while we’re discussing Puzzmo-centric events, they’re selling a Puzzmo Plus subscription for just $39.99. Click here to more details!

In other puzzle news, The Boston Globe has launched their own PuzzleMania-style publication in honor of the 130th Boston Marathon.

The Puzzle Marathon is only $8 and features 26 puzzles crafted by topnotch constructors from the Boston area.

It’s too late to get it in time for the Boston Marathon, but there’s still plenty of time for some mental athletics!

We’ve also got a few updates from the world of crossword constructors!

Veteran constructor Robin Stears has just launched her Patreon!

Robin is one of the most prolific cruciverbalists working today, with puzzles ranging from super-easy to deviously difficult. There’s literally something for everybody under Robin’s umbrella.

Be sure to check it out!

Constructor and author Eric Berlin has launched his new crossword variant, Patchwork.

This grid puzzle has entries reading across AND entries reading out in various patches that fit into the grid. So you have two overlapping chances to fill out each grid!

You can try out the puzzle for yourself here. Give it a try!

Finally, have you considered taking a class on the history and construction of crosswords?

Well, Natan Last has got you covered!

This four-session course runs throughout May at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY, and costs $150 for all four sessions.

His book Across the Universe is a treasure trove of information about crosswords, so I have no doubt this course will be worth every penny!

Click here for more information and tickets!

Any crossword news we missed this week? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!

Crossword News Roundup!

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Crossword tournament season is fully in swing and there’s plenty to keep up on AND look forward to.

The Boswords Spring Themeless League is in week 3 already, and I’ve heard rave reviews of the puzzles so far.

We’re only a few weeks out from the 48th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which will be the last year the event is held in Stamford, CT, before the move next year to Philadelphia.

Westwords isn’t until June, but registration is open! (And they’ve added in-person pairs solving this year.)

Also, can we talk about crossword website names for a minute? Because https://www.westwordsbestwords.com/ is a great one.

Not only that, but there’s also https://www.midwestgridfest.com/ for the Midwest Crossword Tournament, which is just delightful.

Yes, you can simply type https://www.mwxwt.com/ and get to the same information, but where is the whimsy in that?!

(P.S. The Midwest Crossword Tournament isn’t until October, but registration opens April 6th!)

Crossword Con Returns!

Puzzmo’s Third Annual Crossword Con is being held on Friday, April 10th, in Manhattan, New York (and online as well).

If you’re looking for some fascinating insight into the world of puzzles both present and future, be sure to check it out!

They just announced the panel of presenters and it is stacked: Brooke Husic, Orta Therox, Saman Bemel-Benrud, Ben Zimmer, and Adam Aaronson.

Adam very deservingly won the ORCA for Best Crossword-Related Media for his piece “Square Theory,” so I’m excited to see him revisiting the topic for Crossword Con. It will be a must-watch presentation.

Be sure to get your tickets for either in-person or online attendance. They’re including a one-year subscription to Puzzmo Plus with your purchase!

These Puzzles Fund Abortion 6

Before I wrap up today’s post, I want to remind my fellow puzzlers about the important work behind These Puzzles Fund Abortion.

They’re hoping to raise $50,000 to support safe, affordable, and accessible abortion care with the sixth edition of TPFA. You can make a donation and preorder your puzzle packet right now!

These Puzzles Fund Abortion 6 contains 21 puzzles centered around social and reproductive justice themes, all for a minimum donation of $25.

If you donate $50 or more, you will also receive the puzzle packs for the previous five years of TPFA.

With data showing that Republican presidents send maternal deaths soaring when they take office, this is a very worthy cause. I hope your finances allow you to contribute to the health and safety of others.

Happy solving, puzzlers!

Open Submission Contest for the Boswords Spring Themeless League!

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The Winter Wondersolve has come and gone, but the team at Boswords is already looking ahead to their 2026 Spring Themeless League.

The Spring Themeless League spreads out a tournament-style solving experience over nine weeks, with one themeless crossword per week. Each puzzle is scored based on your answer accuracy (incorrect letters, empty squares, etc.) and how quickly you complete the grid.

While each week’s puzzle only has one solution, there are three sets of clues, each representing a different difficulty level for solvers. Smooth is the least challenging, Choppy is the middle ground, and Stormy is the most challenging. (When solvers register to participate, they choose the difficulty level that suits them best.)

And the Boswords team has announced that they’ll be accepting Open Submissions for one of those themeless puzzles.

They’re looking for an unclued themeless grid (size 15x or 15×16), and it’s only open to constructors who have never had a themeless crossword published in the New York Times (prior to 1/24/26). Constructors who have constructed for a previous Boswords event are also ineligible.

Click here for full details and guidelines for your submission!

Send your grid by Sunday, February 22nd, and you should hear by March 1st if your grid has been chosen.

What an awesome opportunity for up-and-coming cruciverbalists to show off their constructing talents!

While we’re talking about crosswords, let me also take this time to again shout out the ORCAS collaboration with the Trevor Project.

Just donate to the Trevor Project from the special link, and you’ll receive a puzzle pack featuring 76 ORCA-nominated puzzles from 44 outlets, plus five original puzzles from the Constructor of the Year nominees. I solved my way through the entire pack, and it was an absolute joy.

Please give if you can, it’s a wonderful cause. For information on how to make a donation and receive the puzzle pack, email: theorcaawards@gmail.com.

Oh, and the ORCAS ballot for this year’s nominees is now public, so be sure to get your votes in for all those marvelous puzzles and constructors.

(Oh, and PuzzCulture is nominated as well — Best Crossword-Related Media — and the competition is stiff. So much great crossword commentary and content available online!)

Crossword fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks and months!

Boswords Winter Wondersolve was on Sunday (I’ll be delving into the tournament puzzles on Thursday), this coming Saturday is the Westport Library Crossword Tournament, and we’ve got the ORCAS livestream on Monday, February 23rd.

Not only that, but the Boswords Spring Themeless League starts in March, plus we’ve got the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and Crossword Con in April! (And somewhere in there, Westwords will announce when registration is open for their June event.)

Are you looking forward to any puzzly events coming up, or will you be submitting to the Boswords Spring Themeless League open submission contest? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.

Crossword / Puzzle News Roundup!

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It’s a good week to be a puzzle enthusiast. The Boswords Spring Themeless League kicked off on Monday, the same day one of my favorite puzzly people got her first puzzle published in The New York Times.

And we’ve got news on a crossword convention, upcoming tournaments, a worthwhile puzzle-fueled charity endeavor, and a new Hallmark puzzly mystery debuting tonight.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the puzzle news roundup!

Crossword Con

April 4th marks the second annual Crossword Con, presented by the puzzle app Puzzmo.

Crossword Con is all about bringing together crossword fans and constructors to discuss crosswords as a cultural touchstone and an art form.

For their second outing, the organizers are casting their eyes to the future, asking “what’s on the horizon for crosswords, and what changes are already bubbling just beneath the surface?”

Although it’s only a half-day event, it is certainly jam-packed with notable names with plenty to offer on the subject of crosswords! Speakers and guests include Kate Hawkins, Will Nediger, Ada Nicolle, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Laura Braunstein, Rob Dubbin, Natan Last, Adrienne Raphel, and Brooke Husic.

With Crossword Con in New York and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament starting the same day in Stamford, April 4th is certainly an eventful day for crossword fans all over (and particularly those in New England).

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Crossword Tournaments

And speaking of crossword tournaments, if you’re a competitive crossword fan, the gears are already in motion for puzzly challenges all year long.

Registration for June’s Westwords Crossword Tournament is open right now.

The registration for October’s Midwest Crossword Tournament opens on April 2nd, just a few days before this year’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (April 4th through the 6th) will be held.

Of course, physical tickets for the ACPT sold out a while ago, but you’re still welcome to register for the virtual tournament to participate!

And the activities alongside this year’s tournament are a doozy. There’s an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the “Wordplay” documentary, a magical puzzly performance from David Kwong, and an acrostics event on Friday night!

Lots of competitive puzzle fun coming up!

These Puzzles Fund Abortion 5

There’s a long history of activism and advocacy through puzzles. Women of Letters, Grids for Good, Queer Qrosswords… these are just a few prominent examples of constructors and creators donating their time and puzzly efforts to benefit the world at large.

And for the fifth year in a row, cruciverbalists and editors have united to help fund safe and affordable abortion care.

These Puzzles Fund Abortion 5 contains 23 puzzles “centered around social and reproductive justice themes,” all for a minimum donation of $25.

If you donate $50 or more, you will also receive the puzzle packs for the previous four years of TPFA.

It’s a very worthy cause and I hope you find it in your heart to contribute to the health and safety of others.

Mystery Island: Winner Takes All

To close out today’s puzzle news roundup, I’m happy to spread the word about a new Hallmark original mystery movie.

Mystery Island: Winner Takes All returns to the setting of last year’s Mystery Island.

In the original, a luxury private island murder mystery experience turns real when a dead body is found during the event. It falls to psychologist Dr. Emilia Priestly and detective Jason Trent to unravel riddles, deceit, and shadowy motives to solve the murder.

In tonight’s sequel, we return to the island for another murder mystery game, this time created by our crime-solving duo of Emilia and Jason. With a cash prize on the line, tensions are already high, but things take a dark turn when an employee turns up dead during the game.

Anyone who enjoyed my recaps and reviews of Hallmark’s Crossword Mysteries will be happy to hear that I will be reviewing not only the new Mystery Island sequel, but the original as well!

Mystery Island: Winner Takes All debuts tonight at 8 PM Eastern on Hallmark Mystery.

Phew! So much puzzly goodness going on. Will you be attending any crossword events this year? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy puzzling, everyone!