It’s National Puzzle Day on Thursday, also known as International Puzzle Day, depending on where you are and whether your puzzly activities extend across borders.
Hopefully you’ve managed to dig yourselves out of all that snow across the US, and you’ve got a jigsaw, a crossword, a logic puzzle, a brain teaser, or some other puzzly activity set aside to enjoy.
We’re delighted to be celebrating this puzzliest of days with you, and as you might expect, we’ve got a puzzle for you to solve in honor of the holiday!
This 15x crossword is titled Better Without. Happy solving!
Just a quick post today, but a very important one.
The ORCAS, the Oscars of the crossword puzzle world, have put together a packet of this year’s nominated puzzles, and they’re yours to solve when you make a donation to The Trevor Project.
Please check out their full statement below, and if you can, please give to this amazing organization, offering crisis support services to the LQBTQIA+ community.
There’s something special about the 14th ORCAS.
Sure, we added five new awards (did someone say cryptics?) Yeah, the ballot contains 15 categories comprised of 124 nominations from 59 different outlets. But, this year, you can solve these spectacular ORCA-nominated puzzles in our first-ever puzzle pack!
The puzzle pack includes 76 ORCA-nominated puzzles from 44 outlets plus five original puzzles from the Constructor of the Year nominees. Along with the puzzle pack, donors will receive early access to the ORCAS ballot, which will be posted publicly on February 3.
For information on how to make a donation and receive the puzzle pack, email: theorcaawards@gmail.com.
Join us for the ORCA awards on Monday, February 23 at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET. Co-hosts David Kwong and Ophira Eisenberg will be live at https://www.youtube.com/@orcaawards along with T Campbell, Aimee Lucido, Laura Braunstein, Katie Grogg, Christina Iverson, Ben Tausig, Stella Zawistowski, Andy Kravis, Brad Wilber, Mangesh Ghore, Peter Collins, Kim Vu, Rafael Musa, Lynn Lempel, and more.
Do you want to know just how good it’s going to be? Check out this sneak preview.
On March 2nd, 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat. This was nine months before Rosa Parks would become synonymous with the civil rights movement, sparking the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the United States.
Claudette is part of a proud history of defiance and resistance, but was unfairly pushed aside by black leaders for being unmarried and pregnant during her defiant act, making her a less desirable public image for the civil rights movement.
When asked about her actions and how Rosa Parks was chosen over her as the face of the boycott, she said:
I feel very, very proud of what I did. I do feel like what I did was a spark and it caught on… I’m not disappointed. Let the people know Rosa Parks was the right person for the boycott. But also let them know that the attorneys took four other women to the Supreme Court to challenge the law that led to the end of segregation.
I wrote this puzzle a few years ago during my Eyes Open series. I constructed it in honor of the sixty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. I wanted to highlight Parks, Colvin, and Pauli Murray, another woman who refused to be treated like a second-class citizen on a segregated bus.
I hope this puzzle serves to both engage you as a solver and encourage you to learn more about these events and those names that are often overshadowed or cast aside by history.
New year, new… blog post. (Sorry for anyone who was hoping for a new me. It’s just the same ol’ friendly neighborhood puzzle nerd.)
Happy New Year cruciverbalists, gamers, RPGers, and puzzle enthusiasts!
Let’s ring in the new year right, with Lily Hevesh’s domino rendition of Auld Lang Syne:
So, with everyone thinking of New Year’s resolutions and (hopefully) feeling positive for the year to come, what does the future hold for PuzzCulture?
Honestly, I’m not sure, but I would like to share some of my goals (puzzly and otherwise) for 2026.
Ideally, writing them publicly will be an incentive to work harder and bring these goals to fruition! There’s nothing quite like braingaming yourself into genuine productivity!
Keep a running tally of puzzles solved
I’m genuinely curious how many puzzles I solve in a calendar year, so I’m going to keep track of my puzzles per week, just for the delightful data. Maybe I’ll learn something about myself or the puzzle world from it!
Read two books a month
When I commuted by train every day to work, I used to read an average of 5 books a week. (250 books a year was a regular occurrence!) But when the pandemic hit and I started working from work, my reading frequency PLUMMETED. I’m hoping to get back into it and read two books a month. (One a week feels a bit too ambitious, but who knows?)
Double the PuzzCulture readership and grow our social media presence
2025 was a good year for us across the blog and social media, but we can always do better. So if there’s something you’d like to see, or something you’re enjoying that you’d like to see more of, please say so!
Construct one puzzle each month for the PuzzCulture readers
I usually create a puzzle for the major holidays, but this year, there will be a puzzle to solve each month (probably near the end of the month for my own sanity). Any favorite puzzle types? Let me know!
Submitting a crossword for publication
Publishing a crossword is a lofty goal, one that is mostly out of my hands. But submitting something I think is publishing-worthy… that’s an achievable goal, even if it doesn’t end up making the cut at one of the major outlets.
Finish at least four short stories
Half-finished stories have piled up over the last two years, and I need to get these brainworms out to make room for exciting new brainworms!
I love solving tournament puzzles (as you can tell from my reviews), but except for Crossword Tournament From Your Couch, I’ve never competed. Travel is tough for me, but I think I’m gonna take a shot and attempt an At-Home solve for one of this year’s tournaments. I’ll keep you posted!
Do you have any puzzly (or non-puzzly) goals for 2026? Let me know in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you!
We’ve got two quick updates for you today from the world of crosswords. And both of them involve opportunities for you to get out there and show off your cruciverbalist talents!
On Monday night’s Boswords broadcast, Will Shortz joined Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb to announce some changes for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
In 2026, the ACPT will be held at the Stamford Marriott, possibly for the last time.
No, worry not, the ACPT is still going strong. So strong, in fact, that it will be moving to Philadelphia for the 2027 tournament! The new space will be able to accommodate up to 1,250 solvers.
It’s a sad moment for Stamford, but not entirely unexpected. Attendance has been pushing the Marriott’s limits for years, and registration for this year’s tournament closed more than a month early because of high demand.
It’s also not the first time Stamford has said goodbye to the tournament. From 2008 until its return in 2015, the ACPT was held outside Stamford.
You can check out the full announcement here:
Will Shortz joined us on our Boswords broadcast tonight to share news about a future location for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT). You can watch the interview at https://t.co/b2iKNr7ExMpic.twitter.com/8Uv6oq6Hz0
Overall, I think this is a great move for the tournament. There’s greater opportunity to attend the tournament, plus a ballroom space fit for voracious solvers of all ages.
I can’t wait to see what 2016 and 2017 bring for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Remember that registration opens on January 1st for former contestants and on January 8th for rookies!
Reminder: Puzzmo Open Submission Week is Fast Approaching!
From the mecca of in-person crossword solving to one of its most ambitious and welcoming online platforms, we move from one impactful puzzly institution to another that has very quickly made its mark on the world of puzzles.
Puzzmo is holding their next Crossword Open Submission Week from December 29th to January 5th, 2026, with new and established constructors all welcome to submit their puzzly creations.
Themed and themeless puzzles are welcome, as long as they fit Puzzmo’s specs, and the Puzzmo team has created an impressively thorough document to assist aspiring constructors with their efforts. Grid specs, examples of previously published puzzles, and more await anyone hoping to see their work pop up on Puzzmo.
It’s a very cool opportunity to test your puzzly mettle in a creative space known for strong crossword fundamentals as well as playfulness with language and themes (particularly their signature “apt pairs”).
I would highly recommend checking out Puzzmo, whether you’re planning to submit puzzles or not. The minis, midis, and big crosswords are all great fun to solve, and new constructors are bound to learn a thing or two from the terrific names on Puzzmo’s roster of puzzlesmiths.
Will you be attending next year’s ACPT or submitting to this year’s Puzzmo Open Submission Week? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!
Happy Holidays and welcome to the PuzzCulture 2025 Holiday Puzzly Gift Guide!
Each year, we scour the world of puzzles and games for the best, the most engaging, the most creative, and the most enjoyable products we can find, and we think this year’s collection is the best we’ve ever had!
We’ve got three different versions of the Gift Guide for your perusal, each of them absolutely loaded with all sorts of puzzly goodness and designed to make your puzzle and game shopping as easy as possible!
You can scroll to your heart’s content or use our handy quick search links to jump to different sections! The products in this year’s Gift Guide are organized by category, by age group, and by price below!
So, if you’d like to view products sorted by category (puzzle games, board games, puzzle books, etc.), click the wreath!
And if you’d like to view products sorted by price from lowest to highest, click the tangram candle!
A lot of terrific companies and puzzle constructors are taking part in our gift guide this year, and we’re sure you’ll find something for every puzzle lover on your list!
Happy browsing and happy puzzling to you and yours!
PuzzCulture 