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.
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 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.
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 Turbulenceby 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 Disbeliefby 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 Linesby 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.
Wait, right message, wrong West…
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.byrinthby 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: Finalby 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!
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
PuzzCulture 