The biggest meeting of crossword puzzle fanatics in the world takes place in April in Stamford, Connecticut. It is the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the oldest and largest competition in United States. Hundreds of contestants try to solve eight increasingly difficult puzzles specially prepared by the best ‘constructors’ in the country, under the direction of the world’s most famous puzzle editor, and creator of the competition, Will Shortz of the New York Times. Scoring is based on accuracy and speed, and there is a top prize of $7,500.
History of Puzzles
The origins of crossword puzzles go back to at least the time of Pompeii, but the world’s first modern puzzle was the creation of journalist Arthur Wynne, and appeared in the New York World newspaper on December 21st, 1913. It was actually called ‘word-cross’, but the name was quickly changed to ‘cross-word’. There were also no black squares at the beginning. Crosswords became a craze throughout America in the 1920s, and soon crossed the Atlantic to England. The Daily Telegraph, Manchester Guardian and the Times published their own versions, and the public was soon addicted. Dictionaries sold out, and libraries had to remove the Oxford English Dictionary from their shelves. The Times crossword is now famous around the world, but the newspaper originally criticised puzzles as “a toy for vacant minds.”
Popularity of Puzzles
Crossword puzzles can now be found in every language in the world. There are hundreds of dictionaries and solving aids online, including specific search engines, websites with anagrams, acronyms and abbreviations, and databases with millions of clues going back decades for the most fanatical addicts. Many of these addicts (who call themselves ‘cruciverbalists’) gather in Stamford in April month, dressed in crossword puzzle T-shirts, sweaters, skirts, shoes, hats and ties, watching their heroes compete in the tournament. The competition even has a type of Federer vs. Nadal rivalry between Tyler Hinman and Dan Feyer, winners of five and seven trophies respectively.
Tournament Rules
The tournament is divided into five different levels, with age and regional divisions. Entrants compete against the clock. They receive ten points for every correct word. There is a bonus of 25 points for each minute they finish ahead of time, but a penalty of 25 points for each missing or incorrect letter. There are seven puzzles: the first puzzle is easy, and they then become progressively more difficult. The fifth puzzle is traditionally the hardest and is known as ‘the killer round’. The contestants wear headphones to block out crowd noise, including any possible assistance from the public.
Will Shortz
The man behind the tournament is Will Shortz, the most famous crossword ‘constructor’ in the world. Shortz has written more than one hundred books, and constructs around 16,000 clues every year for his crosswords in the New York Times. Shortz’s favourite anagram is ‘astronomers – no more stars/moon starers’, and his favourite word in the English language is ‘ucalegon’ – a neighbour whose house is on fire. It seems that English has a word for everything.
Lost in Lollapuzzoola
The second-largest crossword puzzle tournament in the USA, with the great title of Lollapuzzoola, takes place in New York every August. The tournament attracted the attention of Helen Zaltzman, the creator and presenter of the podcast The Allusionist, an idiosyncratic podcast which takes listeners on “small adventures in the English language.” Helen visited Lollapuzzoola in 2016, in the company of her American friend Bruce Ryan, and gave a highly entertaining account of the competition in her show. Bruce is what you would describe as a serious crossword competitor.
Great Time
Bruce Ryan (American accent): I came here about five years ago, and the people were so nice. I didn’t win but I didn’t finish last. And I had such a great time that I’ve come back every year and now I go to crossword puzzle tournaments throughout the year, so I go to tournaments in Los Angeles and Washington, and all over.
Longstanding
He goes on to explain the importance of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Bruce Ryan: It’s run by Will Shortz of the New York Times, and that has been a very longstanding tournament that’s been around, and that’s the standard by which everybody judges who is the greatest of the year, effectively. It is the big, official tournament. But it also... it makes everybody very stressed out because it’s the big, official tournament. Lollapuzzoola is kind of a little less serious. A lot of serious competitors, but it’s just not ... it’s not as stressful.
Personal Column
Some people are really obsessed with the New York Times crossword. Blogger Michael Sharp is one of them.
Michael Sharp (American accent): I write a daily column about the New York Times crossword puzzle under the pseudonym Rex Parker. It’s called ‘Rex Parker does the New York Times crossword puzzle’ ... Every day I look at the puzzle and talk about or write about whether I think it’s any good, or whether I thought it was entertaining . Sometimes it’s a kind of solving diary where I talk about where I messed up and I write about my life in relation to the puzzles. So it’s a combination of analysis and, yeah, it's like a diary.