Life's a Gamble: High-Stakes Crossword Puzzles?

The scene: a newspaper on the table (yeah, we’re in ancient times) and a pencil in your hand. Or a pen if you’re a daredevil. The window is open to the summer breeze, and the aroma of your coffee drifts up from the “Pobody’s Nerfect” mug that’s been through the dishwasher one too many times. It’s a portrait of the idyllic crossword puzzle morning. A little wordplay to start your day. What could be better? 

How about solving a crossword to crush your friends’ hopes and dreams or earn the highly coveted grand prize at the American Crossword Puzzle tournament? 

Filling grids with letters and learning the language of crossword clues isn’t just for the peaceful puzzler anymore. Crosswords have a competitive side, and it’s becoming more ingrained in the hobby. Anyone who likes adding a little competitive edge to their day should consider crossword puzzles as a hobby. 

The Big Battle: The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

The grand stage for competitive crossword puzzlers is the American Crossword Tournament (ACPT). It’s the country’s oldest and biggest crossword competition, founded in 1978. 

Participants tackle eight original puzzles created specifically for the event. Every second counts. Every letter counts. The tournament is even broken down into divisions: Solo, Pairs, Rookies, Juniors, Cities, Sixties, Seventies, and Seniors (80+). It’s like the World Series of Poker, but with crossword puzzles and a much smaller prize of $7,500. 

The ACPT is like the Everest of crossword puzzling, but there are many more accessible ways to get in on the action. 

The NYT Leaderboard: “Friendly” Competition

If the ACPT is like the final table of the WSOP, the NYT leaderboard is the friendly home game equivalent. Every morning, I solve the NYT Daily Mini puzzle either from my bed or from a particular sitting position just after waking up. After I finish the puzzle, I peep the leaderboard to see whether I’ve dominated my friends. When I do, I feel that same triumph I would from winning a particularly spicy sports bet. When I don’t, it’s usually my buddy Jim ahead of me. Damn it, Jim!

This ritual is a nice injection of friend (or sometimes not-so-friendly, JIM) competition into my day. The solve gets my brain going, and the competition gets me fired up for whatever the day has in store. Plus, the anticipation of seeing my name on the leaderboard scratches the same psychological itch as waiting for a bet to settle. 

Upping The Ante: Gridless Crossword Puzzles and Cryptics

If you catch the crossword puzzling bug and want—nay, need—more, I’ve got great news for you. After I started puzzling, I mistakenly bought a book of Gridless Crossword Puzzles by prolific constructor Alex Eaton-Salners. Instead of a regular old book of crossword puzzles, I was greeted with a bunch of empty grids. The book taught me how to not only solve the clues but also figure out where each word belonged on the grid. It was an exciting challenge beyond the typical solve. There’s no cheating. You’re either right, or you go back to the drawing board. 

Other crossworders inevitably find their way into cryptics, which feature deliberately tricky clues and their own solving language. 

Either type of puzzle is a nice step up when you want some extra oomph beyond the notorious Sunday puzzle. 

Bettors and Letters: Guesses and Risk

Crossword puzzles have more in common with gambling than you might think at first. Whether you’re a tournament hopeful or a leaderboard fanatic, there’s an inherent element of competition. Even if neither of those things matters to you, you’re always betting on your skill versus the puzzle’s difficulty. 

There’s also an element of risk to answering certain crossword puzzle clues. When you’re unsure of an answer, it can help to fill in a possible solution. The problem? If you’re wrong, it can throw you off the scent for many other answers. This is where cross-checks (intersecting answers) come in handy. I like to do a first pass, and only answer clues I know for sure are correct, then get a little riskier with subsequent passes. 

Expanding Horizons: Where Else Can You Play Crossword Puzzles?

You don’t need to venture to the ACPT to get your word puzzle fix. The New York Times is a good place to start, as it offers daily Minis, midis (mid-sized puzzles), and full crossword puzzles. Consider going off that particular grid and trying other sites as well. 

• Puzzmo: Daily midis and minis, plus big puzzles every few weeks. More than a dozen other puzzles and games. 
• The New Dork Times: Three free mini puzzles (and occasional bigger ones) published on Substack and created by yours truly. 
• The Atlantic: Daily puzzles of increasing difficulty.
• Crosswoods: Weekly puzzle on Substack with cool themes.

And many more! Daily Crossword Links has an exhaustive list of free and paid puzzles updated every day. 

Conclusion: The Joy of the Solve

My opinion as an avid crossword puzzle solver and constructor is simple: they’re for everyone. You can solve a puzzle over multiple days, enlisting friends for help with tough clues or even Googling the occasional answer that has you stuck. For me, there’s no wrong way to solve. 

For puzzlers who want the thrill of competition, there are options aplenty. The NYT Leaderboard is an excellent starting point, and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is an aspirational goal for the most serious solvers. 

It’s all about the joy of the solve. Find the method that makes crossword puzzles fun for you, even if your friend Jim occasionally kicks your butt on the Daily Mini.