Capsule History

Year 42 • 2019 • 741 contestants

A record attendance, with more than 200 rookies. The prize money was increased to over $10,000. On Friday night Mike Shenk presented "Hear Here," a crossword solved by teams, with deceptively worded clues that Mike delivered orally. This was followed by a "Pick Your Poison" contest with six types of variety word puzzles. On Saturday night Mike received the MEmoRiaL award for lifetime achievement in crossword construction. The ceremony included talks by Will Shortz and Amy Goldstein and a film by Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley. Matt Ginsberg reported on Dr. Fill's performance on Puzzles #1-#6. Josiah Madigan conducted a custom version of the popular online game HQ Trivia. In the "A" division playoffs on Sunday, Dan Feyer won for a record eighth time.

Will Shortz

Capsule history of all previous years.

Social Media

Wordplay - the crossword column of the New York Times - written by Deb Amlen

Facebook: American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Attendees

Twitter: #ACPT | #ACPT2019

Blogs

• Ken Stern — Reflection on the 2019 Tournament

YouTube

Official tournament videos will be posted here. Please send us links to your own youtube videos to post.

• ACPT Videos: Shout Out to Alex Trebek
• Matt Ginsberg: Saturday Night Dr.Fill presentation
• Ben Zimmer:
  • 2019 Division A Finals
  • Saturday Night Merl Reagle MEmoRiaL award presentation to Mike Shenk (in two parts)

Email the webmaster if you want a link to your blog, images, videos, etc. included

Solving Perfection

The following 106 contestants solved all 7 puzzles with no mistakes.

Matt Arient, Laura Bauer, Stephen Benoit, Julie Bernhardt, Matthew Besse, David Bleich, Derek Bowman, Katja Brinck, Patty Buethe, Basil Buterbaugh, Kevan Choset, Judy Cole, Kathie Conarck, Brian Cross, Ken Crowell, Tom Daily, Todd Dashoff, Jon Delfin, Adam Doctoroff, Sam Donaldson, Carmen Dreyer, David Eckert, Dan Feyer, Stephen Fineman, Brian Fodera, Lily Geller, Michael Gilch, Jack Gill, Sam Goldfarb, Amy Goldstein, Mary Beth Gonski, Peter Gordon, Mark Gottlieb, Katie Hamill, David Heinick, Bruce Kahn, Richard Kalustian, Jay Kania, Stephen Kawalek, Jason Keller, Jon Kremsky, Hannah Krug, Brian Kulman, Jesse Lansner, Karen Lazar, Ilana Lifshitz, Brian Lipinski, Robert Mackey, James Mangold, John McArter, Phoebe McBee, Brian McCarthy, Michael Megargee, Erin Milligan-Milburn, David Moulton, Daniel Okrent, Jonathan Olsen, Jan O'Sullivan, Joon Pahk, Doug Peterson, Susan Petito, Greg Pliska, David Plotkin, Christine Quinones, Ric Quinones, Arnold Reich, John Reid, Craig Rimby, Claire Rimkus, Ellen Ripstein, Robert Rosenfeld, Meredith Rosoff, Dawn Ross, Nancy Ross, Jason Rotman, Glen Ryan, Eileen Saks, Matt Sandler, Brian Sattinger, Hollie Schmidt, Marla Schnall, Wren Schultz, Rocky Schwarz, Michael Sell, Miriam Sicherman, Janet Siefert Goss, Thomas Silverstein, Anita Spielman, Colin Stanton, Bruce Sutphin, Tom Tabanao, Liz Thaler, Bill Thompson, Alex Thurman, Tom Tippett, Jennifer Turney, Karen von Haam, Kevin Wald, Robin Waldstein, Lawrence Wasser, Katie Weir, Patricia Whaley, Bill Wilkins, Janice Wilson, Laurel Wilson, Stella Zawistowski.

Constructors

Learn more about this year's Puzzlemakers.

Officials — 2019

Scoring

Scoring is based on accuracy and speed. Score as follows:

1. 10 points for every correct word you entered across and down
2. A bonus of 25 points for each full minute you finished ahead of the suggested solution time — BUT reduced by 25 points for each missing or incorrect letter (but not beyond the point the bonus returns to zero)
3. A bonus of 150 points for each completely correct solution

For the purpose of scoring, a "word" consists of any series of letters written between black squares in the grid, or between a black square and the border of the grid, whether it is a single word, a phrase, or otherwise.

Complete rules will be explained prior to competition.

Who Competes?

Contestants simultaneously compete in all events for which they are eligible:

Prizes - most prize money has increased in 2019!

Plus Every prizewinner receives a New York Times crossword collection from St. Martin's Press.