Puzzle Scans
Contestant number:Standings
By Ranking | Alphabetical | B to E | C to E | D and E | E | Rookies | Juniors | Fifties | Sixties | Seventies | Seniors | West | Connecticut | New England | NYC | Long Island | Upstate NY | New Jersey | Mid-Atlantic | South | Midwest | Foreign For Techies
Congratulations!
- David Plotkin
- Dan Feyer
- Tyler Hinman - WINNER!
- Andy Kravis
- Stella Zawistowski
- Paolo Pasco
- Joon Pahk
- Glen Ryan
- Howard Barkin
- Matthew Gritzmacher
B division winners
- Paolo Pasco
- Adam Doctoroff
- Jesse Lansner
C division winners
- Mike Wilhelm
- Dan Schwartz
- Andrew Lim
Puzzle Scans
Contestant number:Standings
By Ranking | Alphabetical | B to E | C to E | D and E | E | Rookies | Juniors | Fifties | Sixties | Seventies | Seniors | West | Connecticut | New England | NYC | Long Island | Upstate NY | New Jersey | Mid-Atlantic | South | Midwest | Foreign For TechiesCapsule History
Year 44 • 2022 • 474 contestants
The first in-person ACPT in three years. Program highlights included remarks by Josh Wardle, inventor of the game craze Wordle, who conducted a live Wordle competition on players' smartphones; "Palindrome Fight," a 60-minute palindrome-writing competition, won by Lisa Bunker; "Fact or Fake?," a trivia contest by Stan Newman; and presentation of the annual MEmoRiaL award, by Marie Haley, to Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon. On Sunday, students from Yale staged a preview of their musical "Word Nerd." A virtual ACPT, with 350 participants, was conducted simultaneously with the in-person event. The tournament was livestreamed for the first time. It was filmed for HBO's "Real Sports" and a CBC documentary. In Sunday's "A" division playoffs, Tyler Hinman won for the seventh time.
Capsule history of all previous years.
Pictures from the Tournament
- Don Christensen: Friday | Saturday | Saturday night | Sunday
Livestream Links for the Tournament
- ACPT Youtube Channel - Includes edited footage | Friday night interviews, including Sid Sivakumar; Kevin Uy; David, Gerry and Davi; Robert Moy; and Don Christensen | Saturday | Saturday night games and Annual MEmoRiaL award | Sunday Playoffs
Social Media
Wordplay - the crossword column of the New York Times - written by Deb Amlen
Facebook: Crossword Puzzle Tournaments
Blogs
- Virtual Brush Box — Pondering The Rules Of Play, The 44th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
YouTube
Email the webmaster if you want a link to your blog, images, videos, etc. included
In the News
- What It’s Like to Compete at a Crossword Puzzle Tournament Rachel Fabi, The New York Times [April 11, 2022]
- The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Was a Family Reunion Alexis Benveniste, The New York Times [April 8, 2022]
- Roberts Creek resident competes in American crossword tournament Keili Bartlett, Coast Reporter [April 5, 2022]
- URL to IRL: this is what a live competition of Wordle looks like (VIDEO) Isabelle Docto, Daily Hive [April 5, 2022]
- More than 500 compete in American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford News 12 Connecticut, [April 4, 2022]
- Students preview “Word Nerd” musical at American National Crossword Puzzle Tournament Lucy Hodgman, Staff Reporter, Yale Daily News [April 4, 2022]
- Josh Wardle Hosts First Live Wordle Competition Alexis Benveniste, The New York Times [April 2, 2022]
- Stamford serves as crossroad for crossword puzzle lovers Alexis Benveniste, The New York Times [April 1, 2022]
- Will Shortz’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament returns to Stamford — with first-ever Wordle contest, too Verónica Del Valle, Stamford Advocate [March 31, 2022]
- World's Oldest And Largest Crossword Competition Returns To Stamford Richard Kaufman, Patch Staff, Patch.com [March 31, 2022]
- Stamford to Host World's Largest Crossword Puzzle Tournament Laura Soll, Patch.com [March 30, 2022]
Solving Perfection
The following 32 contestants solved all 7 puzzles with no mistakes.
Justin Ames, Evan Birnholz, Kevan Choset, Frank Colangelo, Patrick Dicaprio, Alexandra Doumani, Steve Feldman, Dan Feyer, Adam Gale, Peter Gordon, Randy Guggenheimer, Tyler Hinman, Susan Hoffman, Jason Keller, Andy Kravis, Jesse Lansner, Andrew Lim, Robert Mackey, Phoebe McBee, Robin Morrissey, David Moulton, Jonathan Olsen, Greg Pliska, David Plotkin, Nancy Ross, Dan Sadoff, Dan Schwartz, Rocky Schwarz, Roberta Strauss, Marcus Tonti, Karen von Haam, Stella Zawistowski.
Explain Puzzle 5 like I'm 5
Spoiler alert! Don't click the link unless you have tried Puzzle 5 and want to understand the theme.
Click to reveal the Puzzle 5 theme
Constructors
In Alphabetical Order
- Gary Cee
- Joel Fagliano
- Tracy Gray
- Christina Iverson
- Wyna Liu
- Brendan Emmett Quigley
- Mike Shenk
- Robyn Weintraub
Click for photos of this year's constructors and officials
Officials — 2022
Director | Will Shortz |
Coordinator | Michael Smith |
Lead Tech Team and Webmaster | Nancy Parsons |
Lead Judge | Mike Nothnagel |
Database Preparer | Joe Cabrera |
Virtual Tournament Manager | Dave Sullivan |
Photographer | Don Christensen |
Nametags | Mike Shenk |
Playoff Announcers | Ophira Eisenberg and Greg Pliska |
Scoring
Scoring is based on accuracy and speed. Score as follows:
- 10 points for every correct word you entered across and down
- 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)
- 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:
Division A | Everyone |
Division B | Contestants who have not won a Division A or Division B prize during their last seven tournaments |
Division C | Contestants who have not finished in the top 20% during their last three tournaments |
Division D | Contestants who have not finished in the top 40% during their last three tournaments |
Division E | Contestants who have not finished in the top 65% during their last three tournaments |
Age Divisions | Solvers 25 years and under (Juniors), 50-59 years (Fifties), 60-69 years (Sixties), 70-79 (Seventies) and 80+ (Seniors) |
Regional Divisions | Solvers in each of 11 geographical regions: Connecticut, Other New England, New York City, Long Island, Westchester/Upstate New York, New Jersey, Other Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest, West, Canada/Foreign [map] |
Rookies | Contestants competing for their first time. Rookies are not eligible for "D" or "E" prizes. |
Prizes
Division A | 1st Prize | $5,000 |
2nd | $2,000 | |
3rd | $1,000 | |
4th-10th (each) | Trophy | |
Division B | 1st Prize | $500 |
2nd | $250 | |
3rd | $150 | |
Division C | 1st Prize | $100 |
2nd | $75 | |
3rd | $50 | |
Each of Divisions D and E; Juniors, Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Seniors | 1st-3rd Prizes | Trophy |
11 Regional Winners (each) [map] | 1st & 2nd Prizes | Trophy |
Rookies | 1st Prize | $500 |
2nd | $250 | |
3rd | $100 | |
4th & 5th | Trophy |
Plus Every prizewinner receives a New York Times crossword collection from St. Martin's Press.