American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

Schedule

Friday
7:00-8:00pm	Sign-in
8:00pm-10:00pm	An evening of warm-up puzzles and entertainment. Details to follow.
10:00pm	Wine and cheese reception
11:00pm	Awards for all the evening games
Saturday
All day	Puzzle market — Sale of puzzle books and products [in the Pavilion; continues between rounds all day]
9:30-10:45am	Tournament sign-in (continued)
11:00am-12:45pm	Puzzles 1, 2, and 3
2:15-4:45pm	Puzzles 4, 5, and 6
	Scores will be posted online as they become available
8:00-10:00pm	More word games and entertainment including: Presentation of the 9th Merl Reagle MEmoRiaL Award for lifetime achievement in crossword construction, with film and oral tributes. Honoree to be announced at a later date. and more to be announced.
Sunday
9:00am	Puzzle 7
11:00am-Noon	Entertainment to be announced at a later date.
Noon-12:30pm	Presentation of the 2026 prizes, followed by the announcement of the Division A, B, and C playoff contestants
12:30-1:45pm	Puzzle 8 — Championship Playoffs. The Division A and B playoffs will be announced jointly by comedian/radio host Ophira Eisenberg and puzzlemaker/composer/podcaster Greg Pliska

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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.

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Other Info

Information for Rookies (pdf)

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Capsule History

Posted after the tournament

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Pictures from the Tournament

Posted after the tournament

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Contact info@crosswordtournament.com to have your content listed

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Live Stream

Beginning around 8pm Friday April 10 and will follow the tournament schedule. Check back for links.

ACPT You Tube channel

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In the News

Posted as it becomes available

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Solving Perfection

Posted after the tournament

Pairs Solving Perfection

Posted after the tournament

Virtual Tournament Solving Perfection

Posted after the tournament

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Constructors and Officials

Photo Gallery of Constructors and Officials

Constructors — 2026

Constructors are listed alphabetically

• Rena Cohen
• Sam Ezersky
• Christina Iverson
• Lynn Lempel
• Brendan Emmett Quigley
• Mike Shenk
• Ross Trudeau
• Robyn Weintraub

Officials — 2026

Will Shortz	Tournament Director
Michael Smith	Tournament Coordinator
Nancy Parsons	Lead Tech Team and Webmaster
Mike Nothnagel	Lead Judge
Dave Sullivan	Virtual Tournament Director
Amuse Labs	Jaya Hangal, John Temple, Sowmya Ramkumar
Don Christensen	Photographer
Livestream Crew	Alhasan Mohamed, Danyal Hassan
Joe Cabrera	Database Preparer
David Park	Optimized Results developer
Greg Pliska and Ophira Eisenberg	Playoff Announcers
Special Guests	Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley - Wordplay

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Contact info@crosswordtournament.com to have your videos, photos, blogs, etc. listed.

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