Virtual Program

46th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
April 5-7, 2024

VIRTUAL REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Click here for Live Tournament Information

2024 Registration Information

Solo Solver	$ 75
Pairs Solvers	$ 85

Refunds will be made if you are unable to participate by writing to [email protected] prior to the tournament beginning.

Where do I go to solve and watch the live stream?

Go to ACPTONLINE.COM after you have registered for FAQs on solving, Sample puzzles, links to the live stream during the tournament weekend and more. Don't miss the Friday night games and entertainment!
We will send login instructions about a week before the tournament begins. Be sure to whitelist [email protected].

Schedule

Friday, April 5, 2024
8:00PM	Live stream - An evening of warm-up puzzles and entertainment including: "Connections" competition, based on the hit New York Times game, played on participants' smartphones Remarks by Wyna Liu, the creator of "Connections," on how she prepares the boards, with stories from solvers Sprint Contest -- featuring Cryptic Crossword, Code Crossword, Split Decisions, Spiral, Quote Boxes, and other puzzles from future issues of Games World of Puzzles. All puzzles will be available to solve online.
10:00PM	Live stream of Wine and cheese reception.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
11:00AM-12:45PM	Puzzles 1, 2, and 3 - live stream and online solving
2:15-4:45PM	Puzzles 4, 5, and 6 - live stream and online solving
	Scores will be posted online as they become available
8:00-10:00PM	Live stream - Another evening of games and entertainment, including (more to come): "The ACPT Photo Archive" — presentation by Don Christensen and Donna Mayers on 40+ years of American Crossword Puzzle Tournament images, digitized and indexed, with examples Presentation of the annual Merl Reagle MEmoRiaL Award for lifetime achievement in crossword construction to Andrea Carla Michaels. With film and oral tributes and more
Sunday, April 7, 2024
9:00AM	Puzzle 7 - live stream and online solving
11:00AM-Noon	Live stream - Crossworders Got Talent
Noon-12:30PM	Live stream - Presentation of the prizes, followed by the announcement of the Division A, B, and C playoff contestants
12:30-1:45PM	Live stream - Puzzle 8 — Championship Playoffs. The Division A and B playoffs will be announced jointly by Ophira Eisenberg, comedian and radio host; and composer/puzzlemaker Greg Pliska

Scoring

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

10 points for every correct word you entered across and down
1 bonus point for every 2 seconds the contestant finishes early BUT this bonus is reduced by 30 points for each letter that is omitted or entered incorrectly, up to, but not beyond, the point the bonus returns to zero
A bonus of 150 points for each completely correct solution
A solution that is not submitted before your timer reaches 0:00 will receive a score of zero.

For the purpose of scoring, a "word" consists of any series of letters contained in the white squares in the grid, whether it is a single word, a phrase, or otherwise.

Complete rules can be found on the virtual tournament FAQs page.

Who Competes?

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

Age Divisions	Solvers 25 years and under (Juniors), 50-59 years (Fifties), 60-69 years (Sixties), 70-79 (Seventies) and 80+ (Seniors)
Rookies	Contestants competing for their first time.
Pairs	Contestants competing as a couple.

How does Pairs solving work?

For Pairs solving:

Both solvers will login to this site with their own credential (email address), but only one (designated as primary when registering for the tournament) will submit the puzzle and enter their email address when a puzzle is completed.
Only one solver will submit the puzzle

If the pair is not together, the second solver can also work the puzzle. Both solvers will begin by accessing the live puzzle link from this site.
Both team members will communicate through some means - by being in the same room, or by phone, Facetime, Google hangout, whatever you find easiest!
Only the solver submitting the puzzle enters their email address after solving. The second solver should NOT submit their puzzle when done. If a second solver inadvertently hits the submit button, just enter "[email protected]" as your email address or just close your browser.
You can switch off who the "designated puzzle submitter" is between puzzles as long as you stick to a single agreed-upon email address for submitting.