There are two well-known crossword tournaments taking place in the next two weeks. Both are great options for trying your hand at competing if you’ve never attended a crossword tournament before. (Click the links for additional info.)
The Bay Area Crossword Puzzle Tournament is this coming weekend:
Saturday, September 13, 2014, 11:30am to 4:00pm at CSU East Bay, 1000 Broadway, Suite 109, Oakland, CA 94607
$30 advance registration, $35 at the door, with proceeds benefiting Families of SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy)
The competition puzzles are unpublished New York Times crosswords.
Will Shortz sent out a reminder about the upcoming Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament in the NYC ‘burbs:
The 18th annual Westchester Crossword Puzzle Tournament, directed by Will Shortz, will be held on Friday, Sept. 19, 7:30-9:45 pm. The place this year is the St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave., Pleasantville, NY (about 4 blocks from Pleasantville’s Metro North station).
It’s a friendly, low-key affair featuring four unpublished puzzles from the New York Times. There will be word games to play as well. Leading crossword constructors will serve as judges.
Prizes (trophies and puzzle books from St. Martin’s Press) are awarded in multiple categories, including 25 and Under, 60 and Over, Pleasantville Resident, Rookie, Doubles, and overall. The cost to attend is $30/individual, or $45/doubles team, which includes coffee and dessert. All the money raised goes to the Pleasantville Fund for Learning.
Regular crossword constructors and editors aren’t allowed to compete, but are welcome as officials. Sign-up can be done at the door.