The folks who put on the Boswords crossword tournament have concocted an online tournament with a couple fresh angles: First off, competitors solve one puzzle (online) each Monday evening in October and November, and the standings are updated with your score each week. Second, there are no easy themed puzzles and no twisty themed puzzles—they’re all themeless! I’ve always said that I’d be more competitive in an ACPT with all themeless puzzles, as I don’t have the supersonic speed on easy puzzles that’s required to thrive there, so I signed up for the Fall Themeless League right away.
You’ll work the puzzles using the PuzzleMe solving interface, which I know and like from the New Yorker crosswords. The themeless crosswords are offered at three difficulty levels, like an ACPT finals themeless: Stormy has the hardest clues, Smooth the easiest, and Choppy is in between. Registration is $25, with a discounted rate of $5 for students and anyone else who could use a discount.
The puzzles are edited by Brad Wilber, which is great news, as is the lineup of constructors. We get Team Fiend’s own Stella Zawistowski and Nate Cardin, longtime themeless fave David Quarfoot, Tracy Gray, and five newish faces on the scene, Emily Carroll, Amanda Rafkin, Claire Rimkus, Sid Sivakumar, and Yacob Yonas. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s themeless offerings!
Visit the Boswords site for details. Maybe I’ll see you in the comments on the tournament’s Twitch stream each week!