Tag Archives: Minnesota Crossword Tournament

The toughest puzzles the UK has to offer!

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[A sample of the puzzle types awaiting you in the UK Puzzle Championship packet.]

I talk about crossword tournaments a lot in this blog, because crosswords are such a predominant part of the puzzle world. ACPT is a huge deal every year, the Indie 500 had its first (hopefully annual!) event last month, the Minnesota Crossword Tournament was last weekend, and Lollapuzzoola is gearing up for its 8th year of puzzle goodness this August!

But hey, maybe you’re not a crossword fan. (Though, with killer crossword apps like this one, why WOULDN’T you be?)

Don’t worry, there are still plenty of events that will allow you to indulge your puzzle fix without testing your crossword-solving mettle.

For instance, this Friday, the UK Puzzle Championship 2015 kicks off!

The championship consists of 28 puzzles, each with differing point values, potentially adding up to a maximum score of 650 points. Although the championship runs from Friday through Monday, those are only the hours available for competitors to download their puzzle packets. (You can download the instruction booklet, complete with example puzzles, here.)

As soon as you receive your password and download the packet, you’ll have only two and a half hours to solve all of the puzzles and input your answers onto the Answer Submission Page.

Now, unless you are a resident of the UK, you will only be able to participate in the contest as a guest. (The top UK participant will be the 2015 UK Puzzle Champion, and the top two UK participants become eligible to join the UK Team for the World Puzzle Championship in October.) But even if only UK residents can win, just attempting the packet is a puzzly challenge worthy of any ambitious solver!

So, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers, will you be throwing your puzzle-solving hat in the ring and joining me in this UK puzzly Thunderdome? Let me know! I’d love to see how you do!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

It’s Follow-Up Friday: Tournament edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’d like to return to the subject of crossword tournaments!

This has been a great year for crossword tournaments so far. The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament featured a new solving record — under 2 minutes for Puzzle #1! — as well as a nailbiter of a finale between Dan Feyer and Tyler Hinman.

Not only that, but the first Indie 500 tournament has now come and gone, and I’ve heard nothing but good things from competitors and organizers alike. (I’m looking forward to tackling the competition puzzles myself this weekend and seeing how I do!)

And constructor and friend of the blog George Barany informed me that another tournament looms quite close!

The Fourth Annual Minnesota Crossword Tournament is next weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota, and while the competition is open mostly to locals, there is a downloadable puzzle pack for stay-at-home solvers to enjoy!

Local tournaments like the Minnesota Crossword Tournament are not only great ways to meet fellow solvers and test your puzzle mettle, but they often also serve as fundraisers for good causes. For instance, proceeds from the Minnesota tournament will benefit The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library.

I’ll try to keep you apprised of any and all tournaments,  my fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers, so you can participate, enjoy the company of other solvers, and contribute to the greater puzzle community as a whole. So be sure to let me know if a tournament is taking place near you! (And whether you’re competing!)

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!