World's Oldest And Largest Crossword Competition Returns To Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — This weekend, hundreds of word-game enthusiasts from all over will once again descend upon Stamford for the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the largest such tournament in the world.

The 44th event will begin April 1 and run through April 3 at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa at 243 Tresser Blvd. The tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For tournament founder Will Shortz, a former Stamford resident and the current crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, it's going to be a joy to be back solving puzzles in-person.

"The event is as much a convention and a meeting of friends as it is a competition," he said. "It will be great to see everyone after three years."

Eight crosswords, created especially for the 2022 event by leading puzzlemakers, will be presented over the course of the weekend.

Each puzzle has a time limit of 15 to 45 minutes, and contestants earn points for accuracy and speed. On Sunday, prizes will be awarded in over 20 categories of skill, age, geographical location and rookie status, including a $5,000 grand prize.

Online registration for the tournament has ended, but interested players can still sign-up in person at the Marriott on Friday between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., or Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Spectators are welcome Sunday, starting at 11 a.m., for $25 per person, to watch the playoff round. Spectators will receive copies of all the weekend’s puzzles. All in-person attendees including entrants, their guests and spectators must present proof of vaccination upon entry. Masks are strongly encouraged.

New this year will be the world's first-ever Wordle contest, along with remarks by Josh Wardle, creator of the game.

In Wordle, players have six chances to guess a five-letter word every day. With each guess, the game reveals which letters are in the correct box, and which letters are in the word but in the wrong box. The game's popularity has soared in recent months, so much so that Wardle, a software engineer from Brooklyn, N.Y., sold the game to The New York Times in January.

The Wordle contest will kick-off this weekend's festivities at 8 p.m. Friday. There will be six rounds conducted live on players’ smartphones.

"I bet just about everybody who comes to the crossword tournament is a Wordle fan," Shortz said.

Shortz founded the tournament in 1978. That year, there were 149 contestants. This weekend, Shortz expects over 500 contestants along with other guests and officials.

The event figures to be a boon to the city Stamford.

According to the CT Convention & Sports Bureau, the three-day event is projected to result in more than $715,000 in revenue for the Stamford area as flock to the area. It is estimated to generate over $41,000 in taxes for the state of Connecticut, and will support more than 270 hospitality industry jobs.

"Stamford is thrilled to welcome back this popular event that brings visitors, vitality, and dollars into our city and nearby towns," said Tom Civitano, director of sales and marketing for the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, in a news release. "All of our overnight rooms are booked into Sunday, and we have been directing additional business to other nearby hotels."

Shortz said the growth of the tournament over the years is "an affirmation" that the tournament provides people with a good time.

"We use language everyday to communicate. This takes this body of knowledge and turns it into a game, and people like to be tested. Most people solve crosswords alone, and this is the one chance a year to find out how you stack up against other solvers," Shortz said.

Crossword puzzles are everlasting forms of entertainment and curiosity for people. According to Business Insider, the first-ever crossword puzzle ran in the New York World newspaper on Dec. 21, 1913.

"I think it's partly the appeal of the empty squares," Shortz added. "I think as human beings, we like to fill empty spaces and there's something appealing about an empty crossword grid. It's hard to turn the page without filling in the squares."

For the first time in conjunction with the in-person event, there will be a virtual contest, where online participants can compete with each other just for fun. The entire event will be livestreamed and viewable online.

The full American Crossword Puzzle Tournament schedule can be found below:

Friday, April 1

Warm-up games and puzzles start at 8 p.m., including "Behind the Scenes of the Wordle Craze" presented by Josh Wardle, the game’s creator, followed by the world's first Wordle contest — six rounds conducted live on players’ smartphones. Then a "Pick Your Poison" contest with novelty word puzzles. The evening concludes with a wine-and-cheese reception.

Saturday, April 2

Puzzles 1-3 will be presented from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Puzzles 4-6 from 2:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Evening entertainments start at 8 p.m.: Palindrome Fight — standup comedy based on palindromes (sentences that read backward and forward the same), followed by a palindrome-writing contest.

Also, Fact or Fake, a trivia contest. And the Annual Merl Reagle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Crossword Construction presented to Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, featuring live tributes.

Sunday Morning, April 3

Puzzle 7 will be presented from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

At 11 a.m. there will be a live presentation of selected songs from "Word Nerd," a new musical by Yale University students, performed by cast members. The full musical premieres at Yale at the end of April.

At 12 Noon, the winners will be announced in more than 20 categories, followed by Playoffs in the top three skill divisions. The three best-scoring contestants in each division will race to complete a final puzzle while standing at giant boards for everyone to watch. The playoffs will be announced live, as at a sporting event, by comedian/radio host Ophira Eisenberg and composer/puzzlesmith Greg Pliska.

Production crews from HBO and Canada’s CBC will be covering the event.