American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

46th ACPT • April 5-7, 2024

Standings

By Ranking | Alphabetical | B to E | C to E | D and E | E | Rookies | Juniors | Fifties | Sixties | Seventies | Seniors | West | Connecticut | New England | NYC | Long Island | Upstate NY | New Jersey | Mid-Atlantic | South | Midwest | Foreign | For Techies | Pairs By Ranking

Congratulations, Paolo Pasco!
Winner of the 46th ACPT

Paolo Pasco, Tournament Victor with Puzzle 8 Constructor Sid Sivakumar and Tournament Director, Will Shortz
Don Christensen
Paolo Pasco, Tournament Victor with Puzzle 8 Constructor Sid Sivakumar and Tournament Director, Will Shortz

SPONSORED BY

Congratulations!

  1. Paolo Pasco
  2. David Plotkin
  3. Will Nediger
  4. Tyler Hinman
  5. Andy Kravis
  6. Stella Zawistowski
  7. Joon Pahk
  8. Al Sanders
  9. Dan Feyer
  10. Ryan Judge

See Results by Rank

B division

  1. Ryan Judge
  2. Matthew Luter
  3. Stan Park

Full B Division Results

C division

  1. Billy Hepfinger
  2. Patrick Friel
  3. Thomas Nawrocki

Full C Division Results

Pairs division

  1. Peter Rimkus / Claire Rimkus
  2. Katie Zheng / Jacob Laviolette
  3. Tony Orbach / Sko Orbach

Full Pairs Division Results

See Standings for all results.

Capsule History

Year 46 • 2024 • 739 Solo contestants • 66 Pairs contestants • 225 Virtual Solo contestants, 90 Pairs contestants

A record 805 contestants (including 66 solvers in the new Pairs division) took part in the in-person event. Games World of Puzzles magazine sponsored the tournament for the second time. The first prize was increased to $7,500. On Friday night Wyna Liu conducted a Connections competition on people's smartphones. On Saturday night the ACPT's longtime photographer, Don Christensen, described his archiving and indexing of 40+ years of tournament photos, with dozens of examples. Andrea Carla Michaels received the Merl Reagle MEmoRiaL Award for lifetime achievement in crossword construction. Will Shortz, recovering from a stroke, led the tournament from a wheelchair. For the first time since 2001, the A finals did not include a past champion. Paolo Pasco, 23 years old, finished first.

~ Will Shortz

Capsule history of all previous years.


Pictures from the Tournament


Videos, Reels and TikTok


In Memory of Nancy Schuster 1933-2024

First tournament winner and longtime puzzler and ACPT official Nancy Schuster passed away April 26, 2024. We remember her fondly and will miss her dearly.

  • Nancy Schuster, Crossword Champion, Creator and Editor, Dies at 90, Richard Sandomir, New York Times [May 3, 2024]
  • Nancy J. Schuster, Obituary, Mid Hudson News [April 30, 2024]
  • Photo collection by Don Christensen


  • In the News


    Solving Perfection

    The following 130 contestants solved all 7 puzzles with no mistakes.

    Elsa Angrist, Jack Ausick, Laura Bauer, John Beck, Matthew Besse, Melissa Bethel, Chelsea Blink, Janet Bradlow, Laura Braunstein, Patty Buethe, Joe Burke, Basil Buterbaugh, Joe Cabrera, Meghan Caffrey, Cathy Ciccolella, Marisa Cohen, David Cole, Loren Crary, Todd Dashoff, Patrick DiCaprio, Jamie Edwards, Andrew Esten, Jason Faulhaber, Steve Feldman, Sharon Fenick, Josh Forsythe, Patrick Friel, Kristy Gardner, Eugene Geddes, Mike Glennon, Amy Goldstein, Gabe Gonzalez, Peter Gordon, Raymond Goslow, Trevor Greissinger, David Harris, Kate Hawkins, Sara Heard, Patricia Heath, Thomas Heins, Billy Hepfinger, Parker Higgins, Tyler Hinman, Chris Hoelck, Will Irving, Zoe Jacoby, Ryan Judge, Samuel Keener, Jason Keller, Andy Kirk, Andy Kravis, Hannah Krug, Robbie Kubala, Max Kurzman, Jesse Lansner, Matthew Leal, Michael Lieberman, Ilana Lifshitz, Andrew Lim, Joe Longa, Andrew Lorelli, Matthew Luter, Dave Mackey, Herb Marros, Bret Martin, Phil Matthews, Sam Mattson, Phoebe McBee, Anna McCallie, Pete Mitchell, Laetitia Morgan, Steven Mossberg, David Moulton, Robert Moy, Thomas Nawrocki, Will Nediger, Joe Nelson, Adav Noti, Brian Olewnick, Angela Olson, Emily O'Neill, Dan O'Rourke, Joon Pahk, David Park, Stan Park, Paolo Pasco, Doug Peterson, Susan Petito, Nancy Pilla, David Plotkin, Christine Quinones, Ric Quinones, Shannon Rapp, Arnold Reich, Meredith Robinson, Adam Rosenfield, Christopher Ross, Nancy Ross, Lion Rowley, Glen Ryan, Dan Sadoff, Matt Saltus, Al Sanders, Matt Sandler, Brian Sattinger, Hollie Schmidt, Lindsay Schnell, Jay Schwartz, Jeffrey Schwartz, Miriam Sicherman, Thomas Silverstein, Leslie Simon, Ryan Skorheim, Jeff Slutzky, Steve Smith, Addison Snell, Jaime Stearns, Roberta Strauss, Anthony Strissel, Bruce Sutphin, Benjamin Tolkin, Seth Tribble, Stacey Ustian, Patti Varol, Finn Vigeland, Samantha Walsh, Thomas Weisswange, John Wilson, Zack Zack, Stella Zawistowski.

    Pairs Solving Perfection

    The following 4 pairs contestants solved all 7 puzzles with no mistakes.

    Claire Rimkus/Peter Rimkus, Katie Zheng/Jacob Laviolette, Sko Orbach/Tony Orbach, Marcy Prem/Alison Wang

    Virtual Tournament Solving Perfection

    The following 33 solo 3 pairs contestants solved all 7 puzzles with no mistakes.

    Carolyn Anzia, Jim Armintrout, Ryan Booker, Linda Boroughs, Rich Bragg, Aaron Byrd, Vic Chandhok, Lisa Coran, Jon Delfin, Jenny Ellickson, Noah Feder, Yael Granot, Kristin Grant, Randy Guggenheimer, Michael Holcomb, Grayson Holmes, Chris House, Malia Jackson, Roman Koshykar, Jon Kremsky, John Kromer, Stewart Lelievre, Alanna McEneny, Kent Meckling, David Poole, Randy Ross, Dawn Ross, Bruce Ryan, Noah Snyder, Matthew Steinpreis, Tom Tabanao, Jen Thatcher, Carol Walker, Martina Waluk, Christine Watras; Pairs: Julie Hersh / Kali Carys, Tricia Marshall / Buddy Marshall, Thomas Ulen / Theodore Ulen

    Constructors and Officials

    Photo Gallery of Constructors and Officials

    Constructors — 2024

    Constructors are listed alphabetically

    Officials — 2024

    Will ShortzTournament Director
    Michael SmithTournament Coordinator
    Nancy ParsonsLead Tech Team and Webmaster
    Mike NothnagelLead Judge
    Dave SullivanVirtual Tournament Manager
    John Temple and Amuse LabsVirtual Tournament Tech
    Don ChristensenPhotographer
    AJ Jacobs and Ophira EisenbergPlayoff Announcers
    Judges and referees (in alphabetical order)
    Srishti Agarwal, Michelle Arnot, Doug Ashleigh, Ben Bass, Tracy Bennett, Eric Berlin, Allison Broad, Erin Broad, Lia Brown, Kevin Christian, Brian Cimmet, Maria Corpuz, Betsy Daily, Rachel Dames, Tom Dames, Didi Dean, Trent Evans, Sam Ezersky, Julianna Fabrizio, Joel Fagliano, Jazzy Fisher, Vic Flemming, Robyn Franke, Mangesh Ghogre, Tracy Gray, Damon Gulczynski, Bruce Haight, Francis Haney, Katherine Hass, Danyal Hassan, Elizabeth Hira, Cinda Hocking, Scott Hogan, Patricia Hollohan, Christina Iverson, Aiden Jasul, Jasmin Jasul, Adrian Johnson, Marion Kahn, Josh Knapp, Steven Kotok, Joan Kuhn, Debbie Kuhn-Dames, Natan Last, Lynn Lempel, John Lieb, Barb Lin, Wyna Liu, Hannah Margolin, Ruth Margolin, Angel Marvin, Everdeen Mason, Donna Mayers, Jacob McDermott, Patrick Merrell, Valerie Meyer, Nicole Mobley, Alhasan Mohamed, Mala Nagarajan, Stan Newman, Jennifer Orehowsky, Jan O'Sullivan, Carolyn Pahk, Lea Pahk, Sarah Pahk, Andrew Parr, Jim Peredo, Fred Piscop, Rich Proulx, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Jill Rafaloff, Adrienne Raphael, Judy Raphael, Ruth Raphael, Chip Rodgers, Una Rose, David Rosen, Jim Russell, Jane Scheffsky, Walter Schmitz, Josh Sevin, Jill Seymour, Meg Seymour, Suzanne Shea, Mike Shenk, Ray Simon, Sid Sivakumar, Vanessa Smith, Michelle Sontarp, Sarah Tolles, Quiara Vasquez, Ashish Vengsarkar, Byron Walden, Robyn Weintraub, Brad Wilber, Yang Yang, Jen Yuan, Ben Zimmer, Blake Zimmer

    Contact [email protected] to have your videos, photos, blogs, etc. listed.


    Tournament Sponsors

    Games World of Puzzles AmuseLabs Will Shortz Games Try Hard Guides Crossword Answers 911 New York Times Ad stmartin

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