Failure™ Magazine

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

Ellen Ripstein—the Susan Lucci of crosswords—finally wins the title.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Life

Ellen Ripstein at work on the championship puzzle in 2001. Photo by Don Christensen.

Who knew crossword puzzles could be a spectator sport? When play-by-play announcer Neal Conan of National Public Radio intoned, “It’s a beautiful day for crossword puzzles,” at the start of the finals of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (A.C.P.T., March 15-17, 2001), the crowd inside Stamford, Connecticut’s Marriott Grand Ballroom was ready to blow the roof off. The assemblage of crossword addicts was primed to root on sentimental favorite, Ellen Ripstein, known to all attendees as the “Susan Lucci of crossword puzzles.”

For contestants, the final was the climax of a tourney that featured eight progressively more difficult puzzles—a chance for crossword aficionados to measure themselves against the world’s puzzle elite. While there’s no barrier to entry—except for the $145 entry fee—many confident crossworders have been humbled by the competition. “It’s just hard to fathom how fast some people can fill in the grids,“ says Will Shortz, New York Times crossword editor and host of the tournament since its inception in 1978.

A Championship is Born
According to Shortz, he was already contemplating a puzzle contest when the director of marketing for the then brand-new Marriott approached him about putting on a competition. For the hotel, the motivation was simply to fill rooms on a slow March weekend, but for the puzzle-loving Shortz it was a golden opportunity to create a new forum for crossworders. Shortz had previously obtained a one-of-a-kind college degree in enigmatology—the study of puzzles—from Indiana University. “They have a program where you can make up your own major, and I convinced them that puzzles were a serious field of academic study,” says Shortz. “I devised an entire curriculum on puzzle courses.”

A quarter-century after the inaugural tournament, the competition has not only become the World Series of crosswords, but the premier puzzle social event of the year. “It’s a crossword addict’s fantasy,” says organizer Helene Hovanec. “You’ve got some of the very brightest people here solving difficult puzzles against each other, and there’s a great camaraderie among the attendees.” As an added allure, the event attracts crossword constructors—the people who write and edit puzzles for the New York Times, Dell Crossword Puzzles and other prominent publications—who for one weekend a year, enjoy celebrity status.

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