The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is an annual crossword puzzle solving tournament held in late February to early March.http://www.crosswordtournament.com The tournament was founded in 1978 and is run by New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz.

The first tournament was held in 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut and attracted 149 contestants. The ACPT was held in Stamford until 2008, when it moved to a bigger site in Brooklyn, New York. The 2010 tournament attracted 643 solvers.http://www.crosswordtournament.com/info/history.htm#1978

As of 2010, the tournament consists of seven rounds, with one crossword puzzle to solve in each round. Points are scored based on accuracy and time taken to solve the puzzle, and a bonus for a puzzle solved with no errors. The puzzles vary in difficulty and size, from a 15 x 15 puzzle in Rounds 1 and 4 to a 21 x 21 puzzle in Round 7. The top winners advance to the playoff round and the fastest solver wins the top prize.

Aside from the puzzles, there is a wine and cheese reception on Friday night as well as an evening of informal games. More games are played on Saturday evening and on Sunday the awards are given shortly after the playoffs.

The 2006 documentary Wordplay by Patrick Creadon chronicled the 2005 edition of the ACPT. It featured interviews with some of the contestants and tournament founder Will Shortz. The next year, tournament participation rose from 498 to 698. As a result, the tournament was moved to Brooklyn, New York at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott.http://www.crosswordtournament.com/info/history.htm#2007

As of 2010, the leading ACPT winner is Jon Delfin, who has won the tournament seven times. He is followed by Doug Hoylman with six, Tyler Hinman with five (these were consecutive wins from 2005-2009), David Rosen with four and Trip Payne with three.http://www.crosswordtournament.com/info/history.htm