Entry Requirements
The entry requirements for the 2020 3D Crosswords World Championship are as follows:
- The November Extra/Tie-break puzzle must be solved correctly, with the solution submitted by the given deadline of January 15 2021.
- Two written clues must also be submitted by the same deadline, these being clues for the highlighted word and phrase discovered by solving the Tie-break puzzle.
The winner of the World Championship will be the qualifying solver whose combination of clues is judged to have shown the most originality and creativity in their clue-writing, whilst maintaining a good and fair standard of cryptic cluemanship.
In order to be a qualifying solver, correct solutions must have been submitted, before the given deadline in each case, for at least twelve of the fourteen 2020 puzzles: the twelve monthly puzzles in the 2020 3D Crossword Calendar, plus the August Extra and the November Extra/Tie-break puzzle.
November Extra/Tie-break puzzle
The November Extra/Tie-break puzzle has been designed and clued by Puck.
Online Submission
There will be no Hints & Tips for the November Extra/Tie-break puzzle, but the online submission system will say whether or not a solution is all correct, and multiple submission attempts will be allowed up until the deadline. The link to submit your entry online is on the puzzle download page.
There will still be the usual monthly prize for the November Extra puzzle, with the winner drawn after the January 15 deadline. This is open to all solvers, not just to World Championship entrants; inclusion of tie-break clues is therefore optional when submitting a solution for the puzzle.
Background on 12 Correct Grid Submissions
Most of you will know, or have a pretty good idea, whether or not you will have submitted 12 correct entries over the last 12 months. Although our new online submission system allows us to know whether a submitted solution is correct or not, this system did not commence until May 2020. Consequently, as was previously announced, 2020 calendar puzzles up until April 2020 have not been marked. We will therefore be unable prior to January 15 to identify which solvers have the necessary twelve qualifying puzzles for the World Championship.
It is only when the winner of the clue-writing part of the World Championship has been judged and agreed that we will then retrospectively check that they have the required number of qualifying puzzles and can then be declared as World Champion. If they do not qualify, the runner-up in the clue-writing contest will then be checked for sufficient qualifying puzzles, and we might even need to go on to check lower-placed entrants if necessary, until a winning World Champion is found.
Prior to the January 15 deadline, it is therefore up to each of you to decide whether or not you think you will have the required twelve qualifying puzzles, but if unsure you can still submit your tie-break clues and they will be judged.
I know I’ve left it to the last minute, but I took it that a closing date of Jan 15th would allow entry on that date. Trying it says the entry date has passed.
Sorry Max. The form is open again now. It will stay open for another day.