The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament has called the commuter city of Stamford, Connecticut, home for almost all of its beloved, nerdy existence.
For 48 years, puzzlers from across the country have gathered at Stamford Marriott Hotel to help crown the most competitive crossword solver in the country.
But ahead of this year’s tournament, founder Will Shortz announced the competition had outgrown its longtime home. The event will be held at the Sheraton Downtown in Philadelphia starting in 2027 to accommodate the growing crowds that have been flocking to the ACPT over the last several years.
Paolo Pasco is a legend in the world of crossword puzzles. The 25-year-old Brooklyn resident is a two-time winner of the famed tournament. He spoke to Gothamist ahead of last week’s competition about his long history with the ACPT, how he’s watched the tournament grow since he first started attending, and his feelings ahead of the big move. This year, the one-time winner came in fourth.
When was your first ACPT?
There was one year they held it online because of the pandemic, which was good for me because I was living in San Diego at the time, in college and just unable to go. So, in a way, it was kind of a blessing for everything to be online that year because I got my first taste of the tournament experience. Really enjoyed it. Finished fourth, I think, so just shy of the playoffs, but that lit a fire.
I’m assuming you’re going this year, but I figured I should ask.
Yeah, that’s a hot ticket. I’d be a fool not to. I mean, it sold out how fast this year? I have a friend who was gonna go for the first time and it might just be ’cause he was a rookie, but the tickets went out at 9 a.m. and he got on the website at 9:03 and they’re already sold out.
Do you have a sense of when this big growth in crosswords really started? Has it happened like in those last five years since you started doing ACPT stuff, or do you think it long precedes that?
In the post-Wordle universe, where a game can really, really blow up and bring people together, I think that has helped a lot. The New York Times acquisition of [Wordle] has brought a lot of people to the New York Times site. I do think there is a new contingent of people who are online who are taking to the crossword and finding out about it.
Do you think you’re gonna miss Stamford?
I was just thinking about that. One of the first things that I did when I was really getting into crosswords — and I think it’s a common thing among a lot of people who are taking it up as a hobby — is watch the ‘Wordplay’ documentary, which centers really heavily around the tournament in Stamford.
And I was just struck by the fact that everything has been the same. They go through the tournament, and that’s the staircase you go down to sequester if you’re in the finals. That’s a big ballroom with the same yellow folders
I think it’s gonna be an interesting change to navigate. I feel like we were very loved by the Stamford Hotel. Like, they’d roll out a big crossword banner for us, they’d hand out cookies. But, as much as I’d love to go back, I think unless something very, very catastrophic happens to the crossword world where a bunch of people just decide to quit, I think it’s gonna be hard to think about a scenario where the numbers make it possible.