Lollapuzzoola 19
Around the World
Lollapuzzoola 19 (that is, the 2026 edition of this one-day puzzlefest) will take place in New York City on Saturday, August 15, 2026 (that’s a Saturday in August). The theme is Around the World, with all of our puzzles and games tied to ideas of travel and geography. The in-person tournament is currently sold out, but you can either purchase our At-Home version (puzzles in PUZ and PDF format delivered by email on Sunday, August 16) or add your name to our waiting list.
Our constructor lineup has been revealed! For the main tournament, we are thrilled beyond belief to share with you the brilliant talents of Trenton Charlson, Carina da Rosa, Will Nediger, Ada Nicolle, Adam Wagner, and Amie Walker! Our tiebreaker puzzle is by Laura Braunstein, the crossword meta suite is by Doug Peterson, and the variety puzzle meta suite is by Scott Weiss. And the entire catalog of puzzles has been edited by Brooke Husic. Read more about all of these brilliant folks here.
In terms of the big day, here’s everything we can tell you:
LOCATION
Riverside Church, with entrances at both 91 Claremont Ave and 490 Riverside Drive.
The Riverside Drive entrance leads you immediately into the lobby outside South Hall (which is our venue). This entrance has a staircase and is not handicap accessible. These doors will open at 9am.
The Claremont Avenue entrance is on the other side of the church. It IS handicap accessible, and it is also (probably) open a little earlier than 9am. It is also a bit of a distance from South Hall. That said, if stairs are a concern, please use the Claremont Avenue entrance.
If you choose to drive to the church, there is a parking garage underneath, and elevators that come up immediately outside South Hall. If you choose to take public transportation, we don’t have a lot of information about that, so check https://mta.info/ for local news.
SCHEDULE
- 9am-10am: Check-in, find a seat, solve some casual warm-up puzzles
- 10am-12:15pm: Puzzles 1, 2, and 3
- 12:15pm-1:30pm: Lunch (pizza in house, if you ordered it … otherwise, you’re on your own! And if you still want to add pizza, it’s not too late!)
- 1:30-3:00: Puzzles 4 and 5
- 3:30ish: Championship Finals: Pairs Division, Local Division, Express Division
- 4:30ish: Awards Ceremony
SCORING
The scoring system at Lollapuzzoola is as follows:
- 10 points for every correct box
- One point for every second remaining on the clock
- 100 points if your entire puzzle is correct and used no Google Tickets
- 25 point deduction for each Google Ticket used
We operate primarily on the honor system, where you record your own solve time (using the timer in the room). And we provide an organized cheating mechanism called Google Tickets, which allow you to trade a single ticket in (at the cost of 25 points) for any non-theme answer in the puzzle.
MORE PUZZLES?
In addition to the main slate of crosswords, there are two multi-puzzle suites (one crossword, one variety), each of which has prizes attached. Submissions for those are open until early September.
We are also offering several bonus puzzles and games, and is this year is like most others, several attendees will be bringing puzzles of their own to share as well.
OTHER INFORMATION
You are welcome to bring your own drinks and snacks with you. Please be respectful to the people around you and to the venue.
Currently, neither Riverside Church nor Lollapuzzoola is enforcing the use of masks at this event, nor requiring proof of vaccination. Anyone who chooses to be masked is welcome to do so.
If you have other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at lolla@bemoresmarter.com!
Fill Me In
Fill Me In is a weekly podcast (mostly) (somewhat) about crosswords. It’s hosted by Brian Cimmet and Ryan Hecht. You can listen to it on this site, though sometimes the page freezes up. You can also listen to it on Apple Podcasts, or other places you find podcasts. If you want to reach out to the Fill Me In folks, email them at fmi@bemoresmarter.com.
Shirts? Shirts!
For the die-hard fans (of either Lollapuzzoola or Fill Me In), we are happy to present our first foray into online apparel orders — t-shirts! This is a new venture for us, so if you encounter any issues ordering, please drop us a note (both lolla@bemoresmarter.com and fmi@bemoresmarter.com will reach us).