Organizing Contests
Get an overview of PuzzleMe™'s contest mode, and how it differs from regular puzzles
PuzzleMe lets you run your own online puzzle competition, with server-side timing, solver identification, leaderboards, and more. Several of the world's leading puzzle tournaments, including the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and Boswords, use our platform to host their online contests.
Contest Mode
Contest Mode is a per-puzzle setting for Crossword, Sudoku, Quiz, Codeword, Jigsaw, Word Search and Kriss Kross puzzles. When it's on, help options (Reveal, Check, Error Check, Hint) are disabled, solvers submit manually instead of the puzzle auto-completing, progress can't be reset, and timing/scoring is handled securely on our servers instead of the browser.
While Word Flower doesn't have Contest Mode, it can still be made more difficult by configuring available settings.
This section covers:
Setting up a contest
Contest Mode, scoring, and timer options
Identity & lead generation
Identifying your solvers and collecting participant information
The solver experience
What changes for solvers, and how submission works
Scoring & analytics
How scores are calculated, and where to find play-by-play data and leaderboards
Spectator mode
Broadcasting live solving events
Launch checklist
What to check before, during, and after your contest
FAQ
Which plans have access to contest mode?
Contest mode is available on Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans only. Free plan users cannot enable contest mode for their puzzles.
Can I view leaderboards on all plans?
Leaderboard viewing is available on Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans. Free plan users cannot access leaderboard data from the analytics page.
Can I collect participant information in contests?
Lead generation (participant information collection) is available on Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans. Free plan users cannot collect participant information during contests.
Is spectator mode available on all plans?
Spectator mode is available on Enterprise plan only. This feature allows you to broadcast live puzzle-solving events with multiple participants.