Boswords 2020 Fall Themeless League
Every Monday night of October and November, 9:00 PM Eastern
Registration Closes on Sunday, October 4th
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League Directors: Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb
Puzzle Editor: Brad Wilber
And Thank You to Our Awesome Partners. Click their logos below to check them out!
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Tournament Puzzles Available for Purchase Below!
REGISTRATION
(Registration closes Sunday 10/4)
Registration for the 2020 Fall Themeless League is open! The three divisions for competition are explained below.
Note: Solvers may change divisions during the League season - we want you in the right place!
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STORMY
The most challenging level — clued at a hard Saturday NYT level
Choose this division if you regularly complete the Friday and Saturday NYT in under 20 minutes
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CHOPPY
Clued at an easy Friday NYT level
Choose this division if you can complete the Friday and Saturday NYT . . . but it takes you a while
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SMOOTH
Clued at a Tuesday NYT level
Choose this division if you find themeless puzzles to be intimidating. Start to enjoy them this fall!
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STUDENT & DISCOUNT
$5
INDIVIDUAL
ADULT
$25
PAIRS
$25
$10
2020 FALL
PUZZLE PACKET
**If paying the $25 fee for the league is not possible for you right now, we welcome you to pay the discount price of $5. And if that is still too difficult for you, please contact us at and we will ensure you can compete.**
Note: if you select the "2020 Fall Puzzle Packet", you will receive these puzzles via email once the league has finished on Tuesday, December 1st.
GIVING BACK
A percentage of the proceeds from the 2020 Boswords Themeless League will be donated to each of the three Boston-based charities below. Of course, we welcome you to donate to these organizations on your own. Please click the links below to view their sites and contribute.
MEET THE TEAM
 Amanda Rafkin is a concert pianist, turned therapist, turned musical theater pianist and crossword constructor. When she's not constructing puzzles or playing showtunes, she enjoys going to the theater and spending all of her time and money at used bookstores. | ||||||||||
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 Sid Sivakumar is an MD/PhD student based in St. Louis, MO. He writes crosswords for various mainstream outlets and his own website, Sid's Grids. If he's not working on research, puzzles, or music, he might be eating your food. |  Yacob Yonas is a software engineer based in NYC. He's been constructing crosswords for publication since 2018; his work has been featured in NY Times multiple times as well as a constructor for Lollapuzzoola in 2018. When he's not constructing crosswords or writing code, he enjoys all things basketball (playing, watching, reading about it). |  A top-ranked solver, Stella Zawistowski spends at least 10% of her Twitter feed (@stellaphone) saying that New York Times themeless crosswords are too easy, and puts her money where her mouth is with a free hard themeless every other Wednesday at ToughAsNails.net. For those who want to learn more about cryptic crosswords, she tweets a #crypticclueaday and explains the previous week's clues every #explanationfriday |  Claire Rimkus lives in Massachusetts and enjoys both making and solving puzzles. |  David Quarfoot (DQ) was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He now lives in San Diego, where he teaches mathematics, statistics, and mathematics education at UCSD. Outside of crossword construction, he enjoys snowboarding, playing cello, cooking, hiking, and watching video game streamers on Twitch/YouTube. |  Emily Carroll is a rheumatology fellow in New York. She started constructing crosswords five years ago to have an extracurricular activity that sounded smart to put on applications to medicine residency programs. When not puzzling, she spends her free time yelling at sports on TV and obsessing over dogs in Central Park. |  Tracy Gray lives in Sparks, Maryland, outside Baltimore, where she and her husband have owned and operated a lawn/landscaping company for 31 years. During these stressful pandemic times, Tracy has found relaxation by working in her own expansive backyard gardens and is thoroughly looking forward to another NFL season and rooting for her Baltimore Ravens. |  Nate Cardin teaches high school chemistry in Los Angeles, where he lives with his husband and Frenchie puppy, Eero. His puzzles have been published in NYT, AVCX, MGWCC, and more, though you may know him best as the organizer of Queer Qrosswords. Find him on Twitter @naytnaytnayt (and find Eero on Instagram @eero_dynamic). |  Brad Wilber is a librarian and a writer originally from central New York. He has been constructing crosswords for publication since 1993. For much of that time he has specialized in themeless puzzles, both solo and in collaboration. His byline has appeared well over 100 times on Newsday's Saturday Stumper, widely recognized as the most challenging puzzle on the scene. He was the last editor (2014-2020) of the now-discontinued Chronicle of Higher Education crossword. |  John Lieb teaches Math and coaches football and baseball at The Roxbury Latin School. With football season cancelled, he is excited to be a part of fostering some competition with the Fall Themeless League. |  Andrew Kingsley is currently in his second year of teaching English at the Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. When not teaching, he's likely reading or cooking. |
DIRECTIONS AND PARKING
(not for 2020's league!)
Event Contact:
Event Address:
The Roxbury Latin School
101 St. Theresa Avenue
West Roxbury, MA, 02132
Parking is FREE. Enter the front gate of the school and we will direct you to the parking lot and the tournament hall.
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Roxbury Latin is located on the MBTA busline. From Forest Hills Station take either the Charles River bus or the Stimson via Belgrade. Get off on Centre Street at St. Theresa Avenue. The School is at the top of the hill on the right.
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An Uber/Lyft ride from Forest Hills (last stop of Orange Line) to Roxbury Latin costs approximately $10.
Public Transportation