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How scoring works: Daily Crossword

Your game score comes from your own puzzle result. Your party rank compares that score with your party's submissions for the same day.

Quick summary

Faster completion usually improves your game score. Your party rank compares your game score with other party submissions for the same game/day and can change as new submissions arrive.

How to score well

  • Solve accurately while keeping your total time low.
  • Landing in faster time brackets earns a better game score.
  • Unfinished puzzles score lower than completed puzzles.

How ranking works in parties

  • Faster times rank higher within the party.
  • Unsolved entries earn 0 points for the day.
  • Identical times share the same competition rank (1, 1, 3).

Example

In a 3-player party Alice finishes Tuesday's crossword in 9:10, Bob in 16:45, Carol in 31:20. Alice earns 3 points, Bob earns 2, Carol earns 1.

How to submit your score

After solving, tap the share icon, then choose PuzzleParty from the share sheet (iOS). On Android or the web, copy the result text and paste it into PuzzleParty.

Technical scoring data 
{
    "ranking": {
        "tie_algorithm": {
            "key": "competition_ranking",
            "display_name": "Competition ranking"
        }
    },
    "examples": [
        "A 4:30 finish lands in the fastest bracket and earns a top game score.",
        "A 22:00 finish scores lower than a 12:00 finish, but still beats unfinished entries.",
        "Everyone in your party solves the same puzzle on the same day, so a hard Saturday is hard for all of you equally."
    ],
    "rule_text": "Faster solve times earn a better game score.",
    "edge_cases": [
        "Exactly 15:00 is scored at the 900-second bracket boundary.",
        "Solves over an hour are common on Saturdays and Sundays, and are scored on their own brackets up to two hours. Past two hours everything scores the same floor for completed puzzles, still above any unfinished entry.",
        "The puzzle gets harder from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday is a larger grid. Your game score does not adjust for this, so your Monday scores will usually look better than your Saturday ones."
    ],
    "measurement": {
        "metric_key": "time_seconds",
        "metric_label": "Solve time",
        "scoring_type": "time_based"
    },
    "human_review": {
        "checklist": [
            "Verify rule_text reflects the scoring behavior without ambiguity.",
            "Verify examples are readable and match expected outcomes.",
            "Verify edge_cases are clear and non-conflicting.",
            "Verify the weekday-difficulty edge case reads as an honest limitation, not an excuse."
        ],
        "machine_verifiable_scope": [
            "measurement.scoring_type",
            "absolute_scoring.method",
            "absolute_scoring.solved_floor",
            "absolute_scoring.unsolved_score",
            "absolute_scoring.range.best",
            "absolute_scoring.range.worst_solved",
            "absolute_scoring.brackets",
            "ranking.tie_algorithm.key",
            "party_ranking.normalization_summary"
        ]
    },
    "party_ranking": {
        "normalization_summary": "Within a party, players are ranked on this game using faster completion times first, with unsolved entries ranked last. Each player earns one point for every party member they beat, plus one. Players who don't solve the puzzle earn zero points for this game."
    },
    "schema_version": 1,
    "absolute_scoring": {
        "method": "time_based",
        "brackets": {
            "300": 1,
            "600": 0.9,
            "900": 0.8,
            "1500": 0.7,
            "2400": 0.6,
            "3600": 0.5,
            "5400": 0.4,
            "7200": 0.3
        },
        "scoring_type": "time_based",
        "solved_floor": 0.2,
        "unsolved_score": 0
    }
}