UK Puzzle Association

Giving people more notice this time, the usual web site has updated with details of the 2026 contest, which "will be held on Saturday, 30 May 2026, 13:00 UK time at Coventry University." Looks like they got 36 entrants last year, about half aged 16+, which is not bad at all. I reckon this ...

Might try and do a blog at some point Chris - let's see how the bump back down to earth goes this week. For team round 6: this was cancelled as the puzzle was printed with a wrong clue, meaning the whole thing was unsolvable. We'd actually made pretty good progress with this as a team, and it'd hav...

I'd love to hear more about the event, if/when anyone has the time to write up more details about it. One thing I'm wondering: did anything happen to round 6 in the WPC? Is there any reason why it didn't seem to appear in the score sheet, please?

Tiny shout-out at the end of Alex Bellos' most recent puzzle column in the Guardian, for the ecord.

Official top tens have been posted and it gives me great pleasure to confirm that the UK A team finished FOURTH, which I believe is a new record for us. Great job!

dickoon wrote: ↑Sat 27 Sep, 2025 3:41 pmthere are people on the forum, they think it's all over!))

...IT IS, NOW!

Looks like the 18th and final round doesn't change the ordering at the top, so just waiting for confirmation...

Scores sheet updated in the last few minutes: Freddie's lead is up to 650 after round 17. With only 600 points available in round 18, I think we're into "subject to ratification" territory here. Many, many congratulations, Freddie and team! ((Edited to add: OK, theoretically, this isn't ta...

Freddie extended his lead further after Round 15 from 365 to 525. The event has finished; a video of the last few seconds has been posted. We're just waiting for the final scores like it's Gillette Puzzle Saturday or something. However the chips fall, an immense well done to everyone.

At the end of day 2, with 10 of 14 individual rounds finished, Freddie Hand still leads, after blowing away the competition in the first couple of rounds in the morning. stretching an overnight lead of 165 to as far as 475. He's been clawed back slightly later in the day but still has a margin of 36...

However things turn out today and tomorrow, it's worth seriously considering the matter of press releases, as there's going to be good news that's worth sharing at some point.

Thanks! Freddie is #1 after 3 rounds! ...and remains so after 5, as well! To describe this as an outstanding performance would be to sell it slightly short. World class performance by the whole team at large, #3 among the A teams at the end of round 3 and at the end of round 5. In the mix with the ...

I don't promise to do this after every round, but after one round of the WPC, the GBR team (representing the UK, etc.) are in a spectacular 4th place: USA 2180 JPN 2080 GER 2055 GBR 1895 FRA 1695 CHN 1665 TUR 1600 ...and there's a bit of a gap from there. One round out of... 18, from memory, but a g...

the-fool.jpg "The sun is missing! The sun is missing!" cried the Fool. Follow the Fool's journey, solving puzzles along the way to find the missing sun. WHY?: Phil Hannay is hosting a replay of his excellent Treasure Hunt from the Manorcon 2024 board game convention here in London, for th...

A friend points to the date and time of the 2024 UK event: "The 2024 final of the Logic and Mathematical Games will take place on the campus of Coventry University, CV1 2JH, on Saturday, 25th May 2024, from 1pm to 4pm (time and number of problems vary by category). The schedule for May 25th is:...

A friend of mine who once competed in the UKPC works as part of the puzzles team at The Telegraph and reports that they are currently recruiting a Social Media Editor for the puzzles team. Not clear whether it's a full-time position, not clear whether it's a remote working position but apparently th...

Maybe one for the Puzzle Competitions forum, maybe not, but I've decided against putting this there on this occasion as the context is "d'oh, just missed it, one to look out for next year". There exists such a thing as the (titular) British Federation of Mathematical Games and apparently t...

For what it's worth, I've plugged the contest in a couple of puzzly places, not least the 5,000-strong UK Escape Room Enthusiasts Facebook group, where two of the three moderators have played in previous UKPCs. There's not going to be perfect crossover, but hopefully it should attract a few people w...

Good luck to everyone solving in either contest tomorrow!

The World Sudoku Championships start on Monday, the World Puzzle Championships on Thursday. Fingers firmly crossed for you all that you can make yourselves proud of your performances!

It's that time of the year again... This year, Thursday is the new Sunday, and the MSO have scheduled contests for Thursday 23rd August - a week today from the time of posting. Excitingly, there are two contests this year: the afternoon contest features "various puzzles" as described on th...

There's an event being held at Imperial College London this Saturday called mathscon . Mathscon is a series of science events, consisting of a conference and a networking social. It is directed at undergraduates, young researchers and science lovers in general. Each event aims to expose the public t...

Taking a look at the rules, there's an additional tweak in that people are invited to nominate exceptional puzzle designs within the contest for recognition. Some of the wording in the rules seems a shade confusing, but I really like the general principle behind it, and fingers firmly crossed that t...

I too add my thanks - and congratulations, especially to the A-team; finishing in the top quarter of the team rankings is a superb result!

As far as I am aware, 2011 was the first event of "the modern era". Detailed results are available under the Results dropdown list at http://www.msoworld.com/ . There was a Puzzle Solving event in 1998 : I don't know the format but it sounds too early and I don't recognise any of the name...