How it works
There are two ways to play 1v1. In a turn-based match you and your opponent take turns on the same grid, each on a chess-style clock. Free-for-All has no turns: you both race the same puzzle at once, each on your own grid.
Game modes
Find an opponent through matchmaking and take turns on one grid. Your rating is at stake: win to climb the ranks, lose and it drops.
Race a matched opponent on the same puzzle at the same time. It moves the same rating as turn-based.
Challenge a friend to a private turn-based match. It's unranked, so your rating is never affected.
Unranked turn-based practice against a bot.
Turn-based rules
Each turn, you can make one guess: either a full word or a single letter.
You score points, and the turn passes to your opponent.
No points, you use up one of your fails, and the turn passes to your opponent.
Your clock only runs during your turn. Your opponent's clock is paused while you think.
In ranked games each turn is capped at a tenth of your clock (3 minutes in a 30-minute game). Miss it and you lose 10 points, a letter is revealed that scores for nobody, and the turn passes. A fourth missed turn forfeits the game.
Fails
In a turn-based game you start with 3 fails, shown as markers next to your name. Each wrong guess uses one up.
Once your fails are gone, every further wrong guess costs you 10 points and reveals a random letter on the grid, which can help your opponent. Guess carefully!
Free-for-All rules
You both play at once, each on your own grid. Your opponent never sees your typing.
The first correct answer takes the word's full points. A taken word appears on both grids, so its letters help with the crossings.
A miss locks that word for you until your opponent misses it too. Wrong tries cost nothing, and words you've missed stay pink.
If you both use all three tries, the word is revealed to both of you for no points.
The game ends when the countdown runs out or the grid is full. Most points wins; words completed breaks a tie.
Scoring
Points are based on Scrabble-style letter values:
Letter values plus a length bonus: +1 for 2 to 5 letters, +2 for 6 to 10, +3 for 11 to 14, +4 for 15 or more.
Just that letter's value. Free-for-All scores whole words only.
You only score for letters that haven't been revealed yet. If your opponent has already placed some letters in a word, you won't get points for those, only the remaining ones.
How to win
Your opponent's clock runs out, or every clue is solved and you have the most points. In ranked games, a fourth missed turn forfeits.
The countdown runs out or the grid is full, and you have the most points. Level on points? Most words completed wins.
Rating system
Crossword Capital uses the Glicko-2 rating system (the same as Lichess chess). New players start at rating 1500. Your rating goes up when you win and down when you lose.
The result itself.
Beat a stronger player and you gain more.
New players move faster.
Time controls
When searching for a ranked match, you choose your time control. Both players must have the same setting to be matched.
Each format has its own: from 5 minutes on a US Mini to 2 hours on a UK Jumbo.
Matchmaking
The system finds opponents with similar ratings. You choose:
The crossword you want to play.
Must match exactly.
A turn-based search never pairs with a Free-for-All one.
Who goes first?
Turn-based only: the player with the lower rating goes first. This gives the underdog a slight advantage.