Rankings & rules

How you're ranked

Two separate ladders - one for solo play, one for head-to-head. Every rule that moves them, in the open. No hidden maths, nothing you can buy.

Two ladders, kept apart

Single-player and multiplayer are ranked by completely different systems, and they never touch each other. Solo play rewards showing up and doing the work; multiplayer rewards skill against another person. You hold a standing in each, at the same time.

Single-player

The league ladder

The English football pyramid. Your points over the last 90 days rank you against everyone else, and the field splits into four equal quarters.

Premier LeagueTop 25%

Championship2nd 25%

League One3rd 25%

League TwoBottom 25%

Top quarter of active players sits in the Premier League; the bottom quarter in League Two. You only ever see your own division.

Multiplayer

The tier ladder

A Glicko-2 rating, the same system chess uses. Seven tiers, and each one splits into three divisions - III up to I.

Grandmaster2400+

Master2200 – 2399

Diamond2000 – 2199

Platinum1800 – 1999

Gold1600 – 1799

Silver1400 – 1599

Bronzeup to 1399

Each tier spans 200 rating points, split into three ~66-point divisions. You enter a tier at III and climb to I before you're promoted.

Multiplayer - the full rules

RatingGlicko-2, recalculated after every ranked match. Win and it climbs, lose and it dips.

Starting outEveryone begins in Bronze. Your rating is shown cautiously until the system has seen about 10 ranked games from you - as it grows confident, your shown rating rises toward your true level and you climb through the tiers. This is why a strong new player still starts at the bottom: you haven't proven it yet.

DivisionsSeven tiers, Bronze to Grandmaster. Within a tier you move III → II → I as your rating rises through its 200-point band.

MatchmakingYou're paired with players near your true rating - not the cautious display number - so games are fair from the very first match.

1v1 and 2v2Separate ratings. Your team record never touches your solo rating, and vice versa.

Demotion bufferDropping just below a tier line doesn't relegate you straight away - there's a small protection buffer (about 50 points) before you fall a tier, so one bad game can't undo a promotion.

Your recordThe win–loss on your dashboard counts ranked 1v1 games only. Full multiplayer stats live on the Multiplayer 1v1 page.

Champions LeagueGrandmaster players qualify automatically. Master players can spend 100 credits to enter a qualifier. Credits are earned, never bought - see how credits work.

Single-player - the full rules

PlacementEveryone with points in the last 90 days is ranked by total points and split into four equal 25% bands. Top quarter → Premier League, bottom quarter → League Two.

PointsThe score of every word you solve - Scrabble-style letter values plus a small length bonus. Longer words and bigger grids are worth more, automatically. A Jumbo is worth roughly 30× a Mini.

Compete onlyPoints count in Compete mode only. Practice mode never counts toward your division - you're told this before you start.

Every word countsYou bank a word's points the moment you solve it - you don't have to finish the puzzle. Solve one word of a punishing Jumbo, keep those points, and leave.

No penaltiesYou're never docked points and there's no penalty for giving up. The only way you slip is by going quiet: points older than 90 days age out, and others overtake you.

90-day windowYour standing is your points over the trailing 90 days. Ninety, not thirty, deliberately - a fortnight's holiday shouldn't sink you.

Archive countsArchived puzzles count in full, with no daily cap. The more you solve, the better.

TiebreakersLevel on points, the faster solver wins - measured against each format's par time, so beating a Jumbo par counts the same as beating a Mini par. Fewer wrong guesses breaks any remaining tie.

One go eachEvery crossword can be completed once, ever - in either mode. Once it's done it becomes read-only, so nobody can farm the same puzzle twice.

Your division onlyYou see only your own league - never the table, the head-count, or who else is in it. We'll tell you when you're promoted or relegated.

Scoring & play modes

Single-player puzzles give you three ways to play. Your choice is a trade-off between a safety net and a scoring multiplier - the less help you take, the more your solve is worth.

AutocheckLetters are checked as you type; wrong ones show immediately. The most forgiving mode. Multiplier ×1.0 - no bonus.

CheckA button checks the whole grid: correct letters lock in, wrong ones turn red. ×1.5 if you never press Check, ×1.25 if you do.

PuristNo feedback, no hints - solve the whole grid blind, then Finish scores it all at once. ×1.5 if every word is right, ×0.8 if any is wrong.

Side by side

	Single-player	Multiplayer
What it measures	Participation - points for the words you solve	Skill - results against other players
The ladder	4 leagues, League Two → Premier League	7 tiers, Bronze → Grandmaster (each III → I)
How you rise	Bank more points than others over 90 days	Win ranked matches
How you fall	Go inactive - old points age out	Lose ranked matches
What you see	Your own division only	Your tier, rating and full record
Can you buy rank?	No	No

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