General

Solution format

For the grid, pencil (if applied reasonably firmly) is acceptable, though ink is usually more readable. Where highlighting or shading is required (and the colour isn’t significant), darker highlighting pens are preferred: yellow can be difficult to make out. Highlighting by just using a different coloured ink can be difficult to spot.

Regular solvers may omit their addresses as these will be remembered from previous entries.

Comments

Any puzzle comments from solvers are passed to the setter(s) and editors. Shorter comments are transcribed onto a separate document, but on longer comments it is useful if name, address, email and any setting pseudonym are already included.

Late entries

Late entries (because of holidays etc) are included in the annual statistics as long as they are flagged in advance. Latitude is allowed in connection with postal delays, illnesses etc.

Prizes

If a solver would like one of the alternative prizes, the choice may be written (in hope) alongside the grid. Prizes are not ordered before the second Monday after the solution is published, to give winners time to make an alternative choice. Non-receipt of a prize within a reasonable time should be queried at prizes@listenercrossword.com or with the marker.

For prize deliveries outside the UK, the couriers need a contact phone number (local to the delivery area).

Submitting by post

For filing purposes, it is preferred that submissions are cut down to around A5 size (210 mm × 148 mm). Please ensure there is space around the grid for the marker to make notes and number the entry.

Including an email address in the address panel is strongly encouraged. It helps the marker to chase any missing entries, and the companies that deliver the prizes are reluctant to accept orders without an email address for notifications.

More than one entry may be included in the same envelope (with all of the relevant puzzle numbers written on the front), to arrive by the closing date of the first puzzle.

Submitting by email

Email submissions should follow the guidelines above and be sent to marker@listenercrossword.com, with the puzzle number in the subject line. Each entry should be sent in a separate email. Acknowledgments of receipt will not be issued.

The solution should be an image of the completed grid and surrounding area, including the completed address panel but not the preamble and clues (unless there’s a thematic reason for that). If the puzzle instructions require folding or other manipulation that hides part of the grid, an image of the full, open grid should also be included, so that its contents can be checked as they would be for a paper entry. There’s no need to remove any marginal notes or scribbles as long as they don’t obscure the grid contents.

The image may be a photo of the completed grid, but an electronic scan is clearer. The preferred file format is JPEG but other common formats, including PDF, will be accepted. The key request is to minimise file size while maintaining legibility. Typically, file sizes of around 180 KB are adequate, and scans at a resolution of about 150 dpi.

Comments to the setter, editors or marker can be included in the text of the email.