Registration for the tournament is NOW OPEN. Last year was all about getting dressed up for the crossword fashion show, but this year we're taking off with a travel-themed set of tournament puzzles. So forget about your getup, let's get up and go!

We want everyone to be able to get in on the fun, so if actual travel is not an option for you we are happy to register you in our Solve-at-Home division. We'll email you copies of all of the tournament puzzles and, if you choose to send back your completed grids and solving times, we'll score your puzzles just as we do for in-person competitors.

We are also proud to present "Where on the Globe Is Carla Sacramento?", a suite of interconnected meta puzzles constructed by the tournament organizers and available by donation.

Oh, and, as always...

If you enjoy solving crosswords at all then the answers are "yes" and "it doesn't matter." We want you to have fun at The Indie 500 regardless of your solving ability or how competitive you are, so we work with the best and brightest independent puzzle constructors every year to craft what we think are some enjoyable, funny, and creative crosswords. While seeing how you stack up against other solvers like yourself can add an extra layer of excitement to the event, you'll find that most regular crossword tournament attendees keep coming back mainly for the opportunity to share some fun puzzles together with the wonderful and welcoming community, and not because they're trying to win.

You'll solve five themed crossword puzzles, ranging in difficulty from somewhere around a Monday/Tuesday to Thursday or beyond on the New York Times difficulty scale. Each puzzle has a time limit (usually around 15/20 min for the easier puzzles and up to 45 min for the hardest) and you'll receive points based on how long you take to finish it, with time added for errors and omissions. Correct answers are far more important than speed in our scoring system—a single mistake can add almost 9 minutes to your time! So don't worry too much if you're not a terribly fast solver, and just try to get some correct letters into the grid.

The scores from the first five puzzles will be used to determine the finalists in each skill division. Every player will have be given the chance to try their hand at the sixth and final puzzle just for fun, with the same time limit as the finalists. You can choose one of two difficulty levels: hard and harder (think Friday/Saturday NYT and Newsday Saturday Stumper, respectively)—good luck! Following that, all division finalists will solve this puzzle for real on large grids on the stage at the front of the room to determine the overall winners. There will even be play-by-play and color commentary for the Inside Track finals, and it's always an exciting race to watch!

In addition to the tournament puzzles, we always provide a free warm-up puzzle or two. Additionally, we encourage any constructors to bring along their work to share with others (however we will not allow guests to sell puzzles or other goods at the tournament). We also host an informal, communal word game near the end of the day while we prepare for the finals. So, expect to have no shortage of puzzles to solve throughout the day!

In terms of format, the tournament puzzles are all standard, American style crosswords like you'd find in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal (in fact, many of our puzzle constructors have contributed work to those outlets). At the same time, since this is, well, the Indie 500, we like to emphasize the fact that the constraints and perspectives of these mainstream puzzle outlets don't apply here, and we are free to take a few chances with outside-the-box themes and fresh and diverse language. If you're still curious you can solve a sample puzzle by Andy Kravis from our 2015 tournament (and chock full of early 2010s pop culture references!), available in PUZ or PDF format.

The puzzles cover a range of difficulty levels. As long as you can solve an early-week New York Times puzzle, then you should have no trouble completing at least one of the puzzles and making inroads on one or two others. On the other hand, we also have at least one fairly difficult puzzle for the very experienced solvers to sink their teeth into.

There are awards for the top three competitors in each skill division and for the top scoring competitor who has never competed in a crossword tournament before. In addition to these performance-based awards, we recognize things like handwriting (good and...not so good), amusing wrong answers, and something we call "Indie Spirit."

Winners will receive either a medal or trophy of some sort and possibly additional small prizes.

Pencils will be provided, as will Indie 500-themed pens (though solving in pencil is strongly encouraged for the tournament puzzles). Of course, you are also welcome to bring and use whatever writing implements you prefer.

There are washrooms and water fountains right next to the tournament room. Coffee will be served throughout the day and pie will be served at some point (likely in the morning but possibly early afternoon). There is no charge for coffee or pie. There is no other food service onsite, but there are a number of restaurants and cafes within a few blocks of the venue and you are welcome to bring food and drink into the tournament room.

The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church is accessible from the entryway on the side of the church on New York Avenue. Elevators, ramps, and electronic doors enable access to all floors and gathering places in the building, including the sanctuary on the second floor. Tournament organizers and volunteers will be happy to assist you with entering and exiting the building and room.

The Metro is recommended for getting to the tournament. There are two stations within two blocks (roughly a 5-minute walk or less) of the tournament venue. McPherson Square Station is the closer of the two and is on the Orange, Silver, and Blue lines, while Metro Center Station is on those three lines plus the Red line. Each line runs every 12 minutes from 7am-9:30pm on Saturdays (and then less frequently until midnight when the metro stops running), so you shouldn't have to wait long. However, there is sometimes Metro track work on the weekends which can affect travel times and how frequently trains arrive. Be sure to check www.wmata.com and plan accordingly.

There is limited on-street parking available near the tournament building (although drop-offs near the door are possible). Street parking is metered on New York Avenue and H Street.

There are a number of hotels within walking distance or a short metro trip of the tournament building. Following is a list of hotels that tournament attendees have stayed at in the past and have recommended to us (note that the tournament was formerly held at George Washington University and many of these hotels are within walking distance of that venue rather than this year's venue). It is by no means exhaustive, and we do not officially endorse or vouch for any of these; they are listed here simply to give you some idea of what's available in the area.

• The Georgetown Inn West End
  Very close to the metro
• Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge
  Located across the river in Arlington, but just a few metro stops away on the Orange or Silver line
• University Inn
  Older character building, very affordable and close to the metro
• Hotel Hive
  Smaller upscale modern rooms at a reasonable price, very close to the metro
• Club Quarters
  Small but cheap rooms