Puzzles ·
Scramble: puzzles against the clock.
Short puzzles, easy first and harder with every one you solve, on a 3 minute clock, a 5 minute clock or none at all. Three misses and you’re done. And now there are standings, starting with your own club.
The short version
- Scramble: 3 min, 5 min or No clock, three misses and the run is over
- Easy first, harder with every puzzle you solve
- Your best today and your best ever, with a stamp when you beat it
- Standings for your club, the people you follow and everyone, this week and all time
- Never your puzzle rating on them, and a switch in Settings to leave them
Some evenings you want to sit with one position for twenty minutes. Other evenings you want to see how many you can knock down before the flag falls. Scramble is for the second kind.
How it goes
Pick a clock: 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or No clock if you’d rather think. The first puzzles are short and kind, a mate in one or a loose piece, and every one you solve makes the next a notch harder. One slip, or a pass, and it’s a pencil cross on your scoresheet. Three crosses and the run is over, clock or no clock. Solving a puzzle earns a little XP towards your Learn level, and a new best earns a little more.
At the end you get your score, your best today and your best ever (with a rubber stamp when you beat it), and the ones you missed, each a tap away for another look.
Standings, starting at home
Standings put your best Scramble scores and your puzzle XP for the week beside other members’: everyone at your club, the people you follow, and the top 50 of everyone. They’re for members signed in, they show a name and the number (and a photo, on your club’s board), and never your puzzle rating or your club. Weeks run Monday to Sunday. There are no prizes, only the quiet satisfaction of being one ahead of the person who beat you on Tuesday.
Rather not be on them? Switch off “Show me in puzzle standings” in Settings and nobody else sees you there. Your scores keep counting for you.
No account? Still free
Scramble works signed out too: your bests stay in your browser. Beat one and you can bring it with you to a free account, and from then on your runs can go on the standings.