CrosswordsContestsSettersAboutContact
Sign up

Star Setter Criteria

F
Fez

Less than 1 min read · Fri 27 Jun 2025

Star Setter Criteria
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The new "Star Setter" status has been added in anticipation of our upcoming "featured puzzle" series, which will be edited. To avoid overwhelming the editorial team, only "Star Setters" will be able to submit puzzles for consideration in the series.

The 'base' criteria for promotion to Star Setter are:

  • Contribution to MyCrossword within the last ~18 months
  • 12+ puzzles on the site
  • Average "likes" of 8.0 or more
  • No collaborations or multiple setters

Promotion is not applied automatically based on these criteria - in particular, to avoid 'gaming' the system via artificial "likes" - with overall puzzle quality being the deciding factor.

Other setters may be promoted despite not meeting the base criteria, in recognition of significant contributions elsewhere. This usually involves publication in the national press, but that in itself is neither necessary nor sufficient. If you've missed out for now, please be assured that the list of Star Setters will be kept under constant review.