As four dozen contestants put their pens to the massive checkered grids before them, the clock began to tick down. The room was nearly silent — not a word spoken. The only thing heard across the large cafeteria was the scribbling of lead onto clean paper, with players writing and erasing combinations and patterns of letters until the winners found their matches.

On Sept. 28, Boynton Middle School hosted the 12th annual Finger Lakes Crossword Competition, which brought in community talent from across Tompkins County and beyond. With a roster of a dozen teams and several top-level individual competitors, this year’s contest showed a dedicated community intent on promoting a positive cause. Ever since its inception, the competition has raised funds for Tompkins Learning Partners — a local organization that provides free literacy tutoring to over 100 community members in the region. Each competitor paid $50 to participate or what they were able to donate comfortably.

The main beneficiary of this event is the TLP, which was established in 1976 to promote tutoring services for reading and writing. Gary Weissbrot, event chair of the Finger Lakes Crossword Competition, said that supporting the competition is a good way for the TLP to promote the program in an engaging and rewarding way.

Weissbrot said the event brought in the funds and community outreach necessary to promote new learning for adults trying to gain citizenship, learn how to vote and even understand how to read and write. As a board member of TLP and coming from a teaching background, Weissbrot said that he feels a strong commitment to promoting TLP’s services and that the competition is a great opportunity to demonstrate the value of literacy and the importance of TLP’s work.

“Every year, I’m constantly reminding people why we’re doing this,” Weissbrot said. “It’s not just because I love feeding crossword junkies their fix. I really want TLP to make as much money as possible. This is what TLP does. We have some grants, but our outreach and the upkeep of our building on Buffalo St. and its subsequent materials is what this all goes to.”

The competition has a virtual component and following that generates more outreach, and none contribute more in the virtual realm than Rex Parker, a daily blogger who solves the New York Times’ puzzles every day. Parker has developed a strong online following for those seeking commentary regarding the daily puzzles. Parker said his influence has had a notable impact on the contest’s publicity.

“I’m not used to the recognition as I don’t feel too famous,” Parker said. “It’s a really good cause, and I’m happy to do it. The tournament is a small, local event, but honestly it has been gradually growing in size for the past couple years coming out of COVID. People are really showing up to support, and I’m happy to promote it in any way.”

The annual event was founded by Weissbrot and his fellow crossword connoisseur Adam Perl, the creator behind the crossword puzzles used in the competition.

Perl has decades of experience doing crosswords, creating his first at the age of 40. Now in his late 70s, Perl said he knows crossword puzzles from the inside out, using his decades of experience submitting through the New York Times to craft three levels of the competition for all crossword enjoyers.

“It’s a way for me at age 78 to keep my mind sharp and to keep my wits going,” Perl said. “I love how I’ve been able to take a compelling hobby and turn it into something that really helps the community.”

Whether participants chose to take on the crosswords individually or in groups of two, three or four, the puzzle grids tested each contestants’ limits. Weissbrot said the competition was designed to appeal to every age group and drew on the heavily-popularized style of the New York Times’ daily crossword game that has captivated American audiences.

One hour was given to every crossword competitor. Even with the time limit, Weissbrot said it is normal among players to finish early.

The individual winner of the Toughest Puzzle at the Finger Lakes Crossword Competition this year, Jacob Lehman, is now a five-time winner of the event. Weissbrot and the other judges reported that he finished the puzzle in nine minutes and 47 seconds.

“You don’t do crosswords if you don’t enjoy language and believe in literacy,” Lehman said. “To be able to affect people in a positive way and have fun doing it — can’t get much better than that.”

The new executive director of TLP, Donna Ramos, was present at the event. Despite the bustling nature of the event, she stressed that promotion of TLP and its free services was the key motive of the event. Going forward, she said it is ideal for TLP to use these events to garner more volunteer support within their organization, like peer tutoring and other assisted learning activities. Ramos said volunteers help those taking classes through TLP to graduate through the program in order to achieve citizenship, high school equivalency diplomas, interview techniques and GED’s.

“Part of the reward in volunteer work is the relationship developed between students and their learning partner.” Ramos said. “These funds from the event registration pay our program staff that supervises many volunteers that work one-on-one with our students. It means a lot.”

At this time next year, the competition will resurface with the same familiar faces. Weissbrot, Ramos and Parker said that they will continue to promote the event in any way they can and that promoting adult literacy will be the fundraising event’s goal for every year to come.