Program

The 186th Convention of the
National Puzzlers’ League

Biddle Hotel and Conference Center
Bloomington, Indiana
July 9-12, 2026

All sessions are in Alumni Hall at the West end of the 1st floor in the Indiana Memorial Union.

Click here for information on the special daytime events at the Lilly Library on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday • Click here for meal times • Click here for our drop-in policy for guests

Hidden Contest

Anytime Find it. Solve it. Do what it says. The solution will be explained on Sunday morning.

Thursday, July 9th

8:00 PM An evening of puzzles and games

Climb For Season by Kryptogram

Can you reassemble the title or phrase that rhymes with the words you've come up with?

Kennections by Willz

Five questions whose answers share a "kennection." Based on a game by Ken Jennings.

Zeroing In by WXYZ

A game of strategic guessing.

Blooming Con Puzzle by Scarab

Hosiers by Trazom

In the Garden by juff

Three cryptics for over-the-weekend pairs solving. Solutions are due by 8:00PM Saturday.

Friday, July 10th

8:00 PM Another evening of puzzles and games

Alternative Facts by Qaqaq

A trivia/wordplay game for teams of two that will have you re-examining what you know.

Anti-Anti-Match by Squonk

Guess the most popular answers to questions. The more you get right, the more points. But a single wrong guess reduces your score to zero.

Three of a Kind by Bluff

Ascertain the target word as early as possible.

Saturday, July 11th

10:30 AM Business meeting

For remote krewe: Zoom link • Meeting chat link

2:15 PM An afternoon of pencil-and-paper competitions:

Which One Don't Belong? by Willz

Two different answers to each set.

Two of a Kind by Murdoch

In which, for example, A_C_I_E would be ARCHIVE and ASCRIBE.

Con Fuego organized by Tyger

In honor of Ember, a collection of new flats by the Krewe, each related in some way to fire.

6:30 PM The Golden Sphinx Awards presented by Btnirn

[during dessert]

Recognizing outstanding achievement in contributions to The Enigma in 2025.

8:15 PM BloomingCon SWAG [extravaganza] organized by Evv and Ø

If you're in the market for some amazing stuff, boy, do we have the goods for you!

Sunday, July 12th

10:00 AM Awards for all the weekend contests

Click here for meal times

The National Puzzlers’ League

Founded 1883

The world’s oldest

puzzlers’ organization