We welcome submissions of puzzles from both established and aspiring setters. The puzzles contained in our free sample issue are indicative of the type of puzzles we publish. The fee for a published puzzle is £150.

Submission format

Submissions should be in electronic format if possible.  (Postal submissions will be accepted, but this inevitably introduces the possibility of transcription errors.)  The preferred formats are .doc, .docx or .rtf, but other formats are acceptable as long as the text of the clues is editable.

The blank grid, preamble and clues should be submitted in one file, formatted according to the guidelines in the Magpie Style Guide.  The solution grid, notes and clue explanations (if any) should be submitted in a separate file, clearly identified. This will allow the testers (see below) to attempt each puzzle completely unseen. The name of the puzzle file should have the form “puzzle_name by compiler_name”; the solution file should have the same name with “Solution” appended.

Comprehensive advice on the preparation and submission of puzzles is provided in the Magpie Style Guide and Magpie Clue Guide. Submissions that do not adhere to our submission requirements risk being returned to the setter. A puzzle template is available which setters may find helpful when preparing a submission.

Setters of puzzles with date-specific themes are advised to submit them as far in advance of desired publication as possible, with a ‘non-giveaway’ indication for the team to give priority to test solving them, so that they might achieve timely publication.

All submissions should include an e-mail address for any correspondence related to your submission and a postal address for any subsequent payment.

Submission address

The e-mail address for submissions is submissions@piemag.com. Postal entries can be sent to:

The Magpie

56 Clarence Street

Egham

Surrey

TW20 9QY

What to expect once you have submitted a puzzle

Jason will acknowledge receipt of the puzzle and then test-solve it. At this stage, if he considers it has a fatal flaw, he may reject it and inform the setter accordingly. More likely, he will forward it to Shane (possibly with amendments to preamble and clues) to test-solve, which may result in further amendments. The puzzle is then test-solved by Mark and  a ‘final’ version of the puzzle is forwarded to AJ to lay out in publishable format. AJ then does his own test-solve as a form of backup proofreading, and corresponds with Mark, Shane and Jason, where necessary, before finalising the layout. The puzzle in this form is then sent to Chris for a final test-solve. Once a puzzle has successfully been through this entire process and is considered ready for publication, a proof copy is sent to the setter for a final proofread and approval.

Each issue will be created by selecting from the publication-ready stock of puzzles. In principle, we publish puzzles on a first-in-first-out basis, but constraints imposed by magazine content (prize puzzles, range of grades, etc) and date-specific puzzles inevitably cause some deviation from this principle.  Notification of a puzzle’s publication date will be sent by email in the month prior to publication.  Setters will be paid for their puzzles within three months of publication.

Criteria for publication

The primary criterion for publishing a puzzle is that it is interesting and fun to solve, regardless of difficulty. Other criteria are originality, accessibility of the theme and soundness of clues. Puzzles that fail to satisfy the criteria laid out in the clue guide are likely to be rejected.