My readers and listeners are intelligent people who are highly Bible-literate. Many of you home school your kids, enjoy personal Bible study and family Bible study as well. I’m also pretty sure that all of you enjoy an intellectual challenge! That’s why I thought it might be fun to host a monthly crossword puzzle contest, with a new crossword on a different Scriptural theme each month. Thus, the soon-to-be-sort-of-famous Eliyahu ben David Crossword Contest is born! And what’s a contest without a prize, right?
SO .. the winning entry each month will be posted on this site, and the winner will receive a free autographed book, CD, DVD, or whatever is being offered that month for the giveaway. In a minute I’ll tell you how to enter the giveaway, but first, I thought you might like to know how I got into creating crosswords.
It all started a few years ago when a Christian Radio Station, The JC Town, KPJC AM 1220, Salem, OR, asked me to write a monthly feature for their magazine. I noticed the magazine did not have a crossword, so I thought I could create crossword puzzles that would promote Bible study. Creating those puzzles was really fun, and they did have the desired effect – to get people looking in their Bible for the answers! I loved that! Well, JC Town had a format change, so my puzzles were no longer needed there. However, the crossword seed was planted to spring up here in the form of the Eliyahu ben David Crossword Contest.
Here are the rules:
1. Register at this website. It’s free.
2. Do the latest puzzle. You can click the link in the contest post and do the crossword on the handy-dandy interactive webpage or print it out and do it in the conventional way. You know, with a pencil. 🙂
3. Email me a screenshot or scanned image of your completed puzzle. Be sure to put your username on it, and any comments you want to make. Realize it could get posted on this website, Twitter, Facebook, etc, and may be permanently etched on the eastern slope of the Great Pyramid of Giza, where it will remain for ten thousand years – or, alternately, on the refrigerator till Thursday.
4. Now, here’s the really important part: after completing the above, leave a comment with the respective puzzle post letting me know what you thought of the puzzle. Be honest. If you want to say the Eliyahu ben David Crossword sucks lemons, that’s no problem. On the other hand, if you liked it, let me know why. Your comments will help me to keep improving the puzzles.
5. Provided you have completed 1-3 above, you can receive additional entries by completing any or all of the Bonus Entries listed on the then-current contest post.
6. I will use the secret Eliyahu ben David method to select a winner. I’m not sure yet, but I think it will involve a hat and my lovely co-host, Dawn. Update: I asked Dawn and she said, “use Random.org” – so there ya go. Anyway, the winner will be posted on this website and will receive the highly coveted prize via snail mail. Fun, right?
7. All entries must be in by the last day of the month in which the respective Eliyahu ben David Crossword Contest puzzle is first posted. (Puzzles will remain on the site after that, just for fun.)
Eliyahu ben David Crossword Contest Conventions:
[Say that 3 times fast!]
1. Unless otherwise stated, all Bible references will be made according to the King James Version of the Bible. This creates a level playing field for all, since the KJV is the most widely available version in English.
2. Some words and clues will reference information contained in my books and/or radio programs, or other material I’ve authored. After all, it is the Eliyahu ben David Crossword Contest, right? 😉
3. All submissions and related comments become the property of this website and may be displayed by us without further permission. Copyright being what it is these days, I had to say that.
4. It’s perfectly ok to post about our contest, but not the puzzle solutions, to Twitter, Facebook, your website, and anyplace you like, so long as you include a link pointing back to this website.
5. As time goes on we may learn from our inevitable mistakes, making a few more rules and conventions necessary, which will be posted here as an update.
6. All puzzles can be found under the category: “Crossword”. Feel free to do the old ones, just for fun!
UPDATE: Here are links to our puzzles!
April, 2012 – 1st EBD Crossword Contest on Targum Isaiah
May, 2012 – Mount Carmel Contest Crossword
NEW!!! June, 2012 – Elijah at Horeb Crossword Contest
Hi, E! I’m really excited to test my skills and knowledge of Scripture with this new puzzle. Looking forward to it!!!
Hello! This looks like fun. I’m horrible at crosswords but I do know a little about the Bible so I’ll give it a shot. You said to email you a screenshot, it might be a stupid question but what’s your email address?!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK 🙂
Dave and I had fun doing this. Can’t wait for next month’s puzzle. The biggest challenge was getting the spelling of Mahersahlalhasbaz right!!! LOL
This will sound strange to most people and it is a fact, but I have NEVER been interested in doing crossword puzzles my whole life. After I finished this puzzle it occured to me that my lack of interest in regular crossword was due to the fact that my heart is not into worldly knowledge. (I am not against crossword puzzles at all)
I am looking forward to the next puzzle, and NO Eliyahu it does NOT suck lemons!! LOL 🙂
Great crossword puzzle. I e-mailed a screenshot–I hope I win 🙂
Another fun puzzle. It’s funny cause I have had to do it twice both times (and yes it was much easier the second time) cause I left the page without saving the puzzle!! Oh well, it has been a month. Thanks for giving us some fun brain food with lots of good Scripture! Looking forward to the next one!