Lifestyle & Entertainment
21 July, 2026
Clever towns set to battle it out in crossword challenge
SEVEN townships across three central Victorian shires will go head-to-head next month as they compete to be crowned the region's cleverest community. Teams from Avoca, Beaufort, Trentham, Daylesford, Creswick, Clunes and Maryborough will take part in the annual Clever Town Challenge on Saturday, August 1st, racing to solve a special preview edition of The Sunday Age Giant Crossword.
Hosted for about 20 years through Hepburn Shire, the event sees teams given 90 minutes to tackle one of Australia's toughest crosswords, with the winning town taking home the perpetual Clever Town trophy.
What began as part of the community-run Words in Winter festival, the Clever Town competition has expanded over the years to include teams from Pyrenees Shire and Central Goldfields Shire, with Beaufort and Avoca now competing.
"It's perfect for winter,” said compiler Linda Newitt-Schull.
Clunes dominated the challenge for years before Trentham narrowly claimed victory last year, meaning there will be a title to defend when the teams gather.
The puzzle is supplied by Snodger Media, compilers of The Age Saturday General Crossword and The Sunday Age Giant Crossword, which is based in Clunes.
Ms Newitt-Schull said the competition was designed to test participants' general knowledge and teamwork rather than their internet search skills.
"It's trivia, it's not anything you can't find out from a library, and all the libraries across three shires are being made available to the teams," she said.
There are a few rules for the competition: no artificial intelligence, no Google and no phones, with teams instead relying on old-fashioned know-how and library resources. "There's no AI, but it's an open book," she said.
Because the event is team-based, participants are encouraged to draw on one another's strengths.
"Because it's team based, you get to play off each other so someone will come in and know everything about art history, and another person will know everything about Australian politics," she said.
But she assures it won’t be easy for the teams competing in the challenge.
"The clues for Sunday are a very wide range. It's one of the hardest general knowledge puzzles in Australia."
Ms Newitt-Schull hopes that locals with a passion for general knowledge will get involved in August, welcoming more towns to get involved in 2027.
"The more towns the merrier. There's a trophy and obviously the accolade of being the clever town across the Pyrenees, Goldfields and Hepburn shires. It's a wonderful community-based activity, you just turn up at your local library."
The free event will be held at the Beaufort and Avoca resource Centres, from 10am till 11:30am on August 1st.