Used a Hint on the Cannabis Crossword? You're Now on the Board.

So you fired up the cannabis crossword, got a little stuck, tapped a hint, and finished the grid. Until now that meant your time sat in the void, nowhere to be seen, while the fast clean solvers hogged the whole board. We changed that. Lean on a hint and you show up now.

Because let's be honest, some days you sit down to the puzzle already three gummies deep and “fast and clean” is just not on the menu. That's allowed. You should get your name up there too.

What changed

The Highbrow leaderboard has two parts now. Up top is the ranked race: the fastest clean solves, no hints, no auto-check. That part works exactly like it always did. Below it is a new section called Solved with hints. Finish the puzzle with a little help and your name and time land there, badge and all.

The one rule that keeps it fair: a hinted time can never outrank a clean one. The two groups sit in their own lanes. So the speed-demons keep their bragging rights, and everybody else stops being invisible.

Why we opened the board up

A leaderboard that only shows the single fastest solver is a weird thing. You finish the puzzle, you feel good, you go look at the board, and it's one stranger sitting above a wall of empty slots. It reads like a ghost town even on a day plenty of people played. That's a lousy welcome.

The daily cannabis crossword was never meant to be a club for the fastest brain in the room. It's a daily ritual, a few minutes of weed-word fun with your coffee or your morning bowl. Using a hint doesn't mean you failed. It means you played. So now you show up.

How the board works now

• Sign in before you play so your name can post.
• Solve it clean, no hints and no auto-check, and your time joins the ranked race up top.
• Lean on a hint and your time lands in the Solved with hints section instead.
• Either way your streak keeps going. A hint never breaks it.
• Want the crown? Quick and clean is still the whole game. Want to just play? Also great.

Chasing the crown

If you do want that top spot, the formula is boring and honest: solve clean, and get faster. You start to recognize the recurring clue types, the strains and the gear and the slang that come back around, and the grid stops fighting you. No shortcuts, that's the fun of it.

Wait, there's a cannabis crossword?

If this is news to you: yes. Highbrow is the world's first daily cannabis crossword. A fresh grid every weekday, built around weed culture, gear, strains, the whole world we live in. It's free, it takes a few minutes, and there's a new one waiting tomorrow.

Come get your name on the board. Clean, hinted, whatever. The doors are open.

See you on the grid, baby.