FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword 45: Starters, middles and finishers

LONDON — The whistle has blown on another week of football, but for puzzle-minded fans the real action is only just beginning. FourFourTwo magazine today released its 45th Weekend Crossword, a timed challenge that invites supporters to test recall of iconic moments spanning starting goalkeepers, midfield scorers and ruthless finishers.

As ever, the grid is free to play and carries no deadline, yet an on-screen clock lets competitors race friends for bragging rights. Clues dip into three memorable snapshots: the men between the posts for their countries at the 2006 World Cup, Barcelona’s middle man on the scoresheet in the 2011 Champions League final, and a striker who has hit the net three times in World Cup finals.

The crossword is powered by Kwizly, the quiz-tech specialists who also host FourFourTwo’s expanding suite of brain-teasers. Among the parallel challenges now live are the magazine’s definitive list of the 50 greatest players of all time, a roll-call of every overseas footballer to have won the Premier League, and the full Barcelona XI that engineered the famous Remontada against Paris Saint-Germain. Those seeking an endurance test can attempt to name every club in the top seven tiers of English football, while lighter relief comes via Brazilian footballers and Premier League word-searches.

Access to extra hints, badges and global leaderboards is available through The Club, FourFourTwo’s free membership community. Weekly newsletters deliver fresh trivia direct to subscribers’ inboxes, ensuring that even after the weekend fixtures fade from memory, the quiz league table remains open for business.