These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the Lumen Ruse website, mobile web experience, and any related services (collectively, the “Service”) provided by Ark & Ember LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
1. Who we are
Lumen Ruse is operated by Ark & Ember LLC. You are entering into an agreement with Ark & Ember LLC when you use the Service or make a purchase.
2. Acceptance of terms
By creating an account, signing in, solving puzzles, purchasing a Season Pass, or otherwise continuing to use the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Notice. If you use the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization.
3. The Service
Lumen Ruse publishes one free wordplay puzzle each weekday (Monday–Friday). Users may also purchase a Season Pass to unlock additional “Extra” puzzles and the puzzle archive for the active season. Seasons are annual, non-renewing periods that run from July 1 through June 30 of the following year. The next season becomes available for purchase on June 1 preceding its start date.
4. Accounts and eligibility
You must provide accurate information when creating an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service; if you are under the age of majority in your jurisdiction, you must use the Service under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to misuse the Service. This includes, but is not limited to:
- using the Service for any unlawful purpose;
- attempting to disrupt, interfere with, or gain unauthorized access to the Service;
- using automated means to scrape, harvest, or copy puzzle content or user data;
- impersonating another person or misrepresenting your affiliation;
- submitting content that infringes intellectual property rights or violates applicable law;
- harassing, abusing, or harming other users.
6. Intellectual property
Except where otherwise identified, Lumen Ruse™ and its original site content are operated and published by Ark & Ember LLC. Original text, puzzle wording and clue construction, solution explanations and breakdowns, hints, editorial notes, illustrations and comic artwork, characters, interface artwork, written site content, collections, and the selection, coordination and arrangement of material are owned by or licensed to Ark & Ember LLC to the extent protected by applicable law.
Lumen Ruse does not claim exclusive rights in ideas, facts, ordinary words, standard puzzle mechanisms (such as anagrams, reversals, deletions, containment or homophones), methods of solving, public-domain material, or other material not protectable under applicable intellectual-property law. “Lumen Ruse” is used as an unregistered trademark of Ark & Ember LLC; no federal registration is claimed.
You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes.
6a. Prohibited copying and commercial reuse
Except where applicable law permits otherwise, you may not:
- systematically copy the Lumen Ruse puzzle library;
- republish substantial collections of Lumen Ruse puzzles;
- commercially redistribute Lumen Ruse artwork or puzzle content;
- clone substantial portions of the Lumen Ruse content library;
- use automated systems to harvest or scrape substantial amounts of puzzle content;
- remove copyright or attribution information from redistributed protected content;
- falsely represent Lumen Ruse-created content as your own;
- create or distribute a substantially copied database of Lumen Ruse puzzles.
Nothing here restricts ordinary player behaviour: discussing a puzzle, sharing an official Lumen Ruse share card, quoting a small portion for commentary or review, linking to a puzzle, or any other activity permitted by applicable law, including fair use.
6b. Automated and machine-learning use
Automated bulk collection of the Lumen Ruse puzzle corpus for building, training, fine-tuning, evaluating, or populating another commercial puzzle or content system is not authorised without written permission from Ark & Ember LLC, except where applicable law provides otherwise. This is a statement of permitted content use under these Terms.
7. User submissions and guest setters
The submitting setter retains ownership of any rights they hold in their original submission. By submitting a ruse for consideration, the setter grants Ark & Ember LLC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to review, edit, format, display, publish, archive, promote, and distribute the accepted submission as part of Lumen Ruse and associated Lumen Ruse promotional materials.
By submitting, you represent that:
- the submission is your own original work, or you hold the rights needed to submit it;
- publication will not knowingly infringe another person’s rights;
- you have not knowingly copied another setter’s protected expression.
We are not obligated to publish or use any submission, and submitting does not transfer ownership of your work to Ark & Ember LLC.
8. Payment, subscriptions, and seasons
Season Pass purchases are handled by our online reseller and Merchant of Record, Paddle.com. Paddle is the Merchant of Record for all orders, which means Paddle processes payments, handles billing, tax, invoicing, and customer service inquiries related to those transactions.
A Season Pass is a one-time, non-renewing purchase that grants access to Extra puzzles and the archive for the season identified at checkout. We do not automatically renew your pass. To continue premium access after a season ends, you must purchase the next season, which becomes available approximately one month before it begins.
Prices are displayed at checkout and may be subject to applicable taxes. Because Paddle is the Merchant of Record, payment terms, billing, tax collection, and refund mechanics are governed by Paddle’s Buyer Terms and our Refund Policy.
9. Refunds
Please see our Refund Policy for details. Refund requests are processed by Paddle.
10. Suspension and termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, if you materially breach these Terms, engage in fraud or abusive behavior, compromise the security of the Service, or repeatedly violate our community guidelines. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately.
11. Service level
We strive to keep the Service available and accurate, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free, or secure operation. Puzzle content, features, and availability may change without notice.
12. Disclaimer of warranties
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
13. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Ark & Ember LLC’s aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the total amount you paid to us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to liability. We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits or data.
14. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ark & Ember LLC and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses arising out of your use of the Service, your submissions, or your violation of these Terms.
15. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Delaware.
16. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting the updated Terms and revising the effective date. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
17. Merchant of Record disclosure
Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle provides customer service inquiries and handles returns.
18. Contact us
For questions about these Terms, contact us at support@arkemberllc.com.
Effective date: August 24, 2026