Sounds good — I'll use "Summary" instead of "TL;DR" in all future sections.
Quick look at how the last section would read with that change:
NFL Pick'em (Private Contests): How the Game Works, Week to Week
The Weekly Cycle
Setup (once): The commissioner configures the contest — league, format, schedule, scoring, and picksheet rules — and can adjust settings throughout the season.
Picksheet generated (weekly): Each week, a picksheet is generated showing that week's eligible games.
Picks made: Entrants make their picks — winners, and totals if enabled — before that week's Pick Deadline.
Picks lock: Once the deadline passes (or, in some configurations, once each game kicks off), picks lock and become visible to other entrants.
Grading: As games are played and finish, picks are graded and the leaderboard updates in real time.
Standings: At season's end (or at any point along the way via Segments), standings reflect cumulative performance across all counted weeks.
Summary: Set it up once, pick every week before the deadline, watch grading happen live, standings update continuously.
Entry Rules
Setting | What CS Should Know |
Entry Deadline | Off by default. When a commissioner turns it on, no new entries are accepted after that date/time. Defaults to Sunday 1pm ET (NFL/combined) or Saturday 12pm ET (CFB-only) of the contest's starting week — but can be moved any time up until the last week of the contest starts. |
Prevent New Entries | A hard stop that immediately closes the contest to new players. Turns on automatically once the Entry Deadline passes, but a commissioner can also flip it on manually at any time. |
Maximum Entries Per Entrant | Defaults to 1 entry per person; a commissioner can raise it to any whole number from 1 up to 250. Can only be raised, never lowered, once the contest is live. |
Joining Mid-Season | A late joiner is scored 0-for-every-required-pick on all weeks that already completed before they joined. They compete normally starting with the next open week. |
Joining After the Contest Ends | Not allowed — no new entries can be accepted once the contest has ended. |
Summary: Join as early as possible — missed weeks before you enter count against you, they don't just get skipped. Commissioners can tighten entry rules anytime, but the entry cap can only go up, never down, once live.