Who Creates the Newsday Crosswords?

 

It has been estimated that there are no more than a few hundred people in North America who have the necessary skills to create a top-quality crossword.  That being the case, puzzlemakers (often called “constructors”) belong to one of America’s most exclusive occupational groups.

It’s my good fortune to receive puzzles from several dozen talented constructors on a regular basis.  They are men and women from diverse backgrounds and locations, ranging in age from 20-something to 80-something.

Solvers often have favorite constructors, or constructors they find easier or harder than others.  Many solvers gain an extra dimension of enjoyment and insight by “getting into the heads” of certain constructors.

Below you will find profiles and photos of many of the constructors whose names appear regularly on the puzzle. I hope you’ll enjoy learning more about them, and that you’ll find the information useful in tackling the Newsday Crossword  -- S.N.

Merle Baker, 60, lives in State College, Pennsylvania, and has a married daughter.  He has been a movie projectionist for 40 years, soon to be retired.  Merle specializes in the more difficult Thursday through Saturday puzzles, with an occasional Sunday crossword thrown in.  Like many Newsday constructors, his puzzles are known for their interesting and lively non-theme answers.  His first published puzzle appeared in Newsday in 2000.

Sheldon Benardo, a lifelong New York City resident, has been constructing crosswords professionally since 1998.  He has been a school principal since 1991, and requires his staff to complete his puzzles without a dictionary.  He lives with his wife of 25 years, Carole.  Sheldon's favorite puzzles to create are those with pun themes, and he aspires to have a Saturday Stumper published.

Adam Cohen, 32, is an editor from Brooklyn, New York. He has been constructing crossword puzzles since the age of 15, and sold his first puzzle professionally at 24. In his spare time (such as it exists), his nonpuzzling interests include word games, trivia, reading, movies, travel, swimming, physical fitness, and major league baseball (and the New York Mets).

Kevin Donovan, 45, lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife of twenty years, Sheila, and three children.  He works in a retirement home and has been constructing puzzles since 2003.  His interests include cycling, camping, reading, and solving the Newsday puzzle on-line (if he can).

Gail Grabowski, 54, lives in Peru, Illinois, with her husband and a mellow Siamese cat named Max. She is a former junior high school English teacher, currently working at a real estate appraisal company.  GaiI, who started constructing crosswords in 2002, specializes in early-week puzzles.  Her mentoring by constructor Nancy Salomon (see her profile below) made it possible to “learn the ropes” relatively quickly.  In her free hours, she likes to sit down with a good book, cook up a new recipe, take a bike ride, or play a little golf. During the summer, Gail tends a vegetable and herb garden.

Randy Hartman, 48, lives in Escondido, California.   He is a civil engineer for a water utility.  His other major hobby besides crossword constructing is officiating college and high school wrestling matches throughout the United States.  Randy, who has been constructing crossword puzzles since 1994, has two grown daughters and one growing three-year-old grandson.

Will Johnston, 40, is from Watertown, Massachusetts.  A graduate of Harvard, he is a textbook editor, specializing in high-school mathematics.  He has been constructing crosswords since 1999.  His puzzles are most likely to be seen at the end of the week.  Will’s other interests include chess, collecting fountain pens and inks, and teaching book typography.

Patrick Jordan, 41, lives in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he works in the advertising department of the local newspaper. Patrick took up crossword construction as a regular sideline ten years ago, and his puzzles often betray his puckish sense of humor. He is also a highly accomplished crossword solver, often able to complete a daily-size crossword in less than three minutes. His hobbies include reading, tomato gardening, and collecting animation cels.

 

Craig Kasper, in his early 30s, is from Calgary, Alberta.  He had his first published crossword at 26, and currently specializes in Saturday Stumpers, which are also his favorite puzzles to solve. When he's not puzzling, Craig enjoys reading, movies, games, and spending time outdoors.

Sarah Keller, from southern New Jersey, has been constructing puzzles since her retirement from the printing industry five years ago.  She had earlier careers as a high-school language teacher and a systems analyst in the banking industry. Sarah's other interests include poker (pursued at the nearby Atlantic city casinos), and reading mystery novels. 

  

Donna Levin began constructing crosswords after sailing on Stan Newman's 2004 Crossword Cruise and being inspired by his "how to" lessons.  A retired matrimonial attorney and former Manhattanite, she and her husband Denis now live on a barrier island in Florida.  When she's not constructing puzzles or dodging hurricanes, she works as an environmentalist in behalf of endangered sea turtles and manatees.
 

Brendan Quigley, is a guitarist for a rock band.  He also enjoys playing bridge, climbing rocks, and doing other such sundry activities most twenty-something Bostonians like doing.

Doug Peterson, 33, was born and raised in Montana and now makes his home in sunny Southern California.  He's employed at a small accounting firm in Pasadena and also works part-time tutoring high school students.  He's enjoyed solving puzzles for as long as he can remember and also likes to spend time watching baseball, reading, and listening to European heavy metal music.  

Fred Piscop, 53, is from Hauppauge, New York.  A graduate of Cornell, he took up puzzling full-time in 1995 after being laid off as a computer tech support specialist for a defense contractor.  In addition to his constructing activities, Fred has been crossword editor of the Washington Post Sunday Magazine since 2002.  When he’s not puzzling, he plays keyboards in a rock band, rides a tandem bicycle with his wife, samples microbrews, and collects spelling errors in comic strips.

Randolph Ross is principal of Great Neck South High School in Long Island, New York.  He and his wife have two grown children.  The first crossword Randy ever created appeared in Newsday in 1988.  

Nancy Salomon, from Rochester, New York, took up puzzlemaking in 1992.  She enjoys helping new constructors along, and finds that she spends as much time working with novices now as she does constructing.

A.J. Santora, 83 years young, is the dean of American constructors, having been creating crosswords for nearly 60 years.  Retired from the building trade, he lives in North Grafton, Massachusetts.  

Richard Silvestri, of Baby Boomer age, is a professor of mathematics at Nassau County Community College in Garden City, New York.  Rich’s two favorite topics of conversation are beer and the Marx Brothers.

Greg Staples, 48, an elementary school teacher from suburban Milwaukee, has been making puzzles since 1999.  He and his wife, also a teacher, have two teenage daughters.   His favorite crosswords (to create and to solve) involve wordplay themes.  

Daniel Stark, 50-something, lives in a small town near Guadalajara, Mexico, with his wife and puzzle collaborator Roslyn.  Growing up in Chicago, Dan was a computer systems professional before becoming a crossword creator and editor in the early 1990s.  He has collaborated with Stan Newman on The Million Word Crossword Dictionary and The Million Word Crossword Answer Book.  He is also the webmaster for StanXwords.com.

 
Bruce Venzke, 62, lives in what George Carlin has called the "3rd Coast"  (Madison, Wisconsin), where he works for a coin-op amusement game company.  He began constructing crosswords in 2002, doing most of his work since in collaboration with Stella Daily.  He and his wife of 40 years, Jeanne, travel the U.S. in their spare time enjoying their hobby of riding roller coasters.  They have daughters Jen in L.A. and Kristen in Austin, and there's always a Golden Retriever lying about the house (right now it's Jetta). 

Robert H. Wolfe, 57, a veterinarian from North Woodmere, New York, has been married for 32 years and has two grown daughters.  He has been creating crossword puzzles since 1974.  Bob is also a long-distance runner, and writes poetry, screenplays and novels.

 

If you're wondering why Sally R. Stein and Anna Stiga, two Newsday Crossword
regulars, aren't listed above, here's why.