Note: this is not what constructors have been paid. It's what they would have been paid if today's prices had been offered throughout their career.
There are several problems with this calculation: prices have varied over time, the database of puzzes used only goes back to the beginning of the Will Shortz era (1993) and, more importantly, Variety contributions (acrostic, diagramless, cryptic, etc.) are not included. Payments for collaboration puzzles are assumed to be split evenly among the listed constructors.
Only constructors valued at least $4,000 are displayed here.
Current pay rates:
Daily: $200
Sunday: $1,000
| Rank | Name | Count | Solos | Collabs | Sundays | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Elizabeth C. Gorski | 201 | 201 | 0 | 58 | $86,600 |
| 2. | Patrick Berry | 172 | 170 | 2 | 56 | $79,000 |
| 3. | Manny Nosowsky | 246 | 244 | 2 | 29 | $71,800 |
| 4. | David J. Kahn | 154 | 151 | 3 | 39 | $60,500 |
| 5. | Randolph Ross | 98 | 98 | 0 | 42 | $53,200 |
| 6. | Rich Norris | 186 | 186 | 0 | 18 | $51,600 |
| 7. | Brendan Emmett Quigley | 144 | 133 | 11 | 29 | $50,900 |
| 8. | Cathy Allis | 84 | 84 | 0 | 40 | $48,800 |
| 9. | Nancy Salomon | 185 | 69 | 116 | 36 | $43,233 |
| 10. | Joe DiPietro | 116 | 116 | 0 | 24 | $42,400 |
| 11. | Richard Silvestri | 84 | 84 | 0 | 26 | $37,600 |
| 12. | Nancy Nicholson Joline | 48 | 47 | 1 | 34 | $36,300 |
| 13. | Fred Piscop | 102 | 102 | 0 | 14 | $31,600 |
| 14. | Patrick Merrell | 80 | 80 | 0 | 19 | $31,200 |
| 15. | Alan Arbesfeld | 93 | 93 | 0 | 15 | $30,600 |
| 16. | Harvey Estes | 116 | 71 | 45 | 20 | $29,500 |
| 17. | Frank Longo | 68 | 66 | 2 | 14 | $24,600 |
| 18. | Gregory E. Paul | 116 | 116 | 0 | 0 | $23,200 |
| 19. | Matt Gaffney | 58 | 57 | 1 | 14 | $22,700 |
| 20. | Jim Page | 69 | 69 | 0 | 10 | $21,800 |
| 21. | Frances Hansen | 40 | 40 | 0 | 17 | $21,600 |
| 22. | Peter Gordon | 76 | 76 | 0 | 7 | $20,800 |
| Robert H. Wolfe | 60 | 60 | 0 | 11 | $20,800 | |
| 24. | Paula Gamache | 74 | 71 | 3 | 8 | $20,500 |
| 25. | Bob Klahn | 60 | 50 | 10 | 13 | $19,800 |
| 26. | A. J. Santora | 68 | 68 | 0 | 5 | $17,600 |
| 27. | Charles M. Deber | 18 | 18 | 0 | 17 | $17,200 |
| 28. | Barry C. Silk | 76 | 71 | 5 | 3 | $16,700 |
| 29. | Trip Payne | 41 | 40 | 1 | 10 | $16,100 |
| 30. | Byron Walden | 60 | 53 | 7 | 5 | $14,900 |
| 31. | Eric Berlin | 36 | 34 | 2 | 10 | $14,600 |
| Randall J. Hartman | 73 | 73 | 0 | 0 | $14,600 | |
| 33. | Lynn Lempel | 61 | 60 | 1 | 3 | $14,500 |
| 34. | Peter A. Collins | 68 | 59 | 9 | 2 | $13,900 |
| 35. | Matt Ginsberg | 34 | 27 | 7 | 12 | $13,700 |
| 36. | Kevin G. Der | 28 | 27 | 1 | 9 | $12,300 |
| 37. | Patrick Blindauer | 41 | 24 | 17 | 11 | $12,100 |
| 38. | Joe Krozel | 63 | 52 | 11 | 1 | $11,900 |
| Mike Nothnagel | 50 | 45 | 5 | 4 | $11,900 | |
| 40. | Martin Ashwood-Smith | 61 | 55 | 6 | 0 | $11,600 |
| 41. | Sherry O. Blackard | 53 | 48 | 5 | 1 | $10,900 |
| Ed Early | 53 | 52 | 1 | 1 | $10,900 | |
| 43. | Wayne Robert Williams | 38 | 38 | 0 | 4 | $10,800 |
| 44. | Mark Diehl | 51 | 50 | 1 | 1 | $10,500 |
| 45. | Michael Shteyman | 45 | 41 | 4 | 3 | $10,200 |
| 46. | Sidney L. Robbins | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| 47. | Caleb Madison | 29 | 26 | 3 | 6 | $9,900 |
| 48. | Sarah Keller | 49 | 48 | 1 | 0 | $9,700 |
| 49. | Henry Hook | 24 | 24 | 0 | 6 | $9,600 |
| Bryant White | 28 | 28 | 0 | 5 | $9,600 | |
| 51. | Dean Niles | 15 | 15 | 0 | 8 | $9,400 |
| 52. | Tony Orbach | 21 | 9 | 12 | 13 | $9,000 |
| 53. | Richard Hughes | 35 | 35 | 0 | 2 | $8,600 |
| 54. | Will Nediger | 18 | 18 | 0 | 6 | $8,400 |
| Bob Peoples | 39 | 33 | 6 | 3 | $8,400 | |
| 56. | Victor Fleming | 36 | 19 | 17 | 6 | $8,300 |
| Bill Zais | 14 | 9 | 5 | 9 | $8,300 | |
| 58. | Greg Staples | 25 | 25 | 0 | 4 | $8,200 |
| David Levinson Wilk | 21 | 21 | 0 | 5 | $8,200 | |
| 60. | Daniel A. Finan | 12 | 12 | 0 | 7 | $8,000 |
| Con Pederson | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | $8,000 | |
| 62. | Raymond Hamel | 27 | 26 | 1 | 3 | $7,700 |
| Nelson Hardy | 11 | 10 | 1 | 7 | $7,700 | |
| 64. | Chuck Deodene | 38 | 38 | 0 | 0 | $7,600 |
| Dana Motley | 30 | 30 | 0 | 2 | $7,600 | |
| 66. | Ian Livengood | 26 | 25 | 1 | 3 | $7,500 |
| David Quarfoot | 38 | 33 | 5 | 1 | $7,500 | |
| 68. | Ashish Vengsarkar | 15 | 11 | 4 | 7 | $7,400 |
| 69. | Andrea Carla Michaels | 37 | 20 | 17 | 4 | $7,300 |
| 70. | Richard Chisholm | 32 | 32 | 0 | 1 | $7,200 |
| Allan E. Parrish | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $7,200 | |
| Stephanie Spadaccini | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $7,200 | |
| 73. | Lou Sabin | 29 | 3 | 26 | 7 | $6,800 |
| Jonathan Schmalzbach | 30 | 30 | 0 | 1 | $6,800 | |
| 75. | John Farmer | 29 | 29 | 0 | 1 | $6,600 |
| 76. | Jeremy Newton | 9 | 7 | 2 | 7 | $6,400 |
| Martin Schneider | 12 | 12 | 0 | 5 | $6,400 | |
| Karen M. Tracey | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | $6,400 | |
| 79. | Seth A. Abel | 11 | 11 | 0 | 5 | $6,200 |
| 80. | Janet Bender | 26 | 26 | 0 | 1 | $6,000 |
| Alex K. Justin | 14 | 14 | 0 | 4 | $6,000 | |
| Derrick Niederman | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | $6,000 | |
| Nancy S. Ross | 22 | 22 | 0 | 2 | $6,000 | |
| Michael Torch | 18 | 18 | 0 | 3 | $6,000 | |
| 85. | Joel Fagliano | 17 | 17 | 0 | 3 | $5,800 |
| 86. | Kelsey Blakley | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 | $5,600 |
| Daniel C. Bryant | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 | $5,600 | |
| 88. | Tyler Hinman | 22 | 17 | 5 | 2 | $5,500 |
| 89. | Michael Ashley | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | $5,400 |
| Brad Wilber | 30 | 24 | 6 | 0 | $5,400 | |
| 91. | Kevan Choset | 24 | 21 | 3 | 2 | $5,300 |
| Michael S. Maurer | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | $5,300 | |
| 93. | Myles Callum | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | $5,200 |
| Lee Glickstein | 25 | 3 | 22 | 6 | $5,200 | |
| Nancy Kavanaugh | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | $5,200 | |
| 96. | Doug Peterson | 27 | 16 | 11 | 2 | $5,100 |
| Mel Rosen | 10 | 9 | 1 | 4 | $5,100 | |
| 98. | Oliver Hill | 16 | 14 | 2 | 3 | $5,000 |
| Robert Malinow | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 | $5,000 | |
| 100. | Jeff Chen | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | $4,900 |
| Craig Kasper | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 | $4,900 | |
| Dave Tuller | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | $4,900 | |
| 103. | Ernie Furtado | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3 | $4,800 |
| Adam G. Perl | 20 | 20 | 0 | 1 | $4,800 | |
| 105. | Karen Young Bonin | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | $4,600 |
| Robert W. Harris | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $4,600 | |
| Edward Sessa | 15 | 15 | 0 | 2 | $4,600 | |
| 108. | Pete Muller | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 | $4,500 |
| Fran Sabin | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 | $4,500 | |
| Carolyn W. Stewart | 19 | 18 | 1 | 1 | $4,500 | |
| 111. | Tim Croce | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $4,400 |
| Mark Feldman | 10 | 10 | 0 | 3 | $4,400 | |
| Gerald R. Ferguson | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $4,400 | |
| joon pahk | 18 | 14 | 4 | 2 | $4,400 | |
| Merl Reagle | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | $4,400 | |
| Ben Tausig | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | $4,400 | |
| Norman S. Wizer | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | $4,400 | |
| 118. | Kyle Mahowald | 14 | 13 | 1 | 2 | $4,300 |
| 119. | Rand H. Burns | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | $4,200 |
| Pamela Amick Klawitter | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | $4,200 | |
| Randy Sowell | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | $4,200 | |
| Norma Steinberg | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1 | $4,200 | |
| 123. | Yaakov Bendavid | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | $4,000 |
| Jim Hyres | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Roy Leban | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 | $4,000 | |
| Stanley Newman | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 |