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, Second Sunday 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 | 172 | 172 | 0 | 47 | $72,000 |
| 2. | Manny Nosowsky | 245 | 243 | 2 | 29 | $71,600 |
| 3. | Patrick Berry | 122 | 121 | 1 | 40 | $56,300 |
| 4. | David J. Kahn | 137 | 135 | 2 | 35 | $54,400 |
| 5. | Rich Norris | 186 | 186 | 0 | 18 | $51,600 |
| 6. | Randolph Ross | 94 | 94 | 0 | 40 | $50,800 |
| 7. | Cathy Millhauser | 82 | 82 | 0 | 38 | $46,800 |
| 8. | Nancy Salomon | 182 | 67 | 115 | 36 | $42,733 |
| 9. | Brendan Emmett Quigley | 123 | 117 | 6 | 23 | $42,400 |
| 10. | Richard Silvestri | 83 | 83 | 0 | 26 | $37,400 |
| 11. | Joe DiPietro | 99 | 99 | 0 | 21 | $36,600 |
| 12. | Nancy Nicholson Joline | 48 | 47 | 1 | 34 | $36,300 |
| 13. | Fred Piscop | 98 | 98 | 0 | 14 | $30,800 |
| 14. | Harvey Estes | 116 | 71 | 45 | 20 | $29,500 |
| 15. | Patrick Merrell | 67 | 67 | 0 | 14 | $24,600 |
| 16. | Frank Longo | 67 | 65 | 2 | 14 | $24,400 |
| 17. | Alan Arbesfeld | 77 | 77 | 0 | 10 | $23,400 |
| 18. | Gregory E. Paul | 116 | 116 | 0 | 0 | $23,200 |
| 19. | Matt Gaffney | 58 | 57 | 1 | 14 | $22,700 |
| 20. | Frances Hansen | 40 | 40 | 0 | 17 | $21,600 |
| 21. | Jim Page | 66 | 66 | 0 | 10 | $21,200 |
| 22. | Peter Gordon | 76 | 76 | 0 | 7 | $20,800 |
| 23. | Robert H. Wolfe | 56 | 56 | 0 | 11 | $20,000 |
| 24. | Bob Klahn | 58 | 48 | 10 | 11 | $17,800 |
| 25. | A. J. Santora | 68 | 68 | 0 | 5 | $17,600 |
| 26. | Charles M. Deber | 16 | 16 | 0 | 16 | $16,000 |
| 27. | Trip Payne | 36 | 36 | 0 | 9 | $14,400 |
| 28. | Randall J. Hartman | 66 | 66 | 0 | 0 | $13,200 |
| 29. | Byron Walden | 50 | 48 | 2 | 3 | $12,200 |
| 30. | Paula Gamache | 43 | 42 | 1 | 4 | $11,700 |
| 31. | Eric Berlin | 32 | 30 | 2 | 7 | $11,400 |
| 32. | Lynn Lempel | 44 | 44 | 0 | 3 | $11,200 |
| 33. | Sherry O. Blackard | 53 | 48 | 5 | 1 | $10,900 |
| Ed Early | 53 | 52 | 1 | 1 | $10,900 | |
| 35. | Wayne Robert Williams | 38 | 38 | 0 | 4 | $10,800 |
| 36. | Barry C. Silk | 44 | 42 | 2 | 3 | $10,600 |
| 37. | Sidney L. Robbins | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| 38. | Bryant White | 28 | 28 | 0 | 5 | $9,600 |
| 39. | Dean Niles | 15 | 15 | 0 | 8 | $9,400 |
| Michael Shteyman | 41 | 37 | 4 | 3 | $9,400 | |
| 41. | Martin Ashwood-Smith | 48 | 43 | 5 | 0 | $9,100 |
| 42. | Henry Hook | 20 | 20 | 0 | 6 | $8,800 |
| 43. | Richard Hughes | 35 | 35 | 0 | 2 | $8,600 |
| Sarah Keller | 43 | 43 | 0 | 0 | $8,600 | |
| 45. | Patrick Blindauer | 28 | 20 | 8 | 7 | $8,400 |
| Mike Nothnagel | 34 | 30 | 4 | 3 | $8,400 | |
| 47. | Bill Zais | 14 | 9 | 5 | 9 | $8,300 |
| 48. | Bob Peoples | 38 | 32 | 6 | 3 | $8,200 |
| Greg Staples | 25 | 25 | 0 | 4 | $8,200 | |
| 50. | Con Pederson | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | $8,000 |
| 51. | Mark Diehl | 38 | 37 | 1 | 1 | $7,900 |
| 52. | Raymond Hamel | 27 | 26 | 1 | 3 | $7,700 |
| Nelson Hardy | 11 | 10 | 1 | 7 | $7,700 | |
| 54. | Dana Motley | 29 | 29 | 0 | 2 | $7,400 |
| 55. | Stephanie Spadaccini | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $7,200 |
| 56. | Chuck Deodene | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 |
| 57. | Lou Sabin | 29 | 3 | 26 | 7 | $6,800 |
| Jonathan Schmalzbach | 30 | 30 | 0 | 1 | $6,800 | |
| 59. | Ashish Vengsarkar | 12 | 9 | 3 | 6 | $6,500 |
| 60. | Martin Schneider | 12 | 12 | 0 | 5 | $6,400 |
| 61. | Seth A. Abel | 11 | 11 | 0 | 5 | $6,200 |
| Richard Chisholm | 27 | 27 | 0 | 1 | $6,200 | |
| 63. | 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 | |
| 66. | Matt Ginsberg | 17 | 14 | 3 | 5 | $5,900 |
| 67. | David Quarfoot | 29 | 24 | 5 | 1 | $5,700 |
| 68. | Janet Bender | 24 | 24 | 0 | 1 | $5,600 |
| Joe Krozel | 30 | 22 | 8 | 1 | $5,600 | |
| Karen M. Tracey | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | $5,600 | |
| 71. | Victor Fleming | 21 | 13 | 8 | 4 | $5,400 |
| 72. | Peter A. Collins | 28 | 21 | 7 | 1 | $5,300 |
| Michael S. Maurer | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | $5,300 | |
| 74. | Myles Callum | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | $5,200 |
| Allan E. Parrish | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | $5,200 | |
| 76. | Michael Ashley | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | $5,000 |
| Lee Glickstein | 24 | 2 | 22 | 6 | $5,000 | |
| Tyler Hinman | 18 | 16 | 2 | 2 | $5,000 | |
| Robert Malinow | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 | $5,000 | |
| Michael Torch | 13 | 13 | 0 | 3 | $5,000 | |
| 81. | Craig Kasper | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 | $4,900 |
| Dave Tuller | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | $4,900 | |
| 83. | Ernie Furtado | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3 | $4,800 |
| Nancy Kavanaugh | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | $4,800 | |
| 85. | Daniel C. Bryant | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $4,600 |
| John Farmer | 19 | 19 | 0 | 1 | $4,600 | |
| 87. | Fran Sabin | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 | $4,500 |
| 88. | Kevin G. Der | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | $4,400 |
| Gerald R. Ferguson | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $4,400 | |
| Tony Orbach | 11 | 5 | 6 | 6 | $4,400 | |
| Merl Reagle | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | $4,400 | |
| David Levinson Wilk | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | $4,400 | |
| Norman S. Wizer | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | $4,400 | |
| 94. | Kyle Mahowald | 14 | 13 | 1 | 2 | $4,300 |
| 95. | Rand H. Burns | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | $4,200 |
| Norma Steinberg | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1 | $4,200 | |
| 97. | Jim Hyres | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 |
| Roy Leban | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 | $4,000 |