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 | 175 | 175 | 0 | 48 | $73,400 |
| 2. | Manny Nosowsky | 245 | 243 | 2 | 29 | $71,600 |
| 3. | Patrick Berry | 125 | 124 | 1 | 42 | $58,500 |
| 4. | David J. Kahn | 139 | 137 | 2 | 35 | $54,800 |
| 5. | Rich Norris | 186 | 186 | 0 | 18 | $51,600 |
| 6. | Randolph Ross | 94 | 94 | 0 | 40 | $50,800 |
| 7. | Cathy Allis | 83 | 83 | 0 | 39 | $47,800 |
| 8. | Nancy Salomon | 183 | 68 | 115 | 36 | $42,933 |
| 9. | Brendan Emmett Quigley | 125 | 119 | 6 | 23 | $42,800 |
| 10. | Richard Silvestri | 83 | 83 | 0 | 26 | $37,400 |
| 11. | Joe DiPietro | 100 | 100 | 0 | 21 | $36,800 |
| 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 | 69 | 69 | 0 | 15 | $25,800 |
| 16. | Alan Arbesfeld | 79 | 79 | 0 | 11 | $24,600 |
| 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. | 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 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 11 | $20,200 |
| 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 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 9 | $14,800 |
| 28. | Randall J. Hartman | 66 | 66 | 0 | 0 | $13,200 |
| 29. | Paula Gamache | 49 | 48 | 1 | 4 | $12,900 |
| 30. | Eric Berlin | 33 | 31 | 2 | 8 | $12,400 |
| 31. | Byron Walden | 51 | 48 | 3 | 3 | $12,300 |
| 32. | Lynn Lempel | 45 | 45 | 0 | 3 | $11,400 |
| 33. | Sherry O. Blackard | 53 | 48 | 5 | 1 | $10,900 |
| Ed Early | 53 | 52 | 1 | 1 | $10,900 | |
| 35. | Barry C. Silk | 45 | 43 | 2 | 3 | $10,800 |
| Wayne Robert Williams | 38 | 38 | 0 | 4 | $10,800 | |
| 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 | 49 | 44 | 5 | 0 | $9,300 |
| 42. | Patrick Blindauer | 31 | 20 | 11 | 8 | $9,100 |
| 43. | Henry Hook | 20 | 20 | 0 | 6 | $8,800 |
| Sarah Keller | 44 | 44 | 0 | 0 | $8,800 | |
| 45. | Richard Hughes | 35 | 35 | 0 | 2 | $8,600 |
| Mike Nothnagel | 35 | 31 | 4 | 3 | $8,600 | |
| 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. | Mark Diehl | 39 | 38 | 1 | 1 | $8,100 |
| 51. | Con Pederson | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | $8,000 |
| 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. | Chuck Deodene | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $7,200 |
| Stephanie Spadaccini | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $7,200 | |
| 57. | Lou Sabin | 29 | 3 | 26 | 7 | $6,800 |
| Jonathan Schmalzbach | 30 | 30 | 0 | 1 | $6,800 | |
| 59. | Matt Ginsberg | 20 | 15 | 5 | 6 | $6,700 |
| Ashish Vengsarkar | 13 | 10 | 3 | 6 | $6,700 | |
| 61. | Martin Schneider | 12 | 12 | 0 | 5 | $6,400 |
| 62. | Seth A. Abel | 11 | 11 | 0 | 5 | $6,200 |
| Richard Chisholm | 27 | 27 | 0 | 1 | $6,200 | |
| Karen M. Tracey | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 | $6,200 | |
| 65. | Peter A. Collins | 32 | 25 | 7 | 1 | $6,100 |
| 66. | Alex K. Justin | 14 | 14 | 0 | 4 | $6,000 |
| Joe Krozel | 32 | 24 | 8 | 1 | $6,000 | |
| Derrick Niederman | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | $6,000 | |
| Nancy S. Ross | 22 | 22 | 0 | 2 | $6,000 | |
| 70. | Victor Fleming | 24 | 14 | 10 | 4 | $5,800 |
| 71. | David Quarfoot | 29 | 24 | 5 | 1 | $5,700 |
| 72. | Janet Bender | 24 | 24 | 0 | 1 | $5,600 |
| 73. | Tony Orbach | 13 | 5 | 8 | 8 | $5,400 |
| Allan E. Parrish | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | $5,400 | |
| 75. | Michael S. Maurer | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | $5,300 |
| 76. | Myles Callum | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | $5,200 |
| 77. | Tyler Hinman | 19 | 16 | 3 | 2 | $5,100 |
| 78. | Michael Ashley | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | $5,000 |
| Lee Glickstein | 24 | 2 | 22 | 6 | $5,000 | |
| Robert Malinow | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 | $5,000 | |
| Michael Torch | 13 | 13 | 0 | 3 | $5,000 | |
| 82. | Craig Kasper | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 | $4,900 |
| Mel Rosen | 9 | 8 | 1 | 4 | $4,900 | |
| Dave Tuller | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | $4,900 | |
| 85. | Kevin G. Der | 16 | 16 | 0 | 2 | $4,800 |
| John Farmer | 20 | 20 | 0 | 1 | $4,800 | |
| Ernie Furtado | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3 | $4,800 | |
| Nancy Kavanaugh | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | $4,800 | |
| Will Nediger | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | $4,800 | |
| 90. | Daniel C. Bryant | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $4,600 |
| 91. | Kevan Choset | 20 | 17 | 3 | 2 | $4,500 |
| Fran Sabin | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 | $4,500 | |
| 93. | Gerald R. Ferguson | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $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 | |
| 97. | Kyle Mahowald | 14 | 13 | 1 | 2 | $4,300 |
| 98. | Rand H. Burns | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | $4,200 |
| Jeremy Newton | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | $4,200 | |
| Norma Steinberg | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1 | $4,200 | |
| 101. | Jim Hyres | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 |
| Roy Leban | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 | $4,000 |