Teenage constructors

Here is the list of the 34 known constructors who debuted in the NYT as teens.

The youngest anywhere may be Charles Gersch who had his first crossword published in the New York Herald Tribune on February 21, 1944, when he was exactly 13.5 years old. (He made his Times debut in 1951.)

At the other extreme, the oldest NYT constructor is certainly Bernice Gordon. She authored this puzzle at age 95: Across Lite, Solution, then this one a year later at age 96: Across Lite, Solution, this one at age 97: Across Lite, Solution, and this one at 98: Across Lite, Solution.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, puzzles are edited by Will Shortz. Count shows the total number of published NYT puzzles in the Shortz era only.

Here are the teens from youngest to oldest at debut:

	Name	Birthday	Debut	Age at debut	Count
1.	Arthur Bennett †	7/5/1955	5/22/1969	5,070 days — 13 yr. 10 mo.	-
2.	Mike Miller †	11/20/1962	12/6/1976	5,130 days — 14 yr. 0 mo.	-
3.	Ben Pall	9/8/1995	11/23/2009	5,190 days — 14 yr. 2 mo.	4
4.	David Steinberg	11/24/1996	6/16/2011	5,317 days — 14 yr. 6 mo.	11
5.	Caleb Madison	1/29/1993	5/13/2008	5,583 days — 15 yr. 3 mo.	29
6.	Milo Beckman	12/9/1995	6/24/2011	5,676 days — 15 yr. 6 mo.	7
7.	Tyler Hinman	11/5/1984	7/4/2000	5,720 days — 15 yr. 7 mo.	22
8.	José Chardiet	6/16/1994	7/6/2010	5,864 days — 16 yr. 0 mo.	2
9.	Ethan Cooper	3/23/1983	5/17/1999	5,899 days — 16 yr. 1 mo.	13
10.	Will Nediger	12/4/1989	5/27/2006	6,018 days — 16 yr. 5 mo.	18
11.	Natan Last	11/13/1990	7/17/2007	6,090 days — 16 yr. 8 mo.	14
12.	Francesco Trogu	5/25/1995	1/30/2012	6,094 days — 16 yr. 8 mo.	1
13.	Michael Shteyman	5/9/1984	2/13/2001	6,124 days — 16 yr. 9 mo.	45
14.	Kyle Mahowald	3/7/1987	3/22/2004	6,225 days — 17 yr. 0 mo.	14
15.	Merl Reagle ‡	1/5/1950	2/11/1967	6,246 days — 17 yr. 1 mo.	6
16.	Sam Ezersky *	5/29/1995	7/28/2012	6,270 days — 17 yr. 1 mo.	2
17.	Oliver Hill	7/30/1990	10/2/2007	6,273 days — 17 yr. 2 mo.	16
18.	Joel Fagliano	8/9/1992	10/22/2009	6,283 days — 17 yr. 2 mo.	17
19.	Finn Vigeland	8/7/1992	10/20/2010	6,648 days — 18 yr. 2 mo.	3
20.	Jonah Kagan *	7/8/1991	12/1/2009	6,721 days — 18 yr. 4 mo.	6
21.	Arthur I. Schulman ‡	2/17/1935	8/24/1953	6,763 days — 18 yr. 6 mo.	-
22.	Alex Vratsanos	11/16/1992	6/13/2011	6,783 days — 18 yr. 6 mo.	4
23.	Matthew L. Jones	3/10/1976	11/4/1994	6,813 days — 18 yr. 7 mo.	3
24.	Patrick John Duggan	9/18/1989	5/23/2008	6,822 days — 18 yr. 8 mo.	4
25.	Lucas Gaviotis Whitestone	11/19/1989	9/10/2008	6,870 days — 18 yr. 9 mo.	1
26.	Kelsey Boes	8/18/1992	6/21/2011	6,881 days — 18 yr. 10 mo.	1
27.	Michael J. Doran	9/28/1984	9/16/2003	6,927 days — 18 yr. 11 mo.	5
28.	Jeffrey Harris	8/22/1985	8/30/2004	6,948 days — 19 yr. 0 mo.	3
29.	Zach Jesse	9/1/1984	1/19/2004	7,079 days — 19 yr. 4 mo.	2
30.	Joey Weissbrot	11/6/1989	4/8/2009	7,093 days — 19 yr. 5 mo.	2
31.	Zoe Wheeler	5/23/1990	1/19/2010	7,181 days — 19 yr. 7 mo.	6
32.	Henry Hook †	9/18/1955	5/23/1975	7,187 days — 19 yr. 8 mo.	24
33.	Anna Shechtman	8/30/1990	5/26/2010	7,209 days — 19 yr. 8 mo.	2
34.	Aimee Lucido	10/30/1990	9/13/2010	7,258 days — 19 yr. 10 mo.	3

† Will Weng, ed.
‡ Margaret Farrar, ed.
* co-constructor