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: only puzzles from the Shortz Era are considered here (back to 1993), Variety contributions (acrostic, diagramless, cryptic, etc.) are not included, and the payment amounts have varied over time. For example, the payment for daily puzzles increased from $200 to $300 on January 20, 2014, but the calculations here assume each daily is worth $500.
Payments for collaboration puzzles are assumed to be split evenly among the listed constructors.
Only constructors valued at least $4,000 are displayed here.
| Daily: | $500 |
| Sunday: | $1,500 |
As of January 1, 2017, the New York Times started paying higher rates for constructors who had ten or more previously published NYT puzzles. Daily pay went from $300 to $360, and Sunday from $1,000 to $1,200. These changes are not reflected in the calculations below.
| Rank | Name | Count | Solo | Collab | Sun. | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Patrick Berry | 227 | 225 | 2 | 74 | $187,000 |
| 2. | Elizabeth C. Gorski | 219 | 219 | 0 | 67 | $176,500 |
| 3. | Manny Nosowsky | 246 | 244 | 2 | 29 | $151,000 |
| 4. | David J. Kahn | 181 | 176 | 5 | 44 | $131,250 |
| 5. | Brendan Emmett Quigley | 165 | 149 | 16 | 35 | $113,000 |
| 6. | Rich Norris | 186 | 186 | 0 | 18 | $111,000 |
| 7. | Randolph Ross | 107 | 107 | 0 | 46 | $99,500 |
| 8. | Joe DiPietro | 128 | 127 | 1 | 28 | $91,750 |
| 9. | Nancy Salomon | 185 | 69 | 116 | 36 | $85,750 |
| 10. | Cathy Allis | 84 | 84 | 0 | 40 | $82,000 |
| 11. | Alan Arbesfeld | 114 | 114 | 0 | 23 | $80,000 |
| 12. | Richard Silvestri | 84 | 84 | 0 | 26 | $68,000 |
| 13. | Fred Piscop | 104 | 104 | 0 | 14 | $66,000 |
| 14. | Patrick Merrell | 88 | 87 | 1 | 21 | $64,750 |
| 15. | Harvey Estes | 116 | 71 | 45 | 20 | $60,250 |
| 16. | Gregory E. Paul | 116 | 116 | 0 | 0 | $58,000 |
| 17. | Nancy Nicholson Joline | 48 | 47 | 1 | 34 | $57,250 |
| 18. | Peter A. Collins | 105 | 93 | 12 | 5 | $54,000 |
| 19. | Peter Gordon | 91 | 91 | 0 | 7 | $52,500 |
| 20. | Paula Gamache | 89 | 85 | 4 | 8 | $51,000 |
| 21. | Jeff Chen | 94 | 38 | 56 | 24 | $50,000 |
| 22. | Byron Walden | 85 | 71 | 14 | 11 | $48,000 |
| 23. | Frank Longo | 68 | 66 | 2 | 14 | $47,500 |
| 24. | Barry C. Silk | 92 | 86 | 6 | 3 | $47,000 |
| 25. | Lynn Lempel | 83 | 81 | 2 | 4 | $45,000 |
| Jim Page | 70 | 70 | 0 | 10 | $45,000 | |
| 27. | David Steinberg | 88 | 71 | 17 | 6 | $44,750 |
| 28. | Joe Krozel | 87 | 72 | 15 | 4 | $43,250 |
| 29. | Matt Gaffney | 58 | 57 | 1 | 14 | $42,750 |
| 30. | Joel Fagliano | 57 | 51 | 6 | 15 | $41,000 |
| Robert H. Wolfe | 60 | 60 | 0 | 11 | $41,000 | |
| 32. | A. J. Santora | 68 | 68 | 0 | 5 | $39,000 |
| 33. | Bob Klahn | 60 | 50 | 10 | 13 | $38,500 |
| 34. | Frances Hansen | 40 | 40 | 0 | 17 | $37,000 |
| Randall J. Hartman | 74 | 74 | 0 | 0 | $37,000 | |
| 36. | Martin Ashwood-Smith | 78 | 68 | 10 | 0 | $36,500 |
| 37. | Matt Ginsberg | 44 | 37 | 7 | 16 | $33,750 |
| 38. | Tom McCoy | 32 | 32 | 0 | 17 | $33,000 |
| 39. | Patrick Blindauer | 57 | 36 | 21 | 14 | $32,750 |
| 40. | Ian Livengood | 55 | 51 | 4 | 6 | $32,500 |
| 41. | Eric Berlin | 40 | 37 | 3 | 13 | $31,750 |
| 42. | Mark Diehl | 63 | 60 | 3 | 1 | $31,250 |
| 43. | Kevin G. Der | 40 | 38 | 2 | 12 | $31,000 |
| Timothy Polin | 49 | 47 | 2 | 7 | $31,000 | |
| 45. | Trip Payne | 42 | 41 | 1 | 10 | $30,750 |
| 46. | Charles M. Deber | 20 | 20 | 0 | 19 | $29,000 |
| 47. | Zhouqin Burnikel | 58 | 39 | 19 | 6 | $28,750 |
| 48. | Ed Early | 53 | 52 | 1 | 1 | $26,750 |
| Mike Nothnagel | 50 | 45 | 5 | 4 | $26,750 | |
| 50. | Sherry O. Blackard | 53 | 48 | 5 | 1 | $26,250 |
| 51. | Michael Shteyman | 51 | 45 | 6 | 3 | $26,000 |
| 52. | Sarah Keller | 52 | 50 | 2 | 0 | $25,500 |
| Andrea Carla Michaels | 62 | 28 | 34 | 6 | $25,500 | |
| 54. | Bruce Haight | 46 | 42 | 4 | 3 | $25,000 |
| Sidney L. Robbins | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | $25,000 | |
| 56. | Caleb Madison | 34 | 31 | 3 | 9 | $24,750 |
| 57. | Will Nediger | 25 | 25 | 0 | 11 | $23,500 |
| 58. | Wayne Robert Williams | 38 | 38 | 0 | 4 | $23,000 |
| 59. | Edward Sessa | 37 | 37 | 0 | 4 | $22,500 |
| 60. | Victor Fleming | 46 | 22 | 24 | 7 | $21,500 |
| Dan Schoenholz | 23 | 23 | 0 | 10 | $21,500 | |
| 62. | Chuck Deodene | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | $20,500 |
| 63. | Jeremy Newton | 17 | 15 | 2 | 13 | $20,000 |
| 64. | Richard Hughes | 35 | 35 | 0 | 2 | $19,500 |
| Allan E. Parrish | 39 | 39 | 0 | 0 | $19,500 | |
| Bob Peoples | 39 | 33 | 6 | 3 | $19,500 | |
| Bryant White | 29 | 29 | 0 | 5 | $19,500 | |
| 68. | David Quarfoot | 41 | 34 | 7 | 1 | $19,250 |
| Brad Wilber | 51 | 26 | 25 | 0 | $19,250 | |
| 70. | Gary Cee | 36 | 36 | 0 | 1 | $19,000 |
| 71. | Samuel A. Donaldson | 30 | 23 | 7 | 6 | $18,750 |
| 72. | John Farmer | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | $18,500 |
| Damon J. Gulczynski | 35 | 35 | 0 | 1 | $18,500 | |
| Henry Hook | 25 | 25 | 0 | 6 | $18,500 | |
| Peter Wentz | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | $18,500 | |
| 76. | Tony Orbach | 25 | 11 | 14 | 15 | $18,000 |
| Stephanie Spadaccini | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | $18,000 | |
| Jacob Stulberg | 30 | 30 | 0 | 3 | $18,000 | |
| David Levinson Wilk | 24 | 24 | 0 | 6 | $18,000 | |
| 80. | Dana Motley | 31 | 31 | 0 | 2 | $17,500 |
| 81. | Richard Chisholm | 32 | 32 | 0 | 1 | $17,000 |
| 82. | Daniel A. Finan | 15 | 15 | 0 | 9 | $16,500 |
| Natan Last | 27 | 21 | 6 | 5 | $16,500 | |
| Greg Staples | 25 | 25 | 0 | 4 | $16,500 | |
| 85. | Tim Croce | 33 | 32 | 1 | 0 | $16,250 |
| Raymond Hamel | 27 | 26 | 1 | 3 | $16,250 | |
| Jonathan Schmalzbach | 31 | 30 | 1 | 1 | $16,250 | |
| 88. | Adam G. Perl | 30 | 30 | 0 | 1 | $16,000 |
| Karen M. Tracey | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | $16,000 | |
| 90. | Dean Niles | 15 | 15 | 0 | 8 | $15,500 |
| Doug Peterson | 41 | 17 | 24 | 2 | $15,500 | |
| 92. | Erik Agard | 30 | 17 | 13 | 7 | $15,417 |
| 93. | Tracy Gray | 24 | 19 | 5 | 6 | $15,250 |
| 94. | Finn Vigeland | 17 | 13 | 4 | 8 | $15,000 |
| 95. | Bill Zais | 15 | 10 | 5 | 10 | $14,750 |
| 96. | Janet R. Bender | 27 | 27 | 0 | 1 | $14,500 |
| 97. | Kevan Choset | 27 | 24 | 3 | 2 | $13,750 |
| 98. | Josh Knapp | 23 | 23 | 0 | 2 | $13,500 |
| 99. | joon pahk | 23 | 18 | 5 | 4 | $13,250 |
| 100. | Nancy Kavanaugh | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | $13,000 |
| Nancy S. Ross | 22 | 22 | 0 | 2 | $13,000 | |
| 102. | Sam Ezersky | 25 | 16 | 9 | 3 | $12,750 |
| 103. | Michael Ashley | 11 | 11 | 0 | 7 | $12,500 |
| Lou Sabin | 29 | 3 | 26 | 7 | $12,500 | |
| Michael Torch | 19 | 19 | 0 | 3 | $12,500 | |
| Ashish Vengsarkar | 15 | 11 | 4 | 7 | $12,500 | |
| 107. | Nelson Hardy | 11 | 10 | 1 | 7 | $12,250 |
| 108. | Myles Callum | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | $12,000 |
| Julian Lim | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | $12,000 | |
| Con Pederson | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | $12,000 | |
| 111. | Tyler Hinman | 22 | 17 | 5 | 2 | $11,750 |
| Michael S. Maurer | 19 | 16 | 3 | 3 | $11,750 | |
| Mel Rosen | 14 | 13 | 1 | 5 | $11,750 | |
| 114. | Stanley Newman | 21 | 21 | 0 | 1 | $11,500 |
| Sam Trabucco | 17 | 17 | 0 | 3 | $11,500 | |
| Andrew Zhou | 17 | 17 | 0 | 3 | $11,500 | |
| 117. | Carolyn W. Stewart | 21 | 20 | 1 | 1 | $11,250 |
| Ross Trudeau | 13 | 12 | 1 | 5 | $11,250 | |
| Ned White | 22 | 21 | 1 | 1 | $11,250 | |
| 120. | Seth A. Abel | 12 | 12 | 0 | 5 | $11,000 |
| Gerald R. Ferguson | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $11,000 | |
| Alex K. Justin | 14 | 14 | 0 | 4 | $11,000 | |
| Martin Schneider | 12 | 12 | 0 | 5 | $11,000 | |
| Randy Sowell | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | $11,000 | |
| 125. | Todd Gross | 17 | 12 | 5 | 4 | $10,750 |
| Jim Hyres | 21 | 20 | 1 | 1 | $10,750 | |
| Kyle Mahowald | 18 | 17 | 1 | 2 | $10,750 | |
| Pete Muller | 18 | 11 | 7 | 6 | $10,750 | |
| David Phillips | 20 | 19 | 1 | 1 | $10,750 | |
| 130. | Daniel C. Bryant | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 | $10,500 |
| Rand H. Burns | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | $10,500 | |
| Mary Lou Guizzo | 22 | 10 | 12 | 3 | $10,500 | |
| James Mulhern | 24 | 18 | 6 | 0 | $10,500 | |
| Derrick Niederman | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | $10,500 | |
| David Woolf | 17 | 17 | 0 | 2 | $10,500 | |
| 136. | Lee Glickstein | 25 | 3 | 22 | 6 | $10,000 |
| Bernice Gordon | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | $10,000 | |
| Oliver Hill | 16 | 14 | 2 | 3 | $10,000 | |
| Robyn Weintraub | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 | |
| 140. | Adam Cohen | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | $9,500 |
| John Guzzetta | 20 | 16 | 4 | 1 | $9,500 | |
| Norma Steinberg | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1 | $9,500 | |
| 143. | Craig Kasper | 15 | 10 | 5 | 4 | $9,250 |
| Dave Tuller | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | $9,250 | |
| Alex Vratsanos | 15 | 12 | 3 | 3 | $9,250 | |
| 146. | Yaakov Bendavid | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | $9,000 |
| Kelsey Blakley | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 | $9,000 | |
| Ernie Furtado | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3 | $9,000 | |
| Gilbert H. Ludwig | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | $9,000 | |
| Jules P. Markey | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | $9,000 | |
| Lois Sidway | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | $9,000 | |
| Norman S. Wizer | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | $9,000 | |
| 153. | David Kwong | 18 | 13 | 5 | 2 | $8,750 |
| Fran Sabin | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 | $8,750 | |
| 155. | Karen Young Bonin | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | $8,500 |
| Mark Feldman | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | $8,500 | |
| Susan Gelfand | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | $8,500 | |
| Charles E. Gersch | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | $8,500 | |
| Kristian House | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | $8,500 | |
| Roy Leban | 13 | 13 | 0 | 2 | $8,500 | |
| Robert Malinow | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 | $8,500 | |
| Thomas W. Schier | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | $8,500 | |
| Jeffrey Wechsler | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | $8,500 | |
| 164. | Robert Dillman | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 |
| Patrick Jordan | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 | |
| Andrew Ries | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 | $8,000 | |
| Daniel R. Stark | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 | |
| Ben Tausig | 9 | 7 | 2 | 5 | $8,000 | |
| Arthur S. Verdesca | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | $8,000 | |
| John Wolting | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | $8,000 | |
| 171. | Holden Baker | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | $7,500 |
| Kelly Clark | 15 | 14 | 1 | 1 | $7,500 | |
| Robert W. Harris | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $7,500 | |
| William I. Johnston | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | $7,500 | |
| Pamela Amick Klawitter | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $7,500 | |
| Elizabeth A. Long | 13 | 13 | 0 | 1 | $7,500 | |
| Ruth B. Margolin | 9 | 9 | 0 | 3 | $7,500 | |
| Gene Newman | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | $7,500 | |
| Merl Reagle | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | $7,500 | |
| Gary J. Whitehead | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | $7,500 | |
| 181. | Ethan Cooper | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1 | $7,000 |
| Alex Eaton-Salners | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 | |
| Jason Flinn | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 | |
| John Greenman | 12 | 12 | 0 | 1 | $7,000 | |
| Frederick J. Healy | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 | |
| Andy Kravis | 13 | 5 | 8 | 4 | $7,000 | |
| Daniel Raymon | 12 | 12 | 0 | 1 | $7,000 | |
| John Underwood | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 | |
| Michael Vuolo | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 | |
| 190. | Christopher Hurt | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2 | $6,750 |
| Todd McClary | 12 | 11 | 1 | 1 | $6,750 | |
| Paolo Pasco | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | $6,750 | |
| 193. | Gareth Bain | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | $6,500 |
| Mike Buckley | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | $6,500 | |
| Jim Hilger | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | $6,500 | |
| John Lampkin | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | $6,500 | |
| Alfio Micci | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | $6,500 | |
| Mark Elliot Skolsky | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | $6,500 | |
| Xan Vongsathorn | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | $6,500 | |
| 200. | Matthew Sewell | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | $6,250 |
| 201. | Victor Barocas | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 | $6,000 |
| Michael Hawkins | 13 | 9 | 4 | 1 | $6,000 | |
| Roland Huget | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | $6,000 | |
| Andrew Kingsley | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | $6,000 | |
| John Lieb | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | $6,000 | |
| Stu Ockman | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | $6,000 | |
| Alan Olschwang | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | $6,000 | |
| Bruce Venzke | 19 | 1 | 18 | 2 | $6,000 | |
| Robert Zimmerman | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | $6,000 | |
| 210. | Sheldon Benardo | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | $5,500 |
| John R. Conrad | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | $5,500 | |
| Gail Grabowski | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | $5,500 | |
| Kurt Mueller | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | $5,500 | |
| Mike Shenk | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | $5,500 | |
| 215. | Peter Abide | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | $5,250 |
| 216. | Diane C. Baldwin | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 |
| Bill Ballard | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Alex Boisvert | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Shannon Burns | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Freddie Cheng | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 | |
| Mark Danna | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | $5,000 | |
| Kyle T. Dolan | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 | |
| Paul Hunsberger | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 | |
| James R. Leeds | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 | |
| Eileen Lexau | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Susan Harrington Smith | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Mel Taub | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 | |
| Leonard Williams | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | $5,000 | |
| 229. | Derek Bowman | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | $4,750 |
| Kameron Austin Collins | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | $4,750 | |
| Francis Heaney | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | $4,750 | |
| David Liben-Nowell | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | $4,750 | |
| 233. | Joel Davajan | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | $4,500 |
| Levi Denham | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Alan DerKazarian | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | $4,500 | |
| Michael J. Doran | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | $4,500 | |
| Don Gagliardo | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | $4,500 | |
| R. Max Hopkins | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | $4,500 | |
| Christina Houlihan Kelly | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Jean O'Conor | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | $4,500 | |
| Jim Peredo | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | $4,500 | |
| Lloyd E. Pollet | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | $4,500 | |
| David Pringle | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Gary Steinmehl | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Bill Thompson | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Stanley B. Whitten | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| Joy L. Wouk | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | $4,500 | |
| 248. | Milo Beckman | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | $4,250 |
| Michael Blake | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | $4,250 | |
| Trenton Charlson | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | $4,250 | |
| John Dunn | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | $4,250 | |
| Pawel Fludzinski | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | $4,250 | |
| Neville Fogarty | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | $4,250 | |
| Nick Grivas | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | $4,250 | |
| Daniel Kantor | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | $4,250 | |
| David Poole | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | $4,250 | |
| 257. | Ashton Anderson | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | $4,000 |
| Howard Barkin | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Evan Birnholz | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Bette Sue Cohen | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Stella Daily | 14 | 0 | 14 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Caleb Emmons | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Adam Fromm | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | $4,000 | |
| Betty Jorgensen | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Steve Kahn | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | $4,000 | |
| Chris A. McGlothlin | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Christopher Page | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Glenton Petgrave | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Janice M. Putney | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Corey Rubin | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Herre Schouwerwou | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Bob Sefick | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 | |
| Kathy Wienberg | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | $4,000 | |
| Raymond C. Young | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 |