Up in Connecticut a sedentary activity commonly completed with a morning coffee has been elevated to a sport. For one special spring weekend clear-eyed crossword aficionados across the country pilgrimage to the Marriott Hotel in Stamford to take part in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Now in its 47th year, the largest crossword contest in America (hosted by The New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz) boasts 1000 registrations and doles out over $15,000 in prize money. This year photographer Taryn Segal took in the scene.
Andrew Dunn, 37, Charlotte NC
First time competitor
Occupation Content manager. How did you get into crosswords? My mom is a retired journalist, so we always had newspapers around the house. I started picking up the games section and started filling them out early. What’s your strategy? There’s a certain language to crosswords, words that come up a lot that’ll help you get a foothold into a tough puzzle—we call them “Crosswordees.” When I’m solving online, I’ll do all the acrosses first, then the downs. On paper it’s different, I’ll take it in sections.
Cathryn Dunn (right), 41, Edwards IL
First time competitor – ranked 23rd amongst rookies
Occupation Former microbiologist, stay-at-home mom. How did you end up here? My sister registered me for this. She put me on the waitlist and I said, “Okay that’s probably not going to happen,” and then a spot opened up a week ago, so she booked flights! What’s your strategy? I probably do what most people do—find the first clue I can, then build off that. I don’t have much of a strategy! Most of the time I’m doing them at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
Mindell Seigel, 65, Baltimore MD
Returning competitor – 19th year
Occupation I work in the medical field. How did you get into crosswords? I came up here with my best friend, we started doing crosswords together in college. She’s competitive, I’m not, I just come up here to have a weekend, sit on my butt and do puzzles. These past 18 weekends, these past 18 years, have been the best weekends of my life. I love this. What’s your strategy? I start in the upper left hand corner, but I don’t have a strategy.
Karen Lazar, 70, Oceanside NY
Returning competitor – 14th year
Occupation Education How did you get into crosswords? As a teenager I was really into Games Magazine. Early in my career as a teacher, I had some friends that were regular Times solvers, and I would think, ‘Oh that’s so hard I could never do it.’ The weekday puzzles I’ve been doing for 30 years now. I’m addicted. What’s your strategy? I don’t really have one, I have trouble with the starting clues. I’m someone that hops around the grid, looking for the things I know and build around those.
Robert Jenista, 35, Highland Park NJ
First time competitor
Occupation Education How did you get into crosswords? My father used to come to the competition for 15 years. He was known for dressing up in outlandish costumes. This is my first year and I was carrying on his tradition. Do you have a strategy? I have a very unpopular strategy here, I’m not a fast solver. I start at one across and I work all the way down through the down clues. I read every single clue. It’s definitely not the fastest way to solve puzzles.
Michael Parrill, 64, Durham NC
2nd year competitor
Occupation Blue Cross How’d you do? It’s my second time competing in this and I did poorly. I did worse than last year, even though I practiced all year! Do you have a strategy? I start in the upper left and work my way all the way down to the bottom right. Some people start in the middle.
Colleen Baltis, 67, and Alan Baltis, 65, Lakewood OH
How did you get into crosswords? All our life. We’ll get a clipboard, tag team them. How long have you two been together? 25 years. Do you have a strategy? Alan: “I like to look for things that have a blank in them because some models come together very quickly and that give you a word to hang other things on.” Colleen: “I just find things that I am sure of and put those in first to make a scaffolding of things you already know of.”
Michael Paleos, 44, Long Island NY
4th year competitor
Occupation Finance How did you get into crosswords? I’ve been doing them since I was seven or eight. This is probably my fourth tournament. I took some time off because I have some young kids at home, but the gravitational pull of the tournament has brought me back. Do you have a strategy? I usually try to get the first few acrosses, at the top. Then I’ll just immediately jump to the downs.
Spencer Leach, 21, Raleigh NC
3rd year competitor
Occupation Student How did you get into crosswords? My mom and dad solved the Sunday crossword every week. They tried to get me involved when there was a “youthful” clue. But I was never really into it until I went to college. I flew out here from college to do this, actually the first year I came I missed my own fraternity initiation to come here, and I had to pledge for a different semester. Do you have a strategy? I like to go section by section, but I actually construct puzzles as well. When you create a puzzle you start with a theme, you make the black squares around that, fill it. I’ve had six puzzles in The New York Times, a seventh coming. How much do you make getting a crossword in The NYT? They buy the rights to it. It’s $750 for a 15×15, so all the days except Sunday. And for a larger Sunday which is 21×21 it’s $2,200, so it’s really nice if you’re in college.
Owen Bergstein, 16, Brookline MA
2nd year competing
Occupation Student How did you get into crossword puzzles? I’ve been a constructor for many years now, starting seriously when I was a freshman in high school. I had my first puzzle published when I was a sophomore. One of my first was in Universal Crosswords, since then I’ve had puzzles in The New York Times, and The LA Times, etc. I’m part of a lot of online forums for constructors and this event always has the biggest buzz. Do you have a strategy?: I’m actually not that good of a solver, I’m much more of a constructor. I wanna put as much young, youthful, modern, extremely online content, as I possibly can. I want to have youthful energy so that when you’re solving you can just tell this was created by someone Gen Z, for everyone but especially young people. We need more young people in the crosswording field.
Will Shortz, NY
Founder and Host
Occupation NYT Crossword puzzle editor How long have you been holding this event? I founded it in 1978 so this is my 47th year. How did you discover this passion in your life? I’ve been crazy about puzzles since I was a kid. I started making them when I was eight or nine. I sold my first one when I was 14. My hero growing up was a puzzle maker named Sam Lloyd, he inspired me to want to make these. Are there any patterns you look for when constructing a puzzle or does it come to you fluidly? It’s usually when I’m working on something else and I think of something I think is clever. This morning while I was lying in bed I thought of a clue. How does the actual crossword puzzle grid get formed? You probably know that the black and white squares have a symmetrical pattern, so if you rotate the diagram 180 degrees typically the pattern will look the same as it did right side up. If you have an 11 letter theme answer for the top row, you have another 11 letter theme answer towards the bottom. You put the theme answers first then you start constructing the grid around it. What is your personal strategy? As a solver, typically what I recommend is that you pick something that you know for sure and start building off what you know. If you get stuck, put the puzzle aside and come back later. It’s like anything in life, the more you do the better you get. Being a good speller helps.
Paolo Pasco, 24, Brooklyn NY
2025 First place winner Occupation Works on games for LinkedIn. How long have you been doing crossword puzzles? I’ve been writing them for 10 years, solving them for about the same. Do you have a strategy? I try to start with what I know, I look for the first clue I can get, but truly I get up there and it’s a Severance steal, where I have no idea what happens.
