Matt Gaffney

Matt Gaffney
Born (1972-11-13) November 13, 1972 (age 51)
Washington, D.C.
OccupationCrossword constructor
SpouseKristin Goins Gaffney
Children2

Matt Gaffney is a professional crossword puzzle constructor and author[1] who lives in Staunton, Virginia. His puzzles have appeared in Billboard magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Beast,[2] Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles, GAMES magazine, the Los Angeles Times,[3] New York magazine, the New York Times,[3] Newsday, The Onion, Slate magazine,[4] the Wall Street Journal,[3] the Washington Post,[5] Washingtonian Magazine, The Week, and Wine Spectator.[6]

Gaffney was thirteen when his first crossword puzzle was published in Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles,[7] and has gone on to create more than 4,000 crossword puzzles over the past 25 years.[8] His puzzles have been published in the New York Times 58 times.[9] He has served as judge[10] for Will Shortz's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and won the Junior division as a contestant in 1997.[11] He has created puzzles for Lollapuzzoola and guest-constructed for Brendan Emmett Quigley.[12] He was previously a contributor to the Onion A.V. Club crossword, edited by Ben Tausig. Since June 6, 2008, he has created a weekly crossword puzzle contest (MGWCC),[13] and since September 21, 2011, he has created a daily crossword puzzle (MGDC).[14] On October 11, 2013, Gaffney started a Gaffney on Crosswords blog[15] covering all things crossword related. In July 2014 Gaffney's "Murder by Meta" Kickstarter project was released.[16] In July 2023 Gaffney created a weekly crossword for Merriam-Webster’s website. It’s a puzzle type called "The Missing Letter". Twenty five entries in the grid are defined using their Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, and these each begin with a different letter of the alphabet. The only one not represented each week is "The Missing Letter".[17]

  1. ^ "The Weekly Standard". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. ^ "The Daily Beast". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "The American Prospect". Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Slate Magazine". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Washington Post". 26 August 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  6. ^ "Best For Puzzles". Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  7. ^ Gaffney, Matt (2006). Gridlock: Crossword Puzzles and the Mad Geniuses Who Create Them. New York, NY: Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 225.
  8. ^ "About Matt Gaffney". Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  9. ^ "XwordInfo". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  10. ^ "American Crossword Puzzle Tournament". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  11. ^ "American Crossword Puzzle Tournament". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  12. ^ "BEQ". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  13. ^ (MGWCC)
  14. ^ (MGDC)
  15. ^ Gaffney on Crosswords
  16. ^ "Murder by Meta"
  17. ^ "The Missing Letter"