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Jeff Chen

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Jeff Chen
Born
Jeffrey Chen

1972 (age 53–54)
EducationStanford University (BS, MS)
University of Washington (MBA)
Occupations
  • Crossword constructor
  • writer
Spouse
Jill Denny
​
(m. 2012)​
Children2
Websitewww.jeffchenwrites.com

Jeffrey Chen (born 1972) is an American crossword puzzle constructor and writer. He has had more than 160 puzzles published in The New York Times, including a record over 120 collaborations (with over 60 unique collaborators). He has run the website XWord Info, a database of New York Times puzzles, since 2013.

Early life and career

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A native of the San Francisco Bay Area,[1] Chen grew up solving logic puzzles in Games magazine.[2] He is of Taiwanese descent.[3] He majored in mechanical engineering at Stanford University,[4] graduating in 1993 and receiving his Master of Science in 1994.[2] After working in product design for several years, he received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington in 2002.[4] He then joined UW ophthalmology professor Ryo Kubota to co-found the biotechnology company Acucela Inc., where he ran business operations until 2008.[4] He later worked in finance.[4] He also began writing middle grade fiction, publishing his first novel in the Ultraball series in 2019.[5] He launched the web game Squeezy in 2024.[6]

Crossword constructing and XWord Info

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Chen's future wife introduced him to crossword puzzles in the late 2000s.[2] He was inspired to start constructing after watching the documentary Wordplay.[1] He had his first puzzle published by the Los Angeles Times in July 2009.[2] Though his first 26 submissions to Will Shortz were rejected,[7] nearly two years after his first attempt, he had his first New York Times crossword published in July 2010, a collaboration with his wife.[1] He came to be known for his mentorship of new constructors.[8] He has had more than 160 puzzles published in The New York Times, including a record over 120 collaborations with over 60 unique collaborators.[9] He has also constructed for outlets such as Crosswords with Friends, The Wall Street Journal,[10] and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, where he made the difficult puzzle five in 2015.[11] He made the 50×50 Super Mega crossword for The New York Times's Puzzle Mania issue in 2021.[1]

XWord Info
Available inEnglish
CreatorJim Horne
EditorJeff Chen
Websitewww.xwordinfo.com
Launched2007; 19 years ago (2007)
Current statusOnline

XWord Info, a comprehensive database of New York Times crosswords, was founded by Jim Horne in 2007.[12] A popular resource for crossword constructors,[8] the website has been maintained by Chen since 2013.[13] Chen wrote reviews for every puzzle daily for ten years.[2]

Personal life

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Chen married his wife, Jill Denny, in 2012.[14] They live in Seattle and have two children.[15] They have collaborated on five New York Times crosswords.[16]

Bibliography

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  • Chen, Jeff (2013). Bridge Crosswords. Master Point Press. ISBN 9781554947706.
  • —— (January 15, 2019). Ultraball #1: Lunar Blitz. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062802682.
  • —— (January 14, 2020). Ultraball #2: Deathstrike. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062802699.
  • Chen, Jeff; Peterson, Doug (April 13, 2021). It's So Easy Crosswords. Puzzlewright Press. ISBN 9781454934257.
  • Chen, Jeff (November 1, 2021). Bridge Crosswords 2. Master Point Press. ISBN 9781771400664.
  • —— (March 8, 2022). The Best Puzzle Book for Adults. Callisto Publishing. ISBN 9781638071181.
  • Gibbs, Stuart; Chen, Jeff (September 24, 2024). Spy School Entrance Exam. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781665951364.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Macdonald, Moira (January 7, 2022). "Meet Jeff Chen, the Seattle man who's published more than 125 crosswords in The New York Times". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Scott, Sam (Summer 2025). "Piece Work – On the Grid". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  3. ↑ Chen, Jeff (June 28, 2018). "New York Times, Thursday, June 28, 2018". XWord Info. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kromer, Ed (February 1, 2013). "Puzzle Master". Foster School of Business. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  5. ↑ Amlen, Deb (January 22, 2020). "60 Seconds With Jeff Chen". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Squeezy: A Fresh Daily Word Game — Creator Interview". Hey, Good Game. March 19, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ "July 5: Jeff Chen's puzzle makes it to the New York Times". Northwest Asian Weekly. August 12, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  8. 1 2 Robare, Gabriel (December 7, 2022). "On diversity in crosswords: Sitting down with New York Times constructor Yacob Yonas '15". The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Modern Era constructors by collaboration count". XWord Info. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
    "Modern Era Collaborators". XWord Info. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Crosswords". jeffchenwrites.com. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  11. ↑ Roeder, Oliver (April 17, 2015). "A Million Little Boxes". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ Horne, Jim (December 25, 2010). "Hello, I Must Be Going". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  13. ↑ Horne, Jim (September 2, 2023). "I Won't Miss Jeff Chen". XWord Blog. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Marriage licenses". The Herald-Times. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  15. ↑ "About Me". jeffchenwrites.com. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Jill Denny author page". XWord Info. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeff_Chen&oldid=1376037223#XWord_Info"