Patrick Berry

Patrick D. Berry (born 1970) is an American puzzle creator and editor who constructs crossword puzzles and variety puzzles. He had 227 crosswords published in The New York Times from 1999 to 2018. His how-to guide for crossword construction was first published as a For Dummies book in 2004. One of the most revered constructors of his time,

Career

Berry grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, and often solved Dell Magazines variety puzzles and tried to write his own crosswords in his youth.

Wiley, the publisher of the For Dummies book series, approached Berry around 2003 to write a book of crossword puzzles; Berry wanted the book to include a how-to guide on crossword construction, an idea that Wiley approved.

Most of Berry's 227 crosswords for the Times—published from 1999 to 2018—were themelesses or Sundays. He constructed a six-puzzle meta suite (a series of related puzzles) for the week of October 17, 2011, at the request of editor Will Shortz. He has regularly written variety puzzles for The Wall Street Journal and formerly edited the Chronicle of Higher Education crossword. He began writing weekly novelty word puzzles for the New York Times variety page in 2015 and has been on The New Yorker puzzle roster since 2018. Puzzle suites are occasionally released on his website, A-Frame Games.

Personal life

As of 2018, Berry lives in an A-frame house in Athens, Georgia.