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Merl Reagle
Merl Harry Reagle (January 5, 1950 – August 22, 2015) was an American crossword constructor. For 30 years, he constructed a puzzle every Sunday for the San Francisco Chronicle (originally the San Francisco Examiner), which he syndicated to more than 50 Sunday newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), the Hartford Courant, the New York Observer, and the Arizona Daily Star. Reagle also produced crossword puzzles for AARP: The Magazine and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Reagle was born in Audubon, New Jersey, on January 5, 1950. He made his first crossword when he was six years old and sold a puzzle to The New York Times at age 16, making him the youngest published Times puzzle constructor at the time. He attended the University of Arizona, but dropped out a few credits short of a degree in English.
Reagle first competed in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 1979, its second year, and placed third. He submitted a puzzle to the contest starting in 1980, and later served as a tournament judge and a commentator for the tournament's finals.
In the early 1980s Reagle began submitting crossword puzzles to Dell crossword magazine, Games magazine, and Margaret Farrar's Simon & Schuster books. He regarded crossword-making as a hobby, working as a television scriptwriter by day and a film scriptwriter by night. In 1985 he was contracted to produce a regular Sunday crossword for the San Francisco Examiner's new Sunday magazine. Three years later, he went into syndication.
In the 1990s Reagle was regarded as one of the top producers of a new, "less stodgy and more hip", type of puzzle. This trend was encouraged by New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz, who sought to appeal to a wider and younger readership with "pop culture references ... humorous word play, and ... unique and clever themes".
In 2011 Reagle used his expertise to produce an awareness-building campaign for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. He created the National Brain Game Challenge, an online contest featuring a Sunday crossword that contained a clued secret message. Cash prizes, including a first prize of $2,500, were awarded in two categories, "casual solver" and "puzzle professional".
Reagle was one of the few crossword constructors who made a living solely by making puzzles, as he retained all rights to his puzzles. They are reprinted in books that he sold under his own imprint, PuzzleWorks. With the assistance of his wife, Marie Haley, he published more than 20 volumes of his Sunday crosswords, which he sold on his website. Merl and Marie lived in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.
Reagle died on August 22, 2015, after being hospitalized two days earlier for acute pancreatitis.
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Merl Reagle
Merl Harry Reagle (January 5, 1950 – August 22, 2015) was an American crossword constructor. For 30 years, he constructed a puzzle every Sunday for the San Francisco Chronicle (originally the San Francisco Examiner), which he syndicated to more than 50 Sunday newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), the Hartford Courant, the New York Observer, and the Arizona Daily Star. Reagle also produced crossword puzzles for AARP: The Magazine and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Reagle was born in Audubon, New Jersey, on January 5, 1950. He made his first crossword when he was six years old and sold a puzzle to The New York Times at age 16, making him the youngest published Times puzzle constructor at the time. He attended the University of Arizona, but dropped out a few credits short of a degree in English.
Reagle first competed in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 1979, its second year, and placed third. He submitted a puzzle to the contest starting in 1980, and later served as a tournament judge and a commentator for the tournament's finals.
In the early 1980s Reagle began submitting crossword puzzles to Dell crossword magazine, Games magazine, and Margaret Farrar's Simon & Schuster books. He regarded crossword-making as a hobby, working as a television scriptwriter by day and a film scriptwriter by night. In 1985 he was contracted to produce a regular Sunday crossword for the San Francisco Examiner's new Sunday magazine. Three years later, he went into syndication.
In the 1990s Reagle was regarded as one of the top producers of a new, "less stodgy and more hip", type of puzzle. This trend was encouraged by New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz, who sought to appeal to a wider and younger readership with "pop culture references ... humorous word play, and ... unique and clever themes".
In 2011 Reagle used his expertise to produce an awareness-building campaign for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. He created the National Brain Game Challenge, an online contest featuring a Sunday crossword that contained a clued secret message. Cash prizes, including a first prize of $2,500, were awarded in two categories, "casual solver" and "puzzle professional".
Reagle was one of the few crossword constructors who made a living solely by making puzzles, as he retained all rights to his puzzles. They are reprinted in books that he sold under his own imprint, PuzzleWorks. With the assistance of his wife, Marie Haley, he published more than 20 volumes of his Sunday crosswords, which he sold on his website. Merl and Marie lived in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.
Reagle died on August 22, 2015, after being hospitalized two days earlier for acute pancreatitis.