People
Who makes the NYT Strands puzzle?
Tracy Bennett has edited 897 of the 883 NYT Strands puzzles published since March 4, 2024. The New York Times publishes both an editor and a constructor credit with every puzzle, and this page keeps the full count from the puzzle data itself.
Who edits NYT Strands?
The editor credits across the whole run break down as follows, most puzzles first.
| Editor | Puzzles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tracy Bennett | 897 | 101.6% |
Who constructs NYT Strands puzzles?
Construction is credited separately from editing. 49 names appear across the run, listed here by puzzle count.
| Constructor | Puzzles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Christina Iverson | 407 | 46.1% |
| Tracy Bennett | 271 | 30.7% |
| Sam Corbin | 38 | 4.3% |
| Heidi Erwin | 29 | 3.3% |
| Shehara Ranasinghe | 15 | 1.7% |
| Dylan Campbell | 10 | 1.1% |
| Joel Fagliano | 9 | 1.0% |
| Rohit Crasta | 9 | 1.0% |
| Dan Falokun | 9 | 1.0% |
| Jen Scheerer | 9 | 1.0% |
| Jeff Petriello | 8 | 0.9% |
| Mónico Chávez | 7 | 0.8% |
| Natalie Erjavec | 6 | 0.7% |
| Katherine Oung | 6 | 0.7% |
| Sam Ezersky | 5 | 0.6% |
| Wyna Liu | 5 | 0.6% |
| Everdeen Mason | 4 | 0.5% |
| Jacqueline Yue | 4 | 0.5% |
| E. Vance | 3 | 0.3% |
| Shafik Quoraishee | 3 | 0.3% |
| Hope Fourie | 3 | 0.3% |
| Ella Vance | 3 | 0.3% |
| Sandra Honigman | 2 | 0.2% |
| Emily Ngo | 2 | 0.2% |
| Joanne Song | 2 | 0.2% |
| Vanessa Johnson | 2 | 0.2% |
| Bess Fernandez | 2 | 0.2% |
| Ian Livengood | 2 | 0.2% |
| Christina Iverson and Jeff Petriello | 1 | 0.1% |
| Tati Moniz | 1 | 0.1% |
| Robert Vinluan | 1 | 0.1% |
| Christina Iverson and Heidi Erwin | 1 | 0.1% |
| Mackenzie Greenwell | 1 | 0.1% |
| CJ Robinson and Natalie Erjavec | 1 | 0.1% |
| Jacqueline Yue and Sam Corbin | 1 | 0.1% |
| Amelia Lui | 1 | 0.1% |
| Nazar Ospanov | 1 | 0.1% |
| Rob Newton | 1 | 0.1% |
| Nicholas DiMeglio | 1 | 0.1% |
| Tracy Bennett and Christina Iverson | 1 | 0.1% |
| Eleanor Kagan | 1 | 0.1% |
| Zoe Bell | 1 | 0.1% |
| Katie Hoffman | 1 | 0.1% |
| Maya Martinez Saxena | 1 | 0.1% |
| Elie Levine | 1 | 0.1% |
| Sean McGowan | 1 | 0.1% |
| Isaac Aronow | 1 | 0.1% |
| Christina Iverson and Hunter Calvert | 1 | 0.1% |
| Hunter Calvert | 1 | 0.1% |
Why does the credit matter?
Theme choice is an authored decision, not a generated one — the pun in a clue like “Dash it!” was written by a person. Recording who made each puzzle keeps that authorship attached to the record, and it is information The New York Times publishes with every puzzle that no other Strands answer site prints.
The most recent puzzle, from August 3, 2026, is on the front page; the complete run is in the archive.
Questions about who makes Strands
Who is the editor of Strands?
Tracy Bennett edits NYT Strands, and is credited on every puzzle published since the game launched in March 2024. The full credit table on this page is counted from the puzzles themselves, not from a press release.
Who writes NYT Strands?
Editing and construction are credited separately in Strands. Puzzles are built by a rotating set of constructors — Christina Iverson and Tracy Bennett hold the largest shares, with Heidi Erwin, Sam Ezersky and Everdeen Mason also credited — and every one of them is listed here by puzzle count.
How many strand puzzles have there been?
Counting from the first Strands puzzle on March 4, 2024, every day has carried exactly one, so the puzzle number is the number of puzzles published. The current total and the running credit split are on this page.