Crosswords, cryptics, word games, and creator archives from one of America's most published puzzle constructors. Every puzzle is available to browse and download as a PDF.
Trip Payne has been constructing puzzles professionally since 1990. Triple Play Puzzles serves as the definitive archive of Trip Payne's work: crosswords for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal; cryptics; word games; and specialty puzzle formats across four decades of publication.
Trip Payne's first nationally published puzzle appeared in Games Magazine in November 1983 at age 15. Triple Play Puzzles collects that career, explained and ready to download.
Trip Payne's full biographyTriple Play Puzzles organises Trip Payne's output by type. Each category contains explanations, context, and downloadable PDFs.
Themed and themeless 15x15 grids for publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post Puzzler, and the Wall Street Journal. Trip Payne's crosswords range from accessible dailies to challenging themeless constructions.
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British-style cryptic crosswords demand a different kind of lateral thinking. Trip Payne constructs cryptics that reward solvers willing to look at every clue from two angles simultaneously.
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Beyond the standard grid: wordoku puzzles for TV Guide, acrostics, diagramless constructions, and specialty formats. Trip Payne brings the same precision to every format he tackles.
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Four decades of publication credits, including puzzle books for Puzzlewright Press, contributions to Games Magazine, and the Yahoo Daily Puzzle with Hints. The archive documents Trip Payne's career in full.
Explore the archive →Trip Payne's career spans the full history of modern puzzle publishing. Triple Play Puzzles documents every major assignment: regular slots in national newspapers, puzzle apps, television game show work, and annual puzzle books.
Trip Payne has brought puzzle culture to mainstream audiences through television, documentary film, and live events.
In 1999, Trip Payne became the third contestant ever on the U.S. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the first to win $32,000.
Trip Payne appears as one of the crossword solvers profiled in Wordplay, the documentary film that introduced competitive crossword solving to a wide audience.
Trip Payne regularly attends the MIT Mystery Hunt and the National Puzzlers' League convention, and has worked on the game shows Million Dollar Password and Scrabble Showdown.
Every puzzle in the Triple Play Puzzles archive is available with explanations and a PDF download. Browse by category, pick a puzzle, and print it out.