Tyler Hinman
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Tyler Hinman (born November 5, 1984) is an American competitive
crossword puzzle A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...
solver and constructor and a seven-time winner of the
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) is a crossword-solving tournament held annually in February, March, or April. Founded in 1978 by Will Shortz, who still directs the tournament, it is the oldest and largest crossword tournament h ...
(ACPT). He holds the tournament record for youngest champion ever, winning as a 20-year-old in 2005, and he formerly held the record for consecutive titles with five, a feat matched and bested by six-time champion Dan Feyer. He was one of the featured players in the award-winning 2006 documentary film ''
Wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...
''.


Early life

Hinman was born in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, and raised in Connecticut and in England. While a 9th-grade student at The American School in England (TASIS), Hinman was introduced to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' crossword puzzle and became immediately interested. He first entered the ACPT as a 16-year-old in 2001, finishing 101st out of the 322 entered contestants.


Education and career

After graduating from TASIS The American School in England in 2002, Hinman returned to the United States to attend
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
(RPI) where he earned a bachelor's degree in Information Technology in 2006 and joined the Phi Mu Delta fraternity. After graduating, he accepted a job in Chicago, Illinois as a bond trader at Darwin Capital Trading through a connection from the producer of the film ''
Wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...
''. After a little more than a year, Hinman left the industry, and he moved to San Francisco in 2008 to work in software development.http://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhinman


Puzzle career

Hinman first entered the ACPT as a sixteen-year-old in 2001, finishing 101st in a field of 322 competitors. He continued to enter each year, capturing the tournament title for the first time in 2005 as a 20-year-old, making him the youngest-ever winner of the tournament. He won the next four tournaments even as they were growing in both size and competitiveness. In 2009, there were nearly 700 competitors, and with his fifth win Hinman had solved forty consecutive tournament puzzles without making a single error. His winning streak came to an end in 2010 when he finished fourth overall in the tournament. For the years 2011–2015, he finished second four times. He won his sixth title in the online-only tournament in 2021, and his seventh ACPT in person in April 2022. Hinman is also a crossword puzzle constructor, creating original puzzles for publications including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...
.'' He was also a contributor to the CrosSynergy Syndicate, and to the American Values Club Xword, edited by Ben Tausig. Hinman, along with fellow puzzlemaker Jeremy Horwitz, received national attention when they fulfilled a wish of
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
pitcher
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
by including his name in a puzzle for the ''Times''. The theme consisted of
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
–winning pitchers who share a name with vocalists on No. 1 hits. In 2017, Hinman appeared in the FOX game show ''
Superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...
'' and competed in a race against time to complete five-word puzzles.


Book

Hinman has published one book of crossword puzzles. *


References


External links


Official site
*
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament official site

The American Values Club crosswords
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinman, Tyler Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni American computer programmers 1984 births Living people People from Hartford, Connecticut Crossword creators Google employees People educated at the American School in England