Timothy Parker

Timothy Eric Parker (born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1960) is a U.S. puzzle editor and constructor. He is currently the crossword editor of USA Today.

Parker grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with nine siblings, and attempted his first crossword puzzle at age 12. [cite web|url=http://www.upuzzles.com/free/cy/bio.html|title=The Puzzle Society: Meet Timothy Parker|accessdate=November 14|accessyear=2006] He attended the private Gilman School where he excelled in both football and baseball. He was recruited by the Pittsburgh Pirates at 16 [cite web|url=http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=134|title=The History Makers: Timothy Parker|accessdate=November 14|accessyear=2006] but did not join them.

Timothy Parker is married with two children.

Puzzle career

Parker is the founder and senior editor of the Universal line of crossword puzzles and games, which are syndicated around the world in print by Universal Press Syndicate, and online by Uclick, a division of AMUniversal. The Universal Crossword is featured on hundreds on sites including MSNBC, CBS News, The Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News, New York Daily News, and others.

Parker is the founder of the Puzzle Society, one of North America's largest paid subscriber puzzle clubs [cite web|url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/univ_crossword/bio.htm|title=Timothy Parker's bio at Universal Press Syndicate's website|accessdate=June 9|accessyear=2008] . In addition to crosswords, Parker also creates and edits trivia games, mazes, word searches, cryptic crossword puzzles, and others. Parker's puzzles and games have been published in over 100 countries including China, Brazil, Spain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, Canada, New Zealand and Russia.

Parker formed Master Puzzles, Inc. in 1999.

He has worked with corporate giants such as Sony, Microsoft, Disney, Warner Bros., Reader's Digest, Coca-Cola, Greenberg Traurig and others, creating custom puzzles and game content.

In 2006, he signed with the William Morris Agency of Beverly Hills to create original television programming in the game and reality genres, and to explore creating original content for some of WMA's high-profile corporate clients. In 2006, he was personally selected by Merv Griffin to be Puzzle Producer of his new game show, Merv Griffin's Crosswords. Griffin's favorite crossword was Parker's USA Today puzzle.Fact|date=October 2007

Timothy Parker has edited several puzzle books and is the editor of the annual "USA Today Crossword Calendar." He has been a guest on several TV and radio programs, and has been featured in several magazines including People.

Awards and recognition

* In May 2000, Parker was named "World's Most Syndicated Puzzle Compiler" by Guinness World Records.Fact|date=October 2007
* Parker became the second crossword puzzle editor in the history of USA Today in May, 2003. [cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-05-19-puzzle_x.htm|title= A new puzzle comes to USATODAY.com|accessdate=November 14|accessyear=2006]

References