Former Sunday Newsday Crossword editor now works for Boca Raton Tribune. Stan Newman holds the world record for solving the New York Times Crossword puzzle in 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
We hear from the Boca Raton Tribune that two “Brooklyn boys” have joined the newspaper. Brooklyn native Ray Russotto is a well known cartoonist and caricature artist, and Stanley Newman, also a Brooklyn native, will edit the cross-word puzzles.
Ray Russotto. Photo: Boca Tribune
Russotto was born in Brooklyn and his parents moved to South Florida when he was 4 years old. When he was in grade school, Douglas Heizer reports, Russotto “…earned pocket money drawing funny pictures of…classmates and teachers.” As an artist, Russotto has created about 50,000 caricatures, and said “…there is no end in sight.” His work has appeared in Mutual Funds Magazine, the Miami Herald, Jazziz, the Sun-Sentinel and the Boca Raton News. A collection of his cartoons from the Boca Raton News was published as a limited edition book entitled “BocaRatoons.”
Stan Newman. Photo: Boca Tribune
The Tribune also hired a new cross-word puzzle editor, another Brooklyn native, Stanley Newman. He has been the editor of the Newsday Sunday Crossword since March 1988, and editor of the Newsday daily crossword since January 1992. Today, the Newsday Crossword is syndicated worldwide to over 200 daily, Sunday and Internet newspapers. Newman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brooklyn College, and a mathematics major with a master’s degree in statistics from Rutgers University. Prior to becoming a crossword wizard, Newman worked as a college teacher, consumer market researcher and Wall Street bond analyst. Newman started solving crossword puzzles in his childhood and entered the crossword business after winning three crossword championships in 1982, including the U.S. Open Crossword Championship.
Newman holds the world’s record for the fastest completion of a New York Times crossword puzzle: In 1996, under the Guiness Book conditions, he completed the puzzle in 2 minutes and 14 seconds. To learn more about his accomplishments in the world of crosswords, click the link below.