"The New York Times" began to publish a crossword puzzle on 15 February 1942, spurred on by the idea that the puzzle could be a welcome distraction from the harsh news of World War II. "The New York Times"'s first puzzle editor was Margeret Petherbridge Farrar, who was editor from 1942 to 1969. She was succeeded by Will Weng, who was succeeded by Eugene T. Maleska. Since 1993, they have been edited by Will Shortz, the fourth crossword editor in "Times". In 1978 Shortz founded and still directs the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. However, a number of other high-profile puzzles have since emerged in the United States in particular, many of which rival the Times in quality and prestige. These include "The New Yorker", "The Washington Post", "The Wall Street Journal", "Brendan Emmett Quigley", "The American Values Club", "Inkubator Crosswords," and "Fireball Crosswords" (the latter four of which are distributed digitally).