Who am I?

:big(M):y name is Jay. I am a Zillennial male, and according to 23andMe, I am roughly 60% English and French, 15% Russian Ashkenazi Jew, 10% Scandinavian, and the rest a smattering of European countries, both Eastern and Western. I have lived in New England for about a decade, but I grew up in a New York City suburb. I have degrees in both Mathematics and Computer Science, and I studied Mandarin Chinese for about eight years (my dad has been a believer in the Chinese Century my entire life, and required that I learn as a child). I currently work as a senior engineer at a medical technology company.

Over the past fifteen years, I have used many usernames and handles online, including but not limited to: “jehlp” (Jay, slurred, combined with let’s play (LP)), “JW” (my initials), or “KNT” (purely aesthetic, no secret meaning). Use whichever suits you best, I do not care.

Storytelling

:big(D):espite living my life as a secular Christian, I have a deep love of theological fiction. I am particularly interested in Lurianic Kabbalah and Vaishnavite Hinduism. My favorite religious text is the Mahabharata (I do not care much for the Ramayana or the Upanishads).

My favorite author is Gene Wolfe and I have spent many days reading the Urth List. I also like Ted Chiang, Vladimir Nabokov, Michel Houllebecq, Naoki Urasawa, and Jorge Luis Borges.

I am a Wikipedian, and I have written over a dozen original pages. Most of my contributions and edits have been related to either logic puzzles, Hindu mythology, science-fiction, or otaku culture.

I used to write anime reviews on MyAnimeList, but it is best those are lost to time.

I am an avid reader of Japanese visual novels (VNs), and have recorded most of them on my VNDB profile. My very favorites are the Utawarerumono trilogy and the Baldr Sky duology. I am a script editor for an upcoming 2027 English visual novel, however this title is still officially unannounced.

Video Games

:big(I): am a lifelong gamer, and I typically enjoy video games of all genres besides multiplayer shooters and fighting games. I was raised on Nintendo; Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid are some franchises particularly dear to my childhood.

I have played lots of Riot Games’ League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. I am a Grandmaster player in the latter.

I was also a longtime osu! player, and from 2018 through 2020, I was among the top three American players with the most leaderboard scores, as well as top five in total playtime in the country.

I am also an active modded Minecraft player, completing many of the most difficult expert modpacks.

I have a soft spot for puzzle games. The Case & Rise of the Golden Idol and Outer Wilds are two of my all time favorites.

Puzzles

:big(I): have competed in International Puzzle Competitions and authored hundreds of logic puzzles under the alias “KNT”. On the offical Logic Masters Site, I am the user who has authored the largest number of perfectly rated puzzles. I am also the user who has authored the largest number of maximum difficulty puzzles. The most subscribed to puzzle-related YouTube channel, Cracking The Cryptic, solved a puzzle of mine which at the time resulted in their longest video ever. This record has since been beaten.

I have solved several thousand New York Times crosswords, and have been a competitive participant in many lengthy puzzlehunts. I completed Galactic Puzzlehunt 2023 by myself, and this hunt was typically was done in teams of six.

Inspirations

:big(I): believe it is important that everyone has their own personal heroes. The following is a list of people who I think are cool.

Gene Wolfe, for teaching me what is possible to achieve with the English language.

Gwern Branwen, Scott Alexander, and more generally the rationalist community for their essays and thought experiments.

Isaac Newton, for, as John Maynard Keynes puts it in his speech “Newton, the Man”, being the last of the magicians.

Hernán Cortés, for leading the most impressive expedition in human history.

Erhard “tuace” Notz, for being be the most brilliant logic puzzle constructor.

Toby Fox, for being the most talented Western solo game developer.

Steven Pruitt, for contributing more knowledge to the public domain than anyone who has ever lived.

Nigel Richards, for being what I believe to be the greatest mental athlete of all time, greater than any chess player.