Will Shortz
| Will Shortz | |
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| Born | 26 August 1952 Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Education | B.A. in Enigmatology, 1974 Indiana University, J.D., 1977 University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Crossword editor table tennis center owner |
| Notable credit(s) | New York Times Puzzle Editor (since 1993), NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle master (since 1987) |
Will Shortz (born 26 August 1952 in Crawfordsville, Indiana) is an American puzzle creator and editor, and currently the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times.
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[edit] Early life and education
Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm[1] in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Graduating from Indiana University in 1974,[2] he is the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology,[3] the study of puzzles. Shortz achieved this feat by designing his own curriculum through Indiana University's Individualized Major Program.[4] While at IU, Shortz pledged and was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He also earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law (1977), though he forwent the bar exam and began a career in puzzles instead.
[edit] Career
Shortz began his career at Penny Press Magazines,[5] then moved to Games magazine for 15 years, serving as its editor from 1989–1993. He has been the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times since 1993 (the fourth in the paper's history, following Eugene Thomas Maleska), and has been the puzzle master on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program was started in 1987. He is the founder of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (1978), and has served as its director since that time. He founded the World Puzzle Championship in 1992 and is a director of the U.S. Puzzle Team.
Shortz is the author or editor of more than 100 books and owns over 20,000 puzzle books and magazines dating back to 1545, reportedly the world's largest private library on the subject.[6] Shortz is a member of the National Puzzlers' League. He is currently the league historian.
Shortz provided the puzzle clues which The Riddler (Jim Carrey) leaves for Batman (Val Kilmer) in the film Batman Forever.[7]
On his 50th birthday, Shortz received a personal note from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who is a fan of The New York Times crossword puzzle.[6]
He says that his favorite crossword of all time is the Election Day crossword of 5 November 1996, designed by Jeremiah Farrell. It had two correct solutions with the same set of clues, one saying that the "Lead story in tomorrow's newspaper (!)" would be "BOB DOLE ELECTED", and the other correct solution saying "CLINTON ELECTED".[8][9]
He has declared that his favorite crossword clue of all-time is "It might turn into a different story" (whose solution is SPIRAL STAIRCASE).[10]
Shortz currently resides in Pleasantville, New York, where he works from home. Shortz is an avid table tennis player; in May 2011, he opened one of the largest table tennis clubs in the Northeast in Pleasantville.[11]
In February 2009, Shortz helped introduce the KenKen puzzle into The New York Times.[12]
[edit] Publicity
The 2006 documentary Wordplay by Patrick Creadon focuses on Shortz and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Various famous fans of his puzzles such as Bill Clinton, Ken Burns, Jon Stewart, The Indigo Girls and Mike Mussina appear in the film.
Shortz has been a guest on a number of TV shows, including Martha Stewart Living, Oprah,[13] The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. He has also appeared on Millionaire as an expert for the "Ask the Expert" lifeline.[14]
He appeared on an episode of The Simpsons titled "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words", which first aired on 16 November 2008.
He appeared in Dinner: Impossible as himself, challenging the chef to create dishes that mimic common English idioms at the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. The episode aired on 6 May 2009 (the tournament ran 27 February through 1 March of that year).
He also appeared on an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Robots Versus Wrestlers", which first aired on 10 May 2010 during season 5. He appeared as himself at an upscale dinner party that included Arianna Huffington and Peter Bogdanovich, also playing themselves.[15]
Shortz is a weekly guest on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday where he hosts the Sunday Puzzle, a cooperative game between the show's host, Liane Hansen (until Spring, 2011), and one of the show's listeners. The segment was hosted by Audie Cornish (from Fall 2011 to January 2012). The lucky player is picked randomly from a group of submissions containing the correct answer to a qualifier puzzle issued the week before.
[edit] Honors and awards
Shortz gave the commencement address at his alma mater, Indiana University, in May 2008.
In May 2010, Shortz was given an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Wabash College in Indiana.[16]
[edit] References
- ^ "About Will Shortz". NPR. http://www.npr.org/programs/wesun/puzzle/will.html.
- ^ "Puzzlemaster Will Shortz to present IU's 2008 commencement address". 1 April 2008. http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7726.html.
- ^ "New York Times crossword editor to give "puzzling" lecture at IU". Indiana University. 29 March 2000. http://newsinfo.iu.edu/OCM/releases/shortz.htm.
- ^ Individualized Major Program
- ^ University of Virginia news item
- ^ a b "Puzzle pundit has a word", Australian Courier-Mail, 28 October 2006
- ^ IMDB Entry for "Batman Forever"
- ^ BarelyBad.com: " Theme Answers — Election Day 1996."
- ^ American Crossword Puzzle Tournament: "Business Unusual: Will Shortz"
- ^ New York Magazine
- ^ Reilly, Kathleen. "Weschester Table Tennis Center Debuts in Pleasantville". AOL Patch. http://pleasantville.patch.com/articles/weschester-table-tennis-center-debuts-in-pleasantville. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- ^ Stephey, M. J. "Puzzle Guru Will Shortz." Time 2 Mar. 2009. 15 June 2009 <http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1882455,00.html>
- ^ The Oprah Winfrey Show: "How'd They Do That?"
- ^ Will on Millionaire Wednesday (YouTube)
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
[edit] External links
- A Puzzling Occupation from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
- About Will Shortz from NPR
- Opens New Table Tennis Club in Westchester 2011
- Bookologist Interviews Will Shortz About Crossword Puzzle Collecting
- American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
- New York Times crosswords some sample puzzles and crossword forums are free; access to the daily puzzle requires a paid subscription
- New York Times crossword editor to give "puzzling" lecture at IU
- Synopses of Will Shortz puzzle segments on Weekend Edition Sunday
- The Puzzle Master - Wired magazine interview
- WORDPLAY site for Independent Lens on PBS
- Wordplay The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
