Will Shortz
NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).
Will sold his first puzzle professionally when he was 14 — to Venture, a denominational youth magazine. At 16 he became a regular contributor to Dell puzzle publications. He is the only person in the world to hold a college degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles, which he earned from Indiana University in 1974.
Born in 1952 and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Indiana, Will now lives near New York City in a Tudor-style house filled with books and Arts and Crafts furniture. When he's not at work, he enjoys bicycling, movies, reading, travel, and collecting antique puzzle books and magazines.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WITF listener Tom Rymsza of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz. -
Mark Englehart plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe. -
Rachel Cristy of Sacramento, Calif., plays this week's puzzle with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro and puzzlemaster Will Shortz. -
Anthony Gray plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Scott Detrow. -
Ellen Blackstone plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. -
Listener Name Rachel Mazor plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. -
Matt Mignone plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. -
This week's puzzle winner, Anita Charles, plays the puzzle with puzzle master Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. -
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro and puzzlemaster Will Shortz play the puzzle this week with listener Bill Tighe of Redondo Beach, Calif. -
Lena Porell plays with puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
