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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Listener Dan Hyman plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Elissa Nadworny. -
Listener Jane Babbitt of Camden, Maine, plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and Ayesha Rascoe.
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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with VPM listener Kathleen Martin of Richmond, Va., and puzzlemaster Will Shortz.
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Bill Holcomb plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Jane Ruseski of Morgantown, W.V., plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Falguni Adams plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Mark Englehart plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Jennifer Snyder plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Pamela Bender of Boston plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Bob Clark plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Meredith Wald plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
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Eric Houston plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.
