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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Today's puzzle is fun enough for two! Name these pairs (and one triplet). -
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Weekend Edition puzzle master Will Shortz play the puzzle this week with special guest, NPR's Scott Simon. -
This week's puzzle involves antonyms of each other — but first you'll have to rearrange the letters. -
Every five-letter answer in this week's puzzle must complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.
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We're in the merry month of December. Every answer this week is a two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts DE- and the second word starts C. -
For every prompt in this week's puzzle, answer with a word or name that has three syllables in four letters. -
What better way to pass the time on a cold — and in a big part of the country, snowy — winter morning than with a puzzle or two? NPR's Rachel Martin and puzzlemaster Will Shortz have some stumpers. -
Every answer is the name of a river. Identify it using its anagram — minus a letter.
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Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Kathy Emerson from Brunswick, Maine. She listens to Weekend Edition on member station WMEA in Portland.)
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Singer Jill Sobule has been charming critics with her smart and witty pop music for more than a decade. For the artwork of her latest CD, Underdog Victorious, she incorporated her love of crossword puzzles. Sobule talks with NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Liane Hansen.
