Will Shortz

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Will Shortz (b. August 26, 1952, Crawfordsville, Indiana) is a U.S. puzzle creator and editor. He worked at Games Magazine for 15 years, and was 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 T. Maleska) and the puzzle master on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He is also the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament since 1978. 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 as of 2003, he owns approximately 20,000 puzzle books and magazines dating back to 1545, reportedly the world's largest private library on the subject. He is currently the historian of the National Puzzlers' League, where he goes by the "nom" of WILLz (a rebus on his name: WILL + short Z).

Shortz is the only person to hold a college degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles, which he earned from Indiana University in 1974 after designing his own degree program. He also earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, though he skipped the bar exam and began a career in puzzles instead.

He was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Indiana. On his 50th birthday, Shortz received a personal note from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who is a fan of the The New York Times crossword puzzle.

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, Jon Stewart, The Indigo Girls and Mike Mussina make their appearance in the film.

Shortz has been a guest on a number of TV shows, ranging from Martha Stewart Living to Oprah to The Daily Show.[1] Shortz lives in Pleasantville, New York. He says that his favorite crossword of all time is the "Election Day" crossword from 1996, designed by Jeremiah Farrell. It had two correct solutions with the same set of clues, one saying that the "lead story tomorrow" would be "Bob Dole elected", and the other correct solution saying that it would be Bill "Clinton elected".[2][3]