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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Every answer is the name of a river. Identify it using its anagram — minus a letter.
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Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word ends in E and the second word starts with Z.
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Every answer to the given clue is a made-up, two-word phrase in which you add IN to the front of the first word to get the second word.
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The theme of today's puzzle is May. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with MA and the second word ends with Y.
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This week's on-air challenge clues are the winners and runners up from the two-week creative challenge. Spoiler alert: The answers for the on-air challenge are given away on this week's puzzle page.
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Today's puzzle is a game of categories based on the word "phlox." You'll be given some categories. For each one, name something in the category beginning with each of the letters P, H, L, O and X.
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Every answer is a five-letter word. You will be given a clue for the word. Besides describing the answer, the clue will also contain the answer in consecutive letters.
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For each word provided, give a word that can follow it to complete a familiar two-word phrase. The first two letters of the provided word should be the last two letters of the answer.
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With spring in the air, it's a fitting time for a flower puzzle. Find the flower answer using its anagram, minus one letter.
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Three words that start with the same letter will be presented in a group. Find a word that shares the same first letter as the three, and that can follow each word to forma new compound word.