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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Mark Englehart plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Ayesha Rascoe. -
NPR's Eyder Peralta plays the puzzle with puzzle master Will Shortz and this week's winner, Teri Fenner from San Diego, Calif. -
NPR's Eyder Peralta plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and WUNC listener Aaron Jones of Cary, North Carolina. -
Dick Ehrman of Lincoln, Neb. plays the puzzle with puzzlemaster Will Shortz and NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. -
Every five-letter answer in this week's puzzle must complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase. -
For every prompt in this week's puzzle, answer with a word or name that has three syllables in four letters. -
NPR's Rachel Martin and Puzzlemaster Will Shortz play the puzzle with David Lefkowitz of Los Angeles. -
For every six-letter word given in this week's puzzle, insert two letters in the exact center to complete a familiar eight-letter word. -
In each pair of clues, the answer to the first clue is a word that contains the consecutive letters A-R. Drop the A-R, and the remaining letters in order will form a word that answers the second clue.
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Every answer today is a made-up two-word phrase, in which the two words rhyme. The initials of the two words will be provided, along with a one-word clue.
