Will Shortz is an American puzzle creator and editor of puzzles including crosswords, Sudoku, and tower defense. He is the current puzzle master for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and has also served as the crossword editor for The New York Times since 1993.
Born on August 26, 1952 in Crawfordsville, Indiana
Graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles
Founded a puzzle club at IU, which still exists today
Contributed puzzles to Games magazine and served as its editor from 1978 to 1993
Became the crossword editor for The New York Times in 1993
Founded the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 1978 and still serves as its director today
Inducted into the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Hall of Fame in 2011
A national daily newspaper with a daily Sudoku puzzle and a crossword puzzle available online.
A business-focused daily newspaper with a daily crossword puzzle available online.
A daily newspaper with a daily crossword puzzle and Sudoku puzzle available online.
Daily and Sunday crossword puzzles published in The New York Times newspaper as well as online.
An annual crossword puzzle competition founded by Will Shortz.
A number puzzle game that challenges the player to place numbers in a 9x9 grid so that each row, column, and 3x3 sub-grid contains each number exactly once.
While Will Shortz's net worth is not publicly available, it is estimated to be in the millions due to his success as a puzzle editor and creator.
Will Shortz creates crossword puzzles by starting with a theme and then filling in the grid with words and phrases that fit the theme and are interesting and challenging for the solver.
The hardest crossword puzzle Will Shortz has ever published is widely considered to be the November 5, 1996 puzzle, which had a record-breaking 147 answers and was deemed 'unsolvable' by some solvers.
The best way to improve at solving crossword puzzles is to practice consistently, read clues carefully, and learn common crossword puzzle words and phrases so you can recognize them quickly.
To get started creating your own crossword puzzles, familiarize yourself with the rules and conventions of crossword puzzles, use crossword puzzle software or graph paper to create your grid, and start filling in words and clues based on a theme or your own interests.