For Release: 2008-09-29 12:50:00
Will Shortz, crossword editor for the New York Times and puzzle master for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, is the next guest on One to One with Bill Goodman. The program, taped on location at Louisville's Idea Festival, airs Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m./noon CT on KET1 and Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7:30/6:30 p.m. CT on KET2.Shortz discusses his unique education in the University of Indiana's individualized degree pro gram. He created an entire curriculum based on puzzles and became the only person known to have a college degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles). Shortz took courses in the history of puzzles, math puzzles, logic puzzles and the psychology of puzzles to name just a few, and he explains how he found professors willing to create a curriculum for him.
Shortz also talks about his early career in creating and editing puzzles, his weekly schedule with the New York Times and why he loves meeting other puzzle solvers. Shortz then describes the editing process for a Times crossword puzzle. He edits for accuracy, difficulty and freshness; decides what day of the week the puzzle should appear; and then passes it on to other fact-checkers and solvers for their suggestions.
The founder of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) and the World Puzzle Championship, Shortz sold his first puzzle at age 14. He says the best puzzles should stretch the solver to the limit, but should not be so obscure that he or she cannot figure out the answer. Shortz insists that one should not have to use reference materials to find the answer to a clue in a crossword puzzle that he edits.
The puzzle editor also discusses how a crossword puzzle is constructed, how puzzles exercise the brain and the 2006 documentary Wordplay, which features Shortz and the ACPT. And, though mistakes in Shortz ' s puzzles are rare, he talks about one mistake he made in a clue about famed Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp.
One to One with Bill Goodman is a KET production, produced by Goodman and Cindy Asher. Following the broadcast, One to One is available for on-demand videostream viewing at www.ket.org/onetoone and podcasting at www.ket.org/rss. More information about KET programming and education se rvices, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.
Contact: Amanda Stroud
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