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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In this week's Sunday Puzzle, for each word given, think of a synonym whose first and second letters, in order, are the second and third letters, respectively, of the given word. -
For each four-letter word — not a euphemism, in this case — insert two letters to complete a common six-letter word.
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Given an answer, you name the song. All you have to do is anagram one word in the made-up title you're given to complete the correct title of the song. -
Given a five-letter word and a six-letter, rearrange the letters of the shorter word to find a synonym for the longer word. -
Change a letter in each word to make two new words. The letter you change must be in the same position in each word. And the letter you change each of them to will be the same letter of the alphabet. -
Today's puzzle involves wordplay on some well-known Canadian place names. -
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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For every word provided (all starting with the letter "W"), give a proverb or saying that contains that word. -
Today's puzzle is called "Monkey Business." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase starting with "M" and "B" — as in "monkey business." -
For the blank in each provided sentence, put in the name of a color to complete the sentence in a punny way.
