Nine across. The clue? “Enigmatologist, or an alternative spelling of cropped pants.”
Need a hint? The answer is “Shortz,” as in Will Shortz, the editor of The New York Times crossword puzzle, puzzle master on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” star of the award-winning documentary “Wordplay,” and yes, enigmatologist, or one who studies puzzles.
Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Royce Hall, Shortz will also become the final speaker in the 2006-2007 UCLA Live season, where he will discuss his career and his love of puzzles and conduct audience-participation word games.
“They say that human beings have a natural compulsion to fill up spaces, and I think that’s part of the appeal of crosswords, as well as sudoku,” Shortz said. “Part of the appeal of puzzles in general … is the sense of being in control, from tearing a challenge through from start to finish.”
This attraction propelled Shortz’s love of puzzles from the time he designed his first ones at age 8.
“I’ve always thought that at the beginning I used puzzles as a way to procrastinate from schoolwork,” he said. This form of procrastination, however, led Shortz to create his own major in the Individualized Major Program at Indiana University. Designing courses from “American Crossword Puzzles of the 20th Century” to “The Psychology of Puzzles,” Shortz found advisers in the most relevant departments and found ways to study what he loved.
Although Shortz intended to practice law before he began his puzzle-making career and even earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, he soon realized that he wanted to devote his career solely to puzzles.
He began working at The New York Times in 1993, reviewing puzzle submissions, editing clues, and determining the level of difficulty for each puzzle. Starting with small modifications such as crossword puzzle constructor bylines added to the daily puzzles and broadening the cultural references in the clues to encompass movies, television, and pop music, Shortz steadily made changes to try to improve the accessibility of The Times crossword.
“What people love about crosswords is that they do connect with life,” Shortz said. “You use everything you know: your vocabulary, your knowledge, your sense of humor, your sense of playfulness, everything to complete the challenge.”
What Shortz enjoys most about his job as editor of The Times crossword, though, is the puzzle constructors and the puzzle fans he interacts with. With 60 to 75 puzzle submissions received for review each day, four blogs that assess the daily puzzle, and numerous solver letters with anecdotes, advice and praise for the crosswords, Shortz regularly connects with other puzzle fanatics.
“I love puzzle people because they’re interesting, intelligent, well-rounded people ““ often with a good sense of humor ““ and they tend to be nice people as well,” Shortz said.
Shortz’s interaction with these “puzzle people,” however, extends beyond his job at The Times. As the host of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Shortz witnesses the bond between the most devoted of puzzle-solvers in a weekend-long event at the Marriott Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut.
“When you come to a crossword tournament and meet a kindred spirit like that, a person with a playful turn of mind, you know, you feel like a friend with them,” Shortz said.
The success of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament has also increased with the release of the documentary “Wordplay” in 2006, which explores the process of constructing crossword puzzles, the appeal of crossword puzzles to celebrities such as Jon Stewart and former President Bill Clinton, the lives of competitors in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and, of course, Shortz’s career as a crossword puzzle editor.
“The director, Patrick Creadon … and his wife, Christine O’Malley … were going to devote (their first film) to crossword puzzles,” Shortz said. “Why would you pick a solitary activity with no inherent drama to make a movie about? But I just thought they did it brilliantly.”
With attendance at the tournament up by 40 percent from last year, Shortz hopes that this enthusiasm for puzzle-solving is a lasting trend that carries into the first annual American Sudoku Championship in Philadelphia, which Shortz will also host.
“What I am going to try for the Sudoku Championship is, first of all, have many different events, many different solving categories,” Shortz said. “Secondly, it will be something for solvers of all ages, from 10-year-old up to as old as sudoku people get. … I’d like this to be an event where people can go and just have a blast no matter whether they win or not.”
Shortz believes that sudoku solvers and crossword solvers are primarily different kinds of thinkers, in spite of the overlapping desire for intellectual challenges.
Despite the differences, Shortz enjoys both sudoku and crossword puzzles, even though crossword puzzles are and will remain his first love.
And for those who are new to Shortz’s world, the crossword puzzle master has a few pieces of advice.
“Don’t be afraid to guess, but also don’t be afraid to erase an answer that isn’t working out,” Shortz said.
“If you really get stuck, put the puzzle aside, come back and try it again later. It’s amazing how often that technique works. The next time you come back, maybe your mind has been working in the interim, or maybe just a fresh look at the puzzle can give you a new answer and you’re off and running again.”