Up First from NPR - The Sunday Story: Meeting the Puzzlemaster

Episode Date: November 26, 2023

Today on The Sunday Story host Ayesha Rascoe heads to Westchester County, in upstate New York to meet with The New York Times Crossword editor Will Shortz. The two sit down at the table tennis center Will owns to talk about how he became the Puzzlemaster on Weekend Edition Sunday, his love for all things puzzles and how recently, in his seventies, he has finally found love in his personal life as well.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and you're listening to The Sunday Story. Before we get started, I have a favor to ask. So, as you know, the end of the year is rapidly approaching. As a journalist, I can tell you it's been a tough year with lots and lots of hard and sad news. And in our personal lives, most of us have probably had some stuff go wrong too. I know I have. Well, we're at that time when many of us might be reflecting on the year we've had and making resolutions for the year to come. I've been thinking about this a lot. I know some big things that I'm going to try to do. I got to drink more water. I have to exercise. I know

everybody says that, but for real this time, and like, it's probably some other stuff, but I might keep that to myself for now. And the thing about resolutions is they can send us on a journey. They can change us and they can have unexpected consequences. So I have a question for you. What's a big or small change you've made this year in your life and what kind of journey has that taken you on? You can share your story by sending us a voice memo at the sundaystoryatnpr.org. Again, that's the sundaystory, all one word, at npr.org. Send it in by December 10th, and we might include it in our last episode of the year. Okay, so this week, we're doing something a little bit different. Not long ago, I got a chance to get out of the studio

and go see a friend I've been working with for a little while, but I've never met in person. We're in Westchester County, but we are not visiting Professor X's school for gifted mutants. We are here to visit Will Shorts, the Puzzle Master. Will Shorts is an icon at NPR, at Week in Edition, at Week in Edition Sunday. You cannot do Week in Edition Sunday without the puzzle, and that involves Will Shorts. But much of the staff at Week in Edition haven't actually met Will in person, even though we talk to him all the time. So he's like this person that we know, like the wizard behind the curtain who we know and hear, but we never actually see. So I decided to change that. I traveled to upstate New York to, get this, a table tennis center that Will Shorts owns. I was super excited. Guys, Will's coming up. Will's coming up. Okay. Will's coming up. Will's coming up. You look different than I imagined.

Hi. Great to see you. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Glad to be here. You look great. You look different than I imagined. I don't know what I thought you looked like. You look different than I imagined. Well, what did you think? I don't know what you, I don't know what I thought you looked like. You look different. He looks very sporty, too. It's funny to hear someone, you know, on the air for a long time without knowing what they look like. Yeah. And I'm like, this is Will Shorts. He's right here. He's standing in front of me, people.

Well, we are very excited to be here. Me, too. Thank you for coming. So thank you so much for, like, for inviting us. I'm really excited. Did you go inside? No, we haven't seen it because we want to get the tour from you. Okay, well, let's go.

So before we get into the tour of the Table Tennis Club, which was so much fun, I want to stop here and make a little bit of a confession. Before I started hosting Weekend Edition Sunday, I was very concerned about the puzzle. People always talked about it, and I didn't really know if it was for me. I'm not competitive at all, and I don't do crosswords or anything like that in my free time. But what won me over immediately was the devotion of the audience and the commitment of Will Shorts. There's a reason why he's the puzzle master. Will loves games, including the very competitive sport of table tennis. He's owned and operated his table tennis business since 2009.

What made you want to open this club? Yeah. I grew up in Crawfordsville, Indiana. My family had a ping pong table in their recreation room. So I started playing when I was a kid and it got decent. See those four trophies in the display case there? Okay. Those are trophies of mine from high school. You won these in high school? Okay, so table tennis champ,levard mall 1969 wheel shorts and it's like a

gray trophy and this beautiful trophy case at the front of the club there are these big display cases filled with table tennis memorabilia and i spied a black and white picture of a young man playing the game wait now are these pictures are you playing? That is me in high school, so I'll tell you. Wait, now, which picture? Okay, this is a black and white picture. The guy in the white shirt. Okay, so it's a black and white picture, so we see a young Will Shorts now,

and here you in a button-up. That's what I expected you to be in. You had to wear a shirt. When I was in high school, you had to wear a collared shirt. You had to wear, like, a collared shirt. T-shirts not allowed. He's in a collared shirt and slacks, and this black and white picture.

And he's playing. Now, were you beating this guy real bad when you were playing? Well, I was beating him. And, okay, so you want to go and play? Or maybe we could play a little bit? Let me see. Don't let me know. Okay, so the truth is I really don't know how to play table tennis.

So I needed a little bit of help. Hold your paddle like you are shaking hands with it. Okay, like I'm shaking hands. So your fingers are here, your thumb here. The proper serve is to hit it down here and then over like this. Okay, like this. There you go. Okay. Yes. Yeah, that's it. Gentle shell. Two in a row.

Three in a row. Three in a row. Oh! With Will's help, I got better, like for real. And FYI, I was playing table tennis because serious players, they don't call it ping pong. I thought I was done with the lesson. I clearly needed some rest. So we sat down in the table tennis center to talk about Will's day job, making puzzles. So how does it feel to be 37 years in? How does that feel? Well, it feels great. I love coming up with new ideas every week. I love the people I come in

contact with through puzzles. And you know, they're self-selected. In order to get on the show, you have to solve a challenge. So that means you have something on the ball. And it's just fun playing with the listener and with you. And so, like, was there a moment when you were like, oh, this is, like, this is

big. Like, people are really passionate about these puzzles. Oh, yeah. So when I'm coming up with puzzles for Sunday morning, I'm imagining people lazing in bed or making breakfast or driving to church. And that means that they're not writing anything down. So every challenge puzzle is something you can hold in your head and think about and write down later if you want. And for the on-air puzzle, I'm trying to get something that's fun and new and get quick answers on. I test every puzzle, usually on a couple of people before I do it on the radio in case I've made a mistake or in case it's too hard or too easy, whatever. I got to ask you, so first of all, did you know you were going to be a puzzle master?

Like, how did that come about? So as you know, Susan Stanberg started the show in January 1987. Her idea was that Weekend Edition Sunday should be the radio equivalent of a Sunday newspaper. You get your news and culture and sports and everything, but we all know what's the most important part of the Sunday paper, and it's the puzzle. So inquiries made their way to me, and the challenge was, how do you do puzzles on the radio? Most puzzles are written, and you can't do that on radio. And furthermore, most puzzles require you to sit and think with periods of silence, which you can't do on radio. So I came up with this idea of quick word

teasers, which originally I gave them to Susan. And when Leanne Hansen took over as host, I gave the quick teasers to her. She felt she was in a difficult position because if she answered quickly everything,

then she's a smartass and nobody likes a smartass. And if she doesn't answer, then she's a smartass and nobody likes a smartass. And if she doesn't answer, then she's a dumbass and no one wants a host who's a dumbass. So it was her idea to bring in the listeners. And Leanne was the one who started calling me the Puzzle Master. We went looking for some of that old tape from back in the day. And NPR's research team, they found it. Puzzle master Will Shorts joins us now from our studios in New York. Hi, Will.

Hi, Leanne. Well, first thing I have for you, Will, is a question. Do you have a spare room in your house? Can we send you the bags of letters we received in response to your puzzle question last week? I have an unused corner. Okay, we'll send them to you. Okay, so what is it that you love about games so much and, like, these puzzles so much?

Like, what is it about it that you think, like, really connects with you? Yeah. Well, first of all, I like the cleverness of it. I'm using my brain. I feel like I'm a long-distance entertainer. So I love the feedback. I can turn anything into a game. I remember once my dad was not a very playful person. But I remember once when we were

on a trip out west and we were driving and we came to the top of a hill like in the Rocky Mountains and you could see miles and miles away and And he stopped the car and challenged everyone in the family to guess how many miles it was to the top of the other hill. What a cool thing. And my guess was way off, but I'm the sort of person who can turn anything into a game. Do you think it takes a bit of vulnerability to do puzzles and stuff because you have to be willing to kind of like get it wrong or not

get not know the answer or like you know if you're you may have to practice like does it take like a or a little bit of a risk to to do puzzles you have to put yourself out there put yourself out there yeah yeah um and i've made a few i've made errors over the years. And, you know, you just acknowledge them and move on. Yeah, yeah. I think there's another thing. This doesn't answer your question, but it's something that jumps to mind. I think if you go back and listen to the puzzle segment, like, in the late 1980s and the 1990s, I was kind of stiff, and there wasn't any personality there.

Are you ready to play a puzzle on the air with Will? Sure, I'd love to. Okay, I'll sit back. Go ahead. All right, Holly. Yeah. Tomorrow is April Fool's Day. Yep. So today I thought I'd bring some April Foolish puzzles.

Here's number one. Eleven birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Over the years, I've learned to relax, enjoy myself, laugh, be playful on the air. Okay, well, that's the other thing, because I think some people are scared of you. Because they're like, well, he ain't nothing to play with. So, do you feel like you're really tough and serious? Or do you think that's just what people think? I'm serious about making things fun.

Okay. And I want the solver to get the answer. I want to challenge, you know, the greatest feeling of the greatest satisfaction, the greatest sense of achievement is when you have take a tough challenge and then master it. Okay. And that level is different for every person. So I try to make a puzzle that will be challenging, but that you can get. And if you can't get it, I'll give hints. You know, I give hints on the air because I want people to get the answer.

Yeah, you want them to get it. Yeah. And there is the magic of editing. The editing, yeah. So our goal is for every player on the air to sound smart. What do you think that people would be surprised to know about you as the puzzle master? I'm going to ask you when you get home about you as Will Shorts.

But what do you think people would be surprised to know about you, the way you put together puzzles or the way you solve puzzles? Everyone thinks I listen to opera and classical music. Yeah. And actually, my favorite music is garage rock. Oh, really? And I subscribe to Sirius XM Radio

specifically to get Channel 21, Little Steven's Underground Garage. Welcome to another Underground Garage very special event. Little Steven here, and we are on a roll lately. Jeff Beck and Johnny. So I can listen to it here at the hall, listen to it on my computer at home, and listen to it in my car. Like, was there ever a point where you thought, I don't know that I can make a living with this? Like, you know, yes, I love this. This is my passion, but how can I support myself with these puzzles?

Yeah. Well, in the eighth grade, when asked to write a paper on what I wanted to do with my life, I said, a professional puzzle maker. Can you imagine a kid deciding that is his life's desire? But that's what I wanted to do. And I was willing to live in an attic somewhere and churn out my little puzzles, you know, for $10 each and try to scrape out a living. So that's why, you know, I have the world's only college degree in puzzles. In puzzles. Now, I try to tell people this.

Was it cryptology or what did you name it? Enigmatology. Oh, enigmatology. Okay, enigmatology. And I did not make up that word. It's an old word. Originally, it meant the study of riddles. It goes back to the 18th century.

I updated the word to mean puzzles of all sorts. So when I studied at college, all my courses in my major were independent learning. And I'd find professors who'd work with me. And, you know, if I was studying English puzzles, English word puzzles, it would be in the English department, math puzzles in the math department, and so on. And so that's how I got my, I got my, the world's only degree in that. And then I went to law school because I didn't think that I could make a living from puzzles. My summer before entering law school, I worked for Penny Press, a crossword magazine company. Loved it. And that let me see how I could have a living from puzzles. I didn't have to churn them out for $10 each or whatever.

I could edit puzzles and have a regular paying job, you know, a salary job. You've done puzzles for all these years. Is there something now that you feel like you still have not accomplished? Interesting. That you would like to accomplish when it comes to puzzles? Well, I'd say every goal that I set for myself when I was young, I fulfilled. You fulfilled, okay.

I've got a career in puzzles. One of my goals in life was to have a best-selling puzzle book, which I thought, that's a ridiculous dream. Puzzle books are never best-sellers. When Sudoku became a fad in 2006, the publisher of the New York Times Crossword books said, Will, I'd like you to do three books of Sudoku, and I need them in two weeks. We're going to crash publish them and get them out on all the bookstores. And so, with the help of a friend, we finished the book in two weeks.

Finished the three books in two weeks. I was the one who discovered, who invented Sudoku, and I wrote an introduction about this. And, in fact, my first Sudoku book sold over a million copies. Oh, my gosh. Do you worry about people cheating? No. Any cheating scandals? No, no.

I will tell you this, though. The challenge puzzles have had to change over the years. It used to be, you know, I could give an anagram of 10 or 12 letters, say. Oh, yeah. And nowadays you can go online and find there's an app for that. Okay. It's much harder to come up with good challenge puzzles, something that has specific instructions you think you can do,

but you can't just go onto a computer and solve. So people, like I say that I have job security because we do the puzzle. That's my job security. They're not going to get rid of this puzzle, okay? Because it is a bright spot in a very dark world. So how does that make you feel? Well, I have two goals in life. One of them is to make the world a little better for being here. And number two is to enjoy myself. And I give

those two things equal weight. And I think the puzzle does that. So it makes me feel real good. I used to go to antique bookstores a lot and a friend and I entered on Sunday morning into an antique bookstore and NPR was on Sunday morning and I checked my watch and saw the puzzle was about to start and the bookstore owner turned her hand to the radio dial.

I thought, oh my God, she hates me so much. She's going to turn the radio off. Instead, she turned it up so she could hear the puzzle. Ah. You're listening to The Sunday Story. We'll be right back. Now Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to our change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future.

Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. We're back with the Sunday story. I'm talking to Will Schwartz about his first love, puzzles. But Will also had this light about him, the kind of light that comes from a different kind of love. We went to Will's home, a short drive from the Table Tennis Center, to hear about another side of his life. This past February, Will was profiled by The New Yorker, and in that profile, he came out. And I asked him why he felt that was the moment to do it. They had a great interview at The New Yorker,

and it was all about puzzles. And near the end, the writer asked me, you know, how's life? And I said, life is really good. In fact, for the first time in my life, I have a partner. And just left it at that. And I can imagine the writer going back to her staff and thinking, we can't leave the interview like that. We have to find out more. So she called and said, can I ask you some more questions? And that's when I just explained everything about myself. And yeah, that's how it came about.

I am probably the first person who ever outed himself in The New Yorker. Well, you may not be. I seem like The New Yorker is a good place to do it. It's a great place. I thought it was a very classy place to do it. It's a very, very classy place to do it. Did you have apprehensions about that? No, not really, no. I was 70 when I did that interview,

and I saw no reason to hide. No, it felt natural. I knew what I wanted and I knew I was going to be with the partner I'd have for the rest of my life and I was very happy with that. So, a lot of people will listen to this and they'll go

well, Will, at age 70 you're just fine in love. Why not have a partner before now? I mean, that's a really long time. Yeah. Well, first of all, I've known my whole life that I'm attracted to guys. At first, I was in denial. And then I tried to force myself to like women. And I think by the time I was in my early 30s, I accepted the way I was, but a gay lifestyle wasn't something that I wanted.

And I didn't need it. I had a wonderful job, lots of friends. And then when I was 69, this guy came into my life who I'm crazy about and he's crazy about me. And that's when life took this 90 degree turn. And you really didn't date at all because I think that's what some people may not understand. People may be like, well, but you was like, you know, you probably had some what they call a sneaky look. But you didn't have no sneaky links or nothing.

You were really by yourself. See, I've dated women over the years. And I'm trying to force myself to like women, you know? And I've hurt women that way. By my early 30s, I just accepted the way I was. And I started a long-term, very good relationship. I had a girlfriend then. And our first date, I told her, I'm really attracted to men. And she said, that's okay. But after a couple years, I never felt in love. It felt nice and comfortable. But that's not sparks.

That's not fire. It was not sparks, no. And you got the fire now. Yeah, yeah. I've got the perfect guy in the world for me. And he and I discuss this all the time, but there's like 8 billion people on this planet. I wouldn't expect, I think the odds of meeting my partner is even less than 1 in 8 billion, because I wouldn't expect a single person in the world to be like my partner is even less than one in eight billion because I wouldn't expect a single person in the world to be like my partner so it's astonishing that he's here and I think I am the

perfect person for my partner so uh it works out so you think it's the perfect match yes do you have any like I guess and I'm getting a little deep here so do you look at it as things happen the way they should have? Or do you look at it as like, well, I regret, you know, what it took to get here. I wish I hadn't have been alone that long. Or do you look at it like, well, you know, everything happened the way that it should have. And I met him when I was ready. Yes, it's the latter. I met my partner when I was ready. I have no regrets. And I would never have found my partner earlier in life. I mean, it worked out perfectly for both of us. Not to be too corny, but sometimes the hardest puzzle to crack is how to love yourself and to love yourself enough to make room for others to love you. I'm so happy that Will has figured it out.

I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Will Shorts. Aww. Let's have fruit tart. Yes. Let's have fruit tart. This episode of The Sunday Story was produced by Hiba Ahmad, Andrew Craig, and Andrew Mambo. It was edited by Hadil Al-Shauchi, Ed McNulty, and Jenny Schmidt.

The engineer for this episode was Maggie Luthar. Our team includes Liana Simstrom, Justine Yan, and Irene Noguchi is our executive producer. And once again, please remember to send us your voice memos about a change, big or small, that you made in your life this year. You can send them to us at thesundaystoryatnpr.org. I'm Aisha Roscoe. Up First is back tomorrow with all the news you need to start your week. Until then, have a great rest of your weekend.