who was the first ny times crossword editor

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The letter also described the resignation of Claire Muscat, a woman who was hired as a test-solver, who resigned because of what she described as being hired to provide a perfunctory token female perspective. In 2020, more than 600 crossword constructors and solvers signed an open letter to the executive director of Times puzzles asking for changes and expressing concerns regarding the diversity within the puzzle department at the Times and the puzzle itself. Shortz defended his use of 'BEANER' and noted he has published and stands by the benign meanings of the terms ' CHINK' and 'GO OK' (or ' GOOK'), both slurs for people of Asian descent. Shortz admitted that he saw the derogatory definition when he researched the word, but claimed he had never personally heard it, and explained that as long as a word also has a 'benign' meaning, it meets his editorial standards for publication. In 2019, The New York Times issued an apology after Shortz chose to publish the racial slur ' BEANER' in the crossword, cluing it as 'Pitch to the head, informally'. It left some readers with the feeling of being tricked.' Īt various times in his career Shortz has apologized for cluing decisions that sparked public backlash for being racist, sexist or offensive. I understand Shortz’ reflex to hold back such dark information given the levity of a puzzle, but not doing so may have made matters worse.

The Times public editor Liz Spayd wrote in an article on the decision, 'What I question is the decision not to tell readers what Burton did. Burton had previously had crosswords published in The Los Angeles Times. Shortz did not include the reason for Burton's imprisonment in his accompanying blog post. In 2017, Shortz published a Times crossword by a prisoner named Lonnie Burton who was convicted of raping a 15-year-old boy, in addition to having burglary and robbery charges, prompting backlash from some solvers. His favorite individual clue is 'It might turn into a different story' (whose solution is SPIRAL STAIRCASE). It had two correct solutions with the same set of clues, one saying that the 'Lead story in tomorrow's newspaper (!)' would be 'BOB DOLE ELECTED', and the other correct solution saying 'CLINTON ELECTED'. He has said that his favorite crossword of all time is the Election Day crossword of November 5, 1996, designed by Jeremiah Farrell.

In 2013, Shortz lent his name and talents in puzzle writing and editing to a new bimonthly publication entitled Will Shortz' WordPlay, published by Penny Press. In February 2009, Shortz helped introduce the KenKen puzzle into The New York Times. The lucky player is picked randomly from a group of submissions containing the correct answer to a qualifier puzzle issued the week before. Shortz is also weekly guest on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday where he hosts the Sunday Puzzle, a cooperative game between the show's host and one of the show's listeners. He founded the World Puzzle Championship in 1992 and is a director of the U.S. He is the founder of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (1978), and has served as its director since that time. Shortz has been the puzzle master on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program was started in 1987. A few months later he became the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, the fourth in the paper's history, following Eugene Thomas Maleska. He was rehired in late 1991, then let go in August 1993. Shortz began his career at Penny Press Magazines, then moved to Games magazine for 15 years, serving as its editor from 1989 to 1990, when the magazine temporarily folded. He is a member and historian of the National Puzzlers' League. Shortz is the author or editor of more than 100 books and owns over 20,000 puzzle books and magazines dating back to 1545, reportedly the world's largest private library on the subject. He also earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law (1977), but did not sit for the bar exam and began a career in puzzles instead. Shortz achieved this by designing his own curriculum through Indiana University's Individualized Major Program. Shortz wrote his thesis about the history of American word puzzles. He eventually graduated from Indiana University in 1974, and is the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles. At age 16, Shortz began regularly contributing crossword puzzles to Dell publications.

Who was the first ny times crossword editor how to#

He was drawn to puzzles at an early age in eighth grade he wrote a paper titled “Puzzles as a Profession.” (The paper earned him a B+.) At age 13, Shortz wrote to Language on Vacation author Dmitri Borgmann for advice on how to pursue a career in puzzles.

Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indiana.