Will Shortz has been the puzzle master of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” since 1987.
Will Shortz is ready to clue everyone in about puzzles and ping-pong.
Mr. Shortz, the NPR puzzle master, will talk about the pursuits during a virtual UCSB Arts & Lectures program at 5 p.m. Jan. 28.
Mr. Shortz is the world’s only academically accredited puzzle master and has been the puzzle master at The New York Times since 1993,
And as an avid table tennis player, Mr. Shortz is the owner and director of the largest table tennis facility in the U.S.
For A&L puzzle hounds and table tennis aficionados, he’ll talk Jan. 28 about the relationship between the two pursuits and answer puzzle-related puzzlements. He’ll do it all from the tables of his famed Westchester Table Tennis Center. This presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A.
Mr. Shortz designed his own major program at Indiana University, which in 1974 led to his one-of-a-kind degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles.
He sold his first puzzle professionally when he was just 14.
At age 16, he became a regular contributor to Dell puzzle publications. To date, Mr. Shortz is the author/editor of more than 500 puzzle books.
He has been the puzzle master for NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” since the program’s start in 1987, editor of Games magazine for 15 years and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which has been held annually since 1978. He also founded the World Puzzle Championship in 1992, and he co-founded the World Puzzle Federation in 1999.
Through his championing of puzzles – and with public appearances on programs such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Simpsons — Mr. Shortz has earned fans from all over the world. He was also the subject of the award-winning documentary film, “Wordplay.”
Tickets are free for UCSB students and $10 for the general public. To obtain tickets, go to artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
For more more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at 805-893-3535.
— Gerry Fall
