The Drue Heinz Lectures drew down the curtain on its fall season Dec. 1 with a remarkable charmer, Will Shortz. He's the country's No. 1 source for puzzle creation from the crossword to mental teasers heard on NPR's Sunday Morning show.
For nearly 90 minutes, the unassuming, yet entertaining Shortz held the crowd in rapt attention with his brief history of the crossword, his editing of the New York Times puzzles (each entry is checked by five people) and a wide ranging Q&A.
The wrapup was a puzzle competition as he split the Carnegie Music Hall crowd -- the event's largest of the season, I was told -- into two teams, the Black and the Gold. Then, we battled through several brain-twisting puzzles.
His favorite crossword clue: It winds through stories.
The answer: A spiral staircase.
Posted
Dec 02 2008, 04:21 PM
by
Bob Hoover