Word: shortz
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...human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces,” said Will Shortz, the editor of the famed New York Times crossword puzzle. But it seems that some human beings have a compulsion to create these empty spaces, as well...
These eminences (all left-handed; explain) are among the legion of Will Shortz's subjects. Shortz, the Times's crossword editor, is a genial gent who since 1978 has run an annual tournament for the sort of people who can finish a Sunday puzzle in 10 min.--in ink. Their number include Ellen Ripstein, a self-described "little nerd girl," and Tyler Hinman, who at 20 could become the tournament's youngest-ever winner...
...Times for election Day 1980, with CARTER and REAGAN as the interchangeable words. Maleska turned it down, supposedly asking, "What if John Anderson wins?" (I still shake my head in wonder at Farrell's brilliance, and Maleska's myopia.) Sixteen years later, Farrell revived and revised the idea. Though Shortz typically revises about half of the clues in an average puzzle, and did tweak the surrounding clues, he left the central section gloriously intact...
...puzzle to which Okrent refers is one Reagle constructed for the film. The theme is Word Play, and it uses the key words hidden in new configurations: word in "neW ORDers" and "cross sWORDs," play in "PLAYa Del Mar" and "toP LAYers." We see Reagle creating the puzzle, then Shortz accepting it and finally Clinton, Stewart, Burns, Okrent and Indigo Girls solving it. The first clue is "Warhead weapon," four letters. Stewart and Burns jump on ICBM, while Clinton, who's been in charge of these things, says, "it's gotta be an ICBM or a MIRV." As the theme...
...Throughout the weekend tournament, Shortz bustles around, announcing the rules and the winners of each of the seven puzzles. On Saturday night there's a talent show - the search for an "American Crossword Idol" - at which Ellen demonstrates her baton-twirling expertise. Another conventioneer, Vic Fleming, sings and strums a cruciverbalist's country lament: "But if you don't come across / I'm gonna be down...