The World Of Designing Puzzles

With all of the interest in puzzles around the world recently – especially the massive craze for sudoku puzzles – it is little wonder that many people are beginning to pay a lot more attention to those who design puzzles for a living. Will Shortz is probably one of the most famous puzzle makers living today, and the only person in America to hold a degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles. He has an impressive resume as a puzzle maker: he worked at Games magazine for fifteen years, four of those years as editor; been the puzzle master on NPR for twenty years; been the crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times for almost fifteen years; founded two puzzle tournaments, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the World Puzzle Championship; and has written or edited over one hundred books of puzzles. Shortz is such a well known and well-loved example of a puzzle designer that there was even a star-studded documentary made in 2006 called Wordplay, about his life and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. In addition to the two contests founded by Will Shortz, there also are several other puzzle design competitions held each year around the world, so that people who design puzzles on an amateur or professional level have a chance to meet. These competitions are great places for puzzle designers to get together, share ideas and inspiration, learn about new developments and innovations in the field, and of course, gain recognition for their hard work. Many of the puzzles entered into these competitions are later sold to the public in limited editions. In addition to being award-winning and often fiendishly difficult examples of puzzle making innovation, the puzzles themselves are frequently hand-crafted and are almost always works of art. For those who have a passion for it, puzzle design can be a wonderful way to explore the worlds of art and science, and to meet many fascinating people as well.