Shortz Notice

Chatting up puzzle master Will Shortz.

by Aly Semigran

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NPR dubs him the "Puzzle Master." Jon Stewart called him "the Eroll Flynn of the puzzle world." Philadelphians will soon know him as the host of the first-ever Sudoku National Championship (where the winning team can rack up $10,000 and a trip to India for the World Championship). Surely you're familiar with Sudoku, the game that ranks somewhere between chocolate chip cookies and cocaine on the addict-o-meter and which appears weekly in the back pages of this paper. Will Shortz, puzzle editor at The New York Times and on-air quiz presenter for the NPR crowd, has published more than 60 Sudoku books, one of which has sold more than a million copies. Shortz talks about the craze, which he explains, "was sparked by The Times of London in 2004. When American publishers saw how popular this was in Britain, they started it here. Within six to 12 months, virtually every newspaper in the country had Sudoku." Ready. Set. Interview.

Will Shortz: I think it's the rise of the personal computer, which has allowed the craze to happen. Previously Sudoku puzzles had to be created laboriously by hand. It was difficult to do, it was difficult to know if your answer was unique and it was almost impossible to know the difficulty level of the puzzle. Once you program a computer with all the logical techniques needed to solve Sudoku, it can say exactly the difficulty level of the puzzle.

CP: You've worked with crossword puzzles most of your life. Do you think Sudoku will have the same staying power of crossword puzzles?

WS: Yes. I think the Sudoku puzzle is going to be with us forever, just like the crossword puzzle. It has some of the basic appeal of crosswords. But, it's a different kind of puzzle that challenges a different part of the brain. Crosswords play onto knowledge and vocabulary. With Sudoku it's a pure logic challenge. It appeals to a broader range of people. Also, once you get a popular puzzle into a paper, it's hard to get it out. People rely on newspapers and books for their daily Sudoku fix.

CP: Sudoku, depending on the level, can be very frustrating. When players get stumped, what's the best way to get out of it?

WS: The best technique for solving Sudoku is to look for the most constrained areas of the grid. Usually it's the rows, columns and 3-by-3 boxes that have the most numbers. But, once you become an advanced solver you'll find constraints in other ways. Fill in what you can and build outward, and that will increase your speed as a solver.

CP: Sudoku is terribly addictive. Why do you think that is and have you yourself gotten hooked?

WS: When I first saw Sudoku in the newspaper, I thought, "Come on, how popular could this be? How much fun could this be?" After I tried a couple, I realized it was really addictive. It's a very easy puzzle to get into and yet it has tremendous depth. You can solve Sudoku for a long time and not understand all the logic techniques to solve it. It's not a puzzle that's easily mastered. But, there's a rush you get at the end of solving a Sudoku puzzle. Once you're done one, you want to do more.

CP: When you're not solving Sudoku or stumping puzzle people, what do you do with your free time?

WS: I'm fanatical about table tennis. I play five to six nights a week, three hours a night. I love the speed of the game, the geometry of the game. It's the best relaxation for me after a day of work.

CP: What are you anticipating for the championship this weekend in Philadelphia?

WS: Since this is the first national Sudoku championship, I don't know exactly what to expect. Puzzle people in general are smart, interesting and well-rounded people. I'm hoping that's the same with Sudoku people.

Sudoku National Championship, presented by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sat. Oct. 20, 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., www.paconvention.com. 215-418-4700. On-site registration will be limited. Preregister at www.philly.com/philly/comics_games/sudoku/.