The New York Times has started up a new blog called Wordplay and it is, not surprisingly, a crossword puzzle themed blog.  I looked through some of the previous posts and most of them seem to be about the NYT crossword that day, with a few news items about Will Shortz sprinkled in.

You read that right.  Will Shortz and Merl Reagle will be guest starring in a crossword themed episode of The Simpsons this weekend.  In addition, the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle will be related to the show somehow.  Read more about it here.

The Wall Street Journal blog, The Wallet, has a little video that shows us what’s in the wallet of famous puzzlers Will Shortz and Maki Kaji.  Who knew that Will Shortz played table tennis?  Maki Kaji’s wallet is filled with bar receipts and horse racing tickets.  I kid you not.

My answer is in at 2:04 EDT. I know that others are calling in the answer, so I’m expecting a tie-breaker tomorrow. Will Shortz posted on crossword bebop today expressing hope that there will be a great tie-breaker round. Well Will, I think you’re going to get your wish.

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament starts tomorrow in Stamford, Connecticut. A local newspaper has run an article on the event and the documentary Wordplay which will be screened at the event tomorrow. Wordplay is about Will Shortz, who founded the event, and will feature some of the tournament participants along with many famous cruciverbalists including Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Jon Stewart, and Mike Mussina. The tournament is apparently growing and turning into more of a general puzzle event. Jeopardy star Ken Jennings will be on hand to run a trivia game and a “Sudoku Smackdown” is also planned. So, I wonder… will the best cruciverbalists in the country be otherwise occupied when the final Starbucks puzzle come out?

Newsweek has an interview with Puzzle Master Will Shortz about sudoku.  Shortz fields questions about why he thinks sudoku is addictive, whether or not it makes you smarter (a definite yes), and whether the trend will pass.

It is a craze, and the craze is not going to last forever. I think a lot of people are doing it now because its cool, maybe a little hip, certainly its something people are talking about and they want to try it. Certainly this won’t last forever, but I think Sudoku is like the Crossword Puzzle, it’s going to be here forever.