A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Will Shortz. He's the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle and the contributing "puzzlemaster" to NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. He's also a favorite of BRG editor Alan Hague. I offered to let our "master in chief" interview the "puzzler in chief" but seems he had some "business" to attend to on a beach.

So I had the lone phone interview with Shortz who was only in Indianapolis for a day and night to give a free speech at Butler University.

Shortz grew up in Crawfordsville. His sister still lives there and he says he comes back to visit every so often. He graduated from IU in 1974 with a degree that he created for himself as part of the University's Individualized Major Program. Enigmatology-the study of puzzles. He created his own syllabus and tests and wrote his thesis on puzzles before the 19th century. Shortz says he has a good friend who also graduated from IU in the program. His friend's degree was in magic. And this day, his friend with his IU degree is on the professional magic circuit with plans to open a magic theater in California. As you can see, my 20-minute conversation with Shortz was filled with all kinds of interesting subjects. Just like his puzzles.

Shortz spent a number of years after graduation editing for puzzle magazines. Then in 1993 he got the job at the New York Times and has been there since.

He told me each day he reads thru about 75 puzzles that are sent to him from prospective puzzle creators as he puts together the weekly lineup for the newspaper. The easiest puzzle is on Monday and the most difficult or intriguing on Sunday. I asked him why so many people love puzzles and he said he thinks solving a puzzle brings a sense of order to our hectic lives. "You literally work from square one to the end where there is a sense of enormous satisfaction," he told me. He also thinks doing crossword puzzles that are on paper with a pencil is the ultimate experience. Though he said thousands of people subscribe to the NYTimes online puzzle at a cost of nearly 50 bucks a year.

Speaking of play, Shortz is a ping pong junkie. Or as he says "Ping Pong is the game but Table Tennis is the sport". He plays it daily as a way to relax and unwind. His passion for the sport is so intense that he started a table tennis club where he lives in Pleasantville, New York.

Shortz has no plans to retire any time soon either. He says not only does he love his job but he loves meeting the people who play puzzles. He says they are friendly, funny and smart.

Shortz will be back in Indianapolis this fall as part of the "Spirit and Place Festival" where the theme is "risk".

You can hear part of my interview with Shortz at www.SoundCloud.com on my page, Jditmire.

I forgot to ask him about wine. But one that won't puzzle your palate or your pocketbook is Cocobon Red from Calfornia. It's a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec that has bright notes of cherry and plum and hints of rich mocha. EZ drinking and $11.