Publicity
The 2006 documentary Wordplay by Patrick Creadon focuses on Shortz and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Various famous fans of his puzzles such as Bill Clinton, Ken Burns, Jon Stewart, Indigo Girls and Mike Mussina appear in the film.
Shortz has been a guest on a number of TV shows, including Martha Stewart Living, Oprah, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. He has also appeared on Millionaire as an expert for the "Ask the Expert" lifeline.
He appeared on an episode of The Simpsons titled "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words", which first aired on 16 November 2008.
He appeared in Dinner: Impossible as himself, challenging the chef to create dishes that mimic common English idioms at the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. The episode aired on 6 May 2009.
He also appeared on an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Robots Versus Wrestlers", which first aired on 10 May 2010 during season 5. He appeared as himself at an upscale dinner party that included Arianna Huffington and Peter Bogdanovich, also playing themselves.
Shortz is a weekly guest on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday where he hosts the Sunday Puzzle, a cooperative game between the show's host, Liane Hansen (until Spring 2011), and one of the show's listeners. The segment was hosted by Audie Cornish (from Fall 2011 to January 2012). The lucky player is picked randomly from a group of submissions containing the correct answer to a qualifier puzzle issued the week before.
Read more about this topic: Will Shortz
Famous quotes containing the word publicity:
“Is America a land of God where saints abide for ever? Where golden fields spread fair and broad, where flows the crystal river? Certainly not flush with saints, and a good thing, too, for the saints sent buzzing into man’s ken now are but poor- mouthed ecclesiastical film stars and cliché-shouting publicity agents.
Their little knowledge bringing them nearer to their ignorance,
Ignorance bringing them nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)
“Publicity is the life of this culture—in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive—and at the same time publicity is its dream.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“I saw the best minds of my generation
Reading their poems to Vassar girls,
Being interviewed by Mademoiselle.
Having their publicity handled by professionals.
When can I go into an editorial office
And have my stuff published because I’m weird?
I could go on writing like this forever . . .”
—Louis Simpson (b. 1923)