by Liane Hansen

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Weekend Edition

Puzzlers Unite! Liane Hansen, Will Shortz and Susan Stamberg.

My seven minutes with Will Shortz are the most challenging and invigorating ones during the week. There is no research and there is no preparation. It all takes place in the moment. And, the best part is that I get to meet one of our listeners. I've played with schoolteachers from Illinois, lawyers from North Carolina, retirees from Utah, a farmer who told me his cows chew more contentedly when the puzzle is on the air — and a gentlemen who modestly revealed that he was a prisoner of war in Dresden with Kurt Vonnegut.

 

When the show began in 1988, Susan Stamberg, radio goddess, national treasure, and original host of Weekend Edition Sunday, wanted a puzzle to be included. The Sunday papers have puzzles. In the beginning, Susan and Will played the game. When I came on board in 1989, I suggested we invite listeners to play. Our audience began to grow. Today more than 3 million people listen every week. The puzzle keeps truckers company on the highway, lets lovers stay in bed a little longer, entertains families at the breakfast table, and makes people late for church. One minister in South Dakota told me she delayed her service to accommodate her puzzle-solving parishioners.

Nowadays when I meet new people and I tell them what I do for a living, they invariably say, "Oh, you're the puzzle lady!" Often, news makers, authors, musicians and other interview objects say the same thing. Even when I receive critical comments from listeners, they end with "P.S. Love the Puzzle!"

So it has been my pleasure to open up a treasure chest of challenges with Will every week and share them with you. Will and I have become good friends. In fact, on Thursday, October 23rd, we will be participating in a program on puzzles at the Japan Society in New York. We will be joined by Maki Kaji, the godfather of Sudoku.

So, here's my question to you. Have you ever solved the weekly challenge and not sent in an entry? Why not? Have you ever sent in an entry, but did not want to participate on the air? Why not?

All I can say is have no fear. It's only a game.