Ben Tausig finds the right words for crossword puzzles! VIDEO - Mr. Media Interviews by Bob Andelman

Today's Guest: Ben Tausig, crossword puzzle editor at the American Values Club and author of The Curious History of the Crossword.

Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with Ben Tausig, crossword puzzle editor at the American Values Club and author of The Curious History of the Crossword, by clicking on the video player above!

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience that includes people who can read words backwards and forwards, tell you the meaning of anything and correctly spell onomatopoeia – but can’t balance a checkbook… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

My wife is the games player in our house.

And my life – and ego – were a lot less stressful when I accepted that she could beat me at pretty much anything that challenged the brain, from crosswords to Sudoku, checkers to chess, and even from backgammon to Monopoly.

That’s why I rarely attempt to solve puzzles any longer in her presence. She always finds the right words and gets very competitive and impatient if I can’t do one as quickly as she can.
BEN TAUSIG podcast excerpt: "Newspapers try to draw a line at what might repulse the reader... Early New York Times editors would reject answers that had to do with disease because they felt it would upset people who were trying to solve the crossword puzzle while they were eating breakfast. That was the 'Breakfast Test.'."
You can LISTEN to this interview with American Values Club crossword puzzle editor BEN TAUSIG, author of THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE CROSSWORD, by clicking the audio player above!

Doesn’t bother me anymore; I’m actually proud of her. And my daughter’s mind seems to work much the same way; when she applies herself, I see glimpses of a mind that will one day be faster and sharper than either of ours.

The world, it seems, is one of constructors and solvers. And I am on the outside, looking in.

But whether you like crossword puzzles or no