Will Shortz: Near the end of my third year at law school, the head of the placement office noticed I had never had a single interview.
David Chase: We were talking and laughing and we'd both had a lot to drink.
Shortz: That seemed like good advice, so I stayed. Fill in what you know for sure, and then use those letters to get the crossing words.
Chase: But what do I know? We didn't always agree.
Shortz: The answer is the five vowels.
*
Chase: We were soulmates. But it was a huge undertaking.
Shortz: It ended up being a lot bigger than I anticipated. You could use all of the books in the bookstore to help you.
Chase: Oh, but it wasn't all easy in the least. What I remember most is the beer bottle, rolling across the concrete.
*
Shortz: It teaches you to take a complex issue, analyze its parts, and deal with each one individually.
Chase: No. There weren't many other candidates.
Shortz: So the competition is fierce.
*
Chase: Sometimes it was about a crisis, sometimes it was acrimonious. I don't know which came first. It's hard.
Shortz: It's a pure logic challenge.
Chase: We were working in New York, in Queens and New Jersey.
Shortz: I'm literally there everyday. Are you ready?
Chase: (long pause) What's the matter with you?