The article made me cringe, not because the author was so unnecessarily nasty about a pastime enjoyed by many people I respect, but because I kept substituting "sports" in my mind for "puzzles" while I read the article. Can you imagine the uproar that would be generated if someone got up and said "I don't understand why people follow sports, so it must be stupid and a waste"?

The amount of time, energy, resources, newspaper pages, shelves at bookstores, etc., spent on sports dwarfs that of puzzles. When the winner of American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (another Shortz contribution!) has his or her title stripped because of the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, then I'll entertain the idea that we've gone too far in the pursuit of puzzling. Until then, I hope the author can use his Yale degree the way I use mine---to try to understand people and only attack those who deserve it.