Meet the Canadian linguist taking the crossword world by storm

As a kid in London, Ont., Will Nediger spent long hours at his older brother’s hockey games – with his back turned to the rink and his nose buried in a book. Mr. Nediger’s father, Bill, a teacher, like his wife Dale, remembers losing Scrabble games to his middle child when Will was only 8. At the family cottage in North Bay, Will and his parents spent TV-and-internet-less summers playing word games. It wasn’t long before he was a budding quiz-bowl champion and Mom and Dad were asking him for help.“In Grade 3, one of Will’s teachers asked the class to make anagrams from a word phrase and said he’d be happy if the kids could make 20,” Bill recalls. “Will made 120 anagrams, and it’s always been enjoyable to see where his mind takes us, usually in surprising ways.”