“Hazy” beverage Crossword Clue

Table Tennis, Puzzles, and Physical Therapy are what Will Shortz is doing to recover.

The crossword legend suffered a stroke on Feb. 4, 2024, and is still piecing his life back together in the wake of his condition.

Will Shortz has been the editor of The New York Times crossword since 1993. In that time, he’s concocted thousands of puzzles while cementing his legacy among the elite crossword puzzlers of all time. However, for 2024, Shortz had to content with an issue that nearly 800,000 per year suffer. The man had a stroke.

Fortunately, Shortz recovered and has since done many interviews with publications like CNN and Brand and Life. During those interviews, Shortz recounts what it was like to have a stroke. On Feb. 4, 2024, Shortz was sitting at his desk when he leaned to his left and was unable to sit back up straight. Knowing that he was having a stroke, Shortz intended to change his clothes and use the restroom before heading to the hospital. It was in the bathroom when he collapsed.

Shortz would lay on the floor unsure of what to do before he wiggled his way back to his office “like a worm on my back,” he told CNN. From there, he called his partner who came to Shortz’s aid in under three minutes. Once at the hospital, the unthinkable happened. Shortz had a second, larger stroke while awaiting treatment at the hospital. After a treatment with intravenous thrombolytic medication, Shortz eventually recovered.

In the months since Shortz has been on track to recover. The stroke left Shortz with a barely functional left arm and leg along with slurred speech due to left-side weakness.

To combat this, Shortz started physical therapy immediately, which Shortz was happy with. “They get you feeling like you can walk again,” Shortz told Brain and Life. “I was so impressed with their encouragement and the therapy they gave me.”

However, one thing Shortz could not live without was table tennis. Until the stroke, Shortz boasted 4,141 consecutive days of ping pong, a streak his hospital stay broke. To accommodate the crossword legend, the recreation director at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital had a special setup that used a regular table and books to replace the net so Shortz could continue to play while he worked on his rehab.

Shortz would move to an outpatient facility close to home in March where he continued to do physical therapy six days a week for two to three hours per day. In April, Shortz attended the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT in a wheelchair, where he received a standing ovation.

In the months since, Shortz has since ditched the wheelchair and can get around reasonably well with a cane. He’s even playing ping pong standing up, although he admits he needs a spotter to keep him from falling over. Recovery is progressing but it’s also slow, which has at times frustrated Shortz but he’s committed to keeping a positive attitude.

“It’s like any time you’re faced with a problem that seems insurmountable or seems very complex,” he told CNN. “The thing to do is just pick one small element of it and work at that. I have always kept working at this, and then I have a new breakthrough.”

Shortz also credits his partner, whom he married last August, for his support during Shortz’s recovery, stating that his partner was sleeping by his bedside nightly while Shortz was in the hospital and has supported the crossword legend during his recove