Wonderful World of Words
November 7–9, 2025
Wonderful World of Words
A wonderful weekend for all those who love language, puzzles, and games! Founded in 1982 by the wonderful Gloria Rosenthal and her husband Larry, now one of Mohonk’s longest-running theme weekends, Wonderful World of Words invites you to explore wit, wisdom, and wordplay with some of our finest linguists, lexicographers, and language-lovers!
Sharpen your pencils, limber up your brain, and match wits with some of the best minds of our age!
How to Participate:
When making your reservation, please let us know you are interested in attending the Wonderful World of Words.
What’s Included
Your stay at Mohonk Mountain House includes access to countless activities and experiences for guest of all ages, including our indoor pool, tennis courts, show gardens, and an award-winning spa. Discover all that Mohonk has to offer during your mountaintop getaway.
Entertainment
Themed Mohonk Signature Events, featuring live music and engaging performances, changing daily
Last Year’s Highlights
Program Leaders
Greg Pliska
A composer and orchestrator, Greg Pliska has been solving and creating puzzles since he could read. He is Chief Puzzle Officer for The Puzzler with AJ Jacobs, an iHeart podcast now in its second season. He has been a puzzle writer and presenter for public radio’s Ask Me Another and A Way with Words, as well as a regular contributor to the MIT Mystery Hunt. Under the auspices of his company, Exaltation of Larks, he creates puzzle hunts for Web3 clients, universities, and others. In his other career, Greg has scored films, television shows, musicals, and opera, and his orchestrations can be heard every morning on NPR and at night on CBS Evening News. He is developing a new musical based upon the life of Walter Reuther, and most recently wrote incidental music for the Broadway play SUMMER 1976, with Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht (now available on Audible).
Will Shortz
Will Shortz is the crossword editor of The New York Times, the puzzlemaster for NPR’s Weekend Edition, and the founder/director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. He directed ‘Words’ from 2007 until 2019 and holds the distinction of being the only person to have attended every ‘Words’ weekend since its inception in 1982. In August, Will married for the first time to a partner he met through table tennis, which both play every day. Will will challenge anyone to a game of ping-pong in Mohonk’s Game Room on Saturday afternoon during ‘Words’ weekend!
Eric Berlin
Eric Berlin has had dozens of crosswords and other puzzles published in The New York Times, and he is the author of “The Puzzling World of Winston Breen,” a trilogy of puzzle-filled mysteries for kids. He creates live puzzle events for schools, museums, and organizations — among other places, his work has been seen at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, New York City’s Museum of Mathematics, and the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Eric is the constructor behind Puzzlesnacks (http://www.puzzlesnacks.com), and collections of his puzzles can be found on Amazon.
David Feldman
David Feldman is the author of 13 books — 11 of them being collections of Imponderables, including the national bestsellers Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?, When Do Fish Sleep?, and Do Penguins Have Knees? He is also the co-creator of the board game, Malarky. Since retirement from writing, Dave devotes most of his energy to supporting the Posse Foundation, playing duplicate bridge, consuming popular culture in all its forms, and hunting for great food in unlikely places.
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