Stephen Sondheim's Crossword Puzzles

November 20, 2021 4:22 AM

Stephen Sondheim is a master of wordsmithing, and that made him a great candidate to write crossword puzzles [Blog post with links]. But not just any sort of crossword puzzles. [How To Do A Real Crossword Puzzle, NY Mag. Archive link] His cryptic crosswords continue to be a bane to crossword lovers.

An additional link in this post is The Sondheim Puzzle by Frank Rich in NYMag, 2013. It has nothing to do with crosswords.

Oh, and just for the truly interested, look I made a hat!

posted by hippybear (12 comments total)

Cf also his work with Mary Ann Madden of NYMag competition fame, as noted previously
posted by BWA at 4:46 AM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm traveling again this weekend, so this is a tiny post. We will wrap up this series in the next couple of weeks.
posted by hippybear at 5:49 AM on November 20, 2021

Stephen Sondheim was a master of wordsmithing

Was?! Was?! *googles* ... exhales ... "is!"

On September 15, 2021, while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sondheim announced[109] that he is working on a new musical called Square One in collaboration with David Ives. The same day, Nathan Lane revealed[110] that he and Bernadette Peters were involved in a reading of this new work.
[Wikipedia]

c'mon, don't scare us like that.
posted by chavenet at 6:37 AM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Wow, that Frank Rich article....
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:39 AM on November 20, 2021

I also flew into a panic upon seeing the word "was," so thank you, chavenet. He's definitely still a master wordsmith!
posted by ilana at 9:26 AM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Changed that was to is to prevent further WAIT WHAT incidents, carry on.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:42 AM on November 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

Sorry. Sloppy wording on my part, writing about the past led to the error. Thanks for fixing the post. Carry on.
posted by hippybear at 10:47 AM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

I love coming in to see that hippybear has given us another Sondheim post.
posted by blurker at 7:45 PM on November 20, 2021

Cryptic lovers, here's where I get my weekly doses:

Kosman & Picciotto Out of Left Field
https://www.patreon.com/leftfieldcryptics/posts
Formerly of The Nation

New Yorker quick puzzles:
https://www.newyorker.com/crossword-puzzles-and-games

The Browser:
https://thebrowser.com/crossword-archive

Cox and Rathvon:
https://natpostcryptic.blogspot.com
posted by hypnogogue at 10:24 PM on November 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, GAMES Magazine ran a lengthy article on Sondheim & his puzzles. (I wish I could get digital archives of the early issues. So many fond memories.)

I'm also a fan of Cryptics.
I've found 2 decent sites with daily puzzles:
Lovatts (Australian & rather easy) and, weirdly enough, AARP (a bit idiosyncratic).
posted by cheshyre at 7:41 PM on November 22, 2021

AARP (a bit idiosyncratic).

Have you even LOOKED at the Sondheim puzzles??? OMG!
posted by hippybear at 8:24 PM on November 22, 2021

Well, shit. (NYT obituary- Sondheim passed suddenly last night). A huge loss.

.
posted by charmedimsure at 2:19 PM on November 26, 2021