Puzzles
Medleys, Cryptic Crosswords, and The Enigma
Sondheim Medleys
In 2017, I began curating a series of puzzle medleys, using the songs of Stephen Sondheim in conjunction with his birthday. Since then, I have created a more elaborate puzzle yearly (excluding 2019), attracting puzzlers (and Sondheim buffs) from far and wide.
In 2021, I received a response from Sondheim himself in a kindly-worded email:
“Hello, Colm –
Myt [sic] apologies for the belated response, but due to the inundation of he last [sic] couple of weeks, I just now had a chance to listen to your birthday medley. Thank you soo much. Apart from the medley itself, I’m impressed by yor [sic] ability to play both melodies and accompaniments at the same time. I can’t ≠ not cleanly, at any rate.
I hope you are busy writing your own stuff. Good luck with it, and thanks again.
Steve S”
Stephen Sondheim Birthday Puzzle Medley 2022
Stephen Sondheim Birthday Puzzle Medley 2021
Stephen Sondheim Birthday Puzzle Medley 2020
Puzzle #1, first published on 8th April 1968
Cover page of the now-out-of-print ‘Stephen Sondheim’s Crossword Puzzles’
Cryptic Crosswords
My obsession with cryptic crosswords was, in part, catalysed by Stephen Sondheim’s brief stint as crossword setter for New York Magazine from 1968-1969.
Galen Fott painstakingly collected these puzzles and reproduced them on his blog, and permitted me to share them in weekly instalments on a Twitter thread to coincide with Sondheim’s 90th birthday in 2020.
Both my thread and Galen’s blog received increased attention at this time, with celebrated YouTube channel, Cracking the Cryptic solving one of Sondheim’s crosswords in a special video. We were also delighted to get a special mention in a Guardian article following Sondheim’s passing, titled ‘Stephen Sondheim’s other job: crossword setter’.
When I’m not writing, I’m often procrastinating solving a cryptic crossword of some variety. For those interested, I subscribe to the Times and New York Times, the latter featuring the infamous ‘Puns and Anagrams’ crossword, known for being a favourite of both Oscar Hammerstein II and Sondheim.
Cracking the Cryptic: A Crossword by Stephen Sondheim (2021)
The Enigma
“The ENIGMA is the monthly magazine published by the National Puzzlers’ League, a non-profit educational organization founded in 1883, and distributed to its members.”
Following the success of my Sondheim birthday medleys, some seriously professional puzzlers came out of the woodwork recommending I join the National Puzzlers’ League, where I’ve been a mostly-tacit member since 2021.
