"This year, Maltby, who was first hired by the Harper's editor emeritus Lewis H. Lapham, celebrates fifty years writing the magazine's monthly cryptic crossword. (To mark the occasion, I've included a cryptic clue below.) Maltby describes the puzzle as a "little universe on the back page," like a god estranged from his own intelligent design. It is "kind of lonely," he told me. But for his many loyal solvers, Maltby has always made this universe feel lively and large."
"Stephen Sondheim famously wrote an introduction to British cryptic puzzles in the first issue of New York magazine, in 1968. He did one each week. I became addicted. The puzzles seemed to attract lyricists. I tried my hand at creating a puzzle or two during that year, and Sondheim published them. After a few years, Sondheim, who was going into rehearsal with Company, found it too hard to write the puzzle, and announced that he was stopping. I couldn't stand that the puzzles wouldn't appear,"
Richard E. Maltby Jr. has written Harper's monthly cryptic crossword for fifty years after being hired by editor emeritus Lewis H. Lapham. An intern at Harper's met Maltby in spring 2022 and adopted a daily ritual of solving his cryptics, later joining his team of testers. Maltby and the intern met at a diner to compare grids and he provided generous feedback on the intern's early puzzles. Maltby describes the puzzle as a "little universe on the back page," admits it can be "kind of lonely," and maintains a devoted community of loyal solvers.
Read at Harper's Magazine
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