Twisty clever. Would've preferred to do as instructed, connect the letters and make the hat, but it did it by itself. Oh well. Que seurat seurat. Poetry lesson, January 14. "Burnt Norton" is where that line first appeared, a long poem, first of the Four Quartets, published in slim volumes by Faber & Faber between 1941 & 1945. Those unfamiliar with Burnt Norton might think it's a reference to some English hamlet bombed by the Germans. Actually it's the name of a large manor house in Gloucestershire with splendid gardens, famous for its roses and its complex of paths and byways. Eliot visited there in 1934 and saw in the diverging paths a metaphor for time and its phenomenological paradoxes: Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present All time is unredeemable. What might have been is an abstraction Remaining a perpetual possibility Only in a world of speculation. What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present. Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind. *** Thus are we drawn into the garden's world. All that philosophical abstraction vanishes, replaced by lyrical imagism, for what is an image but a vortex in space and time? (Ezra Pound's definition). War does appear, how could it not? Eliot ponders how war warps time, and vice versa.
@john ezra I loved your "que seurat seurat" ! I confess I was hoping to see some reference to Seurat in the puzzle as the artist who made the painting "Sunday in the Park with George." Oh well, as you said, que seurat seurat.
@john ezra Pun of the year! Yes, I know it's only January. I don't care. No one is going to come up with anything to beat "que seurat seurat". I say this as a Sondheim-ista to my last corpuscle. Le chapeau, c'est fait.
Thanks Juanita and SBK! As with all good puns I'm not the coiner of it: looking it up on google, I find that there are 3,490 others who have used it too! As Ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun!
I went to a public elementary school in Chicago with a vibrant arts program. In eighth grade I would journey via train to the Art Institute of Chicago once per week for a class. There I learned that the famous Georges Seurat painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” was the inspiration for a Broadway musical called “Sunday in the Park with George”. We also were each tasked with finding a painting that inspired us and using it as the basis to write a short play. More than 40 years later, I still think about it when I look at paintings and try to imagine the rich inner lives of the people captured in a two-dimensional work of art. Kudos to Sondheim and Seurat for partnering across centuries and continuing to inspire.
@LMMc Sounds like an incredible educational experience, especially considering it was a public school. That's the way it should be!
@LMMc What a great education! Summers I used to go to SAIC's Oxbow and spend two weeks making art.
@LMMc - I attended Northwestern from 1988-92, and sometime during those years I too saw the Seurat painting at the Art Institute. I'm not a big art fan I am a big musical fan, so I appreciated the melding of the two.
Jokes on you - that's not a hat. It's the outline of a snake that has just eaten an elephant.
@Jill from Brooklyn LOL I posted a link to The Little Prince yesterday.
Poor Andrzej is going to be exposed to more knowledge about Broadway musicals. Musicals, movies, sports, minor tv characters, poets. This one has something to get almost everyone riled up. I enjoyed it though, as all that was in my wheelhouse.
@Marshall Walthew No worries, I won't remember any of it.
Link to wordplay column from puzzle still not fixed. "Look, I made an app link that works" not consistently said at the NYT.
@jennie I thought it was just me.
@jennie I have found that when the link does not work if I type “Wordplay” in the search box there I am taken to the correct page. Maybe this will work for you, too.
What a fun portrayal of a wonderful painting. I remember seeing it come to life years ago, with Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin. He sang with a Staten Island school kids choir at NYC Mayor Mamdani’s inauguration recently.
@Hallie Robbins Yes, and that's why the light has gone out on Mandy for me, but that's another story. But that kids choir is fantastic and their teacher works wonders. I've been following them for a couple of years.
So was it too obvious to mention that Seurat developed Pointillism? ...I connected those dots. Hats off to the constructor JG
@Bruce S I'd say it was a "Given"...
As you can probably imagine, I was not excited by the theme. The many trivial unknowns in the otherwise straightforward fill made the solving experience quite unpleasant. I missed a letter being wrong in MIRACLE-G_O. The cross of LASH I got after wrongly guessing G(L)O didn't make sense with its clue, but since (L)ASH is not meaningless and MIRACLE GLO looks good enough, I missed it and ended up checking the puzzle. It wasn't an offensively bad puzzle but it gave me zero pleasure to solve it because of who I am.
@Andrzej Eliot’s musings of the present becoming eterne did it for me. Sprinkle in some Arsenal and Westworld and I’m beyond there.
@Andrzej Oh, Andrzej. As soon as I hit 17A, I knew this would be trouble. And I tried -- reeeeally triiiied -- to sympathize with the torture you must have undergone. But I couldn't. I was just too filled with glee, delight, and joy. Sorry, buster. Maybe tomorrow we'll have a morose, bitter, ravaged, intensely dark theme based on death, loss, and the futility of existence. But not today --tra-la!
@SBK You probably noticed I didn't hate on the details of the theme. Luckily for me the actual themed entries weren't terribly arcane - the first was unknowable for me from the clue as such, but it became obvious with some crosses, and for some reason the name of the guy was lurking somewhere deep down in my mind. The connected letters and infantile graphic were immaterial to the solve so they didn't hinder me. That being said, the theme did nothing for me, and I personally found the fill meh, at best. My only real complaint is the same as @SP's - the theme was pretty niche so it was bound to get shrugs from many solvers. If you don't know the musical or don't remember the lyrics, you won't get even mildly excited today, no? However! I'm genuinely glad you enjoyed the theme and that it and the memories it evoked have made your day better. No cap. Knowing my dark sense of humor, a morose theme would probably make me laugh, so bring it on.
@Andrzej I know you've been to the States, but not NY. Were you in Chicago? The Seraut painting is at the Art Institute there and is seen Ferris Beuler's (sp?) Day Off. Just a bit more trivia.
My favorite fact about STORKS - hold on, you won’t believe this if you haven’t heard it already - is that people in Europe didn’t know where all the birds went in winter time until one spring day in 1822, when a stork came to Germany with a large African arrow embedded in its chest, and they started to put two and two together. Until then, nobody knew for sure, and there were some crazy theories doing the rounds, like birds go to the moon in winter, or turn into other animals. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch</a> <a href="https://www.audubon.org/magazine/what-gruesome-stork-taught-us-about-bird-migration" target="_blank">https://www.audubon.org/magazine/what-gruesome-stork-taught-us-about-bird-migration</a>
@Petrol For centuries people believed ducks (or was it geese?) spent winters under the ice. Given the modern approach to science in some places, this will probably re-enter school curricula! My favorite fact about storks in not a fact at all. Bear with me, I'll get there after a bit of backrounding. Poles love storks. In fact, they could be considered our national bird, along with the eagle, which in turn is our official emblem. These days we all know they migrate to Africa in the winter, sure. But - and we're getting to the non-fact now - as it was presented in primary school to me, I thought for the longest time storks lived *only* in Poland in the summer. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw storks on my first foreign vacation? That must have been one of my life's first and biggest mindf___s. And another fun fact about storks - Musk's AI will generate an image of one in whatever sick circumstances you wish!
I've never heard of this musical, and don't usually like musicals. But hey I liked the puzzle! And I appreciate 'niche' puzzles which go outside my usual areas of interest, and let me learn something new! And gimmicks are fun: it's hard to imagine not being at least slightly amused by a hat suddenly activated! Good job, nice surprise for a Wednesday grid! Hats off!
@CB I do like musicals...and STEPHEN SONDHEIM can be a genius with lyrics (just think "Westside Story")...but I'm pretty sure this one was not a big hit. I question how memorable the HAT song was. (About as memorable as Seurat, I'd guess. He got a mention in Art History, but a gimmick takes you only so far as a creator of memorable works.)
This one’s for you, Andrzej! A whole puzzle (not just one entry) for you. As for me, the fun of this puzzle lies only if you’re familiar with the work. And although I’m sure there will be many who say they are familiar with SONDHEIM’s work, I am not one of them. And the joke fell especially flat because I don’t think of the secret message as a “famous lyric,” as Jim Horne at xwordinfo.com called it, because it was the first time I’d ever come across it. And I reiterate, I’m realize a lot of you have. But I guarantee there will be a whole lot of others who haven’t. So a perfectly cromulent puzzle, I suppose, but no joy for me this time.
@Steve L You can't even send an email about the broken link anymore, which i noticed last time it happened. At least I can't from the Games app on my Android phone.
@Steve L, Well before I got to the revealer or even to 60A, as soon as I filled in 17A, I thought, “OHOH. This is not good for Andrzej.”
@Steve L You're usually very polite and quite serious, so it's quite nice - in a way! - to see you being cruel and ironic 😄
Coincidentally, I was inspired to look up “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” last night when it was referenced in a book I’m reading. Life’s little synchronicities never cease to tickle me.
Loved, loved, loved it. And i loved the graphic of the hat making itself, even though the Notes to the puzzle said I was going to have to draw it myself. Also, SONDHEIM created many a game or puzzle by himself. He particularly created cryptics according to what i've read.
@Vaer The app solve is très Magritte. Did you truly make a hat? “If you can’t tell, does it matter?”
LOOK I found a way to get to the Wordplay column 😬 I don’t understand why this has happened so frequently this year, but here we are. Some lively entries today. I liked LOOKIE LOOS and PSHAW as well as I’M SCARED 🙄. I can picture my kids saying it to me as I threaten some sort of punishment that they could not care less about 🤣 Cool animation at the end. Thanks Joseph!
Hats off to SONDHIEM!! The hat was a wonderful treat. Nice to see the Magnificent Seven. Someone tell me a joke. We gotta keep our spirits up around here.
@Red Carpet Two hats are on a hat-rack. One turns to the other and says, 'You hang out here. I'll go on ahead…”
@Red Carpet 11A reminded me of my favorite: There are 10 kinds of people-- those who understand binary and those who don’t.
A very nice nod to the [Tony award winning lyricist] at 65A. My friend Wilbur is a big fan of post-impressionist French art, a taste which his wife Katherine dies not share. On a recent trip to Chicago, I met up with the pair, and we spent an afternoon at the Art Institute, where Wilbur had never been. Scarce had we entered the museum, when he exclaimed: "Kay! Seurat! Seurat!" To which she replied "Whatever, Wilby . . ." (Dang that @je for stealing my thunder.)
I know nothing about the musical, other than it exists, but I still enjoyed the puzzle. I did not get the hat reference, but still liked the animation. I took it as random whimsy, which is my favorite kind of whimsy. Sometimes it pays to be a LOOKIE LOO (aka window shopper, open to possibilities) rather than a grumpy Gus.
Pretty niche theme, but one that is close to my heart. Love the musical, have watched the recorded version several times with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters (you can probably stream it or watch it online). Stephen Sondheim is an acquired taste and it’s definitely not a TOETAPPER, but it’s a very beautiful and evocative show about the nature of art and probably my second favorite Sondheim musical (behind Company and above Into the Woods). I highly recommend it. “Look I Made a Hat” is also the name of Sondheim’s biography, so it’s not just a random lyric but a meaningful concept of art creating something that didn’t exist before (like a crossword puzzle, in fact). Anyway, not a bad crossword even apart from the theme, with some unexpected clues, and I enjoyed it. Last comment just to nip some nitpickers in the bud—yes the name of the painter of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” is Georges Seurat (with an S at the end) but the musical is also about his (fictional) great-grandson who is named George and that is whom the title refers. Also, if you are Star Trek fan and watch the original version, you can get a glimpse of Brent Spiner (Data) in a supporting role; I’m afraid that probably won’t be enough to tempt Andrzej, though.
@SP Star Trek TNG is full of great characters, and I really can't say who is my favorite, but Data obviously makes the list. That being said, Data is Brent Spiner's only role I have ever liked, so no, I would not be tempted - even if we were not talking about the lowest art form of all.
@SP For those who wish here is the link to the full musical <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzSzRNJuuoY" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzSzRNJuuoY</a>
Another Wednesday In The Puzzle with Joseph, now with five of his six NYT puzzles appearing on that day. And another Joseph puzzle with an accent on grid art. His first Times puzzle has the most adorable black-square crossword image I’ve ever seen (warning, the two following links show completed puzzle) -- <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/16/2022" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/16/2022</a> -- and for his second, he actually made a hat! -- <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/18/2023" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=10/18/2023</a> . I love Sondheim’s originality, wordplay, and non-hackneyed melodies, so this puzzle kindled good feelings. I’m also a fan of impressive puzzle-making, and this junk-lite grid with its two spanners and incredibly constricting symmetrical hat is just that. But the highlight for me was Sam’s posting of Mandy Patinkin singing “Finishing the Hat”, which I found stunning and mesmerizing. And thus, a happy-button puzzle for me, for which, Joseph, I’m highly grateful – thank you!
@Lewis Your first line is just WONDERFUL. Joseph Gangi should frame a copy of it. We can agree on SONDHEIM's gifts, but this musical was not as memorable as others of his works, and no amount of praise can make it better.
Loved this puzzle. It reminded me of Lin Manuel Miranda’s 2008 Tony acceptance speech for In the Heights, in which Miranda rapped his thanks,including an homage to Sondheim: “Mr. Sondheim, look. I made a hat where there never was a hat. It’s a Latin hat at that.” :) Have a good day, all! (Deb, I hope you’re enjoying your next chapter!)
Initially thought it was "Look I'm a DEA hat". Seemed an odd lyric for a Sondheim musical.
Completed in 45% less time than average. Some of the speed may be attributed to using a computer rather than my phone. Had no idea what "look I made a hat" meant until I Googled it. Costs before RATES. Situationship is news to me. For whatever reason, PSHAW is a great word. And now for an overdose on puzzle-inspired puns: Walking through poison ivy is a RASH decision. Entomologists have discovered there are fifty ways to leave your LARVA. Had sighs of relief when I was able to come up with 53D. Oh, man, how did I end up in this sultanate near Yemen?
@Jim Btw, is Carrboro near Oakboro? I worked with a guy who retired to a log cabin there many years ago.
'look imadeah at?' 'look ima deahat?' whatever i finally got it! nice animation, nice puzzle (even though i was not familiar with the song or musical)...encore! have a great wednesday eveeyone
@Amanda look, I made a hat 😉
@Amanda I tried to parse the linked letters at the end but I quickly gave up. The shape meant nothing to me. It's hard to get excited about something you're not familiar with... Niche themes are bound to be hit and miss 🤷🏽
@Andrzej a millinophile you are not, apparently!
Cute puzzle. A Wednesday PB, for me, which I guess means I’ve spent too many nights around the piano at Marie’s Crisis!
A very niche puzzle that did not float my boat. I have heard of the musical, and most people know of Stephen Sondheim. But too many conversational phrases, too many words I never heard of, like GUCCI as a slang word, the comedy team of Key and PEELE, and ultimately, the revealer. So I finished the puzzle without any lookups, connected the dots, got the phrase LOOK I MADE A HAT, and so what? It was meaningless to me, and if those of you do know that phrase and are able to relate it to the musical in the theme, my hat's off to you. But I do think that most will be scratching their bare heads at this one. Congrats to the ones who got it all. The entire puzzle left me cold, and I found no joy in finishing it successfully. Just my two SOUs worth.
@Times Rita We agree to an uncanny degree.
I’m pretty knowledgeable about broadway musicals (my sisters and I used to belt out Funny Girl songs) but I have never heard of this one. When I finished the puzzle I thought the picture was a truck or some kind of vehicle. But I’m never one to complain about not knowing something in a crossword. I just chalk it up to education. Puzzle itself was enjoyable in and of itself.
@Liz Evans The Impressionist Georges Seurat's pointillist painting inspired SONDHEIM's musical... I'm not sure it was a success, but honestly it didn't sound like a lot of fun...
"Famous"? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Sure it was niche, but it was my niche. Hope it wasn't too painful for the rest of you. I remember watching the first season of "Chicago Hope" just to see Mandy Patinkin. He was a surgeon who sometimes broke out into song, which I think is pretty cool as long as it's not your surgeon. Hats off to Claudette Colvin.
@ad absurdum Ah, the 1990s battle of the Thursday night Chicago medical shows. I picked Chicago Hope, because what a cast*, but ER won me over. I vaguely recall they eventually moved CH away from Thursdays at 10. *Love Mandy but hated the storyline about Geiger's wife.
@aa Well, I, for one, got your first line.
What the hat! I don’t think I’ll ever chatch up on all the Broadway musicals. Thanks for the fun puzzle, anyway!
Any puzzle with Stephen Sondheim and one of his wonderful musicals in it is a winner in my book. One of the giants of the American musical theater, Sondheim was innovative and dramatically altered the course of the Broadway musical, much like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and today’s Lin Manuel-Miranda. If it makes him more palatable to puzzle solvers here, he constructed cryptic puzzles for New York Magazine early in his career. The puzzle, for me, was fine, but the added graphic made it a little more interesting.
. . . George and Dot. Is what we got. Chapeau. Let's go! . . .
I recognized immediately that it was a musical theater theme and began to panic, but this was supremely doable even for someone like me, who watches a musical about once a decade. And I got to make a hat! Bravo, Joseph Gangi, and I hope for an ENCORE!
As the author of a recent book on Sondheim, his games, and his crossword puzzles, I was excited to see this puzzle. As this is still news to most, I’ll share a little known history behind the song Finishing the Hat. It could have been called Finishing the Game. In 1965 his friend Phyllis Newman had a show flop out of town. He asked what he could do and she said make a game for me when I return. He designed The Murder Game in an overnight 11-hour creative fugue. It was a hit (and has its own story). In the early 80s, creating Sunday in the Park With George, he wanted to write a song about that experience, about disconnecting from the world to pursue a creative pursuit, not to paint something new but to create a playful way for his friends to connect. So now, his song, about a game, has been honored in a crossword. Quite fitting.
@Barry Joseph I was just reading your book when I turned to this puzzle ! It’s fantastic and I think readers of this column would love it.
@Barry Joseph, I read an article all about your book and am so excited to read it! Congratulations on all your hard work and research.
Fun puzzle. Fun animation when completed. Enjoyed the theme. Thanks, Joseph, for a wonderful puzzle! Happy Wednesday, y’all!
This page's URL should be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2026-01-14.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2026-01-14.html</a>. (It's missing the "0" in "01-14".)
How does this happen so frequently? Shouldn’t the URL be generated by a script that just does the right thing every time?
I've known some really bad IT people over the years, but the ones at the NYT are something else.
A fitting tribute to a Broadway composer who was also incredibly fond of puzzles. We just picked up a copy of Barry Joseph’s “Matching Minds with Sondheim,” which includes some he devised. And considering that “Sunday” won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, I’m quite surprised at the number of commenters who are not familiar with one of his greatest works. Find the “Great Performances” broadcast if you can.
Loved the cross of ENDIVE and ENCORE. Decades ago when I worked in Geneva, I had to adapt to hearing the words ENCORE and voila so frequently. For an ignorant American like me, sounded too fancy. Seemed like the cafeteria served ENDIVE all winter… nearly the only green vegetable. Got the blank stare when I pronounced it the American way. But I hardly knew what it even was. It was the only green thing in a serving tray, ready to be dished out, at the cafeteria. Now it is the French pronunciation that is imprinted forever in my head, and I get the blank stare here.
Fun puzz! A little weird to have OK and OKAY in the same grid but I’m sure weirder things have happened. SONDHEIM was a genius who was not only a great musical composer but a great composer and lyricist period. As a songwriter I draw a lot of inspo from his work. My three faves are Company (check out the DA Pennebaker doc if you haven’t), Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd. Company is probably number one since it’s basically the story of my life. But seeing Pacific Overtures with George Takei 1.5 times in 2017 was a bucket list item.
How fortuitous, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey have JUST been announced TODAY as the leads in the "Sunday in the Park" London revival! Enjoyed this lovely jaunt today :)
@Emily I literally read an entire article about this and then opened this puzzle. I couldn’t believe it! I had absolutely no knowledge of this musical until this morning and then voila!
GENIUS!!! No need to "send in the clowns" on this brilliant crossword! Sondheim would be proud.
Love STEPHEN SONDHEIM!! The song "Sunday" that concludes the first act of "Sunday in the Park with George" is absolutely gorgeous, as is the staging that mirrors the Georges Seurat painting that is the focus of the musical. Here's the original cast performing it at the 1984 Tony Awards: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0AJlmwqfxg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0AJlmwqfxg</a> FWIW, my favorite Sondheim musical is "Sweeney Todd".
@Pax Ahimsa Gethen I love this one also: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr99DVmFt2c&list=RDfr99DVmFt2c&start_radio=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr99DVmFt2c&list=RDfr99DVmFt2c&start_radio=1</a>
When I started doing NYT crosswords in February last year, I was averaging more than an hour for Wednesday to Saturday crosswords and more than two hours on Sunday. These required a lot of searching for answers on the net. I have now managed to get my Wednesday average below half an hour and I didn't need use any look ups. This is now fairly common for me. As far as the theme is concerned, I 'm afraid I am not a fan of Sondheim. The only way I would pay to hear anything he was connected with is if some highlights from Westside Story were part of an orchestral concert I wanted to go to. And that's because he only wrote the words for that musical. That is not an art-form I am keen on but I accept that the NYT is going to have a fair number of clues related to it.
@Peter Well done on your impressive solving progress!
Did anyone else search for an image of a DEA hat?
tHAT was not wHAT i was expecting... Never saw the play (doubt it was ever made into a flick), never heard any of the songs from it that I can recall--which is a bit unusual, because popular numbers from musicals get aired often... Maybe Steve L or Barry Ancona will post a link... I have never see/heard LOOKIE LOOS... but I think vendors should not be ungrateful. Lookers turn into buyers if the mdse is worthwhile, unusual, useful, interesting, attractive, desirable... and the more LOOKIE LOOS you attract, the more likely that might happen. Don't sneer at potential customers, in other words; it ill becomes you! OKAY THEN....on with the day.
@Mean Old Lady Here’s a link to watch the whole thing—they never made a movie but it’s the video of the stage version <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzSzRNJuuoY" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzSzRNJuuoY</a>
Look I made a hat???? I get that someone out there or perhaps many someones know the reference, and many more once learning of it find it somehow instructive or inspirational. I find it one of the all time great let downs. I didn't exactly labor my utmost to solve this puzzle, but I was hoping for some sort of payoff I could relate to. You made a hat. How tedious. Now, I know the online world. If you say something you find true and express your positive regard for it, you get love back. But if you express something true and express a negative view of it, you get ad hominem attacks and calumny. I am resigned to this fate, fire away.
@Asher B. I think it's impossible for everyone's hobbies or favorites to be understood or related by everyone. There are many themes where I don't necessarily care for the content of a theme (sports, etc.), but I can STILL acknowledge how much skill and care went into planning out that theme. It's a Sondheim themed-puzzle and somehow the constructor was able to design a grid with clues that all make sense, some clues related to Sondheim, and the circled letters literally make out a hat, which is the title of Sondheim's collected lyrics ("Look I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics 1981-2011). I wouldn't understand it if the letters somehow were in perfect position for a special defensive football play, but I would still have an AHA moment upon reveal. I go into a puzzle thinking even if I can't relate to it, that doesn't mean what is accomplished by the constructor isn't brilliant.
@Asher B. I sometimes find the theme of the puzzle ponderous or uninteresting, but Sondheim is one of the greatest composers and lyricists in American musical history, responsible for creating or contributing to twenty or so musical productions in NYC in a career spanning eight decades. A Pulitzer Prize winning genius, he also happened to be an avid puzzler and constructor of cryptic crosswords in his own right. In fact, he contributed the puzzle to the debut issue of New York Magazine in 1968, introducing cryptics to a wider audience. While you may be unaware of his work and legacy, or even uninterested, to me Sondheim is the amalgam of thee elements: music that is brilliant in its compositional construction and harmonic intention, married to deftly wrought lyrics dripping with an uncompromisingly playful use of language, and finally (maybe above all else) the quintessential spirit of New York itself. For my money, there’s no more apt, or better a theme for a NYT crossword puzzle than Stephen Sondheim.
Not a fan of the theme at all, which was niche. The big reveal is a “hat” and some lyric about making a hat. Super gimmicky.
@MangoI agree, if you have to write a note to explain the theme on a Wednesday maybe you should question the theme.
@Mango I guess what is niche for one can be an entire world for others.
As a Sondheim fan, I enjoyed that especially. We had tickets to see Jake Gyllenhaal in the show in the West End, but it was cancelled during Covid. Perhaps this puzzle is the closest I'll ever get to seeing 'Sunday'...(!)
Quick anecdote: since I've never heard of the musical or the song, when the hat activated, I followed the letters and first read the phrase as 'I'm a DEA hat.' I wondered what a DEA hat looked like, and why this would be showcased in the puzzle...
Nice tribute to the famous cryptic crossword constructor, STEPHEN SONDHEIM.