Matching Minds With Sondheim

Thank you for joining me in this week`s countdown to this exciting news: Matching Minds with Sondheim has a release date (May 20, 2025) AND is available now for pre-order.

Go to the link in my bio to pre-order your copy today.

And if you DO, the first twenty people who confirm their purchase in the comments below will be eligible to receive in the mail a personalized book-related gift from me.

Pre-orders are one way a fan can show support for a book before its release. The more pre-orders on Amazon the more the company will buy from my publisher and the higher the book will appear upon launch in their algorithm. So your pre-order today increases the chance that others will also buy it next spring.

Thank you for all of your support on this crazy journey and joining me as we round the track to make our last lap towards book release!

#Sondheim #StephenSondheim @sondheimphotos @sondheimletters @sondheimsociety #preorderusa #preorderparty

This puzzle (reprinted in Games magazine, August 2009, from their archive) is called Square Peg, Round Hole, by Dave Phillips.

Sondheim solved it in pencil. Following the instructions below (viewing the second image) can you do the same? The third image is Sondheim’s solution, followed by the official solution. 



“So you’re the new peg inserter, eh? Your job is to enter the factory by any door, pick up a peg, put it in a hole, pick up another peg, and so on until all four pegs are in holes, and finally leave the factory by another door. You can’t carry more than one peg at a time, and our efficiency expert is watching to make sure you don’t use any part of a corridor more than once. I don’t have to remind you, I hope, that you can’t put a square peg in a round hole, nor a round peg in a square one. Well, there is the none o’clock bell. Get to work!”

How did you do? Could you match minds with Sondheim?


As I have said before (and will continue to for this series of posts) these pencil markings are now precious artifacts of Sondheim’s mind at work. We can see how he could map it correctly in his mind up until the end, when his pencil line took him in a false direction; he then backtracked (crossing out his incorrect path rather than erase it) then successfully headed off to the exit. 



(As always, big thanks to Andrew Parr @lego_nerd_puzzles for supplying access to the issue)



#puzzles #Sondheim #StephenSondheim #maze

Point 1: The Strong National Museum of Play, In Rochester, NY, was an invaluable source of research for my upcoming book, Matching Minds with Sondheim. The museum is the only collections-based museum anywhere devoted solely to the study of play.

Point 2: Andrew Parr (@lego_nerd_puzzles) won the lot at the Doyle’s auction last June of Sondheim’s collection of game and puzzle magazine, acquiring WAY more than he needed. Many items were given to friends and colleagues, some items were sold to recoup the cost, but there was still 60 pounds (!!!) of magazines that needed a home. (As a reminder, I picked up the lot for Andrew and have been assisting with some of the distribution.)

Typing the two points together: So I was delighted when Andrew arranged with the Strong to take ownership over these many issues from four different titles. Why am I delighted? Because of the 1,800 puzzle- and game-related items which sold at the recent auction into private hands, this is the first I have heard of lots going into a publicaly-accessible research collection. These are the photos of them all boxed up and on their journey.

Once they are accessioned, visit the Strong to check out the following titles and issues (all previously owned and collected by Sondheim):

1. Games & Puzzles (1972-1981, 1994-1995) - the premiere British publication.
2. Bridge World (1939): The oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge.
3. Crossword (Club) (1990-2017): A monthly pamphlet of cryptic crosswords.
4. Tough Puzzles (1983-1993)

#crypticcrossword #sondheim #magazines #games