Matching Minds with Sondheim

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Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend by Barry Joseph - Interview By: Paul Lisnek

Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend by Barry Joseph is a biography-meets-puzzle anthology that explores Stephen Sondheim’s lesser-known lifelong passion for designing and solving intricate games, arguing that puzzles were a core way he made sense of the world—“making order out of chaos,” as Sondheim himself put it. Drawing on more than eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, the book presents extremely rare, never-before-seen puzzles, treasure hunts, parlor games, board games, and crossword designs, alongside original interviews with celebrity friends and collaborators who played his games and analysis from puzzle designers and theater professionals. Beyond telling the story, it invites readers to try solving Sondheim-style puzzles and adapt his games for their own use, offering a fresh angle on his creative process for fans of his shows and useful anecdotes for interviews or features that go beyond standard musical-theater biographies.