Sophia Maymudes’s affinity for crosswords began at age four when her family was working together on a New York Times puzzle. Usually she didn’t have much to contribute, but this time she knew the answer to a clue that had her parents stymied.
“What’s an ungulate?”
“It’s a hoofed mammal,” piped up Maymudes. She’d learned about ungulates on a wildlife show.
After that, Maymudes ’20 (Seattle) was hooked. When she was in high school, her parents bought her crossword construction software for her birthday, and she started entertaining friends and family members with original puzzles. She even published some in her school newspaper and, later, in the Carletonian.
Her parents thought her puzzles were good enough for the New York Times. Maymudes wasn’t sure, but eventually she decided to take a chance. She sent her best puzzle to the paper from Carleton’s campus post office. A few months later she learned that her puzzle had been accepted; it was published on December 6, 2018.
Since her debut, Maymudes has received encouragement from social media groups and established crossword constructors who want to see more diversity among crossword authors. (Currently only about 15 percent of Times submissions are from women.)
When she learned that Jeff Chen, an established crossword constructor and reviewer, loves to play bridge, she sent him a bridge-themed puzzle she’d written based on her experiences on Carleton’s competitive bridge team. He liked it so much that he offered to cowrite a Sunday puzzle—the holy grail for puzzle aficionados–with her. The Times published their collaboration on March 17.
Maymudes is currently writing a puzzle with her dad, and she solicits advice from her mom on how to write clues. “It’s still a family effort,” she says.