A Cryptic Tribute

by George Barany / Edited by Patrick Berry

This Thursday-ish puzzle was published in the June 22, 2012 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Many people have written that this was one of their all-time favorite tribute puzzles, and in fact, it was a finalist for the 2012 "Puzzle of the Year" Orca Award. After completing the puzzle (spoiler), learn more about the honoree, and about the puzzle itself, by clicking here for our "midrash." You may also enjoy a November 2014 Hayley Gold comic, entitled Gobbledygook, which is, quite literally, "A Cryptic 'A Cryptic Tribute' Tribute."

Click here (scanned from the printed issue) or here to view or download the puzzle in PDF format; here to download it as a puz file; here to download it as an ipuz file [requires the free Puzzazz app to solve]; here to solve the puzzle interactively (thanks to Jim Horne); here for the solution. I would like to acknowledge Michael J. Barany and Noam Elkies, both of whom served as important sounding boards back in the spring of 2012 as this puzzle's theme was being developed.

If you want to tell others about this particular page, refer them to http://tinyurl.com/crypticpuz

More puzzles here (all), here (science), and here (tributes).

E-mail barany@umn.edu to be added to a bcc distribution list.