Harvard Magazine Puzzle Master Retires

A longtime contributor hangs up his pencil.


John de Cuevas

Long-time Harvard Magazine crossword-puzzle master John de Cuevas ’52 has hung up his pencil, explaining, “I turned 86 last October and in the last few years have experienced a slackening of mental and physical powers.” He continues to create puzzles for his website, “but the extra ones I was doing for Harvard are more than I can manage now.” We thank him for bringing pleasure to puzzle-doers for decades. His full notice appears at harvardmag.com/decuevas-17—complete with a reproduction of his devilish creation for the University’s 350th anniversary, from the September-October 1986 issue.

~ The Editors

Related topics

You might also like

In Sermon, Garber Urges Harvard Community to ‘Defend and Protect’ Institutions

Harvard’s president uses traditional Memorial Church address to encourage divergent views.

Highlights From Harvard’S Past

The Medical School goes coed, University poet wins Nobel Prize. 

Free Speech, the Bomb—And Donald Trump

A Harvard cardiologist on the unlikely alliances that shaped a global movement to prevent nuclear war

Most popular

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

John Goldberg

Harvard in the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean

Public health dean Andrea Baccarelli wearing a white collared shirt and glasses.

The School of Public Health, Facing a Financial Reckoning, Seizes the Chance to Reinvent Itself

Dean Andrea Baccarelli plans for a smaller, more impactful Chan School of 2030.

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio smiling beside the pink cover of her novel "Catalina" featuring a jeweled star and eye.

Being Undocumented in America

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing aims to challenge assumptions.