The nice thing about doing a crossword puzzle is, you know there is a solution.

Sondheim contrasts the reassuring logic of a crossword—where the setter has guaranteed a single, checkable solution—with the uncertainty of artistic work and life decisions. In composing, writing lyrics, or shaping a musical, there is rarely a provably “correct” answer; choices are judged by taste, craft, and effect rather than by verification. The remark also hints at why puzzles appeal to highly disciplined creators: they offer a bounded problem, clear constraints, and the satisfaction of closure. Implicitly, Sondheim suggests that art is harder precisely because it lacks that certainty, demanding judgment under ambiguity and acceptance that multiple outcomes may be defensible.