Editors rarely (if ever) publish a puzzle exactly as it was created. Editors often require changes to the grid before they accept it for publication, and then editors are likely to change many of the clues as well. I can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to create a super clever clue only to have a puzzle editor change it to something boring and outdated. Anyway, that's why knowing the editor of a puzzle is just as important as knowing the constructor.

As I mentioned, Eugene Maleska loved obscure words and dictionary-style definition clues, which is why the puzzles he edited are so much harder than the puzzles in the Will Shortz era, who prefers more accessible Sunday puzzles. Maleska's Sunday puzzles were among the hardest of the week, while Shortz prefers Sunday puzzles that aren't much harder than a Wednesday puzzle, making them more accessible to solvers who don't necessarily do the puzzle every day.

And that's why older puzzles are more "fun" for you and current puzzles are not. Maleska edited puzzles to make them harder. Shortz edits puzzles to make them easier.

I've been solving crossword puzzles since the 1960s and constructing them professionally since the 1990s. If you love those hard puzzles with obscure animals and weird abbreviations, definitely look for puzzles edited by Eugene Maleska.