Ryan Patrick Smith author page
3 puzzles by Ryan Patrick Smith
with Constructor comments
| I | R | O | B | O | T | P | I | N | E | H | A | L | ||
| R | O | M | E | R | O | E | D | E | N | A | M | O | ||
| A | I | G | E | N | E | R | A | T | E | D | S | I | R | |
| F | E | D | O | R | A | S | B | A | S | E | ||||
| S | A | T | Y | R | A | L | G | O | R | I | T | H | M | |
| T | E | E | Y | T | D | N | A | G | ||||||
| E | S | T | A | A | H | O | K | G | O | T | Y | A | ||
| W | O | R | L | D | D | O | M | I | N | A | T | I | O | N |
| S | P | A | D | E | G | A | R | B | S | T | U | D | ||
| E | L | I | S | A | O | A | N | S | ||||||
| N | E | U | R | A | L | N | E | T | D | I | N | G | O | |
| I | M | P | S | D | E | L | E | T | E | D | ||||
| N | E | O | T | U | R | I | N | G | T | E | S | T | S | |
| J | E | N | O | C | T | O | I | T | A | L | I | A | ||
| A | T | E | V | E | S | T | F | E | L | O | N | Y |
| D | I | S | C | S | E | D | G | Y | S | M | O | G | ||
| A | S | A | H | I | L | O | L | A | P | A | U | L | ||
| I | N | V | E | R | Y | P | O | O | R | T | A | S | T | E |
| S | T | E | W | I | A | M | B | A | D | O | R | N | ||
| T | A | P | S | A | L | A | N | O | N | |||||
| I | N | C | O | N | S | O | L | A | B | L | Y | |||
| S | E | E | Y | A | I | L | L | S | A | S | S | |||
| I | N | N | L | A | T | E | F | E | E | W | O | E | ||
| S | E | A | R | V | A | T | C | H | O | U | X | |||
| U | N | I | R | O | N | I | C | A | L | L | Y | |||
| L | E | A | N | E | D | O | N | E | S | |||||
| M | A | G | I | C | T | W | O | D | A | I | D | E | ||
| F | R | A | N | K | L | Y | I | N | C | E | N | S | E | D |
| A | T | I | T | O | K | R | A | R | I | L | E | D | ||
| O | H | N | O | P | E | E | N | E | N | E | M | Y |
Inspiration is often born of scarcity, and such was certainly true here — the scarcity in question being that of PlayStation 5 consoles on store shelves, which led me to the tongue-in-cheek INCONSOLABLY answer (we gamers can be a temperamental lot). That clue has aged remarkably well in the year or so since I submitted this, though I understand availability is finally improving (just in time for the new God of War — woo!).
I built the grid around that centerpiece, thinking it would be fun to give a lively glow-up to the tried-and-true Swifty formula. I hope the answers elicit ample chuckles or at least groans.
I continue to enjoy gaming, moviegoing, creative writing--screenwriting in particular--and, of course, crossword construction. My best friend recently helped me launch my own crossword blog, which has given me a rewarding outlet for some of my more idiosyncratic creations.
I hope to be back in the NYT with more puzzles soon, said Ryan enigmatically. Thanks for solving!
| A | V | C | L | U | B | P | R | O | G | T | M | I | ||
| M | A | R | I | N | E | S | U | L | U | H | A | N | ||
| O | L | I | V | I | A | W | I | L | D | E | E | M | S | |
| R | E | B | E | C | C | A | I | S | S | A | R | A | E | |
| M | O | O | N | N | A | S | C | E | N | T | ||||
| A | R | I | A | D | N | E | G | L | E | N | S | |||
| P | O | S | S | E | S | S | S | T | R | E | A | M | S | |
| E | A | R | M | O | E | |||||||||
| S | M | A | R | T | T | V | P | R | E | D | A | T | E | |
| E | E | R | I | E | R | E | D | E | Y | E | S | |||
| U | M | L | A | U | T | S | A | S | I | F | ||||
| B | U | I | L | D | U | P | T | O | T | E | B | A | G | |
| O | F | T | E | L | E | C | T | R | O | N | I | C | A | |
| A | T | E | A | A | R | P | T | U | S | K | E | D | ||
| T | I | S | U | R | S | A | S | T | E | E | R | S |
I've been a word nerd and puzzle junkie for almost my whole life, but my love of crosswords in particular blossomed when I was a high schooler. I fondly recollect sitting in the kitchen with my mom and tackling the weekend grids on her clunky desktop, the clatter of the keyboard a satisfying soundtrack to my solving. Veterans of the NYT's Wordplay column may remember me by my erstwhile forum handle "rpsmith"—I'll always be grateful to that community for encouraging my passion. Outside the "crossworld," I'm a voracious consumer of film and video games and a writer for both Smithsonian.com (for which I recently wrote a piece on crosswords, as it happens) and the World Bank's Connect4Climate division. I'm also starting to compete in screenwriting contests!
I got a number of puzzles published in the Stanford Daily during my time on The Farm (including cryptics, which I love), but this is my first submission to the Times to be accepted, and I'm over the moon to see it in print and online. I very nearly didn't send in this puzzle at all, as I was coming off a sizable string of rejections and felt rather demoralized. So glad I gave it a shot! I'll admit to being a bit bummed that Will Shortz EDITed OUT the second half of my 'Come before... or go after?' clue for PREDATE, but overall I'm quite pleased with how much he kept in place, including my shout-outs to David Lynch, Albert Camus, and the A.V. CLUB as well as the trivia I used to hint at THERESA MAY and Justin TRUDEAU.
It occurs to me now that the upper half of this puzzle is packed with nods to influential women whose domains range from international politics, acting and filmmaking, to the pages of fiction and mythology. I can't say that this was strictly intentional on my end, but I'm delighted with the way it panned out! I'm especially happy to be featuring OLIVIA WILDE, whose "Booksmart" I found to be a masterfully crafted and moving comedy.
I'm pleased to say I already have fresh grids in the submission pipeline, so with luck, you'll be seeing more of me before too long. Happy solving, and a fine New Year to all!