Ryan Faces the World

Constructed by Patrick Berry and edited by Will Shortz.
Aaagh! So close. I had 12 empty boxes left and I thought and I thought and I huffed and puffed but in the end I had two major mistakes that prevented me from finishing this off without help. One in the top right and […]

Constructed by Matt Ginsberg and edited by Will Shortz.
I like this one. It had a bunch of answers that could mean one thing and the opposite of that one thing. Does that make sense? Well, here’s what I mean:
1D. Last under use or erode under use (WEAR).
19A. Begin operating or stop operating […]

Constructed by Lee Glickstein and edited by Will Shortz.
This was a sticky one for me. I got through it but not without staring at some empty boxes for a while. The area that gave me the most trouble was towards the middle with 21D. Short order cook’s utensil (FRYPAN). Is a pan […]

Constructed by Nancy Nicholson Joline and edited Will Shortz with the theme Winners’ Circle. I did this one with my dear friend Max. We both thought the theme was a lot of fun and very clever. Each theme answer had referenced to past Academy Award winners. The first reference had a […]

Constructed by Barry C. Silk and edited by Will Shortz.
I think the theme for this puzzle was Things Ryan Doesn’t Know. If so, they did a bang up job. I did get a few on my own. Notably 40A. Indications of good bowling (XES) and 40D. Exotic estate (XANADU). And the […]

I am now officially worried I’m going to finish last in the tourney.  This Friday puzzle (constructed by Mike Nothnagel and David Quarfoot and edited by Will Shortz) was completely beyond me.  I did an initial scan of the clues and wasn’t picking up on much.  Then I had a small breakthrough with 37D. Its […]

This is going to be a quick one.  I just spent the last 11 hours working on a horrible word document and I can hardly bear to type anymore.
Constructed by Peter A. Collins and edited by Will Shortz.
This wasn’t an especially hard puzzle but I did get stuck in one area and only google could […]

In a little slow period at work so I was able to knock out the Wednesday puzzle in record time. Well, record time for me anyway. I did it in 13:44. Not too bad.
The puzzle was constructed by Chuck Hamilton and edited by Will Shortz.
The them was revealed in 65A. It can […]

Ok, I’ve gotten myself hopelessly behind here so rather than fall further and further back I’ll just skip a few and get back on track.  I have completed all the puzzles.  Tues, Wed and Thurs I was able to do without help.  Friday was interesting as I completed the first half in 10 minutes or […]

I was trying to time myself on this one but I accidentally refreshed the page which erased all my entries.  As it was, I ended up with a time of around 12 minutes.
Constructed by Ken Bessette and edited by Will Shortz.
What I didn’t know.  15A. Fanfare (ECLAT).  19A. Height: Prefix (ACRO).  47A. Judicial assertion (DICTUM).  […]