Ryan Milligan author page
2 puzzles by Ryan Milligan
with Constructor comments
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Second puzzle! Glad to see this wasn't blind luck. I was listening to Taylor Swift's then new album 1989 (fantastic album, for what it's worth), and I thought it would be cool to turn her last name into an adverb and clue the phrase as Taylor, swiftly. I then started looking for other celebrities with adjective last names and found the set JAMESBLUNTLY, HOWARDSTERNLY, and GLENNCLOSELY. Joel and Will suggested I clue them as Tom Swifties and the puzzle was born. The puzzle needed significantly less editing than my debut, which I was happy to see.
Thanks as always to Will and Joel for their insight. And Taylor, if you happen to be an avid reader of online crossword blogs, I wouldn't object to some backstage passes the next time you're in Boston. Just saying.
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I am beyond ecstatic to be making my NY Times crossword debut today. I've been submitting puzzles to the NY Times since my junior year of high school — spring 2007. A friend challenged me to make a crossword during class eight years ago, and I've been hooked ever since.
This idea came to me when I was working on a composer-themed puzzle: BACHTOTHEFUTURE, HAYDNPLAINSIGHT, etc. When I saw HAYDNPLAINSIGHT had already been used in a previous composer puzzle, I started to think about hiding the phrase HIDDENINPLAINSIGHT in plain sight with the hopes of being especially clever. I used to love doing the Jumble and the NYTimes crossword with my great aunt on Sundays, so I was happy that I could get a little bit of jumble in my first acceptance. Also I'm a huge New York Giants fan, so I was excited to help ELIMANNING get back in the puzzle after a long hiatus.
The original themed entries were THIRDDEGREEBURN, INTERPELLATIONS, and SINGTHESAMETUNE, but Will prompted me to switch up the last two and I'm pleased with where things ended up. I was a bit bummed that ‘Rex Parker's gripe' didn't stick as the clue for WHEREISTHETHEME, but otherwise I'm really happy with my first accepted submission.
I'd like to thank the following people for all of their work to help me achieve this milestone: my dad, for being my constant crossword tester and slugging through my early atrocities; Frank Longo, for all of his help with this puzzle; and Will, for being a kind, patient mentor over the past eight years. Thanks for the warm welcome, crossword world. Hope to see you again soon.