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WORDPLAY, THE CROSSWORD COLUMN

Man, for One

Ryan Patrick Smith’s puzzle offers a modern
spin on a classic wordplay form.

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A coyote in the animal park of Sainte-Croix in eastern

France. Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/Agence France-Presse via
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By Rachel Fabi
Oct. 18, 2022, 10:00 p.m. ET

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WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Oh, Man. I, for one,

really enjoyed this puzzle by Ryan Patrick
Smith, who is making his second appearance
in the New York Times Crossword. Mr. Smith’s
first puzzle, from January 2020, was a
themeless Friday crossword with a striking
grid. His follow-up effort shows a real
versatility, demonstrating his skill at creating
a fun theme while hanging on to the witty
clues you might expect on a Friday. Let’s take
a look.

Tricky Clues
6A: To kick things off, here’s a meta
clue/answer pair: “Provocative … like this
answer’s position in the grid?” is the clue for
EDGY because the entry is on the edge of the
grid.

10A: Next up, a dad joke! “Q: What happens

when the ___ clears over Los Angeles? A:
UCLA!” is the clue for SMOG. When the
SMOG clears over Los Angeles, you see L.A.

21A: This one took me a minute. “One foot in

‘the grave,’ poetically speaking” is an IAMB.
“The grave” has the unstressed-stressed
syllable pattern of the unit of metric verse (or
“foot”) called an IAMB.

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46A: Thank goodness for “The Great British

Bake Off” — it has taught me all about
CHOUX, the “Pastry dough used in crullers
and beignets.”

55A: The answer to the clue “Kind of column”

is ONES, as in the ONES column that you
combine first when doing addition or
subtraction on paper.

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56A: The “Specialty of clerics, druids and

paladins, in Dungeons & Dragons” is MAGIC.
Tricky of Mr. Smith to pick three MAGIC-
using D&D classes that don’t sound
particularly magical. This would have been a
much easier clue for the tabletop R.P.G.
uninitiated if he had picked wizards, sorcerers
and warlocks.

57A: I swear I stared at this section of the grid

for at least 90 seconds before I could wrap my
head around what TWOD (“Flat, for short”)
meant. It turns out that this needs to be read
as TWO-D, as in 2-D or TWO-Dimensional, in
order to make sense.

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11D: I love the clue “Employee at a brick-and-

mortar business,” which plays on the term
“brick-and-mortar” for a stable storefront
location. But in this case, we’re looking for an
employee of a literal brick-and-mortar
business, or a MASON.

13D: “Close in many close-ups” is the clue for

the film star GLENN Close, who appears in
close-ups (among other shots) in movies.

41D: This may be one where you either know

it or you don’t. “Behold: Lat.” is ECCE, which I
know only from the “ECCE homo” fresco
scandal/internet meme.

51D: If you are “Visiting the Natl. Museum of

African American History and Culture, say,”
then you are IN DC, where the museum is.

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60D. The clue “Man, for one” employs a classic

crossword misdirect, taking advantage of the
ISLE of Man to send the solver on a wild-
goose chase to come up with something of
which the lowercase “man” is an example. By
starting the clue with the word “Man,” Mr.
Smith is able to disguise that it is, in fact, a
proper noun. Sneaky!

Today’s Theme
Writing about this theme in his notes below,
Mr. Smith said, “I hope the answers elicit
ample chuckles, or at least groans.” In my
experience, there were plenty of chuckles and
groans as each of the theme entries in this
puzzle fell into place.

Mr. Smith’s theme involves an update of the

“Swifty” — a type of wordplay in which a
quotation is attributed to the fictional Tom
Swift, along with an adverb that puns on the
quotation. A classic example given by
Merriam-Webster is “‘I can’t find the oranges,’
said Tom fruitlessly.”

Two of Mr. Smith’s Swifties follow this

traditional form, while two others are
constructed a little unusually. The first of the
two standard Swifties is found at 26A: “‘What
do you mean there are no PlayStations left in
stock?’ asked Tom ___.” The answer here is
INCONSOLABLY because Tom is unable to
find a gaming console. The second, at 48A, is
“‘I’m worried I may have anemia,’ said Tom
___.” In this case, Tom is speaking
UNIRONICALLY because his iron level is low.

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The nontraditional Swifties are just as funny

and involve adverb puns. The difference is
that neither is only an adverb that ends in “ly.”
First, at 17A, is the clue “‘You cooked this? It’s
*disgusting*!’ said Tom ___.” Unlike in the
previous two entries, the adverb describing
how Tom gave this rather unkind assessment
lacks an “ly” suffix altogether. Instead, Tom’s
insult is IN VERY POOR TASTE.

Finally, Tom, who was apparently present for

the first-ever Christmas, complains to the
three Magi about their gifts: “‘You guys are
supposed to be ‘Wise Men’ and *these* are the
gifts you bring a newborn?!’ asked Tom, ___.”
In this case, there is an “ly” suffix, but it’s
combined with another word to create the
hilarious FRANKLY INCENSED, which I
would be as well if someone were to give an
infant frankincense as a gift. I mean, really,
what is he going to do with that?

Although Swifty puzzles are nothing new, Mr.

Smith’s take contains a creative and clever set
of new puns. “Hooray for this puzzle!” said
Rachel, cheerfully.

Constructor Notes
Inspiration is often born of scarcity, and
such is 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 out 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.

Personally, 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 gave me a
rewarding outlet for some of my more
idiosyncratic creations.

I hope to be back here with more puzzles

soon, said Ryan enigmatically. Thanks for
solving!

Want to Submit Crosswords to The

New York Times?
The New York Times Crossword has an open
submission system, and you can submit your
puzzles online.

For tips on how to get started, read our series,

“How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”

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