UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason has now published 13 crossword puzzles in the "Big Five" newspapers, which are the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Universal, which is a syndicate that provides puzzles to larger regional papers. Mathiason has learned how to tailor his puzzles for each publication to increase the likelihood they'll get chosen.
A crossword puzzle created by UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason features the theme "It's Growing on Me" as the clues to the four longest "across" answers. Mathiason gets theme ideas from listening to people speak and picking up on interesting phrases that could make for good wordplay in crosswords.
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason works on a new crossword on Tuesday. Constructing a new crossword can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on whether there's a clever theme he wants to integrate or how easily the clues come to him.
OWEN ZILIAK, STATE JOURNAL
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason with his first-ever published New York Times crossword puzzle, which has been a long-held goal of his. The chosen one was the 40th one he'd submitted, which he said is odd — most people give up after a handful of rejections.
OWEN ZILIAK, STATE JOURNAL
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason first developed his interest in crosswords as a kid, where his sports knowledge came in handy for his grandmother, who played them. But he didn't start getting serious about them until the COVID-19 pandemic, where the twice-weekly puzzles in his hometown paper, the Monroe Times, gave him something to do.
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason has now published 13 crossword puzzles in the "Big Five" newspapers, which are the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Universal, which is a syndicate that provides puzzles to larger regional papers. Mathiason has learned how to tailor his puzzles for each publication to increase the likelihood they'll get chosen.
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason with his first-ever published New York Times crossword puzzle, which has been a long-held goal of his. The chosen one was the 40th one he'd submitted, which he said is odd — most people give up after a handful of rejections.
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason first developed his interest in crosswords as a kid, where his sports knowledge came in handy for his grandmother, who played them. But he didn't start getting serious about them until the COVID-19 pandemic, where the twice-weekly puzzles in his hometown paper, the Monroe Times, gave him something to do.
A crossword puzzle created by UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason features the theme "It's Growing on Me" as the clues to the four longest "across" answers. Mathiason gets theme ideas from listening to people speak and picking up on interesting phrases that could make for good wordplay in crosswords.
UW-Madison freshman Ryan Mathiason works on a new crossword on Tuesday. Constructing a new crossword can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on whether there's a clever theme he wants to integrate or how easily the clues come to him.
