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404:. Later, while studying Art and Design at California State University Long Beach, Steve polished his skills to illustrate his own puzzle and game creations. And, now, after decades of passionate work, Ryan's word games, number quizzes, problems in logic, devious dissections, scrambled letters, mazes-with-rules, mathematical recreations and more continue to inspire readers to sharpen their pencils and sharpen their wits. Many of his fans know him as the
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original word maze-puzzle which challenges players to search for words from given categories. Both features have run non-stop from 1973 and 1975 (respectively) to current day. Both of Ryan's features have the distinction of being Copley News
Service's longest running features in the history of the news organization.
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for new game. After years of challenging fans to solve his brainteasers with pencils, players are asked to put down those pencils and grab a handful of sticks and stones to create images using the fewest possible number of sticks and stones. It's a game that encourages creative thinking with little
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Dozens of Steve Ryan books have evolved from his puzzle features and his work in television. Steve self-published his first book in 1975 titled “Puzzle Cards.” His “Grape Vine” puzzle in that book is recognized as the earliest known puzzle to utilize what is known as the “freeway rule” within a
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where he created several puzzle and game features for readers across
America and other English speaking countries. Those features include “Puzzles & Posers” which is a mixed grill of cerebral calisthenics designed to explore player's powers of reason, logic and ingenuity, and “Zig-Zag” the
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for
Pennsylvania Lottery. Some of his many game creations for these lottery shows include “Beach Ball,” “Camelot’s Riches,” “Capsize,” “Coney Island Coaster,” “Force Field,” “Gold Rush,” “High Roller,” “Knockout,” "Mismatch," “Niagara,” “PowerBall Express,” “Skyscraper,” “Splashdown,” “Steeple
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Puzzle creations by Steve Ryan have been utilized by the Game's
National Puzzle Test. His puzzles always rate as visually intriguing, with a high rate of contestants attempting to solve, yet with a lower than normal rate of success. That's the secret behind most Steve Ryan creations: visually
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answer: The answer was, "'Beat the Odds,' 'Music Bingo' and 'Fast Draw' are entries in an encyclopedia of these by
Schwartz, Ryan & Wostbrock." A contestant came in with the correct question, “What are game shows?”
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or no artistic skill required. Ryan likes to say, “If you could play against Pablo
Picasso, all you’d have to do is out think him because he has to use the same sticks and stones as you do to create his image."
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Worldwide, many Steve Ryan puzzle books have been translated and published for
Chinese, Russian, Czechoslovakian, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian markets.
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As senior games executive at
Goodson's lottery division, Steve created games with million-dollar payoffs for many state and international lottery game shows including:
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stimulating and mentally captivating. A basic Steve Ryan philosophy has always been to make a puzzle appear easy to solve, yet quite engaging to conjure the solution.
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Ryan is recognized as one of the world's most prolific creators of puzzles with thousands of puzzles to his credit. He began his career as a puzzle columnist at
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In addition to the books authored by Steve Ryan, his work has appeared in such magazines as
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magazine, acknowledged the work of Steve Ryan as some of the best in the world of puzzles.
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Chase,” “Thunderball,” “Treasure Quest,” “Vortex,” “Wrecking Ball,” and “Zero
Gravity.”
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John Hardy, “OC Fireman
Pursues Puzzling Hobby”, The Register, January 7, 1975
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Media Browse, “TV Game Show Guide”, Television/Radio Age, September 19, 1988
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851:“Obstacles to the Oval Office”, Nickelodeon Magazine, November 2000, p76-77
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Amy Goldstein, “Concentrated Challenges”, Games Magazine, June 1993, p24-25
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genre of puzzles known as mazes-with-rules as referenced in SuperMazes by
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Jeanne Potter, “He Creates Fun and Games”, The New-Post, October 16, 1974
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Peter Gordon, “Jigsaw Puzzle Rebus”, Games Magazine, February 1993
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As a child, Ryan was inspired by the mathematical recreations of
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historian and creator. Ryan was a long-standing staff member of
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Abbott, Robert (1997). SuperMazes, p IX-X. Prima Publishing. (
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absorbed both features when Copley News Service sold in 2008.
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842:“From The Best New Books”, Games Magazine, August 1992, p27
833:“From The Best New Books”, Games Magazine, August 1993, p28
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Jan Worth, “Puzzle Master”, Daily Pilot, November 6, 1974
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List of California State University, Long Beach people
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The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Mensa Mind Teasers
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77:Learn how and when to remove this message
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792:) by Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock
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506:The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows
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313:The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows
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782:The Ultimate TV Game Show Book
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267:for South Africa Lottery,
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159:Goodson-Todman Productions
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257:Second Chance Sweepstakes
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32:This article includes a
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360:in the United Kingdom.
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140:Author and game creator
61:more precise citations.
768:Test Your Word Play IQ
251:for New York Lottery,
247:for Illinois Lottery,
241:for Illinois Lottery,
450:Classic Concentration
263:for Estonia Lottery,
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151:San Diego, California
231:for Brazil Lottery,
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548:Great Rebus Puzzles
358:Games & Puzzles
286:Copley News Service
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291:Creators Syndicate
259:for Ohio Lottery,
34:list of references
813:978-0-7615-0701-7
790:978-1-56625-291-1
740:Test Your Math IQ
640:978-1-899712-72-4
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952:1949 births
562:IQ Boosters
362:Will Shortz
345:Nickelodeon
221:Bingo-Lotto
202:Trivia Trap
59:introducing
946:Categories
797:References
412:of Games.
350:Nick Toons
265:Win'n Spin
147:Steve Ryan
118:1949-02-15
93:Steve Ryan
912:Biography
376:Box games
326:Magazines
318:Jeopardy!
269:Zama Zama
261:Telelotto
155:game show
402:Sam Loyd
898:Portals
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406:Picasso
280:Puzzles
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