 Smithies began his career from school at the "Manchester Evening News" as a darkroom assistant, progressing to the post of photographer there and later at the "Manchester Guardian".Smithies joined Granada Television in the mid-1970s and presented a number of television programmes between then and 2005, including "Down To Earth".Since his first cryptic crossword was accepted by "The Guardian" newspaper in 1966, Smithies was a regular compiler for the newspaper, under the pseudonym Bunthorne, the name taken from the leading character in the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera "Patience".