ANSWERS: 4X Game: XX/XY

Before I reveal the answers to "4X Game: XX/XY", I'd like to share some news regarding my last puzzle: a while ago, I sent GAMES Magazine three "Moving Stairc--" er, "Shapeshifters" puzzles, and just last Tuesday, I finally got confirmation that they're acceptable for publication! I haven't received a publication date just yet for these puzzles, but it's still pretty neat nonetheless! And to celebrate, I'm going to do something special regarding tomorrow's puzzle! (though I'm not revealing what it is quite yet; you'll just have to wait and see) Anyways, let's reveal the people who solved "XX/XY":

• Adam Weaver ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• YYW ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Debbie Underwood ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Cayden Curtis & Lynn Sweeney ****
• Paolo Pasco ****
• My sister Alex ****

Now just head below the break for the answers, along with a few solver comments!

Here are the answers in text format:

X #1: A TRAP, PARIS, SIRES, SERTA
X #2: SIDES, SEDAN, NADER, RED IS
X #3: RAVEN, NEVER, REVEL, LEVAR
Y #4: LABOR, ROBOT, TOBAL

The three letters in the yellow squares unscramble to spell out either PAT, TAP, or APT, but I needed a word that started with a vowel, so APT is the FINAL ANSWER!

Solver Adam Weaver sent me his answer 28 minutes after I posted this one, saying that this is "by far the earliest in the day I've solved one of these ;)"

The fact that the made-up word TOBAL is one of the answers tripped up a couple solvers; solver Grant Fikes said that "I'll just trust that TOBAL is somehow a word", while solver Tyler Hinman said "If I hastily follow up with a new answer, it's because ROBOT/TOBAL turned out to be wrong. (As usual, I try to do these without references.)"