Monday, April 25, 2016

PUZZLE #73: Deck It Out

PUZZLE #73
DECK IT OUT

Fill in the answers to the clues below, then transfer the letters marked with playing card symbols to their proper places in the grid below. The number (or letter) of each clue will tell you what column to place those letters in. Once it's completely filled in, the grid will spell out a sentence that will provide a hint to the FINAL ANSWER.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a title


A) A bicycle built for two
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
       ♣              
2) On _____ of (representing)
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣   ♠   ♡           
3) Mirage or Mandalay Bay, e.g.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
                     ♣
4) Golden Quidditch ball that's worth 150 points
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
       ♣              
5) British version of a game with Mrs. White
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
           ♣   ♢       
6) Stand-up comedian Patton
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♣   ♠       ♡   
7) Notorious 1987 flop starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
                     ♣
8) Texas hometown of Claire Bennet from Heroes
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣       ♢   ♡   
9) Old-timey classroom's conical cap wearers
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
       ♣       ♠       
10) Main character of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
                     ♣
J) With "The", London theater established in 1818: 2 wds.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
           ♣          
Q) Every cloud has a silver one of these, supposedly
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠   ♢       ♣       ♡
K) Yank a TV series off the air
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
           ♣       ♠   

Once you think you know what the FINAL ANSWER is, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com (though I'm more likely to check the second one) and I'll put your name on a solvers list once I post the answers in about two weeks. You can also use those email addresses to give me some comments and feedback (or get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) or send me the answer to last week's puzzle, if you haven't already figured it out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

Sunday, April 24, 2016

ANSWERS: Coined Phrases 2

It's been roughly two weeks since I've posted Grant Fikes' "Coined Phrases" puzzle, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, but not before I list out the eight people who have solved it during that time frame:
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Adam Weaver ****
  • Yossi Fendel ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • YYW ****
  • Punjit Sharma ****
  • Brad Eldredge ****
Now just click on "Read more" for the answers! One of my solvers also sent me a logic puzzle based on this puzzle, and you can try to figure that one out below the break as well!

Monday, April 18, 2016

PUZZLE #72: Moving Staircases 4

PUZZLE #72
MOVING STAIRCASES 4


The two staircase-shaped halves of a "Moving Staircases" puzzle are designed to be pushed together in two different ways, horizontally and vertically. A horizontal push creates shorter words ("Shorts"), while a vertical push creates longer words ("Longs"). The example above shows a completed grid and the grids that result from pushing it both ways. The lists of clues given for the Shorts and Longs are not in order; it's up to you to determine where the answers go by working back and forth between the two lists.

Once you've completely filled out the grid, hidden inside it will be this week's FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word that isn't hidden horizontally OR vertically!


SHORTS
* 2010 film featuring the Archangel Michael
* A literal white elephant, e.g.
* It's wielded by Mario Tennis characters
* Pixar short film about a magician's rabbit
* Political prejudices
* Risk it all
* Spike from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, for one

LONGS
* Childish _____ (Rapper name of Community's Donald Glover)
* Last name of Bill from the Bill & Ted movies
* Stage names and such
Super Smash Bros. Brawl item that comes in three pieces
* Unlike chicken scratch
* [ or ]

Once you believe you've figured out the FINAL ANSWER, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com (though I'm more likely to check the second one) and I'll put your name on a solvers list once I post the answers in about two weeks. You can also use those email addresses to give me some comments and feedback (or get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) or send me the answer to last week's puzzle, if you haven't already figured that one out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

ANSWERS: Brick By Brick

It's been thirteen days since I've published my first "Brick By Brick" puzzle, and since then, ten of you have managed to successfully solve it. Here's the complete list of solvers:
  • Adam Weaver ****
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • My sister Alex ****
  • Lynn Sweeney *
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • YYW ****
  • Punjit Sharma ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
Now head below the break for the answers, along with a couple solver comments!

Monday, April 11, 2016

PUZZLE #71: Coined Phrases 2 (Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes!)

PUZZLE #71
COINED PHRASES 2
Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes

I know the previous "Coined Phrases" puzzle was only a couple of weeks ago, and I usually spread out puzzles of the same type a lot further apart from each other, but since this will be the first puzzle on this site done by someone else (a Guest Puzzle, if you will), I'm going to make an exception. You see, Grant Fikes of A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog (which will be publishing its 100th Wordy Wednesday puzzle two days after I post this, so be sure to check that out!) created and sent me a "Coined Phrases" puzzle of his own after solving mine (rather quickly, I might add). I asked if it was okay to publish it on this site, and he said "Go ahead", so now here we are!

There is a set of five coins, all of which have one letter on each of their two faces. Each letter appears only once throughout the set, and no two coins share the same letter. Random flips of all the coins have produced six 5-letters words hinted at by the numbered clues. Once all six answers have been solved, use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out the letters that are printed on each coin. Finally, rearrange the coins so that both sides spell out two more 5-letter words that combine to make a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a proper name.



1) Egyptian capital
2) They activate cheats in video games
3) House of ____ (part of the UK Parliament)
4) Lubricated, perhaps
5) It can precede "System" or "Panel"
6) Diana, Princess of ____

Once you think you know what the FINAL ANSWER is, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com (though I'm more likely to check the second one) and I'll put your name on a solvers list once I post the answers in about two weeks. You can also use those email addresses to give me some comments and feedback (or get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) or send me the answer to last week's puzzle, if you haven't already figured it out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

Sunday, April 10, 2016

ANSWERS: Coined Phrases

Looks like my first "Coined Phrases" puzzle proved to be another hit, as twelve of you have managed to solve it since it was published thirteen days ago! The full list of solvers is below, as usual:
  • YYW ****
  • Brad Eldredge ****
  • Punjit Sharma ****
  • Yossi Fendel ****
  • Adam Weaver ****
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Mom **
  • Debbie Benford ***
  • Cayden Curtis ****
Now just click on "Read more" below for the answers, along with some solver comments!

Monday, April 4, 2016

PUZZLE #70: Brick By Brick

PUZZLE #70
BRICK BY BRICK


Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a video game



ACROSS
1) Saltwater candy
    State whose shape is technically a hexagon
    Freddi or Luther from a series of kids' adventure games
2) Kmart or Walmart
    DC Comics antihero that originated as a parody of Wolverine
    2016 biopic about Jesse Owens
3) Publisher of the Persona series
    What Go-Gurt comes in
    Last name of Shirley Temple's first husband
4) _____ Music Hall (Home of the Rockettes)
    A "Roaming" one acts as Travelocity's mascot
5) Cable car
    Dib's gamer sister from Invader Zim
6) Species of Sebastian from The Little Mermaid
    Stereotypical raccoon name
    "How may _____ of service?"
7) Ethnic group of Esmeralda
    Syrup that's notoriously slow in January
8) THE FINAL ANSWER
9) Asian rainy seasons
    2005 biopic for which Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor
10) "That", in Tijuana
      Song title from Salt-N-Pepa or Static-X
      First word of "Jabberwocky"
11) Director of the shortest Oscar-nominated short Fresh Guacamole
      Adorable
12) Acorn-obsessed Ice Age character
      The titular Hunchback of Notre Dame
13) Greek goddess of the rainbow
      Sound from a motor or Maine Coon
      Paula who once sang a duet with a cartoon cat
14) Abby from NCIS, for one
      Tiny stream
      Jurassic Park star Sam
15) March Madness organization
      Website that sells crafts and cosplay gear
      "Welcome to the Salty Spitoon. How tough _____?" (Spongebob quote)

DOWN
1) Nicholas II was Russia's last ruler of this type
    Stuff in an Oreo Double Stuf
    Talk with your hands
2) Ant princess from A Bug's Life
    Chocolate-covered caramel candies
    Reptile featured on Lacoste clothes
3) Create some origami
    Protein-building acid
    Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers villain _____ Repulsa
4) Mammals also known as flying foxes
    Former Turkish title
5) "Is that a _____ a no?"
    Kacheek or Korbat, e.g.
6) Reindeers' relatives
    "Before", when it's attached before a word
7) Influential RPG series created by Richard "Lord British" Garriott
    It's two ranks below Lt. in the Navy
    What you shouldn't do regarding your day job?
8) Praise publicly
    Super _____ Bros. for 3DS
    Web addresses
9) "Dear" advice columnist
    Barracks bed
    Nickelodeon sitcom about a girl with a webshow
10) Groundbreaking garden tool?
      The "Devourer of Worlds" from Marvel Comics
11) Classic Namco arcade game where enemies can use a tractor beam
      Disney's first African-American princess
12) "Pumping Up with Hans & _____" (SNL sketch)
      1978 Earth, Wind & Fire song (a cover version of this is found in the FINAL ANSWER)
13) Parrot voiced by Gilbert Gottfried
      "How Soon _____?" (The Smiths song)
      Garfield's favorite kicking target
14) It may involve a fake Nigerian prince
      Colorful aquarium fish that's not pronounced like the second Greek letter
      As deemed fit
15) Where "You Are" on a mall map
      Emblems on Superman and Supergirl
      Earthenware pot that's too often found in crosswords

Once you believe you've figured out the FINAL ANSWER, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com (though I'm more likely to check the second one) and I'll put your name on a solvers list once I post the answers in about two weeks. You can also use those email addresses to give me some comments and feedback (or get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) or send me the answer to last week's puzzle, if you haven't already figured that one out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

Sunday, April 3, 2016

ANSWERS: Line 'Em Up

It looks like my first "Line 'Em Up" puzzle from thirteen days ago was a success, as eleven of you have managed to solve it since then. Here's the complete list of solvers for you to look at:
  • Paolo Pasco ****
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Punjit Sharma ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Adam Weaver ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Mom ****
  • My sister Alex **
  • Brad Eldredge ****
  • YYW ****
Now just head below the break for the answers!