PUZZLE #78: Drop Tower 2

PUZZLE #78

DROP TOWER 2

Starting with the 8-letter word on top of the "tower", drop one letter and rearrange the rest to form a 7-letter word. Continue this process until only the given 2-letter word remains. Use only common words--no capitalized words, names foreign terms or abbreviations allowed. Also, dropping a final S or D without rearranging the other letters is against the rules. Since there are normally multiple solutions to each puzzle, there's an extra wrinkle added to this one: each of the five entries, once filled in, should match up to one of the five clues below, listed in no particular order.

Once the grid is completely filled in, look inside it for this week's FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word that can be read going down and in a straight diagonal line.

CLUES
  * Annoying Orange's (closest thing to a) best friend
  * Nixon in China, for one
  * Reward for good behavior, maybe
  * Sabor from Disney's Tarzan, e.g.
  * _____ You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

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!

ANSWERS: 5-Star Stumper

It's been roughly two weeks since I posted my first "5-Star Stumper" puzzle, and as usual, it's time for me to reveal the answers as well as the people that solved it:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• YYW ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Brad Eldredge ****

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

PUZZLE #77: Lucky Sevens

PUZZLE #77

LUCKY SEVENS

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going left and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word

ROWS
i) Semicircle section
ii) Roman marketplaces or Internet message boards
iii) Like the Taj Mahal
iv) Used video game transaction
v) Heckle and Jeckle, e.g.
vi) Giving a 1 out of 10 to, say
vii) Football team that was in Los Angeles for most of the '80s
viii) Sheet music marking
ix) Sis' sib (HINT: The answer is not "Another sis")
x) Planet that's the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps
xi) Oliver Stone film about a president who was still in office when it came out

SEVENS
1) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic character with a multicolored mane
2) iHeartRadio Competitor
3) X-Men villain who used to be friends with Professor X
4) Inhale and exhale
5) Royal realms
6) Front limb of a four-footed animal
7) Places to play Pole Position

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!

ANSWERS: Word Squares: A Bigger Overlap

It's been almost two weeks since "Word Squares: A Bigger Overlap" was posted, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, as well as the people who solved them:

• Punjit Sharma ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Brad Eldredge ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now just head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #76: 5-Star Stumper

PUZZLE #76

5-STAR STUMPER

This one's inspired by the "Stars and Stripes" puzzle that I've seen a couple of times in GAMES Magazine, though the grid used there is different than the one I made for this puzzle (and a lot larger, too). If you're curious as to what this puzzle entails, read on for the directions!

The answer to each numbered pair of clues go in the 10 spaces surrounding each correspondingly numbered star in the grid. The first answer of each set starts in the appropriately numbered space (with the arrow in the same space telling you which direction to go), and the second answer follows immediately after. Meanwhile, the answers that go in the red stripe surrounding the grid are clued in order, and even though it's up to you to determine where the chain of answers begins, we can tell you that the red stripe's answers go clockwise.

Once the entire grid has been filled in, reading the white spaces from left to right and top to bottom will reveal this week's FINAL ANSWER: Something to do with the number "76"

STARS
1) The Mouse and the Motorcycle author Cleary
    Rizzo from the Muppets, for one
2) Telenovela actress Longoria
    Holding your breath might get rid of these
3) Joel or Benji from Good Charlotte
    Diagram that involves overlapping circles
4) Sierra Mist competitor
    202, in Ancient Rome
5) Quarterback Joe who was in a Noxzema commercial with Farrah Fawcett
    "Mudflap" or "Material" follower

RED STRIPE
* Explorer Amerigo, for whom America is named after
* Comcast or Charter, e.g.
* "Correctamundo!"
* Diary of _____ Black Woman (Madea's first film)
* Home of the Nuggets
* Minor My Little Pony character often seen with Bon Bon (EXTRA CLUE FOR NON-BRONIES: Harp constellation)

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!

ANSWERS: Helter Skelter

Before we reveal the answers to my "Helter Skelter" puzzle from a couple weeks ago, I got some news I'd like to share with you: this little blog of mine got mentioned by the New York Times! Well, technically, it actually got mentioned in their Numberplay blog, but it's still impressive nonetheless! You see, Yossi Fendel, one of my occasional solvers, was inspired by my "Coined Phrases" puzzle from not too long ago, and he sent Numberplay a poser inspired by it, and just last Monday, it finally got published there! If you want to take a crack at Yossi's puzzle, go to this link, and if you're stuck, the answers are in the comments section.

Now that I got the good news out of the way, Let's look at who solved "Helter Skelter":

• YYW ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Grant Fikes ***
• Lynn Sweeney & Mom ***
• Debbie Benford ***
• Dan Simonds *
• Brad Eldredge ****
• Adam Weaver ****

Now just head below the break for the answers, along with some solver comments and how I messed up on one of the answers!

PUZZLE #75: Word Squares: A Bigger Overlap

PUZZLE #75

WORD SQUARES: A BIGGER OVERLAP

Examples of Word Squares from 3x3 to 8x8 from Wikipedia

Word squares have words in them that can be read both across and down. Below are four 4x4 grids with different colored borders, each of them overlapping with each other at the corners. Each clue is sorted by the grid that they're placed in, though otherwise, the clues aren't in any particular order.

Once you've finished this puzzle, the overlapped tiles (highlighted below in gold) will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: An eight-letter word

RED GRID
* Anna Williams' sister from the Tekken games
* Cohort of Crackle and Pop
* Part of MIT: Abbv.
* VCR insert

GREEN GRID
* Branch of a branch
* Indian city where the Taj Mahal is found
* _____ James ("At Last" singer)
* Theater level

BLUE GRID 
* Currency of Oman or Yemen
* Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing _____ Seeds
* Make some coffee, maybe
* The only one of the Great Lakes that crosswords seem to use

YELLOW GRID
* Baseballer who holds the record for most grand slams: Hyph.
* Collector of leaves or poker chips
* Last name of Diddy or Donkey
* One of twelve on a cube

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!

ANSWERS: Deck It Out

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted my first "Deck It Out" puzzle (directly based off of Grant Fikes' "Deck Dynasty" puzzle), so now it's time for me to reveal that puzzle's answers, along with the ten people who have solved it:

• Adam Weaver ****
• Brad Eldredge ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Mom ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• YYW ****

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

PUZZLE #74: Helter Skelter

PUZZLE #74

HELTER SKELTER

Each answer in this crossword variation starts at the indicated number, and then moves towards the direction of the next number (thought it may or may not stop there). The direction of the last answer is to be determined by the solver.

Once the grid has been filled out, unscramble the gray squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word

1) The titular Swan Princess from the animated film of the same name
2) "Double, double, _____ and trouble..."
3) Defunct toothpaste brand whose mascot was Bucky Beaver
4) Condo or flat: Abbv.
5) Distressed damsel in the original Donkey Kong arcade game
6) Daggett's brother from The Angry Beavers
7) Magazine that had Lucille Ball's baby on its very first cover: 2 wds.
8) Tex Avery toon who says "You know what? I'm happy"
9) Search engine founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo
10) Appliance that might clean itself?
11) Little _____ in Slumberland
12) Alien from Warioware Inc.
13) It's usually eaten at noon
14) Male spouse, slangily
15) Times long past
16) Six, in Japanese
17) Music video director Joseph who did Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood"
18) Pet food brand that Garfield was once a "spokescat" for
19) Blueprints and such
20) What "People Are", according to The Doors
21) _____! Ghost! (arcade game with a physical diorama)
22) Pull with great difficulty
23) Inventor from Ducktales
24) Philbin's last co-host before he retired
25) Gadget that uses ringtones

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!

ANSWERS: Moving Staircases 4

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted my fourth "Moving Staircases" puzzle, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, as well as the people that solved them:

• Adam Weaver ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Mom ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Sam Levitin ****
• Brad Eldredge ****

Now just hit the break below for the answers!