PUZZLE #119: Snake Charmer

PUZZLE #119

SNAKE CHARMER

Enter the answers to each clue in the grid, starting in the correspondingly-numbered space and ending in the space before the next consecutive number. The chain of answer words will overlap itself, winding their way twice around the snake-shaped grid.

Once you've filled in the grid, unscramble the green squares to get the FINAL ANSWER: An eight-letter word

1) Graceful Psychic/Fairy Type Pokémon playable in Pokken Tournament
2) Strategic board game also known as "Othello"
3) Clorox, essentially
4) Synonym for "sickest", in both medical and hip-hop terminology
5) Precipitation that can be the size of golf balls
6) She was rescued by Perseus from the sea monster Cetus
7) Org. that awards Gold and Platinum records
8) Type of orange or Chinese language
9) As Told By _____ (2000s Nicktoon)
10) Computer puzzle game where a smiley face dons sunglasses if you succeed
11) KISS bassist Gene
12) Word that follows "coffee" or "multiplication"
13) Salad dressing ingredient that Muriel from Courage the Cowardly Dog uses in all her recipes
14) Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are _____! (1978 new wave album)
15) Unable to be undone
16) Greek hero with a weak heel
17) Country that used to be called Siam
18) "Well, when in _____..."
19) 1997-2002 MTV series that spun off from Beavis and Butthead
20) Identity (2003) actress Peet
21) Sounding a doorbell
22) Luxurious fur from a weasel
23) _____' Pea (Popeye character loved by hack crossword makers)
24) Small red-orange fruit
25) Pierce with a knife
26) Maroon 5 frontman Adam

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: Headless Words

It's been about two weeks since I've posted "Headless Words", and since then, nine of you have solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Mom ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• David Cohen ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Dan Simonds ****

Now just head below the break for the answers! Only one solver comment this week, though...

PUZZLE #118: Dilly Dally 2

PUZZLE #118

DILLY DALLY 2

Each answer in the grid below consists of two 5-letter words that both start with the same letter, like WATER WHEEL.

Once the grid has been filled out, hidden inside and going up, down, or diagonally will be the FINAL ANSWER: An American rapper whose name also consists of two 5-letter words starting with the same letter.

1) Weird Al album containing "Living with a Hernia" and "Addicted to Spuds"
2) Outlaw assassinated by the coward Robert Ford
3) Song with the same name as the album it's on
4) Red fish from the Super Mario games that frequently jumps out of the water
5) Fictional chocolatier who gave out five golden tickets
6) He famously picked a peck of pickled peppers
7) Topping for a T-bone
8) David Bowie song with the lyrics "your face is a mess"
9) Doc Brown's companion in Back to the Future
10) Video game company whose titles include AdVenture Capitalist and Phrase Shift

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: Anagram Chambers 4

It's been roughly two weeks since I've posted "Anagram Chambers 4", and since then, eight of you have solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• David Cohen ****
• M. Sean Molley ****

Now just click on "Read more" for the answers as well as several solver comments!

PUZZLE #117: Headless Words

PUZZLE #117

HEADLESS WORDS

Uh-oh! All of these words have lost their heads, and it's up to you to reattach them! First, write down the answers to the "Headless Clues" (listed in no particular order) into each white right-hand box. Then, write down one OR two letters into each gray left-hand box so that these letters, when added in front of each word, forms the answer to one of the "Whole Clues" below (also listed in random order).

Once you've filled everything in, rearrange the completed words so that the letters in the gray boxes, reading down, spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a single adjective.

HEADLESS CLUES
* More ashen
* Nagging desires
* Professor that created the Powerpuff Girls
* Twisty-horned antelope
* What Monty Hall or Wayne Brady wants to offer you
* Worm who lives in Busytown

WHOLE CLUES
* At a sloth's pace
* Björk's country of birth
* Element named after an ex-planet
* Shawn Mendes' first Top-10 hit (Personally, I very much prefer the Orgy song of the same name...)
* Theoretically perfect
* Vlad the _____ (Dracula's inspiration)

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: Eat Your Words 2

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "Eat Your Words 2", and since then, nine of you have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom **
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Grant Fikes *
• YYW ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Debbie Benford ****
• David Cohen ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

PUZZLE #116: Anagram Chambers 4

PUZZLE #116

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 4

For this puzzle, there are several dark-green "chambers" with yellow rectangles and light-green squares in them. For each chamber, you take a word in the first yellow rectangle as hinted at by the clue, add a letter from the light-green square, and scramble them to get a word in the second yellow rectangle, then you repeat the process to get the word in the third yellow rectangle. Once you've filled in everything, the light-green squares will spell out something... or they would if the chambers weren't all scrambled up as well!

Once all of the chambers are in the proper order, the light-green squares will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: A two-word phrase

a. [She fights "the Forces of Evil" in a Disney XD show] + _ = [Male red deer] + _ = [Type of metal performed by Anthrax]
b. [Watchful] + _ = [Blockbuster Video offering, once upon a time] + _ = [Green _____ (DC superhero)]
c. ["You _____?" (Lurch's line in The Addams Family)] + _ = [Wood pattern] + _ = [Being broadcast live on TV]
d. [Geeky-sounding Willy Wonka candy] + _ = [Wood smoother] + _ = [Grand Theft Auto: San _____]
e. [Cliff Huxtable's wife] + _ = [Powdered coating on Crazy Bread] + _ = [Slow-moving chunk of ice]
f. [Revises] + _ = [Least narrow] + _ = [Region of the US where Michigan is]
g. [Leave out] + _ = [Like some towelettes] + _ = [Family Matters or Family Ties, e.g.]

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: Zigzagnut 3

I'll get to the answers of "Zigzagnut 3" in a sec, but first, look what I just got!

[Insert Zelda's "Item Get" jingle here]

Yep, I managed to get myself a Nintendo Switch and the Special Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild! I didn't manage to preorder anything, but my local Wal-Mart had other Switches for sale on a first-come-first-serve basis, so I decided to get there early. Luckily for me, there wasn't anyone else in line yet (plenty of people came later, including a dad's cute kid dressed up as Mario), and after over nine THOUSAND!!! hours of waiting, I not only got myself a gray-colored Switch, I also got one of only four copies of Breath of the Wild's Special Edition because I was one of the first people in line!

But enough about my new console, here are all the people that have solved that "Zigzagnut" puzzle from two weeks ago:

• Sam Levitin ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now head below the break for the answers and a couple solver comments!