ANSWERS: Putting Up a Front

Before I reveal the answers to "Putting Up a Front", I just wanted to advertise my Patreon for a bit. I'm grateful if you decide to donate any amount of money towards me, but if you donate at least five dollars per month, you'll get access to a Patreon-exclusive puzzle each month! This month's offering is a Connection Wall, an Only Connect-inspired puzzle that I've done on this blog a couple times in the past. So with that plug out of the way, let's look at the people who have solved my puzzle from two weeks ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford *

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

1) Daddy, Rush, Glider, Ray (from Finding Nemo) = SUGAR

2) Talks, Shot, Pit (from Kid Icarus), Tree = MONEY

3) Act, Christian, City, Sledge (Sled + GE) = SISTER

4) Bowl, Crush, County (Count + E!) = ORANGE

The five-letter word that comes before SUGAR, MONEY, SISTER and ORANGE is BLOOD

It's fingerpaint, I swear!... and by odd coincidence, this month marks the 20th anniversary of this game!

Patron Grant Fikes said "For some reason, I'm not terribly fond of one rebus being phonetic (Count+E) and one being graphemic (sled+GE)."

Patron M. Sean Molley was in a nostalgic mood, saying "Way to bring it back to the MS-DOS shareware era! Awwww yeah"