PUZZLE #150: Squeezed in the Middle 10 - Double Decker Word Sandwiches

PUZZLE #150

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 10: DOUBLE DECKER WORD SANDWICHES

I've reached another milestone! Actually, scratch that, I've actually reached two milestones! Not only is this my 150th puzzle, but this is also my tenth installment of my signature creation "Squeezed in the Middle"! So considering both of those points, I'm going to do something a little different regarding "Squeezed". Take a look...

It's time to make some Double Decker Word Sandwiches! Normal rules to "Squeezed in the Middle" apply, but with a twist. First, enter the "Centers" in the corresponding numbered spaces. Then, enter two "Wholes" in each row, each one using the letters in one white space and the two adjacent brown spaces. The brown spaces in the center column will be shared by two "Wholes".

Once you've filled out everything, the letters in the brown squares, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A three-word video game title.
​

CENTERS
1) Horseman of the Apocalypse with the shortest name
2) Pith helmet or African antelope
3) Starbucks order with milk
4) "Steal My Sunshine" band
5) Easternmost country in the Arabian Peninsula
6) _____ particular order: 2 wds.
7) Bravo y Grande, por ejemplo
8) "The place with the helpful hardware folks", according to ads
9) Narcs' org.
10) Rigoletto composer

WHOLES
* 1985 John Malkovich drama
* Best possible
* Boat that had Gilligan as its First Mate
* Bunch of bees
* Jimmie Johnson, for one
* Musical section whose name is Italian for "airy"
* Place that translates to "no place"
* Ray who voices Manny in the Ice Age movies
* Served on a silver _____
* Went to huge extremes

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 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: Pieces of Nine 3

Sorry I'm late with this! I just got Super Mario Odyssey when it launched a couple days ago, and I've been playing it so much that I totally forgot about scheduling the answers to "Pieces of Nine 3" in its normal time! I'll get to that soon, but first, the list of solvers:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Brittany Trofimovich ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

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

PUZZLE #149: Pent Words 9

PUZZLE #149

PENT WORDS 9

For this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (they’re sorta like Tetris pieces, except they’re areas made up of five squares each) and put a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, reading left to right beginning with the top row, will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example above, the rows spell out CHINS, PARTY, and ANKLE, and the pentominoes spell out the words CHINA, STYLE, and PRANK.) Use the across answers to figure out where the pentominoes go.

Once you're done, combine the two unclued pentominoes to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: A two-word phrase

ACROSS (Two answers per row)
1) Wigged singer who voiced Songbird Serenade in My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
    Invader Zim creator Jhonen
2) Sulk
    _____ catcher (paper fortune teller)
3) Microsoft's spreadsheet program
    Homeowners' documents
4) Companion of dark and handsome
    PC key above "Delete"
5) _____ Loops (Toucan Sam's cereal)
    Personal journal
6) Aptly-named spirit of chaos from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
    Snake that bit Cleopatra
7) House actor Epps
    Like a noisy rocking chair
8) Monsieur Le Pew
    Lincoln's first vice president
9) Female toon bunny who debuted in Space Jam
    Heavily slanted, like most cable news
10) Harp constellation (well, it was either that or yet another MLP reference...)
      First name of the first First Lady

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Instrument for Yo-Yo Ma or Octavia Melody
* 2000s spy series starring Jennifer Garner
* Pansy piece
* _____ Theater (progressive metal band)
* Like a taste with a kick
* "Stop the ship, me mateys!"
* Third rock from the sun
* Force forward
* Sitting Bull was one
* Sweet _____ Purebred (Underdog's love interest)
* Cryptography topics
* Like Louis Armstrong's singing voice
* James Garfield's middle name
* Seaduck whose feathers are used in pillows
* Hobbit played by Elijah Wood
* Country where Slumdog Millionaire is set
* Sorta
* Item on a dime's back side

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: Zigzagnut 4

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted "Zigzagnut 4", and as usual, it's time for me to post the answers to this puzzle as well as the people who have solved them:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney **
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #148: Pieces of Nine 3

PUZZLE #148

PIECES OF NINE 3

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make seven 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase.

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 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: Moving Staircases 7

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted "Moving Staircases 7", and since then, nine of you (including Sam Levitin's son) have figured out the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Sam and Jonathan Levitin ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Chris Hendricks ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #147: Zigzagnut 4

PUZZLE #147

ZIGZAGNUT 4

The numbered clues are for the zigzags, which work their way down through the diagram in the outlined areas. The "Rows" clues are for the answers, two per row, to be entered straight across each row in the diagram, but to make things harder, you don't know which specific rows the answers will go into! (Though the answers in the rows themselves are in the correct order)

This week's FINAL ANSWER consists of the two numbered answers with no clues (#5 & #16) that combine to make up the name of a company.

ROWS (in random order; each contains two answers)
* The _____ Vacancy (J. K. Rowling's first book for adults) / Unit of loudness that's one letter away from a call-making device
* Head, in Le Havre / Inexperienced
* Deadly tropical fly / Black-_____ Susan
* Conk on the head / Rocket's return to Earth
* Cereal made up of rolled oats / "_____ Around the Christmas Tree"
* Glossy wood finish / Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them director David
* White, in Spanish / Neo-soul singer Erykah
* Like keypads with no letters on them / Female main character from Gravity Rush and its sequel
* Pre-riot state / Used binoculars
* Rock band that did "Hold Your Head Up" / Colonel or captain
* One who mollycoddles / _____ Wright: Ace Attorney

ZIGZAGS
1) Uses a vuvuzela
2) Spoiled brat with blonde pigtails from Rugrats
3) Wii Remote or Wii U GamePad, e.g.
4) Father of Sasha and Malia
5) THE FIRST HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
6) Button that makes the TV shut up
7) Metaphorical guinea pig
8) Was indebted to
9) Technically not alive yet
10) Retaliation
11) Grammy-winning a cappella group with over 2.4 billion YouTube views
12) Loaves of bread frequently seen in crosswords
13) Completely abandon a building
14) Containing a -
15) Shanghai _____ (Madonna movie)
16) THE SECOND HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
17) Sport with Sharks and Predators
18) Run into (literally or figuratively)

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: Lucky Sevens 4

Before I reveal the answers to "Lucky Sevens 4", I just wanted to plug my Patreon page again. If you decide to donate money to me through Patreon (like the two fine people listed below in red), I'll give you rewards and perks as thanks! For example, if you support me at the $5 level, I'll give you an exclusive puzzle that you won't get anywhere else! (This month's offering is another pair of "Overstuffed Sandwiches") Now with that out of the way, here are the seven people that have solved my puzzle from almost two weeks ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****

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

PUZZLE #146: Moving Staircases 7

PUZZLE #146

MOVING STAIRCASES 7

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: the name of a Pokémon whose name is not hidden horizontally OR vertically.

SHORTS
* Collect or stockpile
* Mad Men character Don
* Part of the week that Garfield hates
* Refining one's muscles
* Scale's reading
* The "r" in πr2
* Word game with lettered dice in a 4x4 tray

LONGS
* Carter's Vice President
* Classic Konami arcade game where you pilot a spaceship called the Vic Viper
* Curtains and other window coverings
* The _____ Channel ("Local on the 8s" network)
* When doubled, a song by either the Smashing Pumpkins or Hot Chelle Rae
* Weighing (down)

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 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: Plus One 3

It's been roughly two weeks since I've posted "Plus One 3", and since then, seven of you have solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****

Now head below the break for the answers!