Monday, November 27, 2017

PUZZLE #154: Anacrossword

PUZZLE #154
ANACROSSWORD

Solve the clues below and transfer their answers into the crossword grid. Then, transfer the letters in the filled numbered squares to each of the correspondingly numbered dashes. Work back and forth between the crossword and the numbered dashes until the crossword is filled and the dashes read out a legible sentence.

No FINAL ANSWER this week. To get credit for solving it, send me the resulting sentence AND follow its directions!


__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
​01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

CLUES
* A way to enjoy a novel while driving
* Shoulder muscle, for short
* Scottish singer of "Sunshine Superman"
* Sally _____ (newspaper comic)
* Disney film very loosely based on the fairy tale "The Snow Queen"
* "Purple _____" (Jimi Hendrix song)
* Giraffe, diet-wise
* Basketball team with a purple and teal color scheme
* Ship's sail holder
* "Scumbag Steve" and "Good Guy Greg", for two
* Snail or clam, e.g.
* Like a score of 300 in bowling
* _____ horse (gym equipment)
* Rold Gold product
* Wizarding sport whose teams include the Chudley Cannons
* Quit, like Nixon
* Video game dragon with a dragonfly partner named Sparx
* More rigid
* What Miss Muffet sat on
* Red's dimwitted sidekick in ads for M&M's

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!

Sunday, November 26, 2017

ANSWERS: Eat Your Words 3

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "Eat Your Words 3", and six of you have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
Not much else to say, so just head below the break for the answers!

Monday, November 20, 2017

PUZZLE #153: Snake Charmer 2

PUZZLE #153
SNAKE CHARMER 2

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) Diamond-selling Def Leppard album containing "Photograph"
2) Bengals' home
3) Madame with a wax museum
4) Greek letter before kappa
5) "Vote for _____" (Napoleon Dynamite quote)
6) Canadian dish that's fries and cheese curds topped with gravy
7) Portable PlayStation console with touchscreens on its front and back
8) First name of Gwyneth Paltrow's mother
9) String wrapped around a finger, e.g.
10) Horseshoe throws worth three points each
11) Toyota pickup introduced in May 1999
12) The wandering albatross has the largest one at almost 12 feet
13) Psychologist's treatment
14) Capital of Italy, to Italians
15) One of the B vitamins
16) Lenny Kravitz's role in the Hunger Games films
17) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actor Burgess
18) It's inserted into a cassette recorder
19) Gabriel _____ (2017 anime featuring a lazy, slobbish angel)
20) As expected
21) Electronic instrument heard in the soundtrack of The Day the Earth Stood Still
22) Rick who sang "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo"
23) Non-lethal setting for a phaser in Star Trek
24) Pencil sketches, for example
25) Big cats' genus

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, November 19, 2017

ANSWERS: Crypticrostic 2

Before I reveal the answers to "Crypticrostic 2", I just wanted to plug my Patreon page once again. As a reminder, if you support me at the $5 level, you'll get an extra Bonus Puzzle every month, and this month's offering is a "Flower Power" puzzle. So now with that out of the way, here are the six solvers of my puzzle from thirteen days ago:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Debbie Benford (no stars)
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now I know I'm late with the answers again, but head below the break for them anyway!

Monday, November 13, 2017

PUZZLE #152: Eat Your Words 3

PUZZLE #152
EAT YOUR WORDS 3

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the column's new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a one-hit wonder from the 2010s


NUMBERED WORDS
1) The Settlers of _____ (board game)
2) Card game with knocking
3) Michael Jackson album containing "The Way You Make Me Feel"
4) Leaves in a book
5) The _____ Ghostbusters ('80s cartoon)
6) Boxing match
7) Not present in class
8) [I didn't make this typo]

EATEN WORDS
* Didn't discard
* Feeling pretty sick
* "I find your _____ of faith disturbing" (Star Wars quote)
* Jousting pole
* Matilda actress Wilson
* Planet, poetically speaking
* Ram like a ram
* Repeated musical phrase, such as the one in "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

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!

Sunday, November 12, 2017

ANSWERS: Squeezed in the Middle 10 - Double Decker Word Sandwiches

It's been two weeks since I've posted my 150th puzzle on this blog, and since then, eight of you have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as comments from two of my solvers!

Monday, November 6, 2017

PUZZLE #151: Crypticrostic 2

PUZZLE #151
CRYPTICROSTIC 2

Below is an Anacrostic with no spaces. Using normal Anacrostic rules, work back and forth between it and the clues to completely fill it out. However, all the clues are in cryptic crossword style, meaning that each clue has two halves: a definition of the answer and an indication of the answer's literal makeup via wordplay. Either half may come first, and finding the dividing point between them is the key to solving the clues. For a list of cryptic clue types, you can get one through this link.

Once you're done, the Anacrostic will reveal a cryptic clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: An 11-letter title.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

German one has partially gone insane [4]
   __ __ __ __
   44 35 08 27

Winter hazard is first to be melted [9]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   01 31 18 39 34 14 25 43 07

Khan initially gets English greetings [7]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   28 20 10 04 16 46 38

Going to allow odd womanizer [6]
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   48 41 11 23 36 13

Former British record label goes belly-up, following public sudden death [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   17 24 32 45 12 03 22 37

Seer's income announced [7]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   33 02 29 19 05 15 42

For starters, this really is no kitschy evergreen tree ornament [7]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   30 21 09 47 40 26 06

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, November 5, 2017

ANSWERS: Pent Words 9

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted "Pent Words 9", and since then, eight of you have successfully figured out its FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Lynn Sweeney **
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as comments from two of my solvers!