PUZZLE #211: Slot Machine 2

PUZZLE #211

SLOT MACHINE 2

In this Slot Machine, the Row answers are entered normally, from left to right in the order of the clues given. The Tumbler answers going down are entered in the same way, but all of the Tumblers have been "spun", meaning that the Tumblers' answers can start in any row and continue downwards. When a set of Tumbler answers hit the bottom of the grid, it continues at the start of the same column that it started in. There's also a "Jackpot Answer" that is comprised of the first letters of the first answer of each Tumbler. In the example above, the Rows spell out INN, TIE, and WOW, while the Tumblers spell out WIT, ION, and NEW, and the first letter of each Tumbler spell out WIN.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer to the Jackpot.

JACKPOT
• A video game set during the holiday season: ? wds.

ROWS
1) SpongeBob's pet Gary, e.g.
    Language that gave us "plaid" and "clan"
2) Seedy amusement park workers
    Stink to high heaven
3) Pizza sauce herb
    Prefix for "scope" or "vision"
4) Stop sign's shape
    Calvin and Hobbes' winter glider
5) Ferb's friend in a Disney Channel cartoon
    _____ kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart composition)
6) Toy that's like Rubik's Cube, but with triangular faces
    "_____ guy walks into a bar...": 2 wds.
7) To-do list entries
    Goat-legged creatures like Pan
8) Cryptographers' creations
    Nickname of John Goodman's character from Monsters, Inc.
9) "Autobots, transform and _____!" (Transformers catchphrase): 2 wds.
    Thomas Edison's middle name
10) Crosswordese hodgepodge
      Madison from Splash, for one
11) Zesty chip dip
      Eliza's older sister from The Wild Thornberrys

TUMBLERS
1) Type of logic puzzle also called a "Nonogram" or a "Griddler"
    Hen pen
2) A complete lack of government
    Metal band that released Lateralus and 10,000 Days
3) No longer working for a living
    Real first name of Diane Sawyer
4) "I Got _____" (posthumous Jim Croce song): 2 wds.
    Failing to win
5) Country located on the Horn of Africa's tip
    Jewels used as currency in the Spyro the Dragon games
6) Sent out, like magazines?
    Birthplace of Columbus
7) Traitorous acts
    Flagstaff sch. (answer hidden in SCHNAUZER)
8) Phone no. add-on
    Openly gay singers Adam and Mary
9) Peyton Manning's younger brother
    One of six in "onomatopoeia"
10) Number for a frequently-married Henry
      1968 Turtles hit that parodies their own "Happy Together"
11) 2010 Emma Stone flick that references The Scarlet Letter: 2 wds.
      Sent to the canvas

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: Brick By Brick 6

I do have a DeviantArt picture for this week, but I'm going to save it until the very end of this post. Instead, I'm going to show you guys a couple Christmas presents I got earlier this week:

Besides the usual video games and newspaper comic collections, I also got the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia and a book filled with rebuses from Classic Concentration! But you're not here for me showing off gifts like I'm on Instagram; you're here for the answers to "Brick By Brick 6" as well as the list of people who solved it!

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers, an Easter Egg of sorts that I hid in this puzzle, and a picture I made of one of the answers that I usually put on the top of these posts!

PUZZLE #210: Link-Letters 6

PUZZLE #210

LINK-LETTERS 6

Merry Christmas Eve! Today's offering is one that I've done before, but the formatting of it has changed a bit from the previous times that I've done it, and the directions have been changed slightly to reflect that. Read on to see what I mean...

There are two clues for each numbered row. The answers to each row's first clue go in the squares to the left of the first black bar in each correspondingly numbered row in the puzzle's grid, and the answers to the second clue go into the squares to the right of the second black bar. Then a single letter (the "Link-Letter") goes in the square in the middle to complete a single word that reads all the way across. For example, if the two words are CON and ACT, you can put a "T" between them to get CONTACT.

Once you've filled out all eight rows, the central letters will spell out two words reading down. Add a letter between those two words in the red square to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: An animal

1) Vehicles with periscopes
    Phoenix Wright: _____ Attorney
2) _____-Ra: Princess of Power ('80s cartoon)
    Fantastic Four member who says "It's clobberin' time!"
3) Montana birthplace of Evel Knievel
    Sugar Ray song with the lyrics "All around the world, statues crumble for me"
4) It's read by a Blu-ray player
    Use a blue pencil, perhaps
5) ___ XING (street sign)
    Chuck Woolery-hosted game show named after one of the seven deadly sins
6) Tutu-wearing mammal from a Fantasia segment
    City that wasn't built in a day
7) He loved Lucy
    Basketball Hall of Famer Archibald
8) The title character of 2017's Ferdinand, for one
    Metal whose elemental symbol is "Sn"

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: Gryptics

Princess Peach as a SHERIFF (one of the answers to this puzzle)

It's been roughly two weeks since my first pair of Gryptics was posted on this blog (well, okay, I've made other Gryptics before then, but you have to support me on Patreon to see those exclusive puzzles). You guys must've liked them, since eleven of you have solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

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

PUZZLE #209: Brick By Brick 6

PUZZLE #209

BRICK BY BRICK 6

Two months ago, I got a comment on "Brick By Brick 5" from some unknown person that simply said "I need more brick by brick please". Well, I didn't feel like turning down that request, so here's another puzzle of that type! If that commenter just happen to read this, I hope you'll enjoy it, whoever you are!

Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of an anime

ACROSS
1) Headless cabbage variety
    Don Draper, for one
    Shark Tank network
2) "Do you have Prince Albert in _____?"
    Artist Kahlo portrayed in Pixar's Coco
    Moderately hot
3) Sound of a heavy impact
    They all lead to Rome, supposedly
    Box-office bomb
4) _____ and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
    Classic 1993 computer game where you gun down demons
    Pet rabbit's residence
5) Controversial Jeopardy! champion Arthur
    High-pitched flutes
6) Peanutty candy bar with an exclamation point in its name
    Alley-_____ (basketball move)
7) Actress Ida who starred in the Twilight Zone episode "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine"
    Good buddy
    HTML5 formatting language
8) THE FINAL ANSWER
9) "Bad" cholesterol letters
    Opposite of the second answer in 1-Down
    "_____ borealis?! At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen?!?!" (Simpsons quote)
10) Lemon meringue dessert
      Novice employee
11) T-shirt from Six Flags, e.g.
      Be a couch potato (with "out")
12) Emulate a ghost in an abandoned mansion
      Crazy contraption cartoonist Goldberg
      Hurricane's center
13) Give off, as an odor
      Pipe-unclogging brand introduced in 1923
      Mountain goat with curly horns
14) Japan's tallest mountain
      Andy Kaufman's role in Taxi
      Overdo it on the affection
15) Mobster played by Abe Vigoda in The Godfather
      Pirate's box
      Wading bird sacred in ancient Egypt

DOWN
1) "Professional Therapist" from a '90s Comedy Central cartoon
    Like a joke told too many times
    Nickname for either a steer from Rocko's Modern Life or a Playboy founder
2) Feel sore after a strenuous workout
    Chuck a baseball
    Female bounty hunter from the Metroid series
3) Pilot hired by Scrooge McDuck with a tendency to crash his vehicles
    Séance board featured in 13 Ghosts (1960)
4) What "fin" means in French
    The Ugly Truth actress Katherine
    Up to the time that
5) "I haven't the slightest idea"
    Lowest army rank: Abbv.
6) Hairstyle famously worn by Dr. J
    _____ James Dio (heavy metal singer)
    Extra songs for Rock Band 4, for example (and for short)
7) Cartoon dog who says "You know what? That makes me mad"
    "_____ Caught Stealing" (Jane's Addiction song)
    Generic cheerleader cheer
8) Will Smith song about a Florida city
    _____ Patrol (popular Nick Jr. show)
    Mad as heck
9) Make sums
    Stocking stuffer for a naughty kid
    Elephant noses
10) "Street Dreams" rapper
      What Yogi Bear has around his neck (besides a tie)
      Dory or dinghy
11) Move like a kangaroo
      Sophisticated shampoo brand?
12) So bad, it's horrible
      Two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie
      Forest's Oscar-winning role in The Last King of Scotland
13) 1995 animated film with a wolfdog hybrid voiced by Kevin Bacon
      He lives in a pineapple under the sea
14) Ugly shoes named after reptiles
      Desertlike
      Bentley from Spyro: Year of the Dragon, for one
15) Speedometer abbr.
      _____ Sremmurd (hip-hop duo)
      Former couple

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: Squeezed in the Middle 13

It's been over four years since I started this blog, so I think I'm well overdue in regards to attaching a face to it (as opposed to just an abstract black-and-red logo). Since I'm not yet ready to put a photograph of myself online, I've decided to make an avatar of my own, albeit as a Nintendo-related fan-character instead of a fursona like Grant Fikes has. So here I am:

Me as an ORANGE YOSHI (which are two of the answers to this puzzle)

Now with that out of the way, here are all the people that have solved "Squeezed in the Middle 13" from thirteen days ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

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

PUZZLE #208: Gryptics

PUZZLE #208

GRYPTICS

Insert a single letter in each space of each grid so that each grid's five rows and five columns spells a word from left to right or top to bottom (including the letters outside the grid).

Once you're done, take a word from the first grid and a word from the second grid and pair them up to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a website

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: Pathfinder

8W) Complete and utter madness: INSANITY

It's been almost two weeks since my first attempt at a "Pathfinder" puzzle was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Dan Simonds ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Patrick Jordan ****

Now click on "Read more" below for the answers!

PUZZLE #207: Squeezed in the Middle 13

PUZZLE #207

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 13

For this puzzle, you're going to sandwich together words (entered in the white rectangles) by surrounding it with a letter on each side, one at the beginning and one at the end, making a new word in the process. Once you're done, the extra letters you've added in the "crust" (the brown squares) will spell out a two-word phrase. In the example above, the words URN, RAT, and OVER become BURNT, IRATE, and GOVERN, and the letters in the brown squares, reading down, spell out BIG TEN. However, to make things trickier, the "Wholes" will be in no particular order, so it's up to you to figure out which one of the "Centers" it matches up with!

Once you've filled out everything, the letters in the brown squares, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a video game released in 1999

CENTERS
1) Spy Mata who was once played by Greta Garbo
2) _____Kosh B'Gosh (kids' clothing company)
3) "Ha ha, it _____ laugh" (Daffy Duck quote): 2 wds.
4) "Raw" or "burnt" shade of brown
5) Used the doorbell
6) Sheep used in place of "you" in Classic Concentration puzzles

WHOLES
* Crash Bandicoot's fur color
* First or last name of an unreliable narrator from a Nabokov book
* Golden Globe-winning actor Omar
* Handgun used in Red Dead Redemption 2
* Long-tongued dinosaur from the Super Mario games
* More recent

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: Diamond Rings

No DeviantArt pic this week, so instead, here's a Picross puzzle of Pac-Man (mentioned in one of the clues to this puzzle) that I posted to Griddlers.net way back in 2004

Thirteen days have passed since "Diamond Rings" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have successfully figured out the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****

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

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #206: Pathfinder

NEWVEMBER!

PUZZLE #206

PATHFINDER

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in the indicated direction, and makes at least one right-angled turn as it winds through the grid (except for one answer that just goes in a straight line). When you're finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Once the grid's filled in, unscramble the letters in the gray squares to get the FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word

1W) You Might Be a _____ If... (Jeff Foxworthy album) [7]
2E) Hey Arnold! character whose hair is braided up to look like a spider (Anagram of DIANNE) [6]
3N) Evil crocodile king from Donkey Kong Country and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [1 4]
4S) Web-slinging alter-ego of Peter Porker (not a typo; he's an actual pig, and he's gonna be in an animated Marvel movie this December) [6-3]
4S) Intermittent [8]
5S) Traditional Thanksgiving meal [5]
6N) "_____ Anthem (I Don't Want to Be in Love)" (Good Charlotte song) [5 5]
7E) Autumn apple drink [5]
8W) Complete and utter madness [8]
9N) Return address name [6]
9S) Los Angeles suburb where film's Bill & Ted are from [3 5]
10S) Barcelona boy [4]
11W) _____ Mack (current Disney Channel show) [4]
12S) Nihil _____ (defendant's refusal to plead) (Answer hidden in APPENDICITIS) [5]
13S) What live TV might use in case someone decides to cuss [4 5]
14S) Sole Top 40 hit for Luscious Jackson [5 3]
15S) Port-au-Prince's country [5]
16W) Huge herbivorous dino whose name means "arm lizard" [13]
17S) Pregnant cop from Fargo (1996) [5]
18N) North West's father [5]
19S) Stop, like marching soldiers [4]
20N) With "The", hidden camera show on TruTV where a magician pranks unsuspecting people [9 6]
21E) Abe Simpson, to Bart and Lisa [6]
22S) America's most popular potato chip brand [4]
23N) Sammy with 609 home runs [4]
24S) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright [5]
25W) Bull-ish constellation? [6]
26E) Amazon founder and president Jeff [5]
27E) _____ 101 (2000s Nickelodeon show) [4]

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: Fronts Off

Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants wearing a DUNCE cap (DUNCE being one of the answers to this puzzle)

The first edition of "Fronts Off", posted on this blog thirteen days ago, proved to be a big hit, as an astounding twelve of you have successfully figured it out, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Eric Maddy ****

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

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #205: Diamond Rings

NEWVEMBER!

PUZZLE #205

DIAMOND RINGS

To solve this puzzle, place one letter of each 5-letter answer into the correspondingly-numbered circle (or "ring"), and then put the other four letters into the surrounding diamonds in random order, while also making sure the diamonds' letters correctly overlap with each other. Each horizontal row's rings will have the same position in each answer word for that row (meaning that each ring in one row will be the second letter of each answer, and each ring in another row will be the third letter of each word, and so on). As an additional help, eight of the unshared diamonds have been filled in with letters.

Once the diagram is completely filled in, the letters in the rings, when read left to right, will spell out a clue to the FINAL ANSWER: a person's name

1) Binky from Garfield and Friends or Bozo, for example
2) Cartoonist Guisewite or her comic strip
3) Tree-like Guardians of the Galaxy member with a limited vocabulary
4) Orange soda brand that's a synonym for "compress"
5) Viking from newspaper comics
6) Attacked by a wasp
7) Shrek and his children, e.g.
8) Hit the books for an exam, say
9) Wang _____ ("Dance Hall Days" band)
10) Restaurant lists
11) John who was the first US Vice President
12) Puts it all on the line
13) Ice hockey venues
14) Healing character from Team Fortress 2
15) Video game company who made Pac-Man and Galaga
16) Tuba metal
17) The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, for one
18) Type of music used in many "Weird Al" medleys
19) Boxer Mike who had his own NES game
20) Katharine Hepburn's character in On Golden Pond
21) From the Earth to the Moon author Jules
22) Fast food side that can be crinkle-cut
23) Groovy gorilla playable in the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
24) Miss _____ (porcine Muppet)
25) Clicking computer tool
26) Yellow egg parts
27) Cartoon Network's Johnny who repeatedly (and violently) fails to pick up women
28) Belgian bucks
29) Leprechaun who's a cereal mascot
30) Pale purple hue

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: Rebus Buster

Pictured above: one of the bosses to Mario & Luigi: SUPERSTAR Saga

It's been two weeks since my tribute to Classic Concentration, "Rebus Buster", was posted on this blog, and a whopping eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• Dan Simonds ****
• Debbie Benford ****

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

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #204: Fronts Off

NEWVEMBER!

PUZZLE #204

FRONTS OFF

First, find the answers to each clue so that there are two words in each rectangular box. Then change the first letter of each pair of words (the same letter for both) to form two new words, and write the new letter in the square box to the left of the rectangle.

Once you're done, read down the boxes to get the FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word

1) Animated Disney movie about a flying elephant
    Tennis ball whacker
2) The Third Man actor Welles
    Superman supervillain Lex
3) Peggy Lee song covered by Madonna and Beyoncé
    What the "M" video game rating stands for
4) Male fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
    Engraves with acid
5) Glam rock band who did "Ballroom Blitz"
    Toasted snack that looks like an English muffin
6) Student who wore a conical hat in old-timey classrooms
    Shredding cheese
7) The Dating Game host Jim
    Wilderness survival novel by Gary Paulsen named after a small axe

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: Nonplussed 2

Two clues in one: TOADETTE ("Pink mushroom girl playable in Mario Tennis Aces") wearing a LEI ("Hawaiian neckwear")

Roughly two weeks have passed since "Nonplussed 2" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Eric Maddy ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #203: Rebus Buster

NEWVEMBER!
PUZZLE #203

REBUS BUSTER

Yep, it's another theme month! This time, every puzzle that will be posted this month will be all-new to this blog, and the first puzzle is a tribute of sorts to one of my favorite game shows as a kid. You see, one month ago, on October 1st, Buzzr TV began airing reruns of Classic Concentration, which hasn't been on in almost 25 years. Now, my cable TV provider doesn't carry Buzzr, but luckily, I'm still able to watch it thanks to Buzzr providing live streaming of their network on their website. Now with that history out of the way, read on for the directions!

Below are 20 seemingly unrelated pictures that are actually several rebuses jumbled up together. First, find the answers to the clues below. Then find the pictures that combine to make a rebus which matches each answer and cross them out. For instance, if one of the answers is PANTRY, then you should cross out the pictures that represent "PAN" [🍳] and "TREE" [🌲]. Beware of tricky homophones along the way!

Once all the clues have been solved and most of the pictures have been crossed out, the remaining pictures should create a rebus that will form the FINAL ANSWER: a three-word title of a video game that first came out 20 years ago

CLUES
* Greek goddess whose Roman equivalent is Venus
* Rock band whose 1999 album Make Yourself went double platinum
* Coins that are only 2.5% copper, surprisingly
* Tiny, one-eyed SpongeBob SquarePants character
* Brand-new baseball player, say
* Mario & Luigi: _____ Saga (Game Boy Advance game)

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: Crypticrostic 3

CLUE USED: "Old Roman racer's spirit protecting a really funny fellow"

It's been thirteen days since "Crypticrostic 3" was posted on this site, and to my surprise, seven people have solved it since then, the highest number yet for those tough puzzles! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• Christi Ann Scott ****
• Eric Maddy ****

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

PUZZLE #202: Nonplussed 2

PUZZLE #202

NONPLUSSED 2

Happy two-days-before-Halloween! Last year, I didn't really do anything suitable for the season on this blog, but not this time! Not only is the FINAL ANSWER appropriately horror-themed, but it's from a puzzle that's metaphorically rising from its grave, as it hasn't been seen for over three years! Since it's been so long since this original type of puzzle appeared, read on for a refresher on how to solve it!

The answers in this puzzle are entered in two ways: the fifteen numbered rows have one or two answers that read left to right (even the two rows that only have one letter in it), and the plusses have five-letter answers that read left to right beginning in the top row (exactly like how they're entered in Pent Words). The clues for the plusses are split up into two groups: white plusses and gray plusses. Answers to those clues should be placed in their respectively-colored plus, though you have to use the Rows' answers to find out where each plus answer is located.

There are two unclued rows in this puzzle; combine them to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a horror video game

ROWS
1) Second-most common article, after "the"
2) Furniture store that serves Swedish meatballs
3) English, in Spanish
4) THE FIRST HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
5) Pink mushroom girl playable in Mario Tennis Aces
    Hawaiian neckwear
6) Symmetrical necktie knot
    _____ Kombat X (gory fighting game)
7) Dubstep musician who did "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"
    Lazily
8) Actress Rhea who played Aunt Hilda on Sabrina the Teenage Witch
    Blue, furry, and brainy X-Men character
9) Lightsaber-weilding heroes
    Hot spots of the Earth
10) Utah city that's about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City
      Destructive Battlebots robot named after a rock marking a grave
11) Queen of rap
      Guitar boosters
12) THE SECOND HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
13) Alternative rock group whose only hit (so far) is "Come With Me Now"
14) As well
15) ___-Gage (ill-fated phone/handheld game console hybrid from the 2000s)

WHITE PLUSSES
* "Invisible" singer Clay
* Eyeball cells that allow color vision
* Word following "control" or "neat"
* Literally hotheaded villain from Disney's Hercules
* European country where Pinocchio is set
* Father of Superman played by Marlon Brando: Hyph.
* Titanic or Lusitania, e.g.
* Someone who pens praiseful poems
* Original Match Game and Price is Right announcer Johnny
* The "O" in N2O
* Orca captured and sold to SeaWorld in 1965
* Get _____ ('60s spy spoof show)
* A glint in one's eye

GRAY PLUSSES
* That plastic thingy on the end of shoelaces
* Hasbro toy that involves pulling and twisting: Hyph.
* Dreaded dentistry tool
* Catcher of congers
* The Princess Bride character who says “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
* Perseveres
* Veg-O-_____ (infomercial product that slices and dices)
* Garlic-crushing utensil
* Frighten the pants off of
* PlayStation 1 game about a pink-haired kid fighting pigs (Answer hidden in TOM BAKER)
* Island nation east of Fiji
* Mel who co-wrote "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"

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: Pent Words 12: Fusion

"Birdbrained harpy from Monster Musume" = PAPI

You're probably wondering why this post opened with a drawing I made of the answer to one of the clues from "Pent Words 12: Fusion" from a couple weeks ago. Well, before I started this blog, I posted pictures on DeviantArt, but I haven't been active over there in years. So because I felt like getting back to drawing after 200 of these puzzles, I've decided to use those dormant artistic skills for a puzzle which will be posted right here in eight days (if you support me on Patreon for at least $2, however, you can view it early). After finishing that puzzle, I came up with an idea to make a new drawing every week based off of one of the clues from each week's puzzles (where applicable). More details can be found in this journal entry that I posted to DeviantArt, but I bet you'd rather know who solved my 200th puzzle, so here's the nine people who did so:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Eric Maddy ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Lynn Sweeney **

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a congratulatory solver comment!

PUZZLE #201: Crypticrostic 3

PUZZLE #201

CRYPTICROSTIC 3

This next puzzle is a Crypticrostic, a type of puzzle that has been notorious for being extremely difficult (after all, only four people managed to solve the first one of these). As usual, I first sent this one to my test-solver, Joseph DeVincentis, and while he did indeed solve it, he noted that it was even harder than usual and gave me a couple ideas of easing the pain, so to speak. One of them was slightly altering a couple clues, and the other one... well, read the directions and find out!

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, but to make things easier, both halves have been divided by a gray vertical bar. For a list of cryptic clue types, you can get one through these links.

Once you're done, the Anacrostic will reveal a cryptic clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: A title with the pattern of [9, 4]

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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

Beheading very thin | American, for one [7]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   08 45 20 34 04 29 16

Friends | belonging to Kate's sitcom partner [6]
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   06 43 33 48 11 50

Old Roman racer's | spirit protecting a really funny fellow [10]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   10 47 22 17 28 51 24 37 42 01

Cowering | catcher going in a circle [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   46 30 25 09 53 35 41 03

Shoot inside of an involved | Spanish dance [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   36 13 52 07 32 05 19 40

Heading forward, bring back Robert E. Lee's | antenna [6]
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   14 27 31 38 21 44

Brood | claimed it ate fragment [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   26 49 12 39 23 18 15 02

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: Cramped Crossword 2

It's been almost two weeks since "Cramped Crossword 2" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as some solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #200: Pent Words 12: Fusion

PUZZLE #200

PENT WORDS 12: FUSION

It's my milestone 200th puzzle, so it's time for me to do something special! One hundred puzzles ago, I did a new twist on "Pent Words" by combining it with my signature creation, "Squeezed in the Middle". This time, I'm going to do a different type of combining regarding "Pent Words", so read on to see what that means!

For this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (they’re kinda 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.

Two of the pentominoes have fused together to make one big ten-square shape. The FINAL ANSWER is the 10-letter compound word made by the two fused pentominoes.

ACROSS (Two answers per row)
1) Dili, East _____
    Scan, like a credit card
2) Poem full of praise
    Supplant
3) Type of bar where cowboys brawl in many Western movies
    Architectural style used by the Empire State Building
4) Spicy New Orleans cuisine
    Clay creature from Jewish folklore
5) Any day now
    Greg's partner in the title of a '90s sitcom
6) 2008 anime movie about a goldfish who wants to be human
    Vacant, as an apartment available to rent
7) "Shocking" Super Mario 64 enemies named after electrical units
    Handy and beneficial
8) Definitely intend to
    Nephew of Donald Duck who wears a green shirt
9) Marvin K. _____ Will You Please Go Now! (Dr. Seuss book)
    Birdbrained harpy from Monster Musume (or the Spanish word for "Daddy")
10) Original America's Funniest Home Videos host Bob
      Like snug-fitting skinny jeans

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* BOTH HALVES OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Nickname of the pilot who famously landed his plane on the Hudson River
* Get educated
* Puccini opera about an opera singer
* Second-highest digit in a normal sudoku puzzle
* Gaston's sidekick from Beauty and the Beast: 2 wds.
* August: _____ County (Meryl Streep movie)
* Code creator Samuel
* Moxie or pizzazz
* Hippie's two-finger gesture
* The Real Adventures of _____ Quest ('90s action-adventure cartoon)
* Bulb from Holland
* Last name of either Nick from Zootopia or Oscar the playwright
* _____ in the Dark (the first 3D survival horror video game)
* Ms. Mayonnaise from Nickelodeon's Doug
* Absolutely perfect
* Perdita's "husband" from 101 Dalmatians
* Uncontrollable twitch
* ,

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: Coined Phrases 3

My 200th puzzle is tomorrow, so I'll try to make this quick. Eight people solved "Coined Phrases 3" from two weeks ago, and they're all in this list:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom *
• Dan Simonds **
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney **

Now head below the break for the answers as well as some solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #199: Cramped Crossword 2

PUZZLE #199

CRAMPED CROSSWORD 2

Solve the mini-crossword, then unscramble the letters that go in the blank spaces to get the FINAL ANSWER: A 9-letter pop song title

CLUES
* Breaks planks using karate, say
* Brightest star in Cygnus
* Johnny Depp's role in The Lone Ranger (2013)
* Need for _____ (racing game series)
* Part of a bookcase
* Transform

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: Compound Crosswords 3

It's been almost two weeks since "Compound Crosswords 3" was posted on this blog, and once again, ten people have correctly gotten the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #198: Coined Phrases 3

PUZZLE #198

COINED PHRASES 3

There is a set of five coins, all of which have one letter on each of their two faces. Each letter appears only once throughout the set, and no two coins share the same letter. Random flips of all the coins have produced six 5-letters words hinted at by the numbered clues. Once all six answers have been solved, use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out the letters that are printed on each coin. Finally, rearrange the coins so that both sides spell out two more 5-letter words that combine to make a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a movie OR an album.

1) Centers of apples and pineapples
2) Genre for KC and the Sunshine Band
3) What Card Sharks contestants should yell when faced with an ace or king
4) My Cousin Vinny star Joe
5) Metal Gear _____ 3: Snake Eater (PlayStation 2 game)
6) Fast-talking salesman's lengthy pitch

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: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 6

It's been thirteen days since "Chain Reaction: Extra Links 6" was posted on this blog, and just like last week's answer post, ten people since then have gotten the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Alex Milton ***

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

PUZZLE #197: Compound Crosswords 3

PUZZLE #197

COMPOUND CROSSWORDS 3

Fit the words hinted at by the clues into the nine grids below so that the two words in each grid combine to create a two-word phrase. There may be multiple possibilities for these phrases, but there's only one way that all the words will fit in all of the grids.

Once each grid is filled out, the pink letters in each grid will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a compound word.

CLUES
* Airheaded heiress from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
* _____ Blanket Bingo
* Card game with seats named after compass directions
* Cheers actress Shelley
* Edible ice cream container
* Gold's and Planet Fitness, for two
* Largemouth fish
* Massive _____ (influential trip hop group)
* Melted ice
* Sixteen ounces
* Slash's instrument
* Steve Martin sports a huge one in Roxanne (1987)
* Tiptoe stealthily
* Took a photo of
* Trailer Park _____ (long-running Canadian TV show)
* Type of button that turns on a computer
* Word in the title of a Kipling book about Mowgli
* Write one's name on the dotted line

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: Plus One 4

It's been about two weeks since "Plus One 4" was posted on this blog, and an impressive ten people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

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

PUZZLE #196: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 6

PUZZLE #196

CHAIN REACTION: EXTRA LINKS 6

For this puzzle, there are seven golden "links" that link together six two-word phrases when reading down. However, it's completely blank, save for some dashes that reveal how long each word is (four dashes translate to a four-letter word, for instance). To help you figure out these words, though, there are some extra silver links with words already in them which, when combined with the golden link to the left or right of it, make another two-word phrase. In the above example, the two-word phrases with silver links in them are "Chain Restaurants", "Gut Reaction", "Time Zone", and "Fruit Flies", so the final "golden chain" is "CHAIN - REACTION - TIME - FLIES".

Once you've completely filled in the chain, scramble the letters in the orange squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word.

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: Pent Words 11

It's been thirteen days since "Pent Words 11" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have gotten the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Michael Avanessian ****

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

PUZZLE #195: Plus One 4

PUZZLE #195

PLUS ONE 4

To start this puzzle, enter the answers to the numbered clues (the "Partial Clues") in each correspondingly numbered area, skipping the gold squares as you do so. Then, add a new letter in each gold square to create a new word, which matches up with one of the "Whole Clues" that are listed in no particular order.

Once you're done, the letters in the gold squares, reading down, spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: something edible

PARTIAL CLUES
1) Hot spring
2) Chucklehead or chunk of earth
3) Preserved, like many meats
4) Maid portrayed in Robin Hood: Men in Tights
5) One of five identical siblings
6) Explosion sound
7) _____ & AJ (pop-rock duo)

WHOLE CLUES
* With "The", 2015 film about Matt Damon stranded on a planet
* Annoying email that got its name from a Monty Python sketch
* Carson who hosted Total Request Live and The Voice
* Harry Potter and the _____ Child (Tony-winning play)
* Charmingly old-fashioned
* Witch Hazel's transport
* Cirrus, for one

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 6

Boy, you guys must've really liked "Lucky Sevens 6" from two weeks ago, as eleven of you have successfully solved it! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now click on "Read more" below for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

PUZZLE #194: Pent Words 11

PUZZLE #194

PENT WORDS 11

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) Twister's bullying big brother from Rocket Power
    Red root veggie seen in salads
2) Empty, like some apartments or stares
    Theater award given by The Village Voice
3) Touch up, as a painting
    Viewtiful _____ (stylish GameCube game)
4) Extra car tires
    Swallow hard
5) One of 18 sections of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Moray, for one
6) Eyewitness's tale
    _____ Minella (punnily-named Muppet chimp)
7) Quick haircut
    A bicycle built for two
8) Unexpected sports victories
    Historical Aaron played by Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton
9) Snake that bit Cleopatra
    Gromit's owner in a series of claymation shorts
10) Hen houses
      American Ninja Warrior co-host Gbaja-Biamila

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Mustard relative seen in salads
* Ring-tailed creature native to Madagascar
* Cookie _____ (cereal)
* White hamster from Hamtaro (or an old movie theater name)
* Mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles
* Insect stage before pupa
* Sound from a gym rat lifting heavy weights
* Rapper Shakur whose album All Eyez on Me reached diamond status
* With "El", legendary Luchador who wore a silver mask
* Spicy dance?
* Kindly villager voiced by John Goodman in The Emperor's New Groove
* Place to buy lemonade from kids
* SiriusXM medium
* Celestial body with a tail
* Peanut butter cup creator H. B. _____
* Steel rod in concrete
* Female Futurama character with one eye
* "Headstrong" hard rock band

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!