Monday, February 25, 2019

PUZZLE #219: Wordoku

PUZZLE #219
WORDOKU

It's a sudoku puzzle, but with letters instead of numbers! Despite this change, standard sudoku rules still apply: each row, column, and 3x3 box must contain nine unique letters without any repeats, all of which are located below the grid and rearranged into a short phrase.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find two words (both at least five letters long) that combine to create the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a Sega Genesis 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!

Sunday, February 24, 2019

ANSWERS: Mixed Doubles 7

A Greek CHORUS that appeared in the SpongeBob episode "Trident Trouble"

Before we get to the people who solved "Mixed Doubles 7", I have some news to tell ya! Four weeks ago, I mentioned that I added a goal to my Patreon that I would fulfill if I reached $20 per month. Well, I reached that level last Tuesday, so starting this March, certain Patrons will receive two exclusive puzzles every month! I don't wanna stop there, but I'm already out of ideas for additional goals, so let me know via email or in the comments about any additional Patreon goals I could add! Now with that out of the way, here are the nine people who figured out my puzzle from thirteen days ago:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Mom ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Dan Simonds **
  • Debbie Benford ****
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, February 18, 2019

PUZZLE #218: Lucky Sevens 7

PUZZLE #218
LUCKY SEVENS 7

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word


ROWS
i) Bath in Bath, England, say
ii) Frau's spouse
iii) American Gothic artist Wood
iv) _____ Crack (popular app with user-submitted questions)
v) Enzo Ferrari or Enrico Fermi, e.g.
vi) Election Day slates
vii) Wunderkind
viii) Lincoln's gloomy goth sister from The Loud House
ix) Taxing org., in more ways than one
x) Postal abbr. of Halifax's province
xi) Total Divas network

SEVENS
1) Amino acid whose name anagrams to "ON PERIL"
2) _____ Gate (acclaimed 1998 computer RPG by BioWare)
3) Type that this clue is in
4) The Hunger Games book series, for one
5) 2013 Sandra Bullock film that won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects
6) Injuries suffered by overconfident weightlifters
7) Michigan State athlete

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, February 17, 2019

ANSWERS: Snake Charmer 3

Clue #23: A literal pain in the neck (in the style of "Wacky Wordies")

It's been thirteen days since "Snake Charmer 3" was posted on this blog, and ten people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, February 11, 2019

PUZZLE #217: Mixed Doubles 7

PUZZLE #217
MIXED DOUBLES 7

Each answer word in this crossword variation has two clues leading to it, using different meanings of the word. The clues are separated into Across and Down, but are otherwise ordered randomly. When you find two Across clues or two Down clues that seem to have the same answer, add up their clue numbers to determine the place in the grid where the answer should be entered. For example, if the clue for 1-Across and the clue for 16-Across both have the same answer, the answer would go in the box labeled 17 (1+16). To make things harder, tags such as "Hyph." and "2 wds." have been omitted.

There is one extra clue in both lists of Across and Down clues. This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer to both of the extra clues, which you can get by rearranging the letters in the grid's pink squares.


ACROSS
1) "Half" or "full" wrestling hold
2) Concurrence
3) The one in U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is just the title sung over and over
4) Puzzle solver's pencil smudge
5) Unexpected blow
6) High school that Danny and Sandy of Grease go to
7) Unhappiness
8) Handheld PlayStation console whose most successful title was Uncharted: Golden Abyss
9) Spy org. that the title character of Archer originally worked for
10) French film movement involving François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard
11) Synthpop duo that did "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect"
12) Nobel Peace Prize winner Mandela
13) Runs together, like colors
14) Stephen King book with an insane fan named Annie Wilkes
15) '90s PBS kids' show with a ball-shaped spirit that can rearrange text and letters
16) Masked group from ancient Greek plays that comment on the action
17) Author of books credited to someone else
18) On Golden Pond director Mark
19) Mother of Horus
20) Engine chamber
21) Midsize sedan by Honda
22) Has red stuff pour out of a wound
23) Life, in Italian
24) Music genre of Men at Work and Men Without Hats
25) Video game company that created Sly Cooper and Infamous

DOWN
1) 2006 puzzle documentary featuring Will Shortz and Tyler Hinman
2) Proportionate
3) Areas of influence
4) Group of 100 contestants in 1 vs. 100
5) Make certain
6) With "The", mockbuster movie studio that produced the Sharknado series
7) Black eye
8) Nickel's shape
9) Owl from Animal Crossing who curates your town's museum
10) Mafia crowd
11) Triscuits and Wheat Thins, for example
12) Uses steel wool
13) First spacecraft to reach Uranus and Neptune
14) Popcorn and pretzels, e.g.
15) Nutritional shake brand introduced in 1973
16) Puns, spoonerisms, and so on
17) Talks on and on like a fool
18) Star Trek series featuring Captain Janeway
19) Type of psychiatric hospital where Batman's villains usually wind up
20) Any family member
21) Searches high and low
22) Small silvery fish
23) Items used to level up spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
24) Geometrical figures with no edges
25) Completely loco

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, February 10, 2019

ANSWERS: Trailblazers

Okay, I know a pic of WarioWare's Kat & Ana as Ponies has nothing to do with anything in this puzzle; I just wanted you to know that it got featured in an art post by Equestria Daily last Monday! 

It's been thirteen days since my first "Trailblazers" puzzle was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see from the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Mom ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as multiple solver comments!

Monday, February 4, 2019

PUZZLE #216: Snake Charmer 3

PUZZLE #216
SNAKE CHARMER 3

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) Action-adventure video game series starring Lara Croft: 2 wds.
2) Butterfinger candymaker
3) DEER _____ (road sign)
4) Figure skater Harding who placed 8th in the 1994 Winter Olympics
5) Horribly-named rock band who did "Crawling in the Dark" and "The Reason"
6) It's turned (or rather, activated via touchscreen) by Vanna White
7) Jonathan Harker's wife in Dracula
8) Burrito wrapper
9) Whitens one's underwear
10) Clue for someone stuck on a puzzle, maybe
11) Grouchy resident of Sesame Street
12) Italian scooter brand
13) Yoga greeting
14) Danny _____ (Nicktoon about a teen with ghostly powers)
15) 2008 time-twisting indie video game named after a woven hairstyle
16) Ready Player One author Cline
17) Gargoyles character who got his name from a Manhattan avenue
18) Web portal/search engine that turned 25 in January 2019
19) Cat-headed goddess of ancient Egypt
20) Short sock
21) With "The", 1984 movie about a cyborg sent to kill Sarah Connor
22) Fit for cultivation
23) A literal pain in the neck
24) Japanese religion with public shrines
25) Winter neck warmers
26) Van Halen hit that begins with the lyrics "Jump back, what's that sound?"
27) Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Pastis

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, February 3, 2019

ANSWERS: Moving Staircases 8

Kirby practicing some ARCHERY (one of the answers to this puzzle)

It's been almost two weeks since "Moving Staircases 8" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers! No solver comments this time, so instead, I've included a very brief tale on where the FINAL ANSWER came from!