PUZZLE #254: Wordy Web 3

PUZZLE #254

WORDY WEB 3

It might not quite be Halloween yet, but I've prepared a puzzle type for that holiday regardless! I don't have much else to say regarding that, so here are the directions:

This Web's set up with Circles and Strands, but there are no letters with which the words are woven. To complete this puzzle, enter the answers to the Circles' clues (numbered 1 to 6) clockwise around the concentric rings of the Web, though it's up to you to determine the starting point for each Circle. All of the Circles' clues are presented in order. To help figure out the Circles' staring points, fill in the Strands' answers (marked with A to L) starting at each respective letter and traverse the Web from left to right. Some of the strands have only one answer, while others have two.

Once you've completely filled in the Web, the letters in the red spaces, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a video game that'd be perfect for Halloween

CIRCLES
1) Carl Sagan-hosted PBS show subtitled "A Personal Voyage"
    Dial-up devices from the late '90s
    Shape of a Game Boy Advance's screen
    Affirmatives
2) It's wasted on the young, according to grumpy old folk
    Fairy assistant from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (or Avatar's alien species)
    Experimental trial: 2 wds.
    Old Chrysler car driven by Sam & Max
3) Win by _____ (barely succeed): 2 wds.
    Rock with shiny crystals inside
    Stalactite site
    Luke Skywalker's sister
4) Arrange in straight rows
    Community and Mad Men actress Brie
    Fail a polygraph test
5) Forms foam from shampoo
    Big _____ (member of Outkast)
6) Aphrodite's lover who was killed by a boar

STRANDS
A) Org. with Canadiens and Maple Leafs
B) Perform penance
C) Ruby who the Rolling Stones sang about
D) "_____, ergo sum" (Latin quote that translates to "I think, therefore I am")
    WALL-E's love interest
E) Cilium
    Spinoff of JAG, which itself has spinoffs set in Los Angeles and New Orleans
F) Character from Super Mario Galaxy who wears a turquoise dress
    Tickle pink
G) Pelting with pebbles
    "She _____ Like Crazy" (Weird Al song parodying the Fine Young Cannibals)
H) Meerkat, for one
    Button on a keyboard's top-left corner
I) NYPD Blue actor Morales
    Husky involved in 1925's serum run to Nome
J) Wheelers' partners
K) Extreme loathing (or what Garfield feels about a certain drooling dog?)
L) Letters next to "6" on a telephone pad

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Dilly Dally 3

Thirteen days have passed since since "Dilly Dally 3" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #253: Zigzagnut 5

PUZZLE #253

ZIGZAGNUT 5

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 is the answer entered in the unclued entry in the middle of the diagram (marked with two question marks): the name of a '90s animated series

ROWS (in random order; each contains two answers)
* New Orleans university with a pelican as its mascot
  Faith No More song with the repeated line "What is it? It's IT!"
* Seven squared: Hyph.
  Pushing Daisies character who can bring back the dead just by touching them
* Resells tickets at ludicrous prices
  The _____ Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (children's book)
* Emotionless blue-haired girl from Neon Genesis Evangelion
  Military man
* Body of water parted in The Ten Commandments: 2 wds.
  Turn down
* Peel a potato
  Tomb _____ II: Starring Lara Croft (PlayStation 1 game)
* Capital of the Sunflower State
  Disorderly condition
* Bruce Wayne's butler
  Last name of Amy from the Sonic the Hedgehog games
* Green _____ (rural sitcom)
  That is, in Latin: 2 wds.
* Music sheet holders
  Industrial rock band that did "Stitches" and "Blue Monday"
* High school sci. classroom: 2 wds.
  Walking corpse from Resident Evil

ZIGZAGS
1) Based on fact
2) Fell off the wagon
3) Yellow-clad archenemy of Green Lantern
4) "Rolling in the _____" (Adele's first #1 hit)
5) Like flypaper
6) Burns with hot coffee
7) Any character in Antz, say
8) Modernize machinery
9) Called to mind
10) Cowgirl doll from Toy Story 2
11) Moron who's literally small-minded?
12) Type of support from both sides of the political aisle
13) Actor Ryan or Burt (no relation)
14) Don't miss this for the trees
15) Word following "alternative" or "renewable"
16) Fashionable Christian

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Central Scramble 3

It's been almost two weeks since "Central Scramble 3" was posted on this blog, and eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• David Millar ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #252: Dilly Dally 3

PUZZLE #252

DILLY DALLY 3

Each answer in the grid below consists of two 5-letter words that both start with the same letter, like WATER WHEEL.

Once the grid has been filled out, hidden inside and going up, down, or diagonally will be the FINAL ANSWER: A mobile game whose title also consists of two 5-letter words starting with the same letter.

1) "Freaky Fast" sandwich chain
2) Side-by-side cola comparisons
3) Times for discounted drinks
4) Grand Hotel actress who exclaimed "I want to be alone!"
5) Fozzie Bear's catchphrase
6) Luxury car brand with a hood ornament called The Spirit of Ecstasy
7) Style of art that uses multiple materials
8) With "The", '70s sitcom about Carol, Mike, and their six children
9) Disposable dish at a picnic
10) Rap song by Kreayshawn that was certified gold in 2012

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Meta-Crossword 6: Hidden Figures

WOW! My milestone 250th puzzle (which was both a meta-crossword AND a contest puzzle) proved to be a huge hit, as a truly whopping seventeen people have solved it since it was posted two weeks ago! I don't even remember the last time I've gotten a solver count that high! Take a look for yourself:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Keith Jackson ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Lawrence Denes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Alan Arbizu ****
• Jeremy Horwitz ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom * (opted out of the contest)
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Stephen Staver *
• Lynn Sweeney *
• Yossi Fendel ****

Now, since well over ten people have solved this puzzle, there will be TWO winners to this contest! As a reminder, both winners will each receive a crossword book of their choosing (provided it's not too expensive, of course). The randomly-chosen winners are: Kevin Orfield and Sam Levitin! Congratulations, you two!

Now just go below the break for the answers, along with several solver comments!

PUZZLE #251: Central Scramble 3

PUZZLE #251

CENTRAL SCRAMBLE 3

Below are four octagons with letters inside. Place a different letter in the center of each octagon so that four 5-letter words can be unscrambled out of its four diagonal sections. Also, each added letter has to be in the exact center of each resulting 5-letter word.

Once you're done, take the four letters added to each octagon and place a fifth letter into the exact center of those letters (no scrambling required) to get the FINAL ANSWER: a vehicle

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Squeezed in the Middle 14

Before we get to the answers to "Squeezed in the Middle 14", I have some news that I felt like telling you about..... buuut it's not very relevant to anything involving puzzles. I wrote a whole journal entry about it at my DeviantArt page, but in case you don't want to go there, I'll briefly sum it up: I got a new tablet, and a short Halloween animation that I made won a contest held by the creator of the YouTube review series Atop the Fourth Wall.

Speaking of contests, the Contest Puzzle that I posted last week looks to be an instant hit, as the number of solvers for that has already hit the double digits! That means there's gonna be two winners to this contest, so come back next week to find out who they are! Until then, here are the ten people that have solved my latest "Squeezed..." puzzle from thirteen days ago!

• Grant Fikes ****
• Keith Jackson ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!