PUZZLE #450: Question Quest

PUZZLE #450

QUESTION QUEST

It's my 450th puzzle! If you've been on this blog for a while, you may know that I like to do something special for every 50th puzzle on this site, usually in the form of new puzzle formats. This is true for this new format as well, since it's a combination of "Word Quest" (as seen in Penny Press magazines) and the fill-in-the-blank puzzles from the charades-based game show Body Language. You'll see what I mean when you read the directions in the next paragraph.

Below, there's a sentence with multiple blanks, and the words that fill in those blanks have been split apart and scattered throughout the grid. Your job is to locate the correct first letter for each word and then follow the given compass directions throughout the grid for each answer (So for example, "2W" means to move two spaces west). Each letter in the grid will be used exactly once. As a helpful tip, try to look at the directions for the following letters to see how far from the grid's top, bottom, or sides you must look. For instance, if the directions for a word's second letter are 5S, the first letter must be somewhere in the top two rows.

Once you've filled in all of the blanks and finished each word, read the finished sentence and solve the resulting clue for the FINAL ANSWER: a title

What __ __ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ from the

     ?? 4W 3N 2W 2S 1S   ?? 1N 4W 4N 4E 2S 4E

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ is about __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

?? 2N 4W 2N 2W 1N 3E 2E 1S          ?? 4E 2S 3W 1N 6E 2S 2W 3W 3N

__ __ __ __ __ __ to __ __ __ __ __ __ a __ __ __ __ __ __

?? 3E 3S 2W 5N 4E    ?? 3W 2S 2E 2S 6W   ?? 4W 1S 6E 2S 4W

__ __ __ __ __ that has been __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ by a

?? 3E 1N 4N 6W               ?? 2N 2W 5W 2S 3E 3S 1E

__ __ __ __ __ __ __?

?? 2S 5W 2W 2N 5E 2N

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Pent Words 19

It's been about two weeks since "Pent Words 19" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of all eighteen people who has solved it since then:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Sam Levitin
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Tamara Brenner
• Al Sisti
• Tyler Hinman
• Wendy Walker
• Michael Lebowitz
• Patrick Jordan
• KeoFam
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Perry Groot
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #449: Triangle Tangle 5

PUZZLE #449

TRIANGLE TANGLE 5

To solve this puzzle, enter the 4-letter answer to each clue into the diagram either from top to bottom or diagonally upward. There are two numbers starting each clue; each answer begins in the triangle marked with the first number, and ends in the triangle marked with the second.

Once the grid has been filled in, there are two more words hiding in the topmost row of letters and the bottommost row of letters. Combine them both to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a racing video game

1-2) Scamander who "wrote" Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (or a lizardlike amphibian)

2-3) Itty-bitty branch

3-4) "_____ Me Everything" (hit song by Pitbull and Ne-Yo)

4-5) Second-to-last word in a fairy tale's ending

5-6) Garden hose holder

6-7) The Loud House character who often wears a seafoam green dress (answer hidden in REPLENISHED)

7-8) William who was known as the "Playwright of the Midwest"

8-9) "By Jove!"

9-10) "Drat!"

10-11) Chew like a chinchilla

11-12) Result of hair crimping

12-13) Lacking any sort of redeemable qualities

13-14) The _____ Guard (Disney Junior series about Simba's son)

14-15) Trevor who retired from hosting The Daily Show in 2022

15-16) The most difficult difficulty level in video games, often

16-17) Instrument for Def Leppard's Rick Allen

17-18) Root beer float containers

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Link-Letters 12

It's been nearly two weeks since "Link-Letters 12" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twenty people have correctly solved it since then, all of whom are listed below:

• M. Sean Molley
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Al Sisti
• Perry Groot
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #448: Pent Words 19

PUZZLE #448

PENT WORDS 19

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) "_____ I Wanna Do" (Sheryl Crow hit)

    Widespread wrath

2) Southeast Asian capital with a 101-floor skyscraper

    Body part inserted into a Power Glove

3) Corporal from M*A*S*H who loves to drink grape Nehi

    The last letter in "XXL"

4) Someone who believes that God created the Earth, but hasn't touched it since

    Cries like a coyote

5) Stats in a spreadsheet, say

    Like a ready-to-assemble home

6) Beetle Bailey's army rank

    Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows director Ritchie

7) All in one piece

    Thanksgiving table's tubers

8) 2008 computer game that had the working title of SimEverything (or a fern's seed)

    Reads quickly (and incompletely)

9) Big cat also known as a catamount or mountain lion

    The Andrews Sisters or the Jonas Brothers, e.g.

10) Prefix for "sphere"

      Minor _____ Baseball

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)

• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• French setting for Ratatouille

• Remy's older brother in Ratatouille

• Easiest parts of a jigsaw puzzle, perhaps

• Krabby _____ (hamburger crafted by SpongeBob)

• Dog breed declared a "Japanese natural monument" in 1931

• Arcade game company that developed Lunar Lander and Asteroids

• A liquid quart has two of these

• Piano-playing dog from The Muppet Show

• Made some sums

• Bottomless pit

• Site for rites in church

• Adventures of the _____ Bears (Disney Afternoon series based off of a candy)

• Something soothed by Pine Bros. throat drops

• Romero who was the first person to portray the Joker on television

• African country that borders Togo

• _____ One: A Star Wars Story (2016 film)

• Fifty-four divided by eighteen

• Late comedian Anderson who was a regular panelist on Funny You Should Ask

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Flower Power 7

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Flower Power 7" has been posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to provide the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Perry Groot
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Tyler Hinman
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Sam Levitin

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #447: Link-Letters 12

PUZZLE #447

LINK-LETTERS 12

One of the clues in this puzzle contains a word suggested by Patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at $15 or more per month to suggest one word or phrase for me to put into a puzzle every month!

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: the name of a board game from the 1980s

1) Golden monetary unit that you collect a ton of in New Super Mario Bros. 2

    "Beware the _____ of March" (line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar)

2) Ancient Egyptian pharaoh who took the throne at around age 8

    Yemeni money

3) 5:1 or 4:3, e.g.

    Partner in a peace treaty

4) Susie the Little Blue Coupe from the Disney short of the same name, for one

    It's to the right of the apostrophe key on an American keyboard

5) Instrument played by the Phantom of the Opera

    Synonym for "zest" that starts with the same letter

6) Thigh's muscle group, for short

    Insect in a tiny "farm"

7) Long-lasting wavy hairstyle

    "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" poet Robert

8) Wrigley's first sugarfree chewing gum

    Legendary Red Sox player Williams

9) Vehicle that Keanu Reeves needs to keep going above 50 miles per hour in Speed (1994)

    _____ mass index

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Slide Show: Double Feature 5

It's been close to two weeks since "Slide Show: Double Feature 5" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then, a new record for this tough type of puzzle! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Perry Groot
• Michael Lebowitz
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Shank
• Sam Levitin
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Tyler Hinman

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #446: Flower Power 7

PUZZLE #446

FLOWER POWER 7

The answers to this petaled puzzle will go in a curve from the number on the outside to the center of the flower. Each number in the flower will have two 5-letter answers, one going in a clockwise direction, and the other going in a counterclockwise direction.

Once you're done, look through the adjacent numbered petals to find two more words (going either clockwise or counterclockwise). These words make up the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a hit song from the 2000s and the musical act that recorded it

CLOCKWISE

1) Rowed a boat

2) _____ Canadian Mounted Police

3) Prickly patch in stories about Br'er Rabbit

4) Makes a run for it

5) Country that's home to the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum

6) Stenches

7) Mr. Heep who was created by Charles Dickens

8) Canines, but not felines

9) Kris _____ (early '90s rap duo known for wearing backwards clothing)

10) How great minds think, so it's said

11) "Are you kidding me??", in textspeak

12) Having too much wordy dialogue, like a book or movie

13) It can be past, present, or future, in grammar class

14) Lowest low point

15) Any one of the titular men from the play Twelve Angry Men

16) Number of Star Spirits that Mario needs to rescue in Paper Mario

17) Weird Al's first parody of a Michael Jackson song: 2 wds.

18) First listed ingredient on a tub of Duncan Hines frosting

COUNTERCLOCKWISE

1) Word before "space" or "Mongolia"

2) _____ Cajun (roller coaster at Six Flags America with a rhyming name)

3) Sacha Baron Cohen character from Kazakhstan

4) Cooker in a fast food kitchen

5) Homeric epic set during the Trojan War

6) Former basketball player Jermaine or Shaquille (no relation)

7) Natural source of milk?

8) Number after deux

9) Bend It Like Beckham star Knightley

10) _____ of expertise

11) The slowest mammal in the world

12) "We Sell Your Stuff on eBay" store owner from The 40-Year-Old Virgin (anagram of SHIRT)

13) Items on a to-do list

14) Ronald Reagan's mother (HINT: Her name reverses to the name of actress Pompeo)

15) Malfunctioning, slangily

16) All lathered up

17) Synonym for "spooky" that's mostly vowels

18) Relish, as a relish-covered hot dog

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Mixed Doubles 10

It's been almost two weeks since my tenth "Mixed Doubles" puzzle was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the eighteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Perry Groot
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Tyler Hinman
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• Alex Milton

Now head below the break for the answers!