Monday, April 22, 2024
PUZZLE #488: Gryptics 8
Sunday, April 21, 2024
ANSWERS: Slide Show: Double Feature 6
Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Slide Show: Double Feature 6" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Chris Kochmanski
- Sam Levitin
- Josie Giles
- Mom
- KeoFam
- Lynn Sweeney
- Tower
- Wendy Walker
- Patrick Jordan
- Tamara Brenner
- Steve Gunter
- Stasi Gustafson
Monday, April 15, 2024
PUZZLE #487: Masquerade Party 3
Once everything has been correctly filled out, the letters that have been replaced by symbols will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a movie that has been nominated for the Best Costume Design Oscar
DISGUISES
Sunday, April 14, 2024
ANSWERS: Insiders 3
It's been almost two weeks since "Insiders 3" was posted on this blog, and a whopping nineteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the following list:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Sam Levitin
- Chris Kochmanski
- Josie Giles
- Tower
- Wendy Walker
- Michael Lebowitz
- Patrick Jordan
- Mom
- Tamara Brenner
- Lynn Sweeney
- KeoFam
- Bart Gold
- Steve Gunter
Monday, April 8, 2024
PUZZLE #486: Slide Show: Double Feature 6
In each of the two puzzles below, slide the 18 letters surrounding each grid into the empty squares so that four words are made reading across and five words are formed reading down. Letters above and below the grids slide vertically to any position without changing columns, and letters to the left and right slide horizontally without changing rows. All of the exterior letters are used only once, and as a help, each grid has two letters already placed inside.
Once both grids have been filled in, pick out one word from each and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: the two-word name of a #1 song from the 1960s
Sunday, April 7, 2024
ANSWERS: Section Six 10
It's been almost two weeks since my tenth "Section Six" puzzle was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Michael Lebowitz
- Josie Giles
- Mike Armstrong
- Chris Kochmanski
- Tamara Brenner
- Mom
- Sam Levitin
- Wendy Walker
- KeoFam
- Tower
- Lynn Sweeney
- Steve Gunter
Monday, April 1, 2024
PUZZLE #485: Insiders 3
Sunday, March 31, 2024
ANSWERS: Moving Staircases 14
It's been about two weeks since "Moving Staircases 14" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:
- Grant Fikes
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Bart Gold
- Michael Lebowitz
- Mike Armstrong
- Josie Giles
- Chris Kochmanski
- Tamara Brenner
- Wendy Walker
- Tower
- KeoFam
- Sam Levitin
- Patrick Jordan
- Mom
- Lynn Sweeney
- SquishmallowsUnited
- Steve Gunter
Monday, March 25, 2024
PUZZLE #484: Section Six 10
Once you're done, unscramble the six spaces with stars in them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word.
RING 1
1) Turn the Big Wheel on The Price is Right, say
Sunday, March 24, 2024
ANSWERS: Compound Crosswords 10
It's been nearly two weeks since "Compound Crosswords 10" was posted on this blog, and a whopping nineteen people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- M. Sean Molley
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Michael Lebowitz
- Mike Armstrong
- Wendy Walker
- Chris Kochmanski
- Tamara Brenner
- Tower
- Mom
- Sam Levitin
- Patrick Jordan
- Josie Giles
- Steve Gunter
- Lynn Sweeney
- KeoFam
Monday, March 18, 2024
PUZZLE #483: Moving Staircases 14
The two staircase-shaped halves of a "Moving Staircases" puzzle are designed to be pushed together in two different ways, horizontally and vertically. A horizontal push creates shorter words ("Shorts"), while a vertical push creates longer words ("Longs"). The example above shows a completed grid and the grids that result from pushing it both ways. The lists of clues given for the Shorts and Longs are not in order; it's up to you to determine where the answers go by working back and forth between the two lists.
Once you've completely filled out the grid, the FINAL ANSWER (a two-word phrase or the name of a film from the early 2010s) will be hidden inside it; one of the words is hidden horizontally (is it a Short or a Long? that's up to you to find out!), while the other is hidden vertically.
SHORTS
Sunday, March 17, 2024
ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 4
Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Sudokurostic 4" was posted on this blog, and quite a few people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Tamara Brenner
- Michael Lebowitz
- Sam Levitin
- Steve Gunter
- Patrick Jordan
- Mom
- Josie Giles
- Wendy Walker
- Lynn Sweeney
- Tower
- Chris Kochmanski
Monday, March 11, 2024
PUZZLE #482: Compound Crosswords 10
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 or compound word. 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
Sunday, March 10, 2024
ANSWERS: Family Reunions 7
It's been almost two weeks since "Family Reunions 7" was posted on this blog, and an impressive nineteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the following list:
- Cindy Heisler
- Grant Fikes
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Wendy Walker
- Sam Levitin
- Mom
- Tamara Brenner
- Chris Kochmanski
- Patrick Jordan
- Bart Gold
- KeoFam
- Josie Giles
- Michael Lebowitz
- Tower
- Steve Gunter
- Lynn Sweeney
Monday, March 4, 2024
PUZZLE #481: Sudokurostic 4
Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: an adjective that's at least six letters long
• Collarbone
Sunday, March 3, 2024
ANSWERS: Loopy Links
It's been almost two weeks since I debuted a brand-new-to-this-blog puzzle format in the form of "Loopy Links", and seventeen people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Pavel Curtis
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Sam Levitin
- Chris Kochmanski
- Tamara Brenner
- KeoFam
- Mom
- Tower
- Josie Giles
- Steve Gunter
- Wendy Walker
- Lynn Sweeney
Monday, February 26, 2024
PUZZLE #480: Family Reunions 7
Sunday, February 25, 2024
ANSWERS: Chess Words 4
It's been about two weeks since "Chess Words 4" was posted on this blog. I personally view it as one of the more difficult puzzle types that I do for this blog, but this particular one got a record-high of seventeen people!
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Pavel Curtis
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Josie Giles
- Michael Lebowitz
- Sam Levitin
- Tamara Brenner
- KeoFam
- Tower
- Wendy Walker
- Mom
- Chris Kochmanski
- Steve Gunter
- Lynn Sweeney
Monday, February 19, 2024
PUZZLE #479: Loopy Links
Sunday, February 18, 2024
ANSWERS: Vanishing Act 4
It's been nearly two weeks since "Vanishing Act 4" was posted on this blog, and a whopping nineteen people have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Pavel Curtis
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Josie Giles
- Sam Levitin
- Michael Lebowitz
- Patrick Jordan
- Tamara Brenner
- Wendy Walker
- Steve Gunter
- KeoFam
- Chris Kochmanski
- Tower
- Mom
- Lynn Sweeney
- Bart Gold
Monday, February 12, 2024
PUZZLE #478: Chess Words 4
King: one space in any of the eight directions
Rook: any number of spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction
Bishop: any number of spaces in a diagonal direction
Queen: any number of spaces in any of the eight directions
Knight: two spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction and then one space in a perpendicular direction
Once all the words have been found, read down the last letter of each filled-in word, in order, to get the FINAL ANSWER: an 8-letter word
Queen's Rook: B _ _ _ _ _ _ _
a1
Queen's Knight: G _ _ _ _ _ _ _
b1
Queen's Bishop: L _ _ _ _ _ _ _
c1
Queen: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _
d1
King: S _ _ _ _ _ _ _
e1
King's Bishop: M _ _ _ _ _ _ _
f1
King's Knight: T _ _ _ _ _ _ _
g1
King's Rook: H _ _ _ _ _ _ _
h1
CLUES
• Bothersome bloodsucker
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!
Sunday, February 11, 2024
ANSWERS: Helter Skelter 8
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Michael Lebowitz
- Mike Armstrong
- Josie Giles
- Chris Kochmanski
- Sam Levitin
- Steve Gunter
- Wendy Walker
- Tamara Brenner
- KeoFam
- Mom
- Patrick Jordan
- Lynn Sweeney
- Tower
Monday, February 5, 2024
PUZZLE #477: Vanishing Act 4
Once you've completed everything, the letters that have been added back in, in order, will form another incomplete string of letters. Insert three more of the same letter to get the FINAL ANSWER: an 11-letter noun associated with the Armed Forces
Sunday, February 4, 2024
ANSWERS: Squeezed in the Middle 20
It's been almost two weeks since my 20th "Squeezed in the Middle" puzzle was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the following list:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Chris Kochmanski
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Patrick Jordan
- Sam Levitin
- Tamara Brenner
- KeoFam
- Mom
- Lynn Sweeney
- Wendy Walker
- Perry Groot
- Steve Gunter
- Bart Gold
Monday, January 29, 2024
PUZZLE #476: Helter Skelter 8
Sunday, January 28, 2024
ANSWERS: Color Wheels 5
It's been almost two weeks since "Color Wheels 5" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then (the most I've gotten for this puzzle type!). Take a look:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Pavel Curtis
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Sam Levitin
- Chris Kochmanski
- Mom
- Wendy Walker
- Patrick Jordan
- Lynn Sweeney
- Bart Gold
- Tamara Brenner
- Steve Gunter
- Perry Groot
Monday, January 22, 2024
PUZZLE #475: Squeezed in the Middle 20
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: the name of a person born in 1920
CENTERS
Sunday, January 21, 2024
ANSWERS: Line 'Em Up 13
It's been about two weeks since "Line 'Em Up 13" got posted on this blog, and thirteen just so happens to be the number of people who have solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Sam Levitin
- Michael Lebowitz
- Chris Kochmanski
- KeoFam
- Wendy Walker
- Lynn Sweeney
- Mom
- Perry Groot
Monday, January 15, 2024
PUZZLE #474: Color Wheels 5
The five- and six-letter answers in this puzzle go in three directions: straight across, uphill (up diagonally), and downhill (down diagonally), all from left to right, with one letter per triangle. Each entry is marked with a colored pointer: red for across, green for uphill, and blue for downhill. This is important, because all the answers are grouped according to the direction that they're entered into the grid. To make things a tad easier, six letters have already been entered into the grid.
Once you've completely filled in the grid, the two unclued blue entries will combine to make the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a well-known businessperson
ACROSS (marked with red arrows)
UPHILL (marked with green arrows)
DOWNHILL (marked with blue arrows)
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!
Sunday, January 14, 2024
ANSWERS: Puzzle in the Round 7
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Joe Bernard
- Kevin Orfield
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Sam Levitin
- Wendy Walker
- Chris Kochmanski
- Steve Gunter
- KeoFam
- Tamara Brenner
- Mom
- Lynn Sweeney
Monday, January 8, 2024
PUZZLE #473: Line 'Em Up 13
Sunday, January 7, 2024
ANSWERS: Christmas Presents
Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Christmas Presents" was posted to this blog on Christmas day, which means that it's time for me to unveil the list of everyone who has solved it since then:
- Grant Fikes
- Cindy Heisler
- Chris Kochmanski
- Mike Armstrong
- Michael Lebowitz
- Patrick Jordan
- Sam Levitin
- Mom & Alex Milton
- Tamara Brenner
- Wendy Walker
- Kevin Orfield
- Lynn Sweeney
Monday, January 1, 2024
PUZZLE #472: Puzzle in the Round 7
Happy New Year! Since it's officially New Year's Day, I've made sure that my first puzzle of 2024 also involves the New Year (kinda)! Take a look: