PUZZLE #502: The Block List 6

PUZZLE #502

THE BLOCK LIST 6

In each numbered row of squares, fill in the squares of each color with one of the given words below from the set of that color, keeping the letters in their original order, so that the entire row spells out a single longer word. However, you have to figure out what each smaller, color-coded word is based on the clues given.

Once you're done with the first four rows, enter the letters of the remaining words into the last row of squares similarly to spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a summertime movie whose title is more than one word.

RED WORDS

• Ending for "Velvet" or "Hallow"

• Give away a secret, verbally

• Greenish-blue hue on a Jacksonville Jaguar's jersey

• _____, Lose or Draw (game show co-created by Burt Reynolds and Bert Convy)

BLUE WORDS

• Double-decker disc in a game of checkers

• Get _____ of (throw away)

• "Golden" body of water in the name of a Henry Fonda film

• Moonves who's been married to Julie Chen since 2004

GREEN WORDS

• Feathery tool used to write the Declaration of Independence

• It's initially $35 for Park Place in Monopoly

• Japanese lunch box (Anagram of "T-BONE")

• _____ the Hedge (DreamWorks film where Bruce Willis voices a raccoon)

ORANGE WORDS

• Hurt in the head

• "It's fun to _____ at the Y.M.C.A." (lyrics to a disco hit)

• Native American corn

• Parts of Apple computers, or central parts of apples

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 20

It's been almost two weeks since my 500th puzzle on this website was published, and nineteen people have successfully solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Wendy Walker
• Josie Giles
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Pavel Curtis
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Derek Allen
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #501: Pieces of Nine 12

PUZZLE #501

PIECES OF NINE 12

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make nine 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: the two-word name of a company

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: Touchword 2

It's been almost two weeks since "Touchword 2" was posted on this blog, and just like last week, an astounding twenty people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• M. Sean Molley
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Josie Giles
• Derek Allen
• KeoFam
• Darth
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #500: Pent Words 20

PUZZLE #500

PENT WORDS 20

It's been almost 10 years since I've started this blog, and today, I reach an important milestone of 500 puzzles! I sincerely thank you and everyone else who has supported me up to this point, and I'm truly grateful for all of you helping me keep this little blog going for so long. Now, for my 500th puzzle, I've decided to go back to basics, all the way to my very first puzzle on this site: Pent Words! The directions are the same as usual (save for a very minor twist regarding the Final Answer), but if you want a refresher on what those instructions entail, then read on!

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 three unclued pentominoes to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a three-word phrase

ACROSS (Two answers per row)

1) Guilty party

    The _____ & Stimpy Show

2) Moved on one's stomach, like a baby

    Midriff muscles, for short

3) Video game walkthrough, e.g.

    It's provided by a mythical fountain sought after by Ponce de León

4) The Jetsons dog with the same original voice actor (and speech impediment) as Scooby-Doo

    One of 12 grinders in a human mouth

5) Bring under control

    "You _____ Love a Bad Name" (Bon Jovi song)

6) Architectural blueprint

    Soaks in the tub

7) Defunct company that published NBA Jam for Super Nintendo (EASIER CLUE: Enthusiastic praise)

    Post-op stop in a hosp.

8) Word preceding "year" or "frog"

    Dinner table linen that can be folded like origami

9) Any possible reward for correctly matching panels in Classic Concentration

    Cliff's projection

10) Sand trap or thin ice, say

      _____-N-Pepa (female rap duo)

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)

• FIRST PART OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• SECOND PART OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• THIRD PART OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• First Greek letter

• Last Greek letter

• _____ and Present Danger (Harrison Ford film)

• Handed out hands of cards

• Don't be a greedy hog

• Mel who was the original voice for both Bugs and Daffy

• I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense character named after Canada's national tree

• Mea _____ (Latin for "my fault")

• Geeky-sounding hard candy

• Most populated city in the United Arab Emirates

• Tween girl whose inner emotions are the main characters of Pixar's Inside Out

• Fill a Toyota's tank: 2 wds.

• Popeye's girlfriend

• Not as narrow

• Mad _____ You ('90s sitcom)

• Taking to court

• Stock market movement

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: Central Scramble 7

It's been about two weeks since "Central Scramble 7" was posted on this blog, and an extremely impressive twenty people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Stasi Gustafson
• Tamara Brenner
• Chris Kochmanski
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Josie Giles
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• KeoFam
• Lynn Sweeney
• Derek Allen
• Tower
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #499: Touchword 2

PUZZLE #499

TOUCHWORD 2

This puzzle (suggested by Patron Grant Fikes) contains a word or phrase 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!

In a normal crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they simply touch. More specifically, all answers read across each numbered row (ranging from two to three answers per row), and every letter touches, along an edge, at least one identical letter above or below it. Since the top and bottom rows also loop around and connect with each other, they're considered touching as well.

Once everything is filled out, read out the highlighted diagonal line for the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a strategy video game

1) It makes teeth less yellow

    Headache medicine whose name was originally trademarked by Bayer

2) _____ cookie (Chinese restaurant staple not invented in China)

    Speak hoarsely

    Pink-haired singer from AI: The Somnium Files (or an eye's colored part)

3) 1040, for one

    Incredible or imaginary

    Peels a pomegranate

4) Pearl-producing bivalve seen in several episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants

    Tornado warning sound

    Like baseball bases that all have runners on them

5) Turner _____ Movies (cable network airing films from the '30s and '40s)

    Removed Jell-O from a star-shaped hole, perhaps (anagram of MUDDLE ON)

6) Feathery neckwear for drag queens

    Household appliance that sucks, literally

    Unable to see, like the Marvel superhero Daredevil

7) Latin American hero Simón

    Speaking indistinctly

8) Indonesian island located to the east of East Java

    On-campus quarters

    Joseph and the _____ Technicolor Dreamcoat (Broadway musical)

9) Bullfighter

    Costco Connection, Cosmopolitan, or Car and Driver

10) "Heavy" rock genre for Manowar and GWAR

      Nonexistent oasis in the desert, usually

      One of the letters in "VP"

11) Shoot another take for a movie

      A Flock of Seagulls hit subtitled "(So Far Away)": 2 wds.

      Boot out of an apartment

12) Mandrill who famously lifts up baby Simba at the beginning of The Lion King

      Grassy South American plain

      Count calories

13) Drug such as the second answer in row 1

      More perplexing

14) _____ & Ferb (long-running Disney Channel series)

      Grammy-winning trumpeter Alpert

      Stinky stench

15) Complain, complain, complain

      A reborn phoenix rises from these

      The fifth element

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 13

It's been nearly two weeks since "Link-Letters 13" was posted on this blog, and an impressive nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Tower
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom & Alex Milton
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #498: Central Scramble 7

PUZZLE #498

CENTRAL SCRAMBLE 7

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: an adjective that can also be a proper noun

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!