PUZZLE #511: Zigzagnut 8

PUZZLE #511

ZIGZAGNUT 8

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 video game made by Nintendo

ROWS (in random order; each contains two answers)

• Command from the king

  Pokémon that can evolve into Vaporeon, Flareon, and six others (answer hidden in SLEEVE ENDS)

• Bering _____ (waterway separating Russia and Alaska)

  Diet that's high in fat, but low in carbs

• Lloyd's telekinetic little sister from Lloyd in Space (anagram of FINANCER)

  Tennis racket's handle

• Fresca, Fanta, or Faygo, for one

  _____ Row (London street with many tailors)

• Wooden ducks

  Sci-fi princess with a "cinnamon bun" hairdo

• Motion picture's place

  McGregor who starred in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries on Disney+

• In an emotionless manner, comparable to a statue

  Got along with

• Square-shaped cereal used to make the snack Muddy Buddies

  Same old story, same old song and dance

• "_____ Like a Back Road" (country song by Sam Hunt)

  Restaurant's atmosphere

• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers villainess Repulsa (or EGOT winner Moreno)

  One of Bob Marley's backup singers

• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

  Walked onstage

ZIGZAGS
1) _____ butterfly (people person)

2) Resident of Aarhus, Aalborg, or Copenhagen

3) Siri-like A.I. who dated Joaquin Phoenix's character in the 2013 movie Her

4) What Nielsen ratings measure

5) Emulated the Tower of Pisa

6) Wrench-wielding worker such as Tails from the Sonic the Hedgehog games

7) Calm, cool, and collected

8) Killer Krueger

9) Country with the Temple of Olympian Zeus (or rather, what's left of it)

10) Like the hooved feet of giraffes and goats: Hyph.

11) "Peace of Mind" rock band, or the state capital they hail from

12) The _____ Horror (haunted house film starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder)

13) Systems of trains, train tracks, train stations, and so on

14) Take long steps

15) Peninsula containing Spain and Portugal

16) Mexican food sometimes served as a Tuesday special

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: Empty Word Ladder 4

It's been almost two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 4" was posted on this blog, and an impressive twenty people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

PUZZLE #510: Pathfinder 5

PUZZLE #510

PATHFINDER 5

This puzzle type was suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Normally, you can suggest a puzzle type of your own choice over on my Patreon page, but both slots are full at the moment, so you might have to resort to PayPal if you still want to make a request of your own.

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in the indicated direction, and makes at least one right-angled turn as it winds through the grid. When you're finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Once the grid is filled out, there should be another entry inside it that doesn't have a corresponding clue, nor does it start in a numbered space. This unlisted word is this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a nerdy cartoon character

1W) Elvis Presley's middle name [4]

2W) Bearded dwarflike creatures from Gravity Falls [6]

3E) Dots in numbers like 2.71828 and 3.14159 [7 6]

4S) Beaded calculator [6]

5N) Snake-eating relative of ferrets [8]

6N) Wrens' residences [5]

7N) Long Island _____ tea (drink that doesn't even have tea) [4]

8N) Mexican Mrs. [6]

9N) "Same here!" [1 2 3]

10N) Allen Funt-hosted prank show that debuted on TV in 1948 [6 6]

11N) Gold bar [5]

12E) White bird used in classic magic tricks [4]

13N) Harshly reprimand [7]

14N) 1996 movie musical where Madonna sings "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" [5]

15S) _____ Armstrong (elastic action figure) [7]

16E) Coughing Revenge of the Sith character who can wield four lightsabers at once [7 8]

17W) Less than zero [8]

18S) Stick that one uses to stuff a cannonball down a cannon [6]

18S again) Mischievous little imp [6]

19N) Making a face like a purple McDonaldland character? [9]

20S) The _____ Bucket (restaurant from SpongeBob SquarePants that serves ground-up bait) [4]

21S) Handyman's kit [7]

22S) Purple plants which are New Hampshire's state flowers [6]

23W) College student’s quarters [4]

24W) Joe Biden's wife [4]

24E) Oxymoronic shrimp size [5]

25E) Robbed during a riot [6]

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 8

It's been about two weeks since "Flower Power 8" was posted on this blog, and twenty people have successfully solved it since then, as you an see in the list below:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #509: Empty Word Ladder 4

PUZZLE #509

EMPTY WORD LADDER 4

In normal word ladders, you have to turn one word into another word by changing it one letter at a time (such as CAT — COT — DOT — DOG). However, this word ladder is completely blank, meaning that the starting and ending words are completely unknown. To fill it in, we've provided clues to all of the words that link the two mystery words, though they're not listed in any particular order. Rearrange the clues' answers so that they form a proper word ladder in the white spaces, then figure out the two mystery words on the ladder's top and bottom, signified by the yellow spaces. Combine both words in either order to create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word tennis term or a two-word surfing term.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Beagle, Borzoi, Briard, or some other specific dog type

• Five Guys Burgers and _____

• Growing _____ (sitcom that lasted seven seasons)

• Handlebar coverings

• Island excursions given away as prizes on Wheel of Fortune, say

• Loaf that you can bake in the computer game Ultima VII

• Makes an attempt

• Puts on a few pounds

• Radio DJ Alan who was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

• Smiles like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland

• Unshackles

• Watching this dry is insanely boring, according to a well-known idiom

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: Drop Tower 12

It's been nearly two weeks since "Drop Tower 12" was posted on this blog, and an impressive twenty people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #508: Flower Power 8

PUZZLE #508

FLOWER POWER 8

This puzzle 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!

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), and combine them both to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of an optical illusion

CLOCKWISE

1) New Agey auras

2) Quickly sped-through section of "The Alphabet Song"

3) Little bits, or letters in Ancient Greece

4) "¡Hasta _____!" (Spanish for "See you later!")

5) "Get _____ of yourself, man!": 2 wds.

6) Dull metallic thump

7) Like a barely audible sound

8) Material used for Beanie Babies and other stuffed toys

9) Soup stock

10) Libel and slander, for two

11) Sam who directed both Evil Dead II and Spider-Man 2

12) Act overdramatically

13) Swizzle _____

14) Burr played by Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton

15) Added to the staff

16) Sam Cooke song named after a Valentine's Day icon

17) Made a mosaic

18) One creating a leaf pile

COUNTERCLOCKWISE

1) Logically sound

2) Gave a thumbs-up to a post on Facebook, perhaps,

3) Implant firmly: Var.

4) Introvert

5) Bugattis, Ferraris, and Infinitis

6) Like anything that costs less than a dollar

7) Gives a severe whupping to with a whip

8) São _____, Brazil

9) Duck hunter's hideout

10) Part of an elm or an elephant

11) Hens' house

12) The Day the _____ Stood Still ('50s sci-fi film)

13) "Will 2K" rapper Will

14) The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy creator Maxwell (or molecule parts)

15) Caribbean country east of Jamaica

16) Sorceress from Greek myths who often turns her enemies into pigs

17) Titular dinosaur hunter from a 1997 Nintendo 64 game (answer hidden in ARTURO KENNY)

18) Mature like a melon

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: Anacrossword 5

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Anacrossword 5" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

PUZZLE #507: Drop Tower 12

PUZZLE #507

DROP TOWER 12

Starting with an 8-letter word on top of the "tower", drop one letter and rearrange the rest to form a 7-letter word. Continue this process until only a 2-letter word remains. Since the tower is completely blank, use the randomly-ordered clues to figure out the words that go in each row.

Once the grid is completely filled in, look inside it for this week's FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word that can be read going down and in a straight diagonal line.

CLUES

• Influential animator Iwerks (answer hidden in DOUBLES)

• Like the "Eye" in the title of a Toni Morrison book

• "No ifs, ands, or _____!"

• Not nearly as blatant

• Port on a PC

• Squeezable paint containers

• Winnie the Pooh and the _____ Day (Oscar-winning short film)

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: Dial Tunes 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Dial Tunes 5" was published on this website, and a whopping twenty-one people have successfully solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!