PUZZLE #572: Slot Machine 6

PUZZLE #572

SLOT MACHINE 6

In this Slot Machine, the Row answers are entered normally, from left to right in the order of the clues given. The Tumbler answers going down are entered in the same way, but all of the Tumblers have been "spun", meaning that the Tumblers' answers can start in any row and continue downwards. When a set of Tumbler answers hit the bottom of the grid, it continues at the start of the same column that it started in. There's also a "Jackpot Answer" that consists of the first letters of the first answer of each Tumbler. In the example above, the Rows spell out INN, TIE, and WOW, while the Tumblers spell out WIT, ION, and NEW, and the first letter of each Tumbler spell out WIN.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer to the Jackpot.

JACKPOT
• Comic book superhero who hails from the future: ? wds.

ROWS

1) Changed back

    Alter _____ (secret identity)

2) Lacy placemats

    Hilda or Zelda, to Sabrina the Teenage Witch

3) Tin Wizard of Oz character wanting a heart

    Went 75 in a 55-MPH zone, e.g.

4) Blue hue of lapis lazuli

    Duplicate a duplicate paper

5) Fight temptation

    Mr. Marner from a George Eliot novel

6) Apple computers that come in "Mini" and "Pro" models

    _____ in Manila (boxing match where Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier for the last time)

7) Southernmost Great Lake

    Poems for the dearly departed

8) Smugly flattering

    Journey or job, in medieval-themed role-playing games

9) Synonym for "however", minus the "ugh"

    Dying spitting sound

10) "Wah, wah, wah! Cry me a river!": Hyph.

      _____ disco (synth-heavy music genre from a boot-shaped country)

11) Longfin tuna: Var.

      British bar where darts are played

TUMBLERS

1) The _____ of Avon (Shakespeare's nickname)

    The closest you can be without getting hot, in a certain guessing game

2) Move like goop

    Tank top part to stick a limb through

3) Plain to see

    "Arrivederci!"

4) Captain America's circular weapon

    Choir's stage platform

5) It's measured in beats per minute

    _____ and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen film)

6) Of this planet (assuming you're not solving this in outer space)

    Pilfered plunder

7) Necessitates

    Original Super Mario Bros. 2 console: Abbr.

8) No longer having any innards

    Computer text format, or computer art that uses said text: Abbr.

9) Kukla, Fran and _____ (early TV puppet show)

    Wrap a wrist with gauze bandages, say: 2 wds.

10) Drag along with difficulty

      Like the culture of Kathmandu's country

11) Prefix for "functional"

      Multimillion-selling platformer video game released to celebrate PlayStation's 30th anniversary in 2024: 2 wds.

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: Edges of Glory 4

It's been almost two weeks since "Edges of Glory 4" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at the whopping list of the twenty-one people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave C
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Derek Allen
• Stasi Gustafson
• Wendy Walker
• Okieboy2008
• Chris Kochmanski
• Nicholas Weaver
• Mom
• KeoFam
• Steve Gunter
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Craig Leach
• Eli Zarconi

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #571: Eat Your Words 11

PUZZLE #571

EAT YOUR WORDS 11

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the column's new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: A brand name

NUMBERED WORDS

1) Ctrl-V, in Microsoft Paint

2) Failed to tell the truth

3) "_____ Day of My Life" (only hit song by American Authors)

4) Bro's sib, assuming it's not another bro

5) Three Stooges member who often goes "Woo woo woo woo!"

6) Seventh word in "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep"

7) Flamingo's flapping appendage

8) Sword-wielding, Spanish-speaking feline from Shrek 2, for short

EATEN WORDS

• Bad guy or gal, in pro wrestling slang (or the back of a foot)

• "___ bin ein Berliner" (JFK quote)

• Emit light, like the sun

• Many miles away (HINT: it still has the same definition if you remove its first letter)

• Pay for a temporary car from Enterprise, perhaps

• Shortened name for a long automobile

• The Masked Singer panelist and 99 to Beat co-host Jeong

• World-domination board game that Kramer and Newman play in an episode of Seinfeld

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: Honeycomb 7

It's been almost two weeks since "Honeycomb 7" was posted on this blog, and an impressive twenty-one people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Dave C
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Derek Allen
• Wendy Walker
• Okieboy2008
• KeoFam
• Chris Kochmanski
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Steve Gunter
• Eli Zarconi
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Stasi Gustafson

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #570: Edges of Glory 4

PUZZLE #570

EDGES OF GLORY 4

This puzzle type was suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Support me on Patreon at $25 per month to suggest any puzzle type of your choice every month!

There are several squares divided into four triangles each, plus a grid to fit them all into. First, fill in the squares with the 4-letter answers to each corresponding clue, starting with the numbered triangle, and going clockwise. Then, fit all of the filled-out squares into the grid below (without rotating them) so that wherever two squares touch along one of the heavy lines, the letters on both sides of the line are the same.

Once everything's in its proper place, the outer edges of the grid, when read clockwise, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a Grammy-winning song

1) Original High Rollers host Trebek

2) "New Look" fashion designer Christian

3) Native American tribe from Arizona

4) Mary-_____ Olsen (celebrity twin)

5) Leg joint with a silent letter

6) Open a previously saved game in a computer game, say

7) Semiaquatic salamander whose young is called an "eft"

8) Glass sheet bought during window shopping?

9) Lateralus prog-metal band (or a hammer or screwdriver, e.g.)

10) Candy bar consisting of a cookie covered with caramel and chocolate

11) Sneaky, like the toon that chases Road Runner

12) "Weird Al" song about a Star Wars character "who looks like a Muppet, but he's wrinkled and green"

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: Chain Reaction: Branching Out 6

Two weeks have passed by since "Chain Reaction: Branching Out 6" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to look at everyone who has solved it since then;

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Dave C
• Kevin Orfield
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Okieboy2008
• Lynn Sweeney
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis
• Derek Allen
• KeoFam
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Eli Zarconi

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #569: Honeycomb 7

PUZZLE #569

HONEYCOMB 7

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!

Each six-letter word is to be entered clockwise or counterclockwise around the correspondingly numbered black cell, though the direction and starting point of each answer is for you to determine.

Once the grid has been filled out, the colored hexagons, when read either clockwise or counterclockwise (but not both at once), will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a 6-letter word

1) Sips soup noisily

2) "O Holy Night" and "O Christmas Tree", e.g.

3) Prison guard

4) Fabrics sold at a white sale

5) _____, She Wrote (mystery TV series starring Angela Lansbury)

6) Measurement of three-dimensional space

7) Huge crowds of people

8) Pelted with pebbles, perhaps

9) Related to speech sounds

10) Donut relative whose name is French for "flash of lightning"

11) Tuskegee _____ (African-American pilots from WWII)

12) A.I. Artificial Intelligence director Spielberg

13) Someone who plays unfinished video games in order to find glitches and bugs

14) Can't help but do it: 2 wds.

15) Little _____ Annie (former comic strip)

16) Contact lens solution

17) Biblical book following Song of Solomon

18) Tony-nominated actor Slater and Oscar-nominated actor Hawke, for two

19) Incorrect guess on Family Feud signified by a big red "X"

20) Shakespearean agreement

21) Dressing table for an egotist?

22) Black-and-white tile used in the New York Times online game "Pips"

23) Strong urge

24) Strong urge for a drink

25) It's what the pot called black in an idiom calling out hypocrisy

26) Dissimilar

27) _____ veiled (barely concealed)

28) With "The", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" band (EASIER CLUE: Horseshoe forgers)

29) Heifer relatives such as Heffer from Rocko's Modern Life

30) Clown's walking sticks?

31) Multicar crash: Hyph.

32) Chastise or penalize, such as giving a time-out

33) Serpents' sounds

34) Twizzlers Filled _____ (swirly licorice candy with creamy stuff in the middle)

35) Platinum-selling single from Devo's platinum-selling album Freedom of Choice: 2 wds.

36) Capote actor Seymour Hoffman

37) Goes from second to third gear, say

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: Wordy Web 7

Two weeks have passed by since "Wordy Web 7" was posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Dave C
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Derek Allen
• Wendy Walker
• KeoFam
• Okieboy2008
• Patrick Jordan
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Eli Zarconi
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #568: Chain Reaction: Branching Out 6

PUZZLE #568

CHAIN REACTION: BRANCHING OUT 6

First, find the answers to the clues, which are listed in alphabetical order of their answers. The bracketed numbers at the end of each clue are the lengths of each answer. Then, place the answers into the white boxes in the diagram below (leave the pink box alone for now) so that reading right, each pair of boxes that are connected with a line create a two-word phrase or compound word. As an additional help, some of the boxes have numbers in front of them; those signify the length of the words that will be entered in them, ensuring there's only one way all of the words will fit together.

The FINAL ANSWER is the three-letter animal that goes in the pink box to create three more words or phrases.

• Superlative adjective in the name of every Academy Award category [4]

• Get on a plane or a train [5]

• Ride a bike downhill without pedaling [5]

• Not at all the same [9]

• ↓ [4]

• They're molted by mallards [8]

• Back and _____ (to and fro) [5]

• Puzzle magazine that often has "Mixed Doubles" crosswords [5]

• Angels' abode [6]

• Synonym for "comprehends" that sounds like a part of the face [5]

• ZZ Top song with the lyrics "She never begs, she knows how to choose them" [4]

• "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a _____" (Groucho Marx quip) [6]

• Stuffing a suitcase before a vacation [7]

• _____ Sajak's Trivia Gems (casual computer game from 2006) [3]

• Like emails that have successfully left the outbox [4]

• Istanbul's country [6]

• Mrs Dalloway author Woolf [8]

• Buzzard relative that flies in circles over its prey [7]

• Do the dishes [4]

• Envelope-pushing movie actress Mae who starred in She Done Him Wrong [4]

• The _____ Robot (Dreamworks film where the title character raises a gosling to adulthood) [4]

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: Anagram Chambers 13

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Anagram Chambers 13" was posted on this blog, and an astounding twenty-one people have solved it since then!

• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Dave C
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Okieboy2008
• KeoFam
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Ryon Chan
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Nicholas Weaver
• Eli Zarconi

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

PUZZLE #567: Wordy Web 7

PUZZLE #567

WORDY WEB 7

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' starting 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: the name of a horror computer game

CIRCLES
1) Apple products whose models include 3GS, XR, and 17 Pro Max

    Serious show like Shogun or SEAL Team

    Fur trader John Jacob

    In genuine need of closed captioning on TV programs, perhaps

    Thin-waisted, like a certain insect similar to a hornet

2) Chinese territory with a gambling industry seven times bigger than Vegas'

    Rocket propulsion

    Mann who once sang with the new wave group ‘Til Tuesday

    _____ del Fuego (South American archipelago)

3) Rectangular campus area

    Platinum-selling Lady Gaga album with "Applause"

    Type of tournament open to all skill levels: Hyph.

    Like the verbs "creep" and "weep": Abbr.

4) Segments in matches of fighting games like Mortal Kombat

    _____ even keel: 2 wds.

    Deck boss, briefly

5) Question the truth of

    Barely-there swimwear that's the subject of a Sisqo song

6) "All ______!" ("Hurry up and get on the train!")

STRANDS

A) Camera-_____ (hates being photographed)

B) Black Widow and Centipede developer

C) Prepared a key-powered mechanical mouse: 2 wds.

D) Websites' help pages

    Garbage

E) .PDF file viewer from Adobe

    "Do you want it for here _____ go?": 2 wds.

F) Tiny insertable headphones made by Raycon

    Smallest country in the Himalayas

G) Key of Beethoven's ninth symphony: 2 wds.

     Chocolate-coated snack consisting of marshmallow stuffing between two circular Graham crackers: 2 wds.

H) Muslim's month of fasting

     Center fielder DiMaggio and comic actor DeLuise, for two

I) Shortened form of a long-armed ape's name

   Drove too fast

J) With "The", Iron Maiden song about a cavalry soldier in the Crimean War

K) Mattress company that filed for (and emerged from) Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023

L) Ready, _____, fire!

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 6

It's been almost two weeks since "Dial Tunes 6" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at all nineteen people who have solved it since then:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Steve Gunter
• Eli Zarconi
• Okieboy2008
• Wendy Walker
• Derek Allen
• Ryon Chan
• KeoFam
• Nicholas Weaver
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #566: Anagram Chambers 13

PUZZLE #566

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 13

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!

For this puzzle, there are several dark-green "chambers" with yellow rectangles and light green squares in them. For each chamber, you take a word in the first yellow rectangle as hinted at by the clue, add a letter from the light green square, and scramble them to get a word in the second yellow rectangle, then you repeat the process to get the word in the third yellow rectangle. Unfortunately, none of the chambers are labeled, and all seven sets of clues are in no particular order, so you have to figure out which set of answers go to which proper chamber so the columns of light green squares will both spell out words reading vertically.

Once all of the chambers are in the correct order, the light green squares will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase

• [Much too thin] + _ = [Chewy stuff in a Snickers bar other than caramel] + _ = [Regular place for casual meetings]

• [Many of these make up a mustache, maybe] + _ = [Louisiana's version of a county] + _ = [Blimp or zeppelin, say]

• [Bowling alleys] + _ = [_____ & Gretel and the Enchanted Castle (1995 computer game)] + _ = [Let loose the dogs from their restraints]

• [Last name of Beverly from Stephen King's It (or a bog)] + _ = [Sultans' slews of spouses] + _ = [Mr. Peabody's time-traveling partner in some Rocky & Bullwinkle segments]

• [Bee that can’t even sting] + _ = ["Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" singer Stevie] + _ = [Topped with a tiara]

• [Scour with a Scotch-Brite pad] + _ = [Speedy solvers of certain toys created by Erno Rubik] + _ = [Practically unknown to almost everybody]

• [Blow one's top, like Mount Etna on a bad day] + _ = [_____ Rico] + _ = [Stance such as a slouch]

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: The Block List 7

It's been almost two weeks since "The Block List 7" got posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Wendy Walker
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Eli Zarconi
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• Ryon Chan
• Steve Gunter
• Adam Weaver
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• KeoFam

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #565: Dial Tunes 6

PUZZLE #565

DIAL TUNES 6

This puzzle type was suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Support me on Patreon at $25 per month to suggest any puzzle type of your choice every month!

First, answer as many of the numbered clues as you can and enter them into the first grid. Each clue ends with an arrow indicating the direction its answer should be entered: from top to bottom [↓], from bottom to top [↑], or even either way [↕]. For example, if the answers were JIB [↓], IRE [↓], SAD [↑], EVE [↕], AT [↑], and O [↕], you would enter them like this:

Next, try to decode the message (in the form of song lyrics) by replacing every circled letter with another letter that shares the same number on a telephone keypad, which we've provided on top of these directions (for example, B can be replaced by A or C). The decoded message should be entered into the second grid, as shown here (note that the bold vertical lines indicate divisions between words):

(From "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

The FINAL ANSWER is the name of the song containing the decoded lyrics.

Place the answers to the following clues here

1) Myrtle Beach’s st. [↓]

2) Rocker Diddley who played on a distinctive rectangular guitar [↑]

3) Obtained victory [↓]

4) Result of a successful turn in Battleship [↓]

5) Biblical shepherd slain by Cain [↓]

6) Tall Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends character named after NBA star Chamberlain [↑]

7) Sleepyheaded protagonist of Little Busters! (answer hidden in STRIKING) [↑]

8) Centers of car wheels [↑]

9) Acclaimed Charli XCX album with a lime-green cover and zero Top 40 hits (unless you count its remixed version) [↑]

10) Soil-scraping garden tools [↓]

11) Second-largest Hawaiian island, after Hawaii [↑]

12) NFL player's most reasonable option for 4th and long [↓]

13) Company that's still making Beanie Babies even after 30+ years [↑]

Place the decoded lyrics here

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: Word Squares: Projectors 8

Two weeks have passed by since "Word Squares: Projectors 8" was posted on this blog, and it proved to be a toughie, as the number of solvers dipped a bit to sixteen:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Wendy Walker
• Chris Kochmanski
• Mom [Hints Used]
• Adam Weaver
• Steve Gunter
• Sam Levitin
• Lynn Sweeney
• Derek Allen
• Eli Zarconi
• Stasi Gustafson

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

PUZZLE #564: The Block List 7

PUZZLE #564

THE BLOCK LIST 7

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 long-running reality show whose title is more than one word.

RED WORDS

• Bubsy, for one (HINT: He starts out his first video game with nine lives)

• Frankenweenie director and The Nightmare Before Christmas producer Burton

• Kellogg–Briand _____ (peace treaty that has nothing to do with cereal)

• Landform that follows "Blueberry" or "Bunker"

BLUE WORDS

• Egyptian city where the Great Sphinx is located

• Sorts (answer hidden in MILKSHAKES)

• The "D" in the racing abbreviation "DNF"

• "_____ Way You Want It" (Journey single certified four times platinum in 2024)

GREEN WORDS

• Area of a cow where a T-bone steak is chopped out of

• Climbing plant that Tarzan may climb up

• Rank for Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in M*A*S*H

• "Time _____ all wounds"

ORANGE WORDS

• 1995 animated film about a sled dog involved in 1925's serum run to Nome

• Holiest of holy cities in Islam

• Jasmine _____ (grain grown in Thailand)

• To whom Robin Hood gives after he steals from the rich

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 9

Two weeks have passed by since "Flower Power 9" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Okieboy2008
• Derek Allen
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Adam Weaver
• Wendy Walker
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #563: Word Squares: Projectors 8

PUZZLE #563

WORD SQUARES: PROJECTORS 8

There are a series of clues whose answers will fit into the provided grid, reading across and down. However, all of the answers are one letter too long to fit in properly, so each one must have either its first or last letter sticking out (or "projecting" out) of the grid. Once you're done, start at the top left and read the "Projectors" either clockwise or counterclockwise to get another word or phrase. In the example above, the Projectors spell out SAMPLE.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the eight-letter name of a pro wrestler in the WWE Hall of Fame.

CLUES

• Lord in the Middle Ages, or his servant

• No longer follow or get notifications from a YouTube channel, briefly

• Organized group of players in an online role-playing game (or an association of craftsmen)

• Particle that binds quarks together like an adhesive (anagram of "LONG U")

• Shaquille who was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1993

• Sit down and _____ little while (relax): 2 wds.

• Terrible 2018 film where John Travolta played the titular "Teflon Don"

• Undercover agent's info on foes, for short

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: Lucky Sevens 15

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Lucky Sevens 15" was posted on this blog, and plenty of people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Okieboy2008
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• Sam Levitin
• Adam Weaver
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #562: Flower Power 9

PUZZLE #562

FLOWER POWER 9

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 a flowering plant

CLOCKWISE

1) Hawaiian island or a Hawaiian patio

2) "_____ Mind Set on You" (George Harrison song): 2 wds.

3) Complete beginners in online games, slangily

4) Villain from Othello and Jafar's parrot from Aladdin, for two

5) Japanese camera brand used by Veronica Mars

6) Herbie _____ Again (1974 sequel to The Love Bug)

7) Schindler who is buried in Jerusalem

8) Boxes of pre-prepared brownie ingredients

9) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland author Carroll

10) Body minus the head and limbs

11) Gets together, or events where runners get together

12) MTV hidden camera show that host Ashton Kutcher pretended to cancel after season 2

13) Chromosome components

14) Furious

15) John who co-wrote and co-sung "She's Gone" with Daryl Hall

16) Fix a shoelace that didn't get laced properly the first time

17) Ten or more of these equal a first down in football

18) Budapest-born billionaire George

COUNTERCLOCKWISE

1) "Slow" primate from Southeast Asia

2) En _____ (fencing phrase)

3) Taboos for a toddler: Hyph.

4) Greek letters that look like Roman numerals for 1

5) Tennis star Osaka

6) Raccoon from Regular Show who once got turned into a house (yes, really)

7) Greek yogurt brand sold by Dannon

8) Pre-Windows operating system with games such as Commander Keen: Hyph.

9) Compare, but not contrast

10) Southern state with the Bull Riding Hall of Fame

11) Grass-cutting machine

12) Fairies in Persian myth (anagram of SPIRE)

13) _____ Who? (board game with 24 faces to choose from)

14) Slowly, in classical music

15) Sows' sounds

16) Went "Oh my gosh, this is the greatest movie I've ever seen in my life!", maybe

17) Hairy Himalayan creatures of legend

18) Full from food

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: Logicrossword 2

It's been almost two weeks since "Logicrossword 2" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at all of the people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Okieboy2008 [Hint Used]
• Derek Allen
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• Adam Weaver
• Mom [Hints Used]

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #561: Lucky Sevens 15

PUZZLE #561

LUCKY SEVENS 15

Before we get to the directions, I wanted to alert you all that there's been a small change in them. Normally, the FINAL ANSWER is read in the colored squares using the numeric order of the seven Sevens. However, I was unable to get a proper word out of my usual extraction system this time, so I had to resort to having the FINAL ANSWER be read backwards. I put this warning here (and on this puzzle's original post back on my Patreon page) because I'm just paranoid that any solvers who have done this type of puzzle multiple times would go into autopilot and thus get confused that the colored squares don't seem to make a proper word this time. I don't know if those worries of mine would've been justified or not, but what's done is done, so now it's time to get to the directions proper (which aren't nearly as long as this opening paragraph!).

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, read the letters in the colored squares in the reverse order of the Sevens that they appear in (in accordance of the colors of the rainbow, starting with the red square in the Seven marked with a 7) to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter place

ROWS

i) "Mad" messy-haired witch from Disney's The Sword in the Stone

ii) Chimpanzee who escaped from a Serbian zoo twice (or the first parts of a Green Eggs and Ham character)

iii) Birth year of the Roman emperor Claudius, which is about a decade before AD started: 2 wds.

iv) Skyscraper's supporting beam

v) Alex Keaton's "material girl" of a sister in Family Ties

vi) _____ for Godot (play whose title character never shows up)

vii) Giant sea monsters seen in both versions of Clash of the Titans

viii) Credit card company whose cards have a dove hologram on them

ix) Actor Barinholtz who won both Celebrity Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

x) Musical note before the scale loops back to "do"

xi) Letter above a sleeping comic strip character's head

SEVENS

1) "Fly Away" and "Dig In" rock singer Lenny

2) Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii

3) Adjective for a falcon statuette in a Humphrey Bogart movie

4) "_____ Country Song" (platinum-certified country single that hates bro-country): 3 wds.

5) Muscle-to-bone connectors

6) Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy

7) Copycat's talent

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: Coined Phrases 7

It's been almost two weeks since "Coined Phrases 7" got posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• Craig Leach
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Derek Allen

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #560: Logicrossword 2

PUZZLE #560

LOGICROSSWORD 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!

Using the clues below (as well as your vocabulary and logic skills), blacken some cells in the grid and fill the rest with letters to form words that are two or more letters long. All of the resulting words are legal to play in Scrabble, contain at least one vowel, and should be reasonably familiar to most people (those that aren't may be explicitly mentioned in the clues).

Once the grid has been correctly filled out, use it to get the FINAL ANSWER: the longest word in the solved grid which doesn’t contain the letter "T".

• No two black cells share an edge, though some of them do touch at their corners. All the white cells connect each other through their edges.

• There are 13 black cells in total throughout the grid. Four of those black cells are in Row 5, and five more black cells are in the four rows above it.

• A word in Row 2, 3, or 4 contains the letter sequence "DD"; the only other set of double consonants in the entire grid appears in the row immediately above this word.

• The only black cell in Row 9 is either in Column A or Column I.

• The first word in Column A starts and ends with the same letter; that letter doesn't appear anywhere else in the grid.

• Column C contains the words ALFA and GIRN (though not necessarily in that order); one of those words intersects the word LEONINE.

• Column G contains the word VIER, which intersects the word UTES.

• None of the columns have a word beginning with the letter "O".

• The vowels in B1 and A3 (neither of which is an "A" or "E") are identical to each other.

• The only two 9-letter words in the grid both end with the string of letters "ESTI_E" intersecting each other at F6.

• The word AVERS is in the same column as the word ENS, though not necessarily in that order.

• One word in the grid is an anagram of SPIRITED and ends with "S". An anagram of TRINE runs parallel to, and touches, this 8-letter word.

• The letter "D" appears four times, with no more than one appearing in a single column, and none in Column B.

• The four "L"s in the grid all lie within a group of four consecutive rows (not necessarily having one in each row).

• The three 2-letter words in the grid are AH, RE, and UP.

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: Sunburst 7

Two weeks have passed by since "Sunburst 7" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Chris Kochmanski
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• KeoFam
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Craig Leach
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #559: Coined Phrases 7

PUZZLE #559

COINED PHRASES 7

There is a set of five coins, all of which have one letter on each of their two faces. Each letter appears only once throughout the set, and no two coins share the same letter. Random flips of all the coins have produced six 5-letters words hinted at by the numbered clues. Once all six answers have been solved, use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out the letters that are printed on each coin. Finally, rearrange the coins so that both sides spell out two more 5-letter words that combine to make a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a dog breed

1) Wails like a werewolf

2) Scottish lakes (one of which may or may not contain a monster)

3) Skill needed to solve Masyu, Shikaku, or Sudoku puzzles

4) The Taming of the _____ (Shakespeare play featured in Kiss Me, Kate)

5) Former PepsiCo soda line named after a piece of lemon or lime

6) Metal strings used to make old coat hangers

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 13

Two weeks have passed by since "Drop Tower 13" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Chris Kochmanski
• Stasi Gustafson
• Derek Allen
• KeoFam
• Michael Lebowitz
• Steve Gunter
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #558: Sunburst 7

PUZZLE #558

SUNBURST 7

First, solve each 4-letter word listed in the first set of clues, then rearrange them and attach an extra letter to its end (which will be up to you to determine) to form a 5-letter word that matches one of the answers listed in the second clue set. For example, if an answer is ATOP, scramble those letters, add another letter to the end, and form the 5-letter word TOPAZ. Next, place each resulting 5-letter word into the Sunburst at their corresponding numbers, starting at the outermost tile and reading inwards. Since all the 5-letter words have the exact same final letter, make sure that each 5-letter word ends in the center of the grid.

Once the grid has been filled in, the outermost ring of the Sunburst, when read clockwise from 1 to 18, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a 1980s science fiction movie

4-LETTER WORDS

1) Pans' partners

2) "Where _____ You Been" (Rihanna song)

3) Coccyx or clavicle, for one

4) Prune, prior to being dried out

5) "You _____?" (question from Lurch the butler on The Addams Family)

6) Roster of actors

7) Not necessarily need, but still wish to get nonetheless

8) Siberian city with a Dostoevsky museum (answer hidden in "MOMS KITCHEN")

9) Numerical factoid on a baseball card

10) Female bunny from Space Jam who hates being called "doll"

11) Chow from a chuckwagon

12) Petty squabble

13) _____ Bizkit (rap-rock band with the multi-platinum album Significant Other)

14) Pulls (at), as heartstrings

15) Current Dateline NBC presenter Lester

16) Projectile thrown at a certain circular board in the British game show Bullseye

17) Black, Bering, and Baltic, e.g.

18) It's played by those playing the board games Razzle, Tapple, and Scrabble

5-LETTER WORDS

• Enraged

• European sport like American football, but with less padding

• Frog-like enemy in Wario Land 3 (or a way to describe non-smooth oatmeal)

• Full of fearlessness (and intestines?)

• Gwen _____ (Emma Stone's role in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man)

• Ivory's partner in a Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder duet

• Late for class

• Metal mixture such as rose gold or white bronze

• Number on a bill featuring Ulysses S. Grant's portrait

• Often opinionated article in The New Yorker

• "On Top of Old _____" (folk song parodied as "On Top of Spaghetti")

• Pleasing to the palate

• "Rambunctious" adjective for WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper

• Subtly hint at

• Team Fortress 2 character with a thick Russian accent and a "weighty" name

• "_____ Turvy" (musical number from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Word meaning "with intensity" often seen before "contested"

• Yellowish-brown color of a lion's fur

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: Chess Words 6

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Chess Words 6" was posted on this blog, and quite a few people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• J&J
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Derek Allen
• Chris Kochmanski
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• KeoFam
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #557: Drop Tower 13

PUZZLE #557

DROP TOWER 13

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

• Green _____ (rural sitcom with Eva Gabor and a pig named Arnold Ziffel)

• Initials for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader author Lewis

• Key next to F1 on most American keyboards

• Late Night Liars panelist who's basically Paris Hilton as a poodle (or a soft woolly sweater fabric)

• Sousa songs such as "The Stars and Stripes Forever"

• Use Ecosia or Ask.com, say

• Word that can precede "closed" or follow "open-and-shut"

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: Nonplussed 4

It's been almost two weeks since "Nonplussed 4" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at the twenty people who have solved it since then:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Craig Leach
• Chris Kochmanski
• Steve Gunter
• Derek Allen

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #556: Chess Words 6

PUZZLE #556

CHESS WORDS 6

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!

Eight 8-letter words are scrambled on the chessboard, all of which are the answers to the provided clues. Each chess piece starts on the first letter of one of the words, and can be moved across the board via standard chess moves to spell the rest of the word. Every square is used exactly once. The chess pieces move as follows:

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, pick two of the words and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a multi-platinum album from the 1970s

  Queen's Rook: O _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                a1 
Queen's Knight: B _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                b1 
Queen's Bishop: E _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                c1 
         Queen: M _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                d1 
          King: A _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                e1 
 King's Bishop: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                f1 
 King's Knight: C _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                g1 
   King's Rook: G _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                h1

CLUES

• Body part or book part

• Caught up with, then passed

• Grammy-winning music video by Olivia Newton-John

• Knightly vegetable that you play as in Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

• Newspaper comic magician who turned 90 in 2024

• Part of Wyoming's state nickname

• Tubes used for shooting poison darts

• Writings on the wall?

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: Empty Word Ladder 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 5" got posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Craig Leach

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

PUZZLE #555: Nonplussed 4

PUZZLE #555

NONPLUSSED 4

The answers in this puzzle are entered in two ways: the fifteen numbered rows have one or two answers that read left to right (even the two rows that only have one letter in it), and the plusses have five-letter answers that read left to right beginning in the top row (exactly like how they're entered in Pent Words). The clues for the plusses are split up into two groups: white plusses and gray plusses. Answers to those clues should be placed in their respectively-colored plus, though you have to use the Rows' answers to find out where each plus answer is located.

There are two unclued rows in this puzzle; combine them to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a two-word military phrase

ROWS
1) Vowel that acts as the pseudonym for Pretty Little Liars' blackmailing villain

2) No _____, no fuss

3) Win back one's losses

4) THE FIRST HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

5) The View co-host Joy who voiced Sid the Sloth's mom in Ice Age: Continental Drift

    Rule Rhode Island, maybe

6) Raised fingerprint part

    Not chemically inert

7) Poplar part that falls in the fall

    Animated series set in the 31st century that spawned the phrase "Shut up and take my money!"

8) Add to, as a robotic build

    It is I (on the periodic table, at least)

9) Bruce Springsteen album with "Hungry Heart": 2 wds.

    NBC's peacock, CBS's eye, or ABC's lowercase "abc" in a ball, e.g.

10) Semester-ending test

      Pillar carved by many tribes of the Pacific Northwest: 2 wds.

11) Word that can usually be pluralized

      Party board game "for your Whole Brain" with art by cartoonist Gary Baseman

12) THE SECOND HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

13) A quart has 32 of these fluid units

14) Word preceding "five", "flying", and "fidelity"

15) To a ___ (quirky video game where you play a teen stuck in the shape of the 20th letter)

WHITE PLUSSES

• Get a smile out of

• _____ of Frankenstein (Universal monster movie where Elsa Lanchester plays the title role)

• Networking company founded in San Fran (or what's missing from "San Fran")

• "Ouchless" bandage brand

• Number of bits used in an original Apple II computer

• Rock type Pokémon named after a clay creature from Jewish folklore

• Taz-_____ ('90s Warner Bros. cartoon that's a pun on an Australian island)

• Be deserving of

• German cosmetics company

• Chicago airport not named "Midway"

• Penguin from The Backyardigans (or cubist Picasso)

• Member of an NFL team that plays home games in Houston's NRG Stadium

• Make knots not be knots anymore

GRAY PLUSSES

• Tennis Hall of Famer Chris who won the US Open four times in a row

• Social faux pas

• _____ white shark (fish such as Jabberjaw)

• Gut feeling

• "Live, _____, Love" (slogan commonly found on home decor from the 2010s)

• Sal who got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Rebel Without a Cause

• Pitcher's hill

• Deck in the Obra Dinn ship from Return of the Obra Dinn (answer hidden in DOCTOR LOPEZ)

• Swiss/French river with a circumflex (^) in its name

• Scrub with a Brillo pad

• Hard-to-control impulses

• Person picking a politician to elect

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!