PUZZLE #577
MOVING STAIRCASES 16
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, combine the two unclued answers (one Short and one Long) in the correct order to get the FINAL ANSWER: a well-known location
SHORTS
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Eye membrane containing rods and cones
• Phonomotor and phonograph inventor Thomas
• Planned beforehand, like most pro wrestling matches
• "_____ Nothing Holdin' Me Back" (hit song by Shawn Mendes)
• Towards the back of a boat
• Video game age rating above "Teen"
LONGS
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Got even, like Iron Man's team in a 2012 Marvel movie
• May who preceded Boris Johnson as the UK's Prime Minister
• Royal entourage
• _____ Standard Time (winter time zone for both Virginia and West Virginia)
• Upright height
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!
