CIRCULAR M◎NTH! PUZZLE #293: Section Six 7

CIRCULAR M🟢NTH!

PUZZLE #293

SECTION SIX 7

This puzzle's grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise OR counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outermost ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, but their starting points and direction are for you to figure out. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you place the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section's outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Once you're done, unscramble the six spaces with stars in them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word.

Special thanks to Grant Fikes for making this grid for me

RING 1

1) Perhaps (or perhaps not)

2) Metal thingy at the tip of a hose

3) Umbrella-wielding foe of Batman

4) "That's not what I _____ to say!"

5) The last letter in "UFO"

6) #1 Blondie song that ends with Debbie Harry rapping

RING 2

* Make water fizzy with SodaStream, say

* 12-year-old guitar-playing main character of Pixar's Coco

* "Girl of the 21st Century" from a 1999 Disney Channel movie (whose name sounds like the 54th element)

* Equine on packs of Fruit Stripe gum

* Entice

RING 3

* Mercedes-_____

* Pea or peanut, for one

* Napoleon's surname

* Passover bread

RING 4

* Okra soup

* Sequestered

* Commit check fraud, e.g. (on a side note, please don't ever commit check fraud)

RING 5

* Knotted snack

* Latin dance-based fitness program that inspired a series of Nintendo Wii "exer-games"

RING 6

* Round button pressed by contestants on Press Your Luck and other game shows

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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: Puzzle in the Round 3

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Puzzle in the Round 3" was published on this blog, and ten people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

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

CIRCULAR M◎NTH! PUZZLE #292: Semicircle Sorting

CIRCULAR M🟢NTH!

PUZZLE #292

SEMICIRCLE SORTING

Below are 12 semicircles, each containing three or four letters. Your job is to combine them all into six circles so that a common word (either 6, 7, or 8 letters long) can be read either clockwise or counterclockwise in each circle. However, in order to do that, six of the semicircles need to be turned 180° upside down so that they can be correctly matched up with the remaining six semicircles.

Once all of the circles have been solved, select two of the resulting words and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a common two-word phrase that's also the name of a video game series

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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 4

It's been thirteen days since "Coined Phrases 4" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twelve people have successfully solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ***
• Debbie Benford ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****

As a reminder, the people highlighted in orange support me over at Patreon. So with all that out of the way, go below the break for the answers as well as several solvers' comments!

CIRCULAR M◎NTH! PUZZLE #291: Puzzle in the Round 3

CIRCULAR M🟢NTH!

PUZZLE #291

PUZZLE IN THE ROUND 3

To solve this tough puzzle, fill in as many of the 5-letter answers next to their clues as you can. Next, look for shared letters, and then enter each letter into its correct place in the diagram (though you'll most likely need to scramble the order of the letters to make them fit). The letter in the grid's center will be shared by all of the answer words. As a little hint, look for unshared letters to help you determine the letters that will go in the outer ring to form the FINAL ANSWER, reading from 1 to 24.

The FINAL ANSWER is the name of a comedy film

1) Aristotle's teacher

     _ _ _ _ _

2) Young fowl (HINT: It has all the same letters as Mickey Mouse's pet)

     _ _ _ _ _

3) Ruin a film's twist ending, say

     _ _ _ _ _

4) TV show's test episode

     _ _ _ _ _

5) He's listed first alphabetically in the current Supreme Court roster

     _ _ _ _ _

6) Vulture’s claw

     _ _ _ _ _

7) Señor Picasso

     _ _ _ _ _

8) Bear who taught Mowgli about "The Bare Necessities"

     _ _ _ _ _

9) Defects in diamonds

     _ _ _ _ _

10) Toronto Maple _____ (hockey team)

     _ _ _ _ _

11) Herbivorous fauna's food

     _ _ _ _ _

12) Baby zebras

     _ _ _ _ _

13) King Triton's redheaded daughter

     _ _ _ _ _

14) Absorb knowledge

     _ _ _ _ _

15) George who plays "Pops" on The Goldbergs

     _ _ _ _ _

16) Spiny plants that provide soothing succulents

     _ _ _ _ _

17) "Grillz" rapper

     _ _ _ _ _

18) Paul who was often the center square on the original Hollywood Squares

     _ _ _ _ _

19) Casaba or cantaloupe

     _ _ _ _ _

20) Sierra _____ (African country)

     _ _ _ _ _

21) Fiji won their very first one in the 2016 Rio Olympics

     _ _ _ _ _

22) Word following "roller" or "razor"

     _ _ _ _ _

23) Two under par

     _ _ _ _ _

24) Hostile look

     _ _ _ _ _

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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: Helter Skelter 5

Before I reveal the answers to "Helter Skelter 5", I should point out that the usual list of solvers is gonna look a little different from here on out. Before now, I've colored the names of people that are currently supporting me on Patreon in red, but starting with this Answers post, those Patreon supporters will be colored orange instead. The main reason for this is that the Blogger page which I use to schedule and type out my upcoming posts had a "mobile-friendly" redesign not too long ago which altered the default colors that I could use to change the text's hue. The normal shade of red that I use wasn't included in that set, so instead of trying to add a "custom color" (which keeps getting removed for some reason) or constantly editing the HTML code every time, I've decided to change that red hue to a shade of orange already included in the defaults, since orange is one of the colors used in Patreon's logo. So now with that long-winded explanation out of the way, here's the eleven people that have solved my puzzle from two weeks ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****

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

CIRCULAR M◎NTH! PUZZLE #290: Coined Phrases 4

CIRCULAR M🟢NTH!

PUZZLE #290

COINED PHRASES 4

Yup, it's another theme month, and this time, the theme is CIRCLES! More specifically, all of the puzzles for this month will involve circles in some way, whether it's something that uses multiple circles, or the grid itself is one giant circle. Sure, I could try to spin this admittedly weak theme into something more meaningful by pointing out how so many word puzzles involve squares and such, giving me the chance to showcase how other word puzzles can use some lesser-used shapes like circles..... but the truth is that I coincidentally had two circle-related puzzles scheduled for the first couple weeks of July, so I decided to take advantage of that and make a theme out of it. And now with that out of the way, let's kick things off with a puzzle type that I haven't done in quite some time!

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 a well-known item from medieval legends

1) "Li'l" comic strip character who married Daisy Mae in 1952

2) [_____ swim] (Cartoon Network's late-night programming block)

3) Japanese boxed lunch

4) Tool that burns bovines' butts with a symbol

5) Krispy Kreme confection

6) When doubled, new wave band who did the theme song for A View to a Kill

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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: Line 'Em Up 9

Almost two weeks have gone by since "Line 'Em Up 9" was posted on this blog, and just like the last time I made this puzzle type, an impressive eleven people have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Cindy Heisler ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #289: Helter Skelter 5

PUZZLE #289

HELTER SKELTER 5

Each answer in this crossword variation starts at the indicated number, and then moves towards the direction of the next number (thought it may or may not stop there). The direction of the last answer is to be determined by the solver.

Once the grid has been filled out, unscramble the gray squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word

1) Villain from The Great Mouse Detective who was voiced by Vincent Price

2) Non-profit org. that provides roadside assistance

3) Tactical military shooter series by Bohemia Interactive (don't worry, another answer fully overlaps this one)

4) Ms. Monroe whose first film appearance was in Dangerous Years (1947)

5) Eye part that can be brown, blue, or green

6) Frozen polar covering on both Earth and Mars

7) Geese and ducks and such

8) Speedy vehicle that goes forwards and backwards?

9) Larry Bird, back when he played for the NBA

10) Where in Time is _____ Sandiego? (educational computer game)

11) Seven-digit riches

12) Fluid measurement equal to two tablespoons

13) Second-largest member of the deer family (after the moose)

14) Type of destiny where "what goes around comes around"

15) Website that can help you trace your family tree

16) Hexagonal piece of land from Catan

17) The one for Starbucks depicts a twin-tailed mermaid

18) Brian May's instrument

19) _____ ego

20) Prayer beads

21) Board game where you move four colored pawns by drawing numbered cards

22) Precipitates

23) Footwear that can be turned into a simple puppet

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star", more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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 4

Before I reveal the answers to "Word Squares: Projectors 4", I have some great news to share with you all: I'M FINALLY BACK HOME! Yup, exactly five weeks after a flood hit my house, it's been repaired enough to the point that it was declared safe to go back inside, and that's exactly what I did last Tuesday! Sure, a lot of stuff was lost, but most of it can be replaced (I already bought some new and used video game consoles to replace the ones that were beyond saving, including a hard-to-find Nintendo Switch), and it also turned out that only the basement was affected by the flooding; the first floor and everything in there (including the work computer that I was so worried about) was left completely untouched, so I'm pretty grateful for that! I'm also grateful for everyone who offered their support for me during those past several weeks, so thanks a bunch for that!

So now that all of those news are out of the way, here are the nine people who solved my puzzle from thirteen days ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!