PUZZLE #513: Sunburst 6

PUZZLE #513

SUNBURST 6

One of the clues in 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!

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 Minor League Baseball team

4-LETTER WORDS

1) Raising the Flag on Iwo _____ (famous photograph from World War II)

2) Flightless birds with three-toed feet

3) Clever remark from Groucho Marx

4) They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh

5) Resident of Leicester or London

6) Either end of a horseshoe magnet

7) Square diagram that makes up a crossword, e.g.

8) State where Arches National Park is located

9) Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning role in Black Swan

10) Disinfectant target

11) Japanese wrestling practiced by Hinako from The King of Fighters 2000

12) Two, in Toulon, France

13) Taylor Swift: The Eras _____ (2023 concert film)

14) Near at hand, poetically speaking

15) Surname of Dorothy from the book Ozma of Oz

16) Hide a card in one's hand like a magician (or a hand's part)

17) Prompted an offstage actor

18) Extra-large or extra-small, say

5-LETTER WORDS

• Bill Withers hit once covered by Hootie & the Blowfish: 2 wds.

• Bus driver's path

• Clicking thing used to play point-and-click adventure games

• _____ couture

• Crow, Cree, or Cherokee

• Dating app that's "designed to be deleted" (supposedly)

• Feature of a Ruffles chip

• 40-40 tie in tennis (or a song from Kiss' debut album)

• In Living Color comedian and Beat Shazam host Foxx

• Irritated state

• Marahute from The Rescuers Down Under, for one (HINT: She's a bird of prey)

• Mirror _____ (reversed reflection)

• Musical based on a comic strip about a redheaded orphan

• Ooze, such as charm

• Take someone's property by force

• Turn two companies into one

• Wed without anyone else knowing

• With plenty to spare

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: Zigzagnut 8

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Zigzagnut 8" was posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #512: Lucky Sevens 14

PUZZLE #512

LUCKY SEVENS 14

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, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word associated with video games

ROWS

i) First word in Iowa's most populated city

ii) Mai _____ (alcoholic drinks)

iii) "Golden Age of Hollywood" icon Clark

iv) Someone who joined Sam's Club, say

v) Assign to a job

vi) Snow-White's sister in a fairy tale that has just one dwarf (not seven): Hyph.

vii) More massive

viii) Cereal with flavored pieces such as Raspberry Red and Orangey Orange

ix) Pimple

x) Decisive victory in the boxing video game Punch-Out!!: Abbr.

xi) Letter on the cover of Sue Grafton's final alphabet-themed mystery novel

SEVENS

1) Wayne who was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame the same year he retired

2) Actress Dawson who voiced Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie

3) Bon _____ (French phrase meaning "Enjoy your meal")

4) Former cassette tape manufacturer that went bankrupt in 1996

5) More talkative

6) Rearmost part: 2 wds.

7) Baked Alaska or Mississippi mud pie, e.g.

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: Pathfinder 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Pathfinder 5" was published on this website, and eighteen people have successfully solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

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!