PUZZLE #533: Mini-Marching Bands 8

PUZZLE #533

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 8

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a newspaper comic character

ROWS
1) Marshy area such as the one where Shrek lives

    Synonym for "prance" that rhymes with the previous answer

2) Victory that wasn't even close

    Tales from the _____ (influential comic book series)

3) Forever and a day

    Monopoly space surrounded by "Just Visiting": 2 wds.

4) Masked swordsman whose name is Spanish for "fox"

    "Invisible" singer and American Idol alumni Aiken

5) Beech or birch

    Donkey _____ Jungle Beat (Nintendo game where you control an ape with bongos)

6) Cocker spaniel voiced by Peggy Lee in a 1955 Disney film

    "Red" flying ace on boxes of frozen pizza

7) Persevere

    Org. with Grizzlies and Timberwolves

8) Hoity-toity types

    I _____ What You Did Last Summer (Lois Duncan novel)

9) Suffix for "million" or "billion"

    Air freshener brand that manufactures PlugIns

BANDS

A) Did the backstroke or breaststroke

     Right away without delay

     Bit like a beaver

     Largest nation in Africa, after South Sudan split off of Sudan in 2011

     Alka-_____ ("Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" product)

B) Public uproar

     Keyed instrument played by Rowlf from The Muppet Show

     Knocks on the noggin

     Annual music festival held in Tennessee since 2002

C) Stealthy Japanese assassin such as Sekiro from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

     Longtime Saturday Night Live producer Michaels

     Boat's steering blade

D) Opening word for a lullaby involving a falling baby: Hyph.

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: Code Crossword 2

Roughly two weeks have gone by since my second-ever "Code Crossword" puzzle (not counting the ones exclusive to my Patreon page) was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then:

• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Dave C
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Lynn Sweeney
• Derek Allen
• Craig Leech

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

PUZZLE #532: Moving Staircases 15

PUZZLE #532

MOVING STAIRCASES 15

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, hidden inside it will be this week's FINAL ANSWER: a fanciful noun which is not hidden horizontally or vertically.

SHORTS

• From Dusk till Dawn actor Keitel

• Invented (a phrase)

• MGM's theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoons, e.g.

• Not digital, like the stopwatch from the 60 Minutes logo

• Petrified _____ (California landmark with large trees that have turned to stone)

• Pollen-producing part of a flower

• Walk like a penguin

LONGS

• "'Bees' is to 'hive' as 'wasps' is to 'nest'", for one

• Bundle up a baby

• Finished furniture with wood finisher

• _____ Moon (Neil Young album named after an autumnal full moon)

• Partners in crime

• Worksite bosses such as Spike from The Super Mario Bros. Movie

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: Insiders 4

It's been almost two weeks since "Insiders 4" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twenty-three people have solved it since then! See for yourself:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #531: Code Crossword 2

PUZZLE #531

CODE CROSSWORD 2

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 still full, so you might have to resort to PayPal if you still want to make a request of your own.

In this crossword puzzle, the numbers in the grid's squares (from 1 to 26) stand for letters of the alphabet. You must crack the code to reveal the words. For each letter that matches a certain number, place that letter in each square containing the number as well as the answer key next to the grid, with all 26 letters appearing at least once in the completed grid. As a little help, one of the letters has already been decoded and placed in the grid.

Once everything is filled out, look through the grid for a clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a company that's over 100 years old (HINT: Try reading through either a few consecutive rows or columns)

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 links to two .PDF versions which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Slide Show: Double Feature 7

It's been almost two weeks since my seventh "Slide Show: Double Feature" puzzle got posted on this blog, and nineteen people solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Josie Giles
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Derek Allen
• Chris Kochmanski
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Wendy Walker

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #530: Insiders 4

PUZZLE #530

INSIDERS 4

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!

Each row in this puzzle consists of two answers, clued in the order in which they appear. Going across both of these answers is a third word, known as an "Inner Word". For example, if a row's two answers were JETSAM and PLEA, then the Inner Word for that string of letters would be SAMPLE (like so: JETSAMPLEA). The Inner Words are listed in no particular order, and shading them or crossing them out in each row is highly recommended.

Once everything's been filled in, all of the letters not used in the Inner Words, when read left to right and row by row, will spell out a clue to the FINAL ANSWER: the names of two fictional characters

ROWS

1) Post-_____ examination (autopsy)

    Defendant's reply of "not guilty", say

2) Nay's rhyming opposite

    Ladies "in distress" that need saving, in an ancient cliché

3) Herr's wife

    Vegetable (or is it fruit?) that's the basis of Campbell's first soup flavor

4) Long hand on an analog clock's face

    David Lee who was the original lead singer of Van Halen

5) Evoke, as a response or memory

    Iron oxide

6) Norse god/Marvel superhero with a weekday named after him

    Living _____ (1990s sitcom with Queen Latifah)

7) The Shawshank Redemption actor Freeman

    Pastry bag squeezer

8) Eyelash enhancer

    Guess a price on The Price Is Right, preferably without going over

INNER WORDS

• Beetle seen in hieroglyphs

• Early 20th century restaurant where food is served through coin-operated doors

• Fruits such as lemons and limes, but not lychees

• Goofing (around), like an equine?

• Indiana Jones and the _____ of Doom (blockbuster film from 1984)

• Nirvana album released roughly two years after Nevermind: 2 wds.

• The "O" in "OLED" (which is used in some 4K televisions)

• Watership Down author Richard

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: Family Reunions 8

It's been about two weeks since "Family Reunions 8" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have successfully solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Derek Allen

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

PUZZLE #529: Slide Show: Double Feature 7

PUZZLE #529

SLIDE SHOW: DOUBLE FEATURE 7

In each of the two puzzles below, slide the 18 letters surrounding each grid into the empty squares so that four words are made reading across and five words are formed reading down. Letters above and below the grids slide vertically to any position without changing columns, and letters to the left and right slide horizontally without changing rows. All of the exterior letters are used only once, and as a help, each grid has two letters already placed inside.

Once both grids have been filled in, pick out one word from each and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: the two-word name of a thriller movie from the early 2000s

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: Sudokurostic 5

It's been nearly two weeks since "Sudokurostic 5" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Pavel Curtis
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Derek Allen
• Kevin Orfield
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Chris Kochmanski
• Josie Giles

Now head below the break for the answers!