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!

PUZZLE #528: Family Reunions 8

PUZZLE #528

FAMILY REUNIONS 8

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are HATRED, UNSTRAP, and AUBURNS, you could drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, drop the P from UNSTRAP to get SATURN, and drop the B from AUBURNS to get URANUS, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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: Line 'Em Up 14

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Line 'Em Up 14" was posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #527: Sudokurostic 5

PUZZLE #527

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

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e6", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "6". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: a noun that's at least six letters long

• Arabian Nights character who said "Open Sesame!": 2 wds.

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   f5 h4 b3 c9 h7 f3 b6

• Bryant who narrated the Oscar-winning animated short Dear Basketball

   __ __ __ __

   e1 i1 d7 g5

• Controversial short video app that shares its name with a Kesha song

   __ __ __ __ __ __

   e3 c5 d4 a7 e7 a2

• Made-up names for criminals

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   e9 g3 a9 i3 b4 e6 d5

• "Taste the Rainbow" candy seen in the video game Darkened Skye

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   g1 f7 e4 i8 f6 c7 d3 h6

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: Compound Crosswords 11

It's been almost two weeks since "Compound Crosswords 11" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!