PUZZLE #581: Line 'Em Up 15

PUZZLE #581

LINE 'EM UP 15

Place the answers to each numbered clue in the squares to the right of each corresponding number (a number in brackets following each clue will tell you how many letters are in each answer). Once you have the answers, align them properly in the grid so that going down, a two-word phrase will be spelled out by the two red columns in the grid's center.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the two-word name of a well-known Broadway show tune

1) With "The", U2's lead guitarist [4]

2) America's largest ridesharing company (just ahead of Lyft) [4]

3) Send a document via phone lines [3]

4) _____ Nicole Brown (actress who played Shirley on Community) [6]

5) Square root of XLIX (that's 49 for those who aren't from ancient Rome) [3]

6) Brief beginning? [5]

7) Like a video game full of too many glitches (ALTERNATE CLUE: Horse-drawn carriage) [5]

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: Triangle Tangle 8

Crud! I forgot to schedule this post 'til now! Ah, well, better late than never, I suppose. Anyway, here's the list of the twenty people who have solved "Triangle Tangle 8" from two weeks ago:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Okieboy2008
• Stasi Gustafson
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• Derek Allen
• Mom
• Kevin Orfield
• Chris Kochmanski
• Patrick Jordan
• Steve Gunter
• Wendy Walker
• Eli Zarconi
• Bart Gold

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #580: Insiders 5

PUZZLE #580

INSIDERS 5

Before we get to my latest puzzle, I have some news I wanted to share! You see, Diary of a Crossword Fiend's ORCA Awards for the best crosswords of 2025 are coming up, and at least one of my puzzles got nominated in the "Best Variety Crossword" category! Not only that, Crossword Fiend has also crafted a puzzle pack featuring most of this year's nominees (the proceeds of which will go to a suicide prevention nonprofit), and my nominated puzzle(s) managed to get included! Donors who purchase this pack will not only gain access to plenty of other puzzles and support a good cause in the process, but also get early access to the final ORCAs ballot, which won't get posted publicly until February 3rd. You can find more details regarding the ORCA Awards Puzzle Pack (as well as how to get it for yourself) at https://crosswordfiend.com/14th-orca-award-puzzle-pack/. Now then, with all that info out of the way, here are the directions to this week's puzzle:

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: a two-word title

ROWS

1) Dilapidated dwelling

    _____-Pot (trademarked slow cooker brand)

2) Superlative suffix for "rich" and "poor"

    "Rich" is this to "poor", grammatically speaking

3) Shape of Subaru's starry logo

    Military units that you control in the Total War series of strategy computer games

4) Pollute or poison, as water

    Less polite

5) Stand-up comedienne Rudner

    The _____ of the Shrew (play that 10 Things I Hate About You is loosely based on)

6) The two smallest of ten fingers

    Letter after sigma

7) Wooden boards for a carpenter's construction project

    Answering machine’s beep, e.g.

8) "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" duo

    "There's No Business Like Show Business" singer Ethel who also acted in a film of the same name

INNER WORDS

• Blatantly ignore a "No Trespassing" sign, maybe

• Darkest, like a graphic novel illustration that's mostly black

• Foucault's Pendulum author whose last name "Eco" is usually an answer in a crossword

• Japanese floor mat

• Kindergartener's shoe fastener that was inspired by plant burs

• Please _____ Don't Hurt 'Em (diamond-certified album with "U Can't Touch This")

• WALL-E director Andrew

• Word following "false" or "burglar"

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 6

Two weeks have passed by since "Sudokurostic 6" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to look at everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Okieboy2008
• Nicholas Weaver
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Eli Zarconi
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Derek Allen

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #579: Triangle Tangle 8

PUZZLE #579

TRIANGLE TANGLE 8

To solve this puzzle, enter the 4-letter answer to each clue into the diagram either from top to bottom or diagonally upward. There are two numbers starting each clue; each answer begins in the triangle marked with the first number, and ends in the triangle marked with the second.

Once the grid has been filled in, there are two more words hiding in the topmost row of letters and the bottommost row of letters. Combine them both to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of an anime TV series

1-2) The canine leader of the Bad Guys from DreamWorks' The Bad Guys, for one

2-3) Part of an envelope that gets licked

3-4) Second-lowest scoring hand in poker (just above "nothing")

4-5) Kelly from Live with Kelly and Mark who once hosted Generation Gap (2022-23)

5-6) Imitated a gorilla?

6-7) _____ Avenger (parodic computer game about a buck sick of getting shot at by hunters)

7-8) 2000s sitcom starring country singer McEntire

8-9) Swedish band that did "Money, Money, Money" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"

9-10) "All that and _____ of chips": 2 wds.

10-11) Laundry detergent brand in a green bottle

11-12) Africa's longest river

12-13) Tickle Me _____ (hot toy of Christmas 1996)

13-14) Arabian country whose name becomes a person if you remove its first letter

14-15) Japanese word for "WHAT?!" (answer hidden in "UNANIMOUSLY")

15-16) Still competing: 2 wds.

16-17) Date Night (2010) actress Fey

17-18) Ancient Egyptian cross worn by some goths

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: Moving Staircases 16

Two weeks have passed by since "Moving Staircases 16" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Okieboy2008
• Wendy Walker
• KeoFam
• Steve Gunter
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Eli Zarconi

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #578: Sudokurostic 6

PUZZLE #578

SUDOKUROSTIC 6

This puzzle (suggested by Patron Grant Fikes) 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!

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

• Big Trouble in Little China actor Russell

   __ __ __ __

   d6 i1 f4 h7

• Disturb a speech by abruptly talking over it

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   g1 h6 d3 e4 a7 e9 b3 f7 i4

• Member of an NBA team in Denver, Colorado

   __ __ __ __ __ __

   f1 d8 a4 c9 i3 e6

• Shortening shrubs with shears, say

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   e1 b2 f6 d4 a9 b7 i6

• Trapper _____ (school students' binder brand)

   __ __ __ __ __ __

   b4 d9 f2 h8 a6 h3

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

ANSWERS: Central Scramble 8

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Central Scramble 8" was posted on this blog, which means it's time for me to provide the list of everyone who has solved this tough puzzle since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Chris Kochmanski
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Kevin Orfield
• Eli Zarconi
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• Mom
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #577: Moving Staircases 16

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!

ANSWERS: More Christmas Presents

It's been almost two weeks since "More Christmas Presents" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at the list of all twenty people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• KeoFam
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Nicholas Weaver
• Eli Zarconi
• Mom
• Stasi Gustafson
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!