PUZZLE #610: Empty Word Ladder 6

PUZZLE #610

EMPTY WORD LADDER 6

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 the correct order to make the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase relating to automobiles.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Film's orchestral soundtrack

• Flies high like the majestic eagle

• Hippie's tie-dyed top, e.g.

• Illinois-based team that recorded "The Super Bowl Shuffle" (and won it weeks later)

• Jersey _____: Family Vacation (MTV show that's somehow still airing)

• Martin who appears with Steve Martin in Wells Fargo commercials

• Permanent markings, such as those on the Joker's mouth in The Dark Knight

• Startle someone with a shout, say

• Wild pigs

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: Section Six 12

It's been roughly two weeks since "Section Six 12" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then, as you can see by the following list:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

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

PUZZLE #609: Brick By Brick 11

PUZZLE #609

BRICK BY BRICK 11

 

Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a 1990s sitcom

ACROSS

1) The Mystery of the Blue Train and Murder on the Orient Express author Christie

    Not powered on

    Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, for two

2) Fungus such as Iceland moss (even though it's not closely related to moss)

    Word following "turf" or "Trojan"

    Cote d'_____ (the French Riviera)

3) Too, too much

    Environmentally-friendly prefix

    _____ chocolate M&M's

4) Jeopardy (and not the kind seen on a quiz show)

    Paper-delivery kids that went on strike in 1889

5) Phileas who went around the world in 80 days

    Original The Closer cable network

6) Subtle summons that's surprisingly legal to play in Scrabble

    Prior to, poetically

    City that's home to Iowa State University

7) Letters between a real name and a nickname

    Like something that can't be bought anywhere

8) THE FINAL ANSWER

9) Ninths, after being halved

    Suffix for "velvet"

10) Captain of the Nautilus submarine in two Jules Verne stories

      Abbr. on a Broadway sign that basically means "no seats left"

      "Puppy Love" singer Paul

11) Ignited

      Spheres such as the Dragon Balls from Dragon Ball

12) Take money from the bank (legally, of course)

      Enemy of Spider-Man dressed like a horned gray mammal

13) Long-Haired ____ (short film with Bugs Bunny dressed as a conductor)

      Had ham, perhaps

      Site for many brawls in many western films

14) Frankenstein's lab assistant not present in the original Frankenstein novel

      Spanish version of "Huh??"

      Indiana or Illinois, on a Monopoly board

15) "Danger _____" (Kenny Loggins hit)

      Little rascal

      Pyramid builders of Chichén Itzá

DOWN

1) Skewed

    Cover with asphalt or blacktop

    Kraft Cheez _____

2) Donate to a blood drive, say

    Bundle of yarn

    Parrot who has his own musical number in Aladdin: The Return of Jafar

3) Taiwanese PC manufacturer

    Beetle Bailey's short-tempered superior

    1982 sci-fi film with a villainous Master Control Program

4) "_____ Shop" (Macklemore song where he raps about buying used clothes)

    Volt ÷ ampere

    At this very location

5) "Greetings!"

    Numerous, like stories that were never narrated

6) Press _____ key to continue

    Magical being such as Shazzan or Kazaam

    Resident of Basra or Baghdad

7) Christians' pre-meal prayer

    21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street star Channing

8) A Prayer for _____ Meany (John Irving novel)

    Chris who played both Captain America and the Human Torch

    Cry like a willow?

9) Sapphire's side

    Gray Great Dane owned by the Jetsons

10) :(

      Blood of the Greek gods

      Yosemite _____ (Looney Tunes cowboy)

11) Purposefully delays play, in the NFL

      Cheer for an Italian diva

12) Door hinge holder

      One-time Chinese chairman Zedong

      The Olsen twin who's slightly older by two minutes

13) Playable protagonist of Assassin's Creed II

      Buddy who played Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies

      New York college with a name that's three-fourths vowels

14) In a proper manner

      Aerodynamic

      Part of a sentence such as "part" or "sentence"

15) Majorly miffs

      The highest active volcano in Europe

      Lowest dollar denominations in the board game Spy Alley

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: Fronts Off 9

Two weeks have passed by since "Fronts Off 9" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have successfully solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #608: Section Six 12

PUZZLE #608

SECTION SIX 12

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.

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, and each answer’s starting points are marked with a dot [•]. However, which direction they proceed in is for you to figure out. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you figure out the letters in 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.

RING 1

1) "YEOW, that hurts!"

2) Welded together

3) Joey formerly of *NSYNC (answer hidden in SOLFA TONES)

4) Drop the ball, if you're a clumsy NFL player

5) CVS _____ (America's largest drugstore chain)

6) Completely dead, as dodos and dinos

RING 2

• Electric current unit whose symbol is the first letter of the alphabet

• Deceptive poker ploy

• The Phil _____ Show (1967-96 daytime talk show)

• Merit badge earner

• Imprecise

RING 3

• Spots or sees

• Amount that fits into a fist

• Word following "balance" or "laser"

• Before the government's share is added to a grocery bill, say

RING 4

• Don't Forget the Lyrics! hostess Niecy (or a bandmate of Crosby and Stills)

• Quoted out of _____

• Went on and on with tangent after tangent and with seemingly no real point to be made

RING 5

• Beach umbrella's offering

• "Un-Break My Heart" singer Toni

RING 6

• Boston baseball team featured in the 2005 film Fever Pitch: 2 wds.

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: Code Crossword 3

Thirteen days have passed since "Code Crossword 3" was posted on this blog, and it proved to be quite a toughie, since only fourteen people managed to solve it:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Sam Levitin
• Darth
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Mom

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

PUZZLE #607: Fronts Off 9

PUZZLE #607

FRONTS OFF 9

First, find the answers to each clue so that there are two words in each rectangular box. Then change the first letter of each word to the new same letter for both words of a pair to form two new words, and write the new letter in the square box to the left of the rectangle.

Once you're done, read down the boxes to get the FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word

1) Numeric unit scored in any pinball game

    Askew (anagram of CODEC KEY)

2) A rolling one gathers no moss (as proved by the Mythbusters)

    Purple plants that are the state wildflowers of Louisiana and Michigan

3) Hand covering for Mario or Wario

    All covered with age lines

4) Actress Blair who played Regan in The Exorcist and Exorcist II

    Tiny bite

5) Castle dungeon’s light source

    Dragon from Walt Disney World's Journey into Imagination (or a "fraction" of imagination)

6) _____ Jack (British flag)

    Shutting up the pundits on TV, in a way

7) Under-the-table payment

    Clara Cluck, Miss Prissy, and Foghorn Leghorn, for three

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: Lucky Sevens 16

About two weeks have gone by since "Lucky Sevens 16" was posted on this blog, and an astounding twenty-one people have solved it since then! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Derek Allen
• Wendy Walker
• Chris Kochmanski
• Nicholas Weaver
• Lynn Sweeney
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Bart Gold
• Ian Hunter

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

PUZZLE #606: Code Crossword 3

PUZZLE #606

CODE CROSSWORD 3

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 you're done, look through the answer key using a certain pattern to get the FINAL ANSWER: A 13-letter word

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: Pieces of Nine 14

It's been almost two weeks since "Pieces of Nine 14" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to list all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Marie desJardins
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Patrick Jordan
• Derek Allen
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!