PUZZLE #69: Coined Phrases

PUZZLE #69

COINED PHRASES

This next puzzle is inspired by coins, which is appropriate for my 69th puzzle since you flip a coin and 6 is 9 flipped upside down! (Okay, fine, there's no connection between the number 69 and today's puzzle; I was just stretching to try and make one) This one's a tad tricky to explain, so I hope the directions are clear enough!

There is a set of five coins, all of which have one letter on each of their two faces. Each letter appears only once throughout the set, and no two coins share the same letter. Random flips of all the coins have produced six 5-letters words hinted at by the numbered clues. Once all six answers have been solved, use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out the letters that are printed on each coin. Finally, rearrange the coins so that both sides spell out two more 5-letter words that combine to make a two-word phrase.

Highlight the space between the brackets for an extremely helpful example: [if two resulting words are MAGIC and MANIC, then the letters "G" and "N" have to be on the same coin, since "N" can't possibly be paired up with any of the other letters]

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a location.

1) Mint chocolate brand
2) Ed who played Santa Claus in Elf and Regular Show
3) Feathered member of the Furious Five from Kung Fu Panda
4) Dings on a Dodge
5) Right-hand page (Hidden in SUBDIRECTORIES)
6) Seacrest and Stiles

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 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 version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 2

It's been almost two weeks since I've published my second "Chain Reaction: Extra Links" puzzle, and since then, ten of you have successfully solved it, and here's the complete list:

• Adam Weaver ****
• YYW ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Mom ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney *

Now just head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #68: Line 'Em Up

PUZZLE #68

LINE 'EM UP

This next puzzle is inspired by the Price is Right Pricing Game of the same name. In it, you line up prices of three smaller prizes in a column to complete the price of a car. I've been bandying about the idea of a word-based version of that Pricing Game for a while now, and I've think I've managed to figure it out! Read on to see the results!

Place the answers to each numbered clue in the squares to the left of each corresponding number. Then, once all the answers have been filled in, transfer each answer to the grid on the right (while still keeping the answers in order) so that going down, a two-word phrase will be spelled out by the two red columns in the middle of the grid.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a cult-favorite TV show

1) Interpol song that mentions "200 couches" (MUCH EASIER CLUE: Blackberry or iPhone, e.g.)

2) Duck sound that does indeed echo

3) Lead singer of the Pussycats from Archie Comics

4) It beat Betamax

5) The Wonderful 101 console

6) He broke Batman's back in The Dark Knight Rises

7) Rocky's partner in crime from Looney Tunes

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 that one out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Super Sixes 2

It's been thirteen days since I've posted my second "Super Sixes" puzzle, and seven of you have managed to solve it since then. Here's the complete list of solvers:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• YYW ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****

Now just head below the break for the answers, along with a couple of solver comments!

PUZZLE #67: Chain Reactions: Extra Links 2

PUZZLE #67

CHAIN REACTION: EXTRA LINKS 2

For this puzzle, there are seven golden "links" that link together six two-word phrases when reading down. However, it's completely blank, save for some dashes that reveal how long each word is (four dashes translate to a four-letter word, for instance). To help you figure out these words, though, there are some extra silver links with words already in them which, when combined with the golden link to the left or right of it, make another two-word phrase. In the above example, the two-word phrases with silver links in them are "Chain Restaurants", "Gut Reaction", "Time Zone", and "Fruit Flies", so the final "golden chain" is "CHAIN - REACTION - TIME - FLIES".

Once you've completely filled in the chain, scramble the letters in the orange squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word.

Yeah, I cheated and put a letter in the first golden link. Apparently, there's a second five-letter word that could easily go there, and I just wanted to ensure that you got the right one. Anyway, 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 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 version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Link-Letters

I admit it! In my first "Link-Letters" puzzle from thirteen days ago, I messed up on the spelling to one of the answers! Despite that, I still got ten solvers for this puzzle, as you can see below:

• Brad Eldredge ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• YYW ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Mom ****

Now just head below the break for the answers, along with where exactly that aforementioned mistake was!

PUZZLE #66: Super Sixes 2

PUZZLE #66

SUPER SIXES 2

Well today's my 66th puzzle, so that means one of two things: yet another "Section 6" puzzle, or a different puzzle type involving the number 6 that I haven't done in a while. Since my last "Section 6" puzzle proved to be pretty difficult, I decided to go for the second option, as you can see below.

Enter the answers to the Across clues in the appropriate rows reading from left to right. The answer to each "Sixes" clue starts in the numbered square and goes either clockwise or counterclockwise around its 3x2 rectangle (the direction is left for you to determine by using the Across answers).

Once you've completely filled in the grid, the letters in the grey squares, read from top to bottom, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a fictional character that debuted in 1996!

ACROSS
i) Bring forth (Hidden in UNREDUCED)
ii) Unedited text that could be "rough"
iii) Police drummer Stewart who did the music for Spyro the Dragon
iv) Like a monkey's tail
v) Horton _____ Who! (2 wds.) / Starfish that lives in Bikini Bottom
vi) Spicy cuisine that Popeyes offers / Rodgers and Hammerstein's second musical
vii) Game show originally hosted by Art Fleming / Arcade machine with flippers (My mom actually owns one called Black Knight!)
viii) Blue video game character who turns 25 this year / Robert Rodriguez film that cost only $7,000 (2 wds.)
ix) Annoying little insects / Seattle Sounders, for one (2 wds.)
x) Maine's capital / Foul-mouthed chef Gordon
xi) Wide-eyed, innocent soul / Lightning-quick pitches
xii) Director of Monsters, Inc. and Inside Out (2 wds.)
xiii) Username of Egoraptor's wife (don't forget to replace the "3" with an "E"!) (EXTRA HINT: It's one letter away from Mickey Mouse's original name)
xiv) Green Kim Possible villainess
xv) "_____ My Sunshine" (Len's only hit song)

SIXES
1) Sink spigot
2) Like some phones that are not cellular
3) Working title for the 2015 failure Accidental Love (MUCH EASIER CLUE: Used a hammer)
4) Sermonize
5) Coffin-carrying car
6) Groups in game shows like I've Got a Secret and Figure It Out
7) Small scythe
8) Community actor Ken and others
9) He won an Oscar playing Lt. Col. Frank Slade
10) Ladder's rung
11) Nautical or digital crime
12) Big Eyes director Tim
13) Actor Mark who voiced The Joker
14) Jam-packs
15) Someone who shares top billing (Hyph.)
16) Pre-installed 3DS app that lets you take 3D pictures
17) Valkyrie Profile developer (Hyph.)
18) Quincy from Foxtrot, for one
19) _____-l'œil (optical illusion)
20) Utterly abhor
21) Shade of blue named after a metal
22) Baton-passing races
23) A ream has 500 of them
24) Last name of Goldfinger's Bond girl

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 that one out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Picross Words

Boy, my first Picross puzzle on this site proved to be quite a popular one, as thirteen of you have solved it within the past thirteen days, and you can look at the complete list of solvers below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Brad Eldredge ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• YYW ****
• Lynn Sweeney **
• Adam Weaver ****
• Edderiofer He ****
• Debbie Benford **
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Dan Simonds *
• John Davis ****

Now just head below the break for the answers to this puzzle, along with comments some of my solvers have made!