ANSWERS: Pent Words 6

Before we reveal the answers to my sixth "Pent Words" puzzle, I've got some business to take care of: last month, I held a contest involving a picross puzzle, but the winner of that contest, Edderiofer He, hasn't replied back to me. Since I don't want the prize of a picross book or video game of the victor's choosing go to waste, I've decided to select a different winner for that contest! The new winner is... Sam Levitin! Congratulations! I'll email you as soon as possible, and make sure you reply back to me to let me know what picross book/video game you want!

Now with all that out of the way, here are the people who solved "Pent Words 6":

• Grant Fikes ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• YYW ****
• Debbie Benford (with help from Mom) **
• Joseph DeVincentis ****

Now just head below the break for the answers as well as some solver comments!

PUZZLE #86: Patchwords

PUZZLE #86

PATCHWORDS

Boy, was this weekend an eventful one! After all, my sister Alex just got married last Saturday! Since this was such a momentous occasion, I've decided to make this week's puzzle sort of a tribute to Eric, the man that my sister married! I've had a FINAL ANSWER related to the groom already in mind, but none of the puzzle types I've posted on this blog so far seemed to work for it, so I've opted to do it in the form of a word search.

Believe it or not, this isn't the first word search related to the wedding that I've made; a month before the wedding happened, I was commissioned to create a word search for my sister's bridal shower. To tell the truth, I actually wound up using a web site that automatically makes word searches; all I did was add a list of wedding-related words and chose a heart-shaped grid. But don't worry, not only is this word search completely handmade (er, keyboard-made), it's also not a traditional word search! Read on to see how to solve it!

Each of the words hinted at by the clues below can be found in a continuous line in an irregularly-shaped "patch" inside the grid. (To make a patch, just draw a thick line surrounding all of the letters in the word) The line that each word takes goes vertically and horizontally, but NOT diagonally. Each letter in the grid will be used exactly once, and none of the patches overlap.

Once you've completed the puzzle, combine the two patches that don't have corresponding clues to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: One of the groom's all-time favorite TV shows

CLUES

* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Board game where you remove ailments from Cavity Sam
* Dreamworks movie featuring a song called "The Snail is Fast" (yes, really)
* Emulate a lifeguard
* "Food, Glorious Food" musical
* Ghouls and goblins
* The Good _____ (Pixar movie)
* Greek letter before beta
* High gear on a car, probably
* _____ Jack (Cartoon Network series returning this year)
* Last name of Chuckie from Rugrats
* Lightning's companion
* Many a character from DC or Marvel
* Merging together
* Naruto or Sasuke, e.g.
* Organ-playing figure "of the Opera"
* Pikachu's fur color
* Power wielded by the Jedi
* Rock opera by The Who featuring "Pinball Wizard"
* Super Mario _____ (video game that introduced Rosalina)
* The lion is the king of this habitat (even though it lives in the grasslands...)
* Use a credit card
* The Wild Thornberrys network

* Wookie or Ewok, for one

Once you believe you've figured out 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: Plus One 2

Boy, was yesterday a busy day... but I'll tell you about that tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the answers for my second "Plus One" puzzle as well as the people that solved them:

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

Now just click on "Read more" for the answers!

PUZZLE #85: Pent Words 6

PUZZLE #85

PENT WORDS 6

For this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (they’re kinda like Tetris pieces, except they’re areas made up of five squares each) and put a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, reading left to right beginning with the top row, will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example above, the rows spell out CHINS, PARTY, and ANKLE, and the pentominoes spell out the words CHINA, STYLE, and PRANK.) Use the across answers to figure out where the pentominoes go.

Once you're done, combine the two unclued pentominoes to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: A two-word phrase

ACROSS (Two answers per row)
1) Pink puffball whose latest video game is Planet Robobot
    San Francisco football player, for short
2) Not transparent or translucent
    Police team that kills flies?
3) "Champagne Supernova" band
    Film genre that includes Ocean's Eleven and Ant-Man
4) Prefix for "dactyl"
    Impels
5) Declare to be true under oath
    Lucasarts adventure game where you cast musical spells with a distaff
6) Double sixes, in craps slang
    Fleming who hosted the original version of Jeopardy!
7) The _____ of the Ancient Mariner
    Ace Attorney character whose last name is literally "Justice"
8) Oak seed
    They turn litmus papers red
9) Dragon Ball Z character who said "It's over NINE THOUSAND!"
    Dreamworks movie featuring a purple alien
10) Scottish version of John
      Gym helper

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Stereotypical Inuit hut
* Appearance by Stan Lee in many Marvel films
* Pave again
* Word that follows "spaghetti" or "shoulder"
* Amanda from The Amanda Show
* Beck song with the lyrics "In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey"
* Like Mensa members
* Super Mario Bros. enemy with a green or red shell
* Paul Bunyan, for one
* Resident of Baghdad
* Chip that's dipped in cheese
* "U Got It Bad" singer
* Ctrl-V, in many Windows programs
* State where many Stephen King stories are set
* Metal Gear _____ V: The Phantom Pain
* 66 was a famous one
* Pixar film featuring Merida
* Like xenon and neon

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 solved it. 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: 5-Star Stumper 2

It's been about two weeks since I've posted my second "5-Star Stumper" puzzle, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, as well as the people that have solved it:

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

Now just head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #84: Plus One 2

PUZZLE #84

PLUS ONE 2

To start this puzzle, enter the answers to the numbered clues (the "Partial Clues") in each correspondingly numbered area, skipping the gold squares as you do so. Then, add a new letter in each gold square to create a new word, which matches up with one of the "Whole Clues" that are listed in no particular order.

One of the presents I've got for my birthday late last month was a collection of newspaper comic strips in book form; this week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of that comic strip

PARTIAL CLUES
1) Mr. Luthor who hates Superman
2) Secret of _____ (role-playing game for SNES)
3) Sound made by a bouncing Tigger
4) Nerve cell in the brain
5) Jigsaw puzzle part
6) Home for cows and owls
7) Shy ghost from the Super Mario games

WHOLE CLUES
* Upcoming Disney film featuring the voice of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
* Nicktoon Jimmy with a robotic pet dog named Goddard
* Chevy Chase's character in Community
* The Red _____ (Snoopy's foe)
* Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s sport
* Start a computer (up)
* Move a muscle?

Once you believe you've figured out 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 (And Contest Results!): Picross Words 2

I think my second "Picross Words" puzzle has proved too difficult for my usual solvers, since only five people have managed to solve it within the past two weeks or so, as you can see below:

• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Edderiofer He ****
• Sam Levitin ****

Since the number of solvers for this Contest Puzzle is so low, I'll only be rewarding one of these solvers, and that solver is... Edderiofer He! Congratulations on winning a Picross book or video game of your choosing!

Now with that out of the way, head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #83: 5-Star Stumper 2

PUZZLE #83

5-STAR STUMPER 2

Happy Independence Day, everybody! To celebrate the occasion, I've decided to make another red, white, and blue "5-Star Stumper" puzzle (even though the last one was less than two months ago)! In case you need a refresher on how to solve one of these, read on for the directions!

The answer to each numbered pair of clues go in the 10 spaces surrounding each correspondingly numbered star in the grid. The first answer of each set starts in the appropriately numbered space (with the arrow in the same space telling you which direction to go), and the second answer follows immediately after. Meanwhile, the answers that go in the red stripe surrounding the grid are clued in order, and even though it's up to you to determine where the chain of answers begins, we can tell you that the red stripe's answers go clockwise.

Once the entire grid has been filled in, reading the white spaces from left to right and top to bottom will reveal this week's FINAL ANSWER: A song with a patriotic-sounding title

STARS
1) Latina nurse from Scrubs
    Healthcare insurance company in the Fortune 100 (and numerous crosswords)
2) Type of patch that Br'er Rabbit got thrown in
    Hunter who became fat in four Merrie Melodies shorts
3) Zap in the microwave, slangily
    Shepherd who hosted the most recent version of The Newlywed Game
4) Character from Greek myth who didn't know that wax wings melt in the sun
    Prefix meaning "six" (hey, that rhymes!)
5) Dot seen in dollars and cents
    Villain-turned-adoptive father from Despicable Me

RED STRIPE
* Goddess who married Zeus
* Horse gait that's slower than a gallop
* Tool to touch up photos before Photoshop came about
* Quiz or test
* Diamonds, in hip-hop slang
* Bo and Luke who are hated by Boss Hogg

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 (don't forget that that one is also a CONTEST PUZZLE!). 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: Squeezed in the Middle 6

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted my sixth "Squeezed in the Middle" puzzle, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, along with the people who have solved it:

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

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