PUZZLE #94: Dilly Dally

PUZZLE #94

DILLY DALLY

Each answer in the grid below consists of two 5-letter words that both start with the same letter, like WATER WHEEL.

Once the grid has been filled out, hidden inside and going up, down, or diagonally will be the FINAL ANSWER: A video game title that also consists of two 5-letter words starting with the same letter.

1) Manual transmission that many drivers struggle with
2) Spinning purple Tiny Toons character
3) Actor who voiced Phoebus in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
4) Alternative to rye bread
5) Repetitive-sounding Washington city
6) "The Three Billy _____" (fairy tale)
7) The Kingsmen hit whose lyrics not even the FBI can decipher
8) Slogan for an extremely durable line of toy trucks
9) March Madness round before the Final Four
10) LeVar Burton's role in a famous 1977 miniseries

Remember that you're free to look up any of the answers without penalty. Anyway, 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 version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Line 'Em Up 2

It's been roughly two weeks since I posted my second "Line 'Em Up" puzzle, and in the process, gave some free publicity to Phrase Shift by Hyper Hippo, which lead designer Chris Hendricks appreciated very much! He's also one of the twelve people who have solved it since then (two of them solved it together), as you can see in the list below:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Mom ****
• YYW ****
• Alex & Eric Milton ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now head below the break for the answers, as well as a couple comments from my solvers!

PUZZLE #93: Anagram Magic Square 2: Adding & Anagramming

PUZZLE #93

ANAGRAM MAGIC SQUARE 2: ADDING & ANAGRAMMING

The 5-letter word in each box is an anagram to the answer to each of the clues below.... almost. You see, in this puzzle, all of the answers are six letters long, so add an extra letter to each 5-letter word to get each answer. Put the number of each corresponding clue into the small box below the initial word and write down the anagram on the dash directly below that. The numbers in each row and column will add up to 65.

Once you're done with the puzzle, the added letter of each answer, in numerical clue order, will spell out a clue; the FINAL ANSWER is the movie hinted at by this clue.

1) "Lucky" cereal bits
2) Fake oasis, perhaps
3) Container tossed by Donkey Kong
4) Matilda (1996) actor and director Danny
5) Enchanting elixir
6) Wander Over _____ (short-lived Disney series)
7) Motor for a Mazda or Mitsubishi
8) Frequent kidnapper of Princess Peach
9) Hue after blue in the rainbow
10) PJ's little sister in Goof Troop (or a handgun)
11) Spiky sea creature
12) Jefferson's coin
13) Comics company that created Colossus and Carnage
14) Harold had a purple one in a children's book
15) "Beauty School Dropout" musical
16) Monty _____ (British comedy troupe)
17) Bird on a box of Froot Loops
18) Puzzle video game where you can do a T-Spin
19) MSNBC host Maddow
20) Anne Bonny, for one
21) Ticket-drawing event for charity
22) The Grinder co-star Fred
23) Much smaller
24) Pointer on a PC screen
25) Part of TCBY

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: The Spiral Squared

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "The Spiral Squared", and since then, eleven of you have managed to solve it, and here they are:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Mom ****
• Alex Milton ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• YYW ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Giovanni Pagano ***
• Lynn Sweeney ***

Now head below the break for the answers, along with some solver comments in case you're interested in what they had to say!

PUZZLE #92: Line 'Em Up 2

PUZZLE #92

LINE 'EM UP 2

This next puzzle is inspired by one of my newest solvers, Chris Hendricks. You see, Chris works at a video game company called Hyper Hippo (best known for the idle game AdVenture Capitalist), and he told me about a game that his company made called Phrase Shift, a variety word puzzle game that's kinda similar to my "Line 'Em Up" puzzle. Unfortunately, it's doing very poorly (less than a hundred people so far have downloaded it through Google Play, for instance), but while I have yet to purchase it myself, it certainly looks like something I'd like to play, and I'd like to get the word out! If you like this type of puzzle, support this project by downloading it through Apple's App Store or Google Play for only US$1.99!

Oh yeah, I don't want to get falsely accused of bribery or anything like that, so I'll add a DISCLAIMER: None of the preceding has been paid for in any way by anyone at Hyper Hippo; I just want to give exposure to a game that desperately needs it. So with that out of the way, here's my latest version of my puzzle that's a lot like that game I've been giving free advertising to:

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 name of a well-known actor

1) Baby beagles [4]
2) Stellaluna, for one [3]
3) Red Hot Riding Hood animator Avery [3]
4) Horned sea mammal [7]
5) Singer who did "Breathe Me" and "Chandelier" [3]
6) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides actress Penelope [4]
7) Tiny arch-rival of Mr. Krabs [8]

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 version you can print out!

ANSWERS: Family Reunions 2

I know I'm supposed to reveal the answers to "Family Reunions 2" today, but first, I just wanted to let you know that my own family just got a little smaller this past week; my pet cat Maurice has been part of my life since I was in middle school, but old age got to him, and he had to be put down. I'm definitely gonna miss him...

In Memory of Maurice: 2003-2016 [Picture taken on Christmas 2008]

Sorry if I made anyone sad with this post. I don't have any way to smoothly segue from that, so here's the list of solvers for that puzzle I mentioned earlier:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• YYW ****
• Lynn Sweeney *
• Chris Hendricks ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Alex Milton ***

And as usual, the answers and solver comments are below the break.

PUZZLE #91: The Spiral Squared

PUZZLE #91

THE SPIRAL SQUARED

This next puzzle is a Spiral, though this one looks quite different than my previous Spiral. As you can see below, it's in a square shape instead of a circular one, and there's a couple reasons for that. Firstly, I was inspired by the square spirals as seen on The Griddle, and secondly, it's just easier to make a square spiral as opposed to a round one. Besides the shape, this square Spiral is solved just like a normal Spiral, but in case you forgot how to solve one, here's the directions:

This puzzle turns in two directions. The Spiral's "Inward" clues yield a sequence of words to be entered clockwise in the spaces from 1 to 100. The "Outward" clues yield a different set of words to be entered counterclockwise from 100 to 1. Fill in the answers, one letter per space, according to the numbers beside each clue. Make sure to keep track of which way you're going!

Once you've filled out the grid, read out the highlighted squares diagonally to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word.

INWARD
1-3: Jerry's chaser in many animated shorts
4-9: Hotel chain based in Flagstaff
10-14: _____ Hotel ("Ready, Set, Go!" band)
15-18: Ukraine's largest city
19-24: Hanks' role in Apollo 13
25-27: Japanese Prime Minister who dressed as Mario for the 2016 Olympics' closing ceremony
28-37: Wolverine's similarly-powered arch-nemesis in the X-Men comics (or a prehistoric cat)
38-40: "Cool" Green Day drummer
41-46: The Price is Right game that involves dropping discs for dollars
47-49: "I _____ (So Far Away)" (A Flock of Seagulls' biggest hit)
50-57: Cartoon cat whose occasional girlfriend is Arlene
58-65: 1979 Styx hit about a captured outlaw
66-68: Type of hip-hop track intended to insult a rapper
69-76: Something to never talk about in polite company (besides religion)
77-86: Male trash collector
87-89: Post-surgery place: Abbr.
90-93: Bean named after a Peruvian city
94-100: Clue colonel

OUTWARD
100-96: "Dang it!"
95-91: The fifth basic taste
90-85: Chrom's daughter in Fire Emblem Awakening (who's also playable in Super Smash Bros. 4)
84-81: Sega _____ Drive (What the Genesis is called outside of North America)
80-76: Boasts, like the Great and Powerful Trixie
75-72: Bank that lends their name to the Mets' stadium
71-64: Uneven
63-61: It follows "Ice" or "Information"
60-57: The Angry Video Game _____ (Influential Internet review series)
56-53: Viking Erikson
52-45: Evil clone of Marvel's Thor named after the Norse apocalypse
44-42: Nothing, zilch, nada
41-37: Western Australia's capital
36-31: Someone blowing their horn?
30-23: Sport with a Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
22-17: Change from one Pokémon form to another
16-11: Hit song for both the Dixie Cups and the Belle Stars: 2 wds.
10-7: "Presto!": Hyph.
6-1: Groundhog or woodchuck, e.g.

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: Word Squares: Projectors

Boy, I must've did something right with my first "Projectors" puzzle, as a lot of you have managed to solve it since I posted it two weeks ago! Take a look:

• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• Adam Weaver ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Mom ***
• Debbie Benford ****
• Alex & Eric Milton ****
• Giovanni Pagano ***
• Chris Hendricks ****
• M. Sean Molley ****

Now before you go down the break to look at the answers (and a couple solver comments), I wanted to let you know that I'm testing out weekly email reminders! I'm already giving these out to two of my solvers, but if you want to get an email every week telling you when my latest puzzle is published in case you forget, let me know either through email or commenting on this blog!