PUZZLE #111: Squeezed in the Middle 8 (CONTEST PUZZLE!)

CONTEST!

PUZZLE #111

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 8

It's been a long while since I had a contest on this blog, so I'm going to do another Contest Puzzle! The prize for winning this contest is a signed copy of the February 2017 issue of GAMES Magazine that I got published in! There will only be one winner for this contest, though if at least ten people solve this puzzle, I'll give out a second copy to another winner! If you don't want to enter this contest, you can still solve this puzzle and opt out of the contest. Now with the contest rules out of the way, let's get to the directions for solving this thing!

For this puzzle, you're going to sandwich together words (entered in the white rectangles) by surrounding it with a letter on each side, one at the beginning and one at the end, making a new word in the process. Once you're done, the extra letters you've added in the "crust" (the brown squares) will spell out a two-word phrase. In the example above, the words URN, RAT, and OVER become BURNT, IRATE, and GOVERN, and the letters in the brown squares, reading down, spell out BIG TEN. However, to make things trickier, the "Wholes" will be in no particular order, so it's up to you to figure out which one of the "Centers" it matches up with!

Once you've filled out everything, the letters in the brown squares, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a #1 album from the 1960s

CENTERS
1) Most common English word
2) I Can _____ Cheezburger?
3) Pretty peculiar
4) Commander or captain, e.g.
5) Dirty Jobs host Mike
6) Bon _____ (indie rock band)
7) Left-hand page
8) Column's opposite

WHOLES
* Three's a _____ (controversial game show)
* Small shovel for gardening
* Basketball Hall of Famer Allen
* On the rocks, like a relationship
* Former talk show host Geraldo
* _____ Apso (dog breed)
* Grumpy (and aptly-named) Donkey Kong Country character
* Fred's wife in I Love Lucy

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: Pent Words 8

As you may or may not know, I'm going to hold a contest tomorrow with the latest issue of GAMES Magazine as the prize. My second set of "Word Sandwiches" puzzles are inside, and not only that, a puzzle by Grant Fikes is inside as well! (It's a "Hex Pathfinder", if you're interested) So make sure to be here tomorrow for a chance to win, and until then, here are all the people who have solved "Pent Words 8" from two weeks ago:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano **
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now just head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #110: Plus Two

PUZZLE #110

PLUS TWO

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

Once you're done, the letters in the gold areas, reading down, spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: Something that no longer exists

PARTIAL CLUES
1) Ponce de _____
2) Last name of the women in Little Women
3) Freshly-cut, like a lawn
4) NBA team that retired Charles Barkley's #34
5) Winged healer from Overwatch
6) One of eight red collectibles in a Super Mario 64 level

WHOLE CLUES
* _____ Meltdown (PS2 game where you control a blob of liquid metal)
* Record label founded by Berry Gordy, Jr.
* NBA forward nicknamed "King James"
* Nicolas Cage, to Sofia Coppola
* Actresses Lucci and Sarandon
* Royal butterfly?

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: The Sudoku Code

Before I reveal the answers to "The Sudoku Code", I've got some big news! A while ago, I told you that my second set of "Squeezed in the Middle" "Word Sandwiches" puzzles are set to be published in the February 2017 issue of GAMES Magazine. Well, last Tuesday, that issue came in the mail! It's not on newsstands yet (it'll come out this Wednesday, most likely), so the inevitable contest with that issue as a prize won't be posted until next week. In the meantime, here are the people who have successfully solved "The Sudoku Code":

• Lynn Sweeney ***
• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• YYW ****
• Chris Hendricks ****

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

PUZZLE #109: Pent Words 8

PUZZLE #109

PENT WORDS 8

I know what you're thinking: "What happened to Pent Words 7?" Well, I decided that the Pent Words I used for my 100th puzzle counts as #7 in my little series. So with that nitpick out of the way, let's get to this week's puzzle!

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) Cochise or Geronimo, e.g.
    Shoulder muscle, for short
2) High School Musical actress Hudgens
    "If you ask me", in text messages
3) Wealthy
    Last name of Danny or Jazz from Danny Phantom
4) Frampton Comes _____! (multi-platinum album)
    Roughs it
5) Illustrator Gerald who worked with Pink Floyd
    "Grand Ole" Nashville landmark
6) Evil organization fought by G.I. Joe
    Jada Pinkett Smith's role in The Matrix Reloaded
7) November birthstone
    Acorn-loving Ice Age character
8) What brevity is the soul of, supposedly
    Baskin's partner in ice cream
9) Discontinued robot dog made by Sony
    Football shirt
10) Golf putt, perhaps
      Mrs. Frisby and the _____ of NIMH

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Hasbro toy that originally had a giant purple button in the middle: Hyph.
* Chairs and such
* Fancy neckerchief
* Assassinated archduke Ferdinand
* Synonym for "niña"
* Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning role
* Previous, like an arrest
* "My Happy Ending" singer Lavigne
* One of Peter Rabbit's sisters
* Was sore
* Tool's first music video to use stop-motion animation
* New Orleans footballer
* The "24" in "36-24-36", say
* Glass window sections
* Ann _____, MI
* Rocker John who was Too Low for Zero
* Seamstress Ross
* Appearance by Hitchcock in [first answer to 7-Across], 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: Link-Letters 3

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted my third "Link-Letters" puzzle, and since then nine of you have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now just head on below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #108: The Sudoku Code

PUZZLE #108

THE SUDOKU CODE

This next puzzle is inspired by an anime! I've been watching various anime for quite a while now (see the answer to "Moving Staircases 2" as proof of that), but I've just started watching it on a more regular basis since only last year when the Winter 2016 season began. One anime that premiered earlier this decade and which I just started watching not too long ago is called Phi Brain. If you want a synopsis, it's a lot like Yu-Gi-Oh, but with puzzles instead of a children's card game. If you're still curious, you can watch all three seasons of the show here at Crunchyroll. Anyways, I'm only a few episodes in at the moment, but I've already been inspired by a puzzle in one of the episodes (episode 3, to be exact) to create a new puzzle for this blog! Let's dig in, shall we?

Fill in the sudoku below using normal rules (the numbers 1-9 appear once in each row, column, and 3x3 box). Once everything has been filled in, use the shaded squares to figure out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A nine-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 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: Brick By Brick 2

Before I reveal the answers to my second "Brick By Brick" puzzle, I have a little update for you guys: remember that Phrase Shift game I shamelessly plugged a while back? Well, it's now available on Steam with over 600 puzzles and Achievements for you to earn (for those that care about that sort of thing)! If you already bought the mobile version, the game's creator Chris Hendricks told me that it'll hopefully update later this month with presumably the same features as the Steam version! Now then, here are all seven people who have solved "Brick By Brick 2":

• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• YYW ****
• Lynn Sweeney **
• Chris Hendricks ****

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

PUZZLE #107: Link-Letters 3

PUZZLE # 107

LINK-LETTERS 3

The answer to each clue on the left side of this puzzle's grid goes in the squares to the left of the first black bar, and the answers to each clue on the right goes into the squares to the right of the second black bar. Then a single letter (the "Link-Letter") goes in the square in the middle to complete a single word that reads all the way across. For example, if the two words are CON and ACT, you can put a "T" between them to get CONTACT.

Once you've filled out all eight rows, the central letters will spell out two additional words reading down. Add a letter between those two words in the red square to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: The name of a television show cancelled in 2016

And here are the clues in text format, sorted by the rows they appear in from up to down:

1) _____TV (formerly CourtTV) / "Show Me the Way" rocker Frampton
2) Bakery staple that sounds like a petaled plant / Lose skin, like a snake
3) Supermarket _____ (classic game show) / Grabs away
4) Volkswagen's luxury brand / Charged atoms
5) Number-loving vampire from Sesame Street / With "The", 2002 horror film about a haunted videotape
6) _____-Magnon / Excalibur, for one
7) Golfer's way of saying "Duck!" / Take a sample of, like food you've never had
8) Dot on a domino / Cord on a fishing rod
9) Grape flavored soda from Coca-Cola / _____-Tac-Dough (classic game show)

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: Helter Skelter 2

Happy New Year! I know this is usually a time to reflect on the preceding year, but outside of sports and entertainment, 2016 sucked eggs hard. And not just in World News, either; not only did I have a crisis about getting solvers to stay on this blog and not only did my last remaining pet die, but also my suicidal thoughts reached a fever point after the conclusion of this overlong election! It's almost enough to forget that I got a new solver and friend who works in the video game industry, that I've reached a milestone 100 puzzles on this site, and that this blog got mentioned by The New York Times...'s Numberplay blog! I'm heavily doubtful that 2017 will be any better (mostly because of a certain Golden Raspberry Award winner that I won't name) but I've survived the Terrible 2000s, so I can hopefully weather this storm as well. Anyways, here are all the people who have solved "Helter Skelter 2":

• Chris Hendricks ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Dan Simonds and Katie Moulton ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now just head below the break for the answers!