OSCAR MONTH! PUZZLE #115: Eat Your Words 2

OSCAR MONTH!

PUZZLE #115

EAT YOUR WORDS 2

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a Best Picture Oscar nominee.

NUMBERED WORDS
1) Dialogue-free comic strip by Mark Tatulli
2) Last name of Chandler from Friends
3) Suffering from ennui
4) Grows older
5) Wray who famously got grabbed by King Kong
6) Perceives with one's eyes
7) Mood ring or pet rock, e.g.

EATEN WORDS
* Fashion designer Wang
* Frequent Match Game panelist Somers
* "Halt! Who goes _____?"
* McDonald's has a golden one
* Propel a boat gently down the stream
* Type of house or dressing
* With "The", "She Sells Sanctuary" band

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: Moving Staircases 6

The Academy Awards are tonight! I won't be watching it myself (even though I've been doing an entire month of Oscar-themed puzzles), but while we wait for the winners to be announced, here are all of the solvers of "Moving Staircases 6" from two weeks ago:

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

Now just head below the break for the answers!

OSCAR MONTH! PUZZLE #114: Zigzagnut 3

OSCAR MONTH!

PUZZLE #114

ZIGZAGNUT 3

The numbered clues are for the zigzags, which work their way down through the diagram in the outlined areas. The "Rows" clues are for the answers, two per row, to be entered straight across each row in the diagram, but to make things harder, you don't know which specific rows the answers will go into! (Though the answers in the rows themselves are in the correct order)

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer entered in the unclued entry in the middle of the diagram (marked with a question mark): the name of an Oscar-winning actress

ROWS (in random order; each contains two answers)
* Chamillionaire hit that was parodied by Weird Al as "White & Nerdy" / Bring a toon to life
* Ward (off) / 1979 sci-fi film that won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects
* Fixes typos / Moose or elk
* Pie à _____: 2 wds. / The WB sitcom starring (and named after) a country star
* The majority of the world's population / Green-tongued Cartoon Network character (or a crosswordese whirlpool)
* _____ culpa / Kenya's capital
* Like Allen Funt's Camera / Privy to: 2 wds.
* Tuesday in France / Sound of a kiss or a slap
* MTV Classic offering / The C in CIA
* Knight wear / The Life _____ with Steve Zissou
* Jackie who voiced Monkey in Kung Fu Panda / Namco once had one regarding minigames on loading screens

ZIGZAGS
1) Actress and inventor Hedy
2) Blue jay from Regular Show
3) Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, religion-wise
4) Like King Kong in 1976 and 2005
5) Supporter of a Kickstarter project, say
6) Stand-up guy?
7) Like candlelit dinners
8) Attack like a vampire
9) Virginia's 4th-most populated city
10) Nick @ _____ (programming block)
11) Place to play Dance Dance Revolution
12) God of thunder and lightning from Mortal Kombat
13) Discordant
14) Picturesque panoramas
15) Arctic and Atlantic, for two
16) Like the latest hot fashions
17) Shoe company whose name is derived from the Latin word for "bird"
18) Made one's nose grow, metaphorically

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: Diagramless Mini-Crossword

It's been thirteen days since I've posted my first Diagramless Crossword, and since then, nine of you have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

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

Now just click on "Read more" for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

OSCAR MONTH! PUZZLE #113: Moving Staircases 6

OSCAR MONTH!

PUZZLE #113

MOVING STAIRCASES 6

The two staircase-shaped halves of a "Moving Staircases" puzzle are designed to be pushed together in two different ways, horizontally and vertically. A horizontal push creates shorter words ("Shorts"), while a vertical push creates longer words ("Longs"). The example above shows a completed grid and the grids that result from pushing it both ways. The lists of clues given for the Shorts and Longs are not in order; it's up to you to determine where the answers go by working back and forth between the two lists.

Once you've completely filled out the grid, hidden inside it will be this week's FINAL ANSWER: the title of an Oscar-nominated film from the 2000s (not for Best Picture, mind you) that isn't hidden horizontally OR vertically!

SHORTS
* Cheesy snack chip
* Greek letter featured in the Half-Life logo
* Month with no major holidays
* Music video director Sigismondi who helmed Katy Perry's "E.T."
* Not doing too well, health-wise
* Sweden's neighbor
* The Adjustment _____ (sci-fi film)

LONGS
* Bean-filled wrap
* Fastening down certain fasteners
* Field where the Packers play
* Portal in your house?
* The easternmost US capital
* US State that's home to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park

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 (And Contest Results!): Squeezed in the Middle 8

It's been two weeks since I've posted my latest Contest Puzzle, and thirteen people have solved it since then. Since over ten people have solved it, two of them will win a signed copy of the February 2017 issue of GAMES Magazine that I got published in!

• Eric Maddy **** (opted out of this contest, since he already has the prize in question)
• Chirs Hendricks ****
• David Cohen ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Mom **** (ineligible, since I might as well give the prize to myself!)
• Adam Weaver ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• M. Sean Molley **** (opted out of this contest, since he also has the prize in question)
• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Brad Eldredge ****

And now to reveal the two contest winners, chosen at random through random.org! The winners are... YYW and David Cohen! Congratulations to you both!

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

OSCAR MONTH! PUZZLE #112: Diagramless Mini-Crossword

OSCAR MONTH!
PUZZLE #112

DIAGRAMLESS MINI-CROSSWORD

Well, it's February, and if you're in the U.S. like I am, that means we're smack dab in the middle of Oscar Season. So to commemorate the occasion, I'm going to do another theme month in the form of Oscar Month! All this month, the FINAL ANSWERS of each puzzle will have something to do with the Academy Awards! So with that little explanation out of the way, let's start with the directions of this month's first puzzle, shall we?

Diagramless crosswords are solved by using the clues and their numbers to fill in the answers as well as the black squares. When completely filled in, the black squares in the grid will have diagonal symmetry, meaning that they'll look the same when rotated upside-down. As a help, the first number has already been placed in the grid.

This week's TWO FINAL ANSWERS are both Oscar-nominated films

ACROSS
1) Resell on eBay for ridiculous prices
6) Fictional pet detective Ventura
9) Eldest son in Foxtrot
10) "Sugar, We're _____ Down" (Fall Out Boy song)
12) Heart song that hit #1 in 1987
13) 2012 Oscar-winning film about a fake film (not one of the FINAL ANSWERS, by the way)
14) One FINAL ANSWER
16) The pinnacle of TV manufacturers?
17) Main _____, U.S.A. (part of Disneyland)
21) The other FINAL ANSWER
25) Persuade
26) Diamond _____ (ex-bully from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
28) Ballooned
29) Music genre of B.B. King and Freddie King
30) Sets in medical dramas, for short
31) Canvas holder

DOWN
1) Hot springs site
2) Pictures from Pinocchio, perhaps
3) _____ the Fourth Wall (Internet review show about comic books)
4) He preceded (and succeeded) O'Brien on The Tonight Show
5) Auntie Anne's offering
6) "You can say that _____!"
7) Welsh dog
8) Number of worlds in the original Super Mario Bros.
11) Chris who played Mr. Big on Sex and the City
15) Beatles album containing "The Long and Winding Road"
17) Arrogant, like a stereotypical hipster
18) Former Yankees manager Joe
19) Green-skinned bully from Doug
20) Celebrity gossip and current events show on the same network as Fashion Police
22) Type of "monster" found in the southwestern US
23) Home, in Hamburg
24) Birch or beech
27) Handy way of communicating? (Abbr.)

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 (Don't forget that it's 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: Plus Two

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! While we wait for the Patriots to (most likely) win, let's have a look at the eight people who have solved "Plus Two" from two weeks ago:

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

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