Monday, February 26, 2018

PUZZLE #167: Deck It Out 3

PUZZLE #167
DECK IT OUT 3

Fill in the answers to the clues below, then transfer the letters marked with playing card symbols to their proper places in the grid below. The number (or letter) of each clue will tell you what column to place those letters in. Once it's completely filled in, the grid will spell out a sentence that will provide a hint to the FINAL ANSWER.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a title



A) Shirt splotches
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♢       ♣   ♠       ♡
2) Buffalo or yak, e.g.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣   ♠   ♡           ♢
3) Winnie-the-Pooh character whose catchphrase is "Oh, D-D-Dear!"
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠       ♢   ♣   ♡
4) The real name of Disney's Sleeping Beauty
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠   ♣   ♡           ♢
5) Web master?
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♡           ♢   ♣   ♠
6) Crab that lives in a vacated shell
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣       ♢       ♡   ♠
7) _____ Jenkins (character from a World of Warcraft-related viral video)
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♣   ♢       ♡   ♠
8) Like a vampire's teeth
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠   ♢   ♡           ♣
9) The first enemy you encounter in Super Mario Bros.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣   ♡   ♠   ♢
10) Épée wielder
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♡   ♣       ♢       ♠
J) Six feet, according to a sailor
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♢   ♠   ♣       ♡
Q) Main villain of Avengers: Infinity War
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♠   ♡       ♣   ♢
K) High School Musical director/choreographer Kenny
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♡   ♢   ♠   ♣

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!


Sunday, February 25, 2018

ANSWERS: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 5

Before I reveal the answers to my fifth "Chain Reaction: Extra Links" puzzle, I just wanted to inform you of a game I've been playing a lot lately. It's a free game on Steam called Picross Touch, and it's basically a bunch of Picross puzzles. I've already completed the main game a little over a week ago, but it also includes an area where you can solve user-made puzzles or even create puzzles of your own for other people to solve. I've already made four of my own and uploaded them, and one of them has been the #1 "Trending" level since last Wednesday and still is as of this writing! (I call it "Splatoon Squid") So if you're interested, you can Download Picross Touch right now for free through Steam (It's also on Google Play and Apple's App Store, but it doesn't look like either of those versions include custom levels). If you want to play the puzzles I have on there so far, just type "Splatoon Squid", "Big U", "Vampire Smiley", or "Samus Aran" in the game's search bar while you're in the game's Workshop area.

Now with that unpaid advertisement out of the way, lets look at the whopping ten people who have solved my puzzle from thirteen days ago, one of whom is a new one who makes crosswords for USA Today!
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ***
  • Eric Maddy ***
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Debbie Benford ***
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, February 19, 2018

PUZZLE #166: Anagram Magic Square 3: Subtracting & Scrambling

PUZZLE #166
ANAGRAM MAGIC SQUARE 3: SUBTRACTING & SCRAMBLING

The 6-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 five letters long, so remove an extra letter from each 6-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 subtracted letter of each answer, in numerical clue order, will spell out a clue; the FINAL ANSWER is the title hinted at by the clue.


1) Animal on the Kansas State Quarter
2) In dire need of a nap
3) Renée Zellweger's role in Chicago
4) Dwarf planet in the asteroid belt
5) Freckle Juice author Judy
6) The "M" in AMAs
7) Pirate treasure container
8) Numbered highway
9) Freighter ship's load
10) Fail to breathe underwater?
11) Splatoon 2 character who's a part of the pop duo Off The Hook alongside Marina
12) Two-door car
13) Lucius Malfoy's son
14) The _____ Spoonful ("Summer in the City" band)
15) Eliza's father in The Wild Thornberrys
16) Two and a Half Men actor Jon
17) Exemplary, as a citizen
18) The Munsters' werewolf son
19) Chuck Woolery game show where contestants spell 5-letter words
20) Light beam whose name is an acronym
21) _____ Dogg Presents The Joker's Wild
22) Arbor Day month
23) Radiohead hit with the lyrics "I wish I was special"
24) _____ Attraction (1987 Best Picture nominee)
25) Delaware's capital

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!

Sunday, February 18, 2018

ANSWERS: PixelSweeper

It's been almost two weeks since I posted my very first Fill-A-Pix puzzle (which I've called "PixelSweeper"), and since then, eight of you have successfully figured it out. Okay, two of those solvers used up all of their Hint Stars, but they still managed to find out the FINAL ANSWER eventually. Now then, here's the list of those solvers:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Dan Simonds (no stars)
  • Mom **
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Lynn Sweeney  (no stars)
Now head below the break for the answers, as well as three comments from three of my solvers!

Monday, February 12, 2018

PUZZLE #165: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 5

PUZZLE #165
CHAIN REACTION: EXTRA LINKS 5


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.


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!

Sunday, February 11, 2018

ANSWERS: Section Six 5

Before I reveal the answers to "Section Six 5" from a couple weeks ago, I just wanted to let you know that this month's exclusive Patreon Puzzle is a 9x9 Cryptic Crossword. If you want to solve it, simply support me on Patreon.com at $5 a month or more for this as well as other exclusive puzzles! Now with that plug out of the way, here are the seven people that have solved my latest "Section Six" puzzle:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Dan Simonds *
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Mom ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

Monday, February 5, 2018

PUZZLE #164: PixelSweeper

PUZZLE #164
PIXELSWEEPER

It's a puzzle whose number ends in 64! As you may or may not recall, the last time this happened, I decided to do something a little different than usual: a Picross puzzle with a word puzzle-y twist. This time, I'm going to do a different type of picture-logic puzzle: one that Conceptis Games calls "Fill-A-Pix". I couldn't find a program that could help me make this type of puzzle, so I had to make this puzzle entirely by hand (or rather, by MS Paint and Excel), and I liked how this ultimately turned out. I'll be back with a normal word puzzle next week, but first, here are the directions to this week's puzzle:

This hybrid of Minesweeper and a Picross puzzle consists of a grid with multiple numbers inside that will eventually turn into a picture. Each number tells how many of the squares surrounding it (as well as the numbered square itself) should be shaded in. For example, a square marked with a "9" should be shaded in, and so should the eight squares around it. If you're stumped or don't know what to do next, you can always get some tips, tricks and techniques through this link.

The FINAL ANSWER for this puzzle is the name of a Pokémon that is six letters long.


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!

Sunday, February 4, 2018

ANSWERS: Compound Crosswords

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! While we wait for either the Patriots to tie the Steelers for most Super Bowls won or the Eagles to win their very first Super Bowl, let's get to the answers to "Compound Crosswords" as well as the people that solved it:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Dan Simonds **
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Mom ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Lynn Sweeney & Jared ***
Now head below the break for the answers!