Monday, November 26, 2018

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #206: Pathfinder

NEWVEMBER!
PUZZLE #206
PATHFINDER

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in the indicated direction, and makes at least one right-angled turn as it winds through the grid (except for one answer that just goes in a straight line). When you're finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Once the grid's filled in, unscramble the letters in the gray squares to get the FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word


1W) You Might Be a _____ If... (Jeff Foxworthy album) [7]
2E) Hey Arnold! character whose hair is braided up to look like a spider (Anagram of DIANNE) [6]
3N) Evil crocodile king from Donkey Kong Country and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [1 4]
4S) Web-slinging alter-ego of Peter Porker (not a typo; he's an actual pig, and he's gonna be in an animated Marvel movie this December) [6-3]
4S) Intermittent [8]
5S) Traditional Thanksgiving meal [5]
6N) "_____ Anthem (I Don't Want to Be in Love)" (Good Charlotte song) [5 5]
7E) Autumn apple drink [5]
8W) Complete and utter madness [8]
9N) Return address name [6]
9S) Los Angeles suburb where film's Bill & Ted are from [3 5]
10S) Barcelona boy [4]
11W) _____ Mack (current Disney Channel show) [4]
12S) Nihil _____ (defendant's refusal to plead) (Answer hidden in APPENDICITIS) [5]
13S) What live TV might use in case someone decides to cuss [4 5]
14S) Sole Top 40 hit for Luscious Jackson [5 3]
15S) Port-au-Prince's country [5]
16W) Huge herbivorous dino whose name means "arm lizard" [13]
17S) Pregnant cop from Fargo (1996) [5]
18N) North West's father [5]
19S) Stop, like marching soldiers [4]
20N) With "The", hidden camera show on TruTV where a magician pranks unsuspecting people [9 6]
21E) Abe Simpson, to Bart and Lisa [6]
22S) America's most popular potato chip brand [4]
23N) Sammy with 609 home runs [4]
24S) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright [5]
25W) Bull-ish constellation? [6]
26E) Amazon founder and president Jeff [5]
27E) _____ 101 (2000s Nickelodeon show) [4]

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, November 25, 2018

ANSWERS: Fronts Off

Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants wearing a DUNCE cap (DUNCE being one of the answers to this puzzle)

The first edition of "Fronts Off", posted on this blog thirteen days ago, proved to be a big hit, as an astounding twelve of you have successfully figured it out, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • M. Sean Molley ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Pavel Curtis ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

Monday, November 19, 2018

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #205: Diamond Rings

NEWVEMBER!
PUZZLE #205
DIAMOND RINGS

To solve this puzzle, place one letter of each 5-letter answer into the correspondingly-numbered circle (or "ring"), and then put the other four letters into the surrounding diamonds in random order, while also making sure the diamonds' letters correctly overlap with each other. Each horizontal row's rings will have the same position in each answer word for that row (meaning that each ring in one row will be the second letter of each answer, and each ring in another row will be the third letter of each word, and so on). As an additional help, eight of the unshared diamonds have been filled in with letters.

Once the diagram is completely filled in, the letters in the rings, when read left to right, will spell out a clue to the FINAL ANSWER: a person's name


1) Binky from Garfield and Friends or Bozo, for example
2) Cartoonist Guisewite or her comic strip
3) Tree-like Guardians of the Galaxy member with a limited vocabulary
4) Orange soda brand that's a synonym for "compress"
5) Viking from newspaper comics
6) Attacked by a wasp
7) Shrek and his children, e.g.
8) Hit the books for an exam, say
9) Wang _____ ("Dance Hall Days" band)
10) Restaurant lists
11) John who was the first US Vice President
12) Puts it all on the line
13) Ice hockey venues
14) Healing character from Team Fortress 2
15) Video game company who made Pac-Man and Galaga
16) Tuba metal
17) The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, for one
18) Type of music used in many "Weird Al" medleys
19) Boxer Mike who had his own NES game
20) Katharine Hepburn's character in On Golden Pond
21) From the Earth to the Moon author Jules
22) Fast food side that can be crinkle-cut
23) Groovy gorilla playable in the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
24) Miss _____ (porcine Muppet)
25) Clicking computer tool
26) Yellow egg parts
27) Cartoon Network's Johnny who repeatedly (and violently) fails to pick up women
28) Belgian bucks
29) Leprechaun who's a cereal mascot
30) Pale purple hue

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, November 18, 2018

ANSWERS: Rebus Buster

Pictured above: one of the bosses to Mario & Luigi: SUPERSTAR Saga

It's been two weeks since my tribute to Classic Concentration, "Rebus Buster", was posted on this blog, and a whopping eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • M. Sean Molley ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Mom ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as some solver comments!

Monday, November 12, 2018

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #204: Fronts Off

NEWVEMBER!
PUZZLE #204
FRONTS OFF

First, find the answers to each clue so that there are two words in each rectangular box. Then change the first letter of each pair of words (the same letter for both) to form two new words, and write the new letter in the square box to the left of the rectangle.

Once you're done, read down the boxes to get the FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word


1) Animated Disney movie about a flying elephant
    Tennis ball whacker
2) The Third Man actor Welles
    Superman supervillain Lex
3) Peggy Lee song covered by Madonna and Beyoncé
    What the "M" video game rating stands for
4) Male fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
    Engraves with acid
5) Glam rock band who did "Ballroom Blitz"
    Toasted snack that looks like an English muffin
6) Student who wore a conical hat in old-timey classrooms
    Shredding cheese
7) The Dating Game host Jim
    Wilderness survival novel by Gary Paulsen named after a small axe

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, November 11, 2018

ANSWERS: Nonplussed 2

Two clues in one: TOADETTE ("Pink mushroom girl playable in Mario Tennis Aces") wearing a LEI ("Hawaiian neckwear")

Roughly two weeks have passed since "Nonplussed 2" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Mom ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, November 5, 2018

NEWVEMBER! PUZZLE #203: Rebus Buster

NEWVEMBER!
PUZZLE #203
REBUS BUSTER

Yep, it's another theme month! This time, every puzzle that will be posted this month will be all-new to this blog, and the first puzzle is a tribute of sorts to one of my favorite game shows as a kid. You see, one month ago, on October 1st, Buzzr TV began airing reruns of Classic Concentration, which hasn't been on in almost 25 years. Now, my cable TV provider doesn't carry Buzzr, but luckily, I'm still able to watch it thanks to Buzzr providing live streaming of their network on their website. Now with that history out of the way, read on for the directions!

Below are 20 seemingly unrelated pictures that are actually several rebuses jumbled up together. First, find the answers to the clues below. Then find the pictures that combine to make a rebus which matches each answer and cross them out. For instance, if one of the answers is PANTRY, then you should cross out the pictures that represent "PAN" [🍳] and "TREE" [🌲]. Beware of tricky homophones along the way!

Once all the clues have been solved and most of the pictures have been crossed out, the remaining pictures should create a rebus that will form the FINAL ANSWER: a three-word title of a video game that first came out 20 years ago


CLUES
* Greek goddess whose Roman equivalent is Venus
* Rock band whose 1999 album Make Yourself went double platinum
* Coins that are only 2.5% copper, surprisingly
* Tiny, one-eyed SpongeBob SquarePants character
* Brand-new baseball player, say
* Mario & Luigi: _____ Saga (Game Boy Advance game)

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, November 4, 2018

ANSWERS: Crypticrostic 3

CLUE USED: "Old Roman racer's spirit protecting a really funny fellow"

It's been thirteen days since "Crypticrostic 3" was posted on this site, and to my surprise, seven people have solved it since then, the highest number yet for those tough puzzles! Take a look:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Dan Simonds **
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Christi Ann Scott ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as three solver comments!