PUZZLE #263: Chain Reaction: Branching Out 3

PUZZLE #263

CHAIN REACTION: BRANCHING OUT 3

First, find the answer to each corresponding clue, all of which are in no particular order. Then place the answers into the white boxes in the diagram below (leave the pink box alone for now) so that reading right, each pair of boxes that are connected with a line create a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the five-letter movie title that goes in the pink box to create three more two-word phrases.

* Asian country where gunpowder and fireworks originated from [5]
* Award-winning comic series featuring characters named Phoney, Fone, and Smiley [4]
* Coffee filter filler [7]
* Così _____ tutte (Mozart opera) [3]
* Decade fractions [5]
* Eric who sang “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” in Monty Python's Life of Brian [4]
* "Good Will" from an Oscar-winning 1997 film [7]
* It might say "Admit One" [6]
* Knight's armor made up of interlinked rings [4]
* Large feature of both The Crimson Chin and his voice actor, Jay Leno [3]
* _____ like flies (dying off in large numbers) [8]
* Manga/anime character who wields the Death Note in Death Note (or the opposite of "dark") [5]
* Marvel's half-vampire who was portrayed by Wesley Snipes three times [5]
* Maximum limit [7]
* Medical drama starring Hugh Laurie [5]
* "Meet Virginia" band [5]
* Plug outlet [6]
* Popeye's arm tattoo [6]
* Spring, summer, fall, or winter [6]
* The first letter in DOA [4]
* Weightlifter's training partner [7]

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Anagram Chambers 7

Thirteen days have passed since "Anagram Chambers 7" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twelve people have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ***
• Eric Maddy ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #262: Compound Crosswords 5

PUZZLE #262

COMPOUND CROSSWORDS 5

Fit the words hinted at by the clues into the nine grids below so that the two words in each grid combine to create a two-word phrase or compound word. There may be multiple possibilities for these phrases, but there's only one way that all the words will fit in all of the grids.

Once each grid is filled out, the pink letters in each grid will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a compound word.

CLUES
* _____ and the Beat (The Go-Go's album)
* Basalt or granite, for one
* Bookcase section
* Cereal that Mikey likes
* Cooks chicken like Colonel Sanders
* "Fat Bottomed Girls" band
* Five-sided baseball plate
* How I Met Your _____ (sitcom with over 200 episodes)
* It's signified by an "X" in Family Feud
* Leprechaun on a cereal box
* Like Copernicus or Chopin, say
* Low-pH substance
* Oscar the Grouch's fur color
* Place to buy a fat pig in a nursery rhyme
* Pointer on an Enter key
* Red Hot Chili Peppers member who voiced Donnie in The Wild Thornberrys
* Shoe part that's directly under the laces
* What a hammer hammers

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Snake Charmer 4

"Snake Charmer 4" was posted on this blog less than two weeks ago, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers, as well as what some of my solvers had to say about this puzzle!

PUZZLE #261: Anagram Chambers 7

PUZZLE #261

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 7

For this puzzle, there are several dark-green "chambers" with yellow rectangles and light-green squares in them. For each chamber, you take a word in the first yellow rectangle as hinted at by the clue, add a letter from the light-green square, and scramble them to get a word in the second yellow rectangle, then you repeat the process to get the word in the third yellow rectangle. Once you've filled in everything, the light-green squares will spell out something... or they would, if the chambers weren't all scrambled up as well!

Once all of the chambers are in the proper order, the light-green squares will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase

a. [Mr. Schwarzenegger, to fans] + _ = [Light-sensitive part of the eye] + _ = [Subject of Newton's first law]
b. ["_____ Monday" (Bangles song)] + _ = [He "cometh" in a play by Eugene O'Neill] + _ = [War that lasted from 1853-56]
c. [Stadium seats' levels] + _ = [Puts to paper] + _ = [1996 movie with Helen Hunt tracking down tornadoes]
d. [Tom Clancy's Ghost _____ (tactical shooter video game series)] + _ = ["Architect of the nuclear age" Fermi] + _ = [Cypress or cedar, e.g.]
e. [Orion's brightest star] + _ = [Hamster relative with a long tail] + _ = [Peter who released three self-titled albums]
f. [Lacking toppings] + _ = [Another name for downhill skiing] + _ = [NBA player from New Orleans]
g. [Type of place where Irma the waitress works in Garfield] + _ = [Got the suds out] + _ = [Sitcom with a coffeeshop called Central Perk]

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Gryptics 3

My third pair of Gryptics were posted on this blog thirteen days ago, and eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Ted Fields ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ***
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

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

PUZZLE #260: Snake Charmer 4

PUZZLE #260

SNAKE CHARMER 4

Enter the answers to each clue in the grid, starting in the correspondingly-numbered space and ending in the space before the next consecutive number. The chain of answer words will overlap itself, winding their way twice around the snake-shaped grid.

Once you've filled in the grid, unscramble the green squares to get the FINAL ANSWER: An eight-letter word

1) Language of snakes and serpents in the Harry Potter books
2) Word preceding "cheese" or "beans"
3) Picture book character who's VERY good at hiding
4) Country in the Pacific Ocean made up of over 600 islands
5) Figure skater Henie who won three Olympic golds
6) 1985 benefit concert that raised over $9 million for agriculturists: 2 wds.
7) Diplomatic go-between
8) Forever young, literally
9) Vigorous attack
10) Scrabble tile holders
11) Black-and-white bear that's playable in Tekken 7
12) "What's the _____ tryin'? All you get is pain" ("I'm a Believer" lyrics): 2 wds.
13) Rock-forming minerals
14) "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" singer John
15) Talk show visitor
16) The Breakfast Club actress Molly
17) Letter before pi
18) Former Bengals quarterback Boomer
19) Disney villain with a cobra-headed scepter
20) The Titanic's first (and only) outing: 2 wds.
21) Learning experiences
22) Feature of sitcoms not recorded before a live audience: 2 wds.
23) _____ Ballet ("True" new wave band)
24) Observational comedian Jerry and his wife

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Line 'Em Up 8

"Line 'Em Up 8" was posted on this blog thirteen days ago, and eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Ted Fields ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #259: Gryptics 3

PUZZLE #259

GRYPTICS 3

Insert a single letter in each space of each grid so that each grid's five rows and five columns spells a word from left to right or top to bottom (including the letters outside the grid).

Once you're done, take a word from the first grid and a word from the second grid and pair them up to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a #1 hit song from the 1970s

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Pent Words 14

It's been thirteen days since "Pent Words 14" was posted on this blog, and eleven people have solved it since then, which is the most solvers I've ever had for one of these types of puzzles! (For the record, "Pent Words 5" from early 2016 also had eleven solvers) Take a look:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Ted Fields ****
• Debbie Benford *

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #258: Line 'Em Up 8

PUZZLE #258

LINE 'EM UP 8

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 male celebrity

1) "Locked Out of Heaven" singer Bruno [4]
2) Nintendo console with a controller resembling a remote [3]
3) Cartoon company that manufactures Earthquake Pills and Jet-Propelled Pogo Sticks [4]
4) Resistance unit represented by an omega [3]
5) The Ring (2002) actress Watts [5]
6) Container of cremated ashes [3]
7) The _____ Must Be Crazy (African film) [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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Moving Staircases 9

"Moving Staircases 9" was posted on this blog thirteen days ago, and eight people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Ted Fields ****

Now all that's left is for you to head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #257: Pent Words 14

PUZZLE #257

PENT WORDS 14

For this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (they’re sorta 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) Pointy weapon held by Elmer Fudd in What's Opera, Doc?
    _____ Fantasy VII (acclaimed PlayStation 1 RPG)
2) Last name of Andy Griffith's character in The Andy Griffith Show
    Rotary phone feature
3) Rock genre associated with Soundgarden and Alice in Chains
    Newspaper comic that's about birds (and not footwear)
4) Singer Osbourne who's "going off the rails on a crazy train"
    Bested in a footrace
5) Fuse with a blowtorch
    Cheesing off, with "up"
6) Catch a crook
    Doug Funnie's blue best friend
7) "Oh, yes! Absolutely!"
    _____ in distress (overused cliché)
8) Type of comedy performed by Drew Carey and George Carlin: Hyph.
    Mr. Headroom of '80s television
9) Hand-sewn blanket
    Complete carbon copy
10) Bagel's shape
      "_____ Turvy" (song from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Mr. Krabs' daughter from SpongeBob SquarePants (or an oyster's gem)
* Pizza part that Pizza Hut sometimes stuffs with cheese
* The Legend of _____: Link's Awakening (Game Boy game remade in 2019)
* Honda's Civic or Accord, e.g.
* Kolkata's country
* Premium movie channel that airs Outlander
* Redheaded simian, as shortened by many crossword creators
* Sits down heavily onto a couch, say
* Graduation garments
* Pink Floyd song where coins and cash registers can be heard
* Ecuador's capital
* Actor Tim who voices Buzz Lightyear
* Good for something
* Pop like a big bubble
* Top ten single for Frankie Goes to Hollywood
* Straight from the oven
* 10 _____ or less (grammatically incorrect checkout sign)
* Radiohead singer Thom

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Drop Tower 6

"Drop Tower 6" was posted on this blog thirteen days ago, and ten people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Eric Maddy ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #256: Moving Staircases 9

PUZZLE #256

MOVING STAIRCASES 9

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, the FINAL ANSWER (the name of a movie from the 1980s) will be hidden inside it; one of the words is hidden horizontally (is it a Short or a Long? that's up to you to find out!), while the other is hidden vertically.

SHORTS
* Brewing company that made the first successful light beer
* Foppish, archaically (Anagram of SIDDHU)
* Late comedienne Joan
* Magician's word that originated in the Italian language
* Sheriff's supporting groups
* Travelling show with trapeze artists and tightrope walkers
* X-Men member who's skilled in card throwing

LONGS
* 3000 _____ Graceland (2001 Kevin Costner film): 2 wds.
* Certain golf clubs
* Easily offended by anything lewd
* Emulate a spirit taking over someone's body
* Round racetrack for motorcars
* With "The", Kenny Rogers song with the lyrics "Know when to fold 'em"

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Wordy Web 3

It's been almost two weeks since "Wordy Web 3" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Eric Maddy ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #255: Drop Tower 6

PUZZLE #255

DROP TOWER 6

Starting with an 8-letter word on top of the "tower", drop one letter and rearrange the rest to form a 7-letter word. Continue this process until only a 2-letter word remains. Since the tower is completely blank, use the randomly-ordered clues to figure out the words that go in each row.

Once the grid is completely filled in, look inside it for this week's FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word that can be read going down and in a straight diagonal line.

CLUES
• Be head over heels about
• Car famously turned into a time machine in Back to the Future
• Double ___ (Nickelodeon game show revived in 2018)
• Film critic and historian Maltin
• Note that's "a drop of golden sun" in a song from The Sound of Music
• Pointy body part of an elf
• Tough & taxing test

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Zigzagnut 5

Thirteen days have gone by since "Zigzagnut 5" was posted on this blog, and eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Kevin Orfield ****

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

PUZZLE #254: Wordy Web 3

PUZZLE #254

WORDY WEB 3

It might not quite be Halloween yet, but I've prepared a puzzle type for that holiday regardless! I don't have much else to say regarding that, so here are the directions:

This Web's set up with Circles and Strands, but there are no letters with which the words are woven. To complete this puzzle, enter the answers to the Circles' clues (numbered 1 to 6) clockwise around the concentric rings of the Web, though it's up to you to determine the starting point for each Circle. All of the Circles' clues are presented in order. To help figure out the Circles' staring points, fill in the Strands' answers (marked with A to L) starting at each respective letter and traverse the Web from left to right. Some of the strands have only one answer, while others have two.

Once you've completely filled in the Web, the letters in the red spaces, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a video game that'd be perfect for Halloween

CIRCLES
1) Carl Sagan-hosted PBS show subtitled "A Personal Voyage"
    Dial-up devices from the late '90s
    Shape of a Game Boy Advance's screen
    Affirmatives
2) It's wasted on the young, according to grumpy old folk
    Fairy assistant from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (or Avatar's alien species)
    Experimental trial: 2 wds.
    Old Chrysler car driven by Sam & Max
3) Win by _____ (barely succeed): 2 wds.
    Rock with shiny crystals inside
    Stalactite site
    Luke Skywalker's sister
4) Arrange in straight rows
    Community and Mad Men actress Brie
    Fail a polygraph test
5) Forms foam from shampoo
    Big _____ (member of Outkast)
6) Aphrodite's lover who was killed by a boar

STRANDS
A) Org. with Canadiens and Maple Leafs
B) Perform penance
C) Ruby who the Rolling Stones sang about
D) "_____, ergo sum" (Latin quote that translates to "I think, therefore I am")
    WALL-E's love interest
E) Cilium
    Spinoff of JAG, which itself has spinoffs set in Los Angeles and New Orleans
F) Character from Super Mario Galaxy who wears a turquoise dress
    Tickle pink
G) Pelting with pebbles
    "She _____ Like Crazy" (Weird Al song parodying the Fine Young Cannibals)
H) Meerkat, for one
    Button on a keyboard's top-left corner
I) NYPD Blue actor Morales
    Husky involved in 1925's serum run to Nome
J) Wheelers' partners
K) Extreme loathing (or what Garfield feels about a certain drooling dog?)
L) Letters next to "6" on a telephone pad

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Dilly Dally 3

Thirteen days have passed since since "Dilly Dally 3" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #253: Zigzagnut 5

PUZZLE #253

ZIGZAGNUT 5

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 two question marks): the name of a '90s animated series

ROWS (in random order; each contains two answers)
* New Orleans university with a pelican as its mascot
  Faith No More song with the repeated line "What is it? It's IT!"
* Seven squared: Hyph.
  Pushing Daisies character who can bring back the dead just by touching them
* Resells tickets at ludicrous prices
  The _____ Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (children's book)
* Emotionless blue-haired girl from Neon Genesis Evangelion
  Military man
* Body of water parted in The Ten Commandments: 2 wds.
  Turn down
* Peel a potato
  Tomb _____ II: Starring Lara Croft (PlayStation 1 game)
* Capital of the Sunflower State
  Disorderly condition
* Bruce Wayne's butler
  Last name of Amy from the Sonic the Hedgehog games
* Green _____ (rural sitcom)
  That is, in Latin: 2 wds.
* Music sheet holders
  Industrial rock band that did "Stitches" and "Blue Monday"
* High school sci. classroom: 2 wds.
  Walking corpse from Resident Evil

ZIGZAGS
1) Based on fact
2) Fell off the wagon
3) Yellow-clad archenemy of Green Lantern
4) "Rolling in the _____" (Adele's first #1 hit)
5) Like flypaper
6) Burns with hot coffee
7) Any character in Antz, say
8) Modernize machinery
9) Called to mind
10) Cowgirl doll from Toy Story 2
11) Moron who's literally small-minded?
12) Type of support from both sides of the political aisle
13) Actor Ryan or Burt (no relation)
14) Don't miss this for the trees
15) Word following "alternative" or "renewable"
16) Fashionable Christian

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Central Scramble 3

It's been almost two weeks since "Central Scramble 3" was posted on this blog, and eleven people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• David Millar ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #252: Dilly Dally 3

PUZZLE #252

DILLY DALLY 3

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 mobile game whose title also consists of two 5-letter words starting with the same letter.

1) "Freaky Fast" sandwich chain
2) Side-by-side cola comparisons
3) Times for discounted drinks
4) Grand Hotel actress who exclaimed "I want to be alone!"
5) Fozzie Bear's catchphrase
6) Luxury car brand with a hood ornament called The Spirit of Ecstasy
7) Style of art that uses multiple materials
8) With "The", '70s sitcom about Carol, Mike, and their six children
9) Disposable dish at a picnic
10) Rap song by Kreayshawn that was certified gold in 2012

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Meta-Crossword 6: Hidden Figures

WOW! My milestone 250th puzzle (which was both a meta-crossword AND a contest puzzle) proved to be a huge hit, as a truly whopping seventeen people have solved it since it was posted two weeks ago! I don't even remember the last time I've gotten a solver count that high! Take a look for yourself:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Keith Jackson ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Lawrence Denes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Alan Arbizu ****
• Jeremy Horwitz ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom * (opted out of the contest)
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Stephen Staver *
• Lynn Sweeney *
• Yossi Fendel ****

Now, since well over ten people have solved this puzzle, there will be TWO winners to this contest! As a reminder, both winners will each receive a crossword book of their choosing (provided it's not too expensive, of course). The randomly-chosen winners are: Kevin Orfield and Sam Levitin! Congratulations, you two!

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

PUZZLE #251: Central Scramble 3

PUZZLE #251

CENTRAL SCRAMBLE 3

Below are four octagons with letters inside. Place a different letter in the center of each octagon so that four 5-letter words can be unscrambled out of its four diagonal sections. Also, each added letter has to be in the exact center of each resulting 5-letter word.

Once you're done, take the four letters added to each octagon and place a fifth letter into the exact center of those letters (no scrambling required) to get the FINAL ANSWER: a vehicle

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Squeezed in the Middle 14

Before we get to the answers to "Squeezed in the Middle 14", I have some news that I felt like telling you about..... buuut it's not very relevant to anything involving puzzles. I wrote a whole journal entry about it at my DeviantArt page, but in case you don't want to go there, I'll briefly sum it up: I got a new tablet, and a short Halloween animation that I made won a contest held by the creator of the YouTube review series Atop the Fourth Wall.

Speaking of contests, the Contest Puzzle that I posted last week looks to be an instant hit, as the number of solvers for that has already hit the double digits! That means there's gonna be two winners to this contest, so come back next week to find out who they are! Until then, here are the ten people that have solved my latest "Squeezed..." puzzle from thirteen days ago!

• Grant Fikes ****
• Keith Jackson ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #250: Meta-Crossword 6: Hidden Figures (CONTEST PUZZLE!)

CONTEST!

PUZZLE #250

META CROSSWORD 6: HIDDEN FIGURES

It's my 250th puzzle! And to celebrate, I'm going to do something that I haven't in a very long time: I'm gonna make this a Contest Puzzle! This time, the prize for winning this contest is any crossword book of the solver's choosing! (If you can't decide on one, I personally suggest one of Matt Gaffney's three books of meta-crosswords published by Mental Floss) There will only be one winner for this contest, though if at least ten people solve this puzzle, I'll give out a second prize to another winner! If you don't want to enter this contest, you can still solve this puzzle and opt out of the contest.

And not only that, the puzzle that you'll solve is also something I haven't done in a long while: a Meta-Crossword! In case you forgot, Meta-Crosswords are like normal crosswords, except they have a Bonus Puzzle for you to solve once you fill out the grid. I won't tell you how to get the Bonus Puzzle's FINAL ANSWER, as the techniques in getting them vary with each meta-crossword, so you pretty much have to figure it out yourself.

The FINAL ANSWER to the Bonus Puzzle is a unit of measurement.

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Pieces of Nine 6

My 250th puzzle is tomorrow, and it's gonna be of a type that I haven't done in a long time! Not only that, I'll be giving away a prize to one of the people that manages to solve it, so be sure to tell all of your puzzle-loving friends about it! Until then, however, here's a list of the nine people who have solved "Pieces of Nine 6" from thirteen days ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ***
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• Patrick Jordan ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #249: Squeezed in the Middle 14

PUZZLE #249

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 14

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: the name of an actress

CENTERS
1) You, in French
2) Tree creature from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
3) Actress Tara who appeared in all six Sharknado films
4) Threepio's pal
5) Pile up fallen leaves, perhaps
6) Tenacious D member Kyle (AKA the one who isn't Jack Black)
7) _____ of Good Feelings (period associated with James Monroe)
8) Hawkeye became a rogue vigilante named this during the events of Avengers: Endgame

WHOLES
* Aired Seinfeld yet again, say
* Company that created tater tots: Hyph.
* Constitutional amendment regarding states' rights
* Giant tentacled sea monster of myth
* Like a poker-faced person
* Monotonously going on and on and on and.....
* Tennis player Andre who married Steffi Graf in 2001
* Tiny Toon Adventures or Animaniacs, for example

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: Cramped Crossword 3

Before we get to the answers to "Cramped Crossword 3" from a couple weeks ago, I've got some news to share with you! Earlier this month, I used some of the money that I've earned through Patreon to get some new puzzle-making software: Crossword Compiler! It's the same tool used by Pete Muller for his "Muller Monthly Music Meta" website, and the main reason I bought it is because you can post the puzzles you make with it directly online! And despite the name, it's not limited to just crosswords, either! I've made a sudoku puzzle using Crossword Compiler to test out its web publishing capabilities, and you can see the result of that below!

So what else do I have planned for this tool that I just got? Well, you'll find that out soon enough..... In the meantime, here are the eight people that have solved my third Cramped Crossword:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as three solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #248: Pieces of Nine 6

PUZZLE #248

PIECES OF NINE 6

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make seven 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: the name of an upcoming television series

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: The Spiral Squared 3

I'm currently out of town visiting my sister when this is scheduled to be posted, so I'll try and make this quick by listing the seven people who solved "The Spiral Squared 3" from thirteen days ago:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

Now head below the break for the answers and a couple solver comments!

PUZZLE #247: Cramped Crossword 3

PUZZLE #247

CRAMPED CROSSWORD 3

Solve the mini-crossword, then unscramble the letters that go in the blank spaces to get the FINAL ANSWER: A 9-letter name of a heavy metal band

CLUES
* Businesswoman Lauder
* Lang who directed Metropolis and M
* Organic milk container?
* Part of what Little Miss Muffet ate
* Patiently put up with
* Video game bobcat who says "What could possibly go wrong?" (a lot of things, it turns out...)

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: Lucky Sevens 8

Almost two weeks have gone by since "Lucky Sevens 8" was posted on this blog, and once again, nine people have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Eric Maddy ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #246: The Spiral Squared 3

PUZZLE #246

THE SPIRAL SQUARED 3

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
1-8: The Captain & _____ (musical duo responsible for "Muskrat Love")
9-13: Green, in Spanish or Italian
14-16: Zebra on a basketball court, say
17-22: Petrified plesiosaur, perhaps
23-29: It's tapped during a frat's toga party: 2 wds.
30-33: Rally racing video game series named after soil
34-39: Female Friends character whose original hairstyle became popular in the '90s
40-42: Low-calorie drink brand that offers "Antiwater"
43-48: Feudal farmer
49-51: His evil plan in the first Despicable Me movie was to steal the moon
52-56: Chicago's busiest airport
57-63: Fancy name for a slash (/)
64-68: German artist who included a magic square in his engraving Melencolia I
69-78: Macaroni pie and lasagna, for two
79-86: _____ and the Bad Hat (children's book)
87-90: In abundance
91-96: Gorillaz's cartoon drummer
97-100: Chef Paula who appeared on Celebrity Family Feud in 2016

OUTWARD
100-94: Acupuncture pokers
93-86: Guaranteed to succeed
85-82: Africa's longest river
81-76: _____ in distress
75-72: Loads from lodes
71-67: "_____ bleu!"
66-63: Not at all polite
62-60: Drag along, as something stupidly heavy
59-54: Former talk show host Geraldo
53-45: Timepiece in the logo for Days of Our Lives
44-41: Converse competitor founded in 1979
40-37: "Yuck!"
36-28: What any Nintendo 64 game comes on
27-24: Antagonistic blue aliens from Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel
23-19: What ignorance is (at least, according to ignoramuses)
18-12: Made available
11-7: Eat, drink, and be merry
6-1: Small brown finch

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: 5-Star Stumper 4

Roughly two weeks have passed by since "5-Star Stumper 4" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully gotten the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ***
• Eric Maddy ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Debbie Benford **** 
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers! Only one solver comment this week, but check that out, too!

PUZZLE #245: Lucky Sevens 8

PUZZLE #245

LUCKY SEVENS 8

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word

ROWS
i) Laila with a 24-0 boxing record
ii) Euphonium's larger cousin
iii) Peanuts character who believes in the Great Pumpkin
iv) What you shouldn't burn at both ends
v) Jellyfishes named after a Gorgon
vi) An _____ and a Gentleman
vii) Making sounds like a giant toy hammer
viii) Classic TV hosts Linkletter and Fleming
ix) The Golden Girls actress McClanahan
x) CD that's too short to be a proper album
xi) Initial ___ (anime about street racing)

SEVENS
1) Multiplied by itself
2) Provide something great: 2 wds.
3) Help settle disputes
4) NHL team based in Vancouver
5) Buckingham who sang "Holiday Road" for National Lampoon's Vacation
6) _____ Bells (Mike Oldfield album)
7) Assumed names

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Quadruple Cross

It's been thirteen days since "Quadruple Cross" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Mom ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #244: 5-Star Stumper 4

PUZZLE #244

5-STAR STUMPER 4

The answer to each numbered pair of clues go in the 10 spaces surrounding each correspondingly numbered star in the grid. The first answer of each set starts in the appropriately numbered space (with the arrow in the same space telling you which direction to go), and the second answer follows immediately after. Meanwhile, the answers that go in the red stripe surrounding the grid are clued in order, and even though it's up to you to determine where the chain of answers begins, we can tell you that the red stripe's answers go clockwise.

Once the entire grid has been filled in, reading the white spaces from left to right and top to bottom will reveal this week's FINAL ANSWER: A state bird

STARS
1) Lawnmower's storage site
    Type of shower with gifts
2) Prefix meaning "trillion"
    Anchors _____ (film where Gene Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse)
3) Literary doctor who made human-animal hybrids on his island
    Ancient Irish language
4) Green-blue hue
    Tiny Himalayan country whose capital is Thimphu
5) Spring holiday featured in Here Comes Peter Cottontail
    _____Scape (long-running MMORPG)

RED STRIPE
* Cute robots from Portal that shoot on sight (or some gun towers)
* Chocolate bar filled with bubbles
* Fit together, like cogs
* More radiant
* Insurance company acquired by CVS Health in 2018

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Link-Letters 7

Almost two weeks have gone by since "Link-Letters 7" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully gotten the FINAL ANSWER, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #243: Quadruple Cross

PUZZLE #243

QUADRUPLE CROSS

To begin solving this puzzle, view each numbered square in the grid as being in the center of a plus-shaped cross where two five-letter clue answers intersect. There are two clues corresponding to each number, and each numbered pair of crossing answers has the same middle letter. Here's the tricky part: which one of each pair's two answers goes across and which one goes down is for you to figure out, so make sure all of the answers overlap each other properly!

Once the grid has been filled in, read the sixteen outermost letters in a clockwise fashion to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a one-hit wonder.

CLUES
1) "The Destroyer", in Hinduism
    Doorbell sound
2) Back-and-forth tennis exchange
    Bravery in battle
3) Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-_____ (1996 computer game): Hyph.
    No longer sleeping
4) Month with the spring equinox
    Last name of the robot Tom from Mystery Science Theater 3000
5) Part of "ESP"
    Rock genre for Prong and Pantera
6) Carter who played Wonder Woman in the 1970s
    Where to hit a bucket of golf balls
7) First-person GameCube game where you're a spirit that can possess humans and inanimate objects
    Urban of country fame
8) Circus clown's walking stick
    "Presto!"
9) Hawaiian word for "hello" or "goodbye"
    "The One _____" (R.E.M. song): 2 wds.
10) Foe of Spider-Man covered in black alien goo
      Thanks, in Düsseldorf
11) Letter after psi
      Silent film actress Bara (Anagram of DEATH)
12) Pre-chrysalis stage
      Avant-_____
13) Explorer Polo immortalized in a swimming pool game
      Anime genre often involving multiple women lusting after one guy
14) Cyberpunk 2077 star Reeves
      1990s sports sitcom starring Craig T. Nelson
15) Jurassic World actor Pratt
      Took a risk
16) Specks of land in the ocean
      He's paid to park cars

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Slot Machine 3

It's been thirteen days since "Slot Machine 3" was posted on this blog. I personally thought that this one was tougher than usual (partially because it took way too long to complete), but to my surprise, ten people have correctly solved it! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Stephen Staver ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Lynn Sweeney **
• Tom Coldron ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

PUZZLE #242: Link-Letters 7

PUZZLE #242

LINK-LETTERS 7

There are two clues for each numbered row. The answers to each row's first clue go in the squares to the left of the first black bar in each correspondingly numbered row in the puzzle's grid, and the answers to the second clue go 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 words reading down. Add a letter between those two words in the red square to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: A television channel

1) Fairy godparent's offering
    What any number divided by itself equals to
2) Long-running USA Network series about a detective pretending to have ESP
    Hiking trail
3) Gun an engine
    Time-travelling cybernetic soldier from Deadpool 2
4) Sneaker's sole pattern
    Sick as a dog
5) Place to get pampered
    Columns' crossers
6) Mary had a little one
    With "The", Best Picture Oscar winner starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as conmen
7) "Bodak Yellow" rapper _____ B
    Another name for Lou Gehrig's disease: Abbr.
8) Longtime MAD Magazine caricaturist Drucker
    Grew older

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Helter Skelter 4

Roughly two weeks have passed since "Helter Skelter 4" was posted here 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 ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Tom Coldron ****

Now all that's left is for you to head below the break and look at the answers!

PUZZLE #241: Slot Machine 3

PUZZLE #241

SLOT MACHINE 3

In this Slot Machine, the Row answers are entered normally, from left to right in the order of the clues given. The Tumbler answers going down are entered in the same way, but all of the Tumblers have been "spun", meaning that the Tumblers' answers can start in any row and continue downwards. When a set of Tumbler answers hit the bottom of the grid, it continues at the start of the same column that it started in. There's also a "Jackpot Answer" that is comprised of the first letters of the first answer of each Tumbler. In the example above, the Rows spell out INN, TIE, and WOW, while the Tumblers spell out WIT, ION, and NEW, and the first letter of each Tumbler spell out WIN.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer to the Jackpot.

JACKPOT
• A movie that Discovery Channel probably won't air this Shark Week: ? wds.

ROWS
1) Sweeties, in hip-hop slang
    People who live a clothes-free lifestyle
2) Fairy king from A Midsummer Night's Dream
    It Takes Two actress Mary-Kate or Ashley
3) "_____ Paradise" (the love theme from Footloose)
    Mild yellow cheese from the Netherlands
4) Use up
    Lowest high tide
5) Norway's most populated city
    Hereditary rulers
6) Fantasia conductor Stokowski
    Frozen beverage with a polar bear mascot
7) Richard who played The Wiz in The Wiz
    The smallest of Jupiter's four Galilean moons
8) Video game series about a hired assassin named Agent 47
    The only country with a five-sided flag
9) Schoolteacher Mr. Crane who crossed paths with the Headless Horseman
    One of Delphi's Muses of the lyre (Anagram of TEEN)
10) Desperate for cash
      It's called by a Wheel of Fortune contestant after they spin
11) 1998 first-person shooter whose name is a synonym for "fictitious"
      The "Girl in the Flower Dress" from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

TUMBLERS
1) False killer whale or bottlenose, e.g.
    Yume Nikki character with a creepy black-and-white face (HINT: Delete the last letter from a WWII sub)
2) Authorizes
    First name of Cartman from South Park
3) Put on the payroll
    "_____ Was a Crooked Man" (nursery rhyme)
4) Hair gels used by 1950s greasers
    Caramel-filled candy sold by Hershey's in the US
5) Extremely close way to win: 3 wds.
    _____ the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet (video game for preschoolers)
6) Surname of a VeggieTales character with a gold tooth
    Advil alternative
7) Canine superhero who frequently rescues Sweet Polly Purebred
    Word following "loose" or "tight"
8) Inevitably involve
    Sign that's lit up to let DJs know when they're live: 2 wds.
9) Sharpshooter's magnifier
    Paper that wipes up snot
10) Start of an online romance, possibly: Hyph.
      Inventor's protection that lasts 20 years
11) "It'll be _____!" ("Easy-peasy!"): 2 wds.
      Undercoating

Apologies in advance for some of the tougher than usual clues. Anyway, 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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Word Squares: Projectors 3

Thirteen days have passed since "Word Squares: Projectors 3" was posted on this blog, and eight people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #240: Helter Skelter 4

PUZZLE #240

HELTER SKELTER 4

Each answer in this crossword variation starts at the indicated number, and then moves towards the direction of the next number (thought it may or may not stop there). The direction of the last answer is to be determined by the solver.

Once the grid has been filled out, unscramble the gray squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word

1) https://www.nintendo.com, for one
2) Rely upon, as a person for advice: 2 wds.
3) Underground routes for moles
4) Like a triangle with three unequal sides
5) Bob who directed The Great Piggy Bank Robbery and Porky in Wackyland
6) Copying a drawing using a transparent sheet
7) Long-tongued KISS bassist Simmons
8) The Penguin, to Batman
9) Yellow egg parts also called "vitelluses"
10) Sing-along music for plastered adults
11) Cosmetics brand that still uses door-to-door salesladies
12) Made a memo
13) Use a dynamite plunger
14) _____, meeny, miny, moe...
15) Word preceding "system" or "breakdown"
16) Big chunk of meat or marble
17) Final segment of a certain game show with a choice between Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3: 2 wds.
18) The only one of Snow White's Seven Dwarfs to wear glasses
19) Tear-inducing vegetables
20) Swimwear brand founded in Australia
21) Star Trek: _____ Space Nine
22) Kagan of the Supreme Court
23) Catches a crook

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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!