Monday, November 25, 2019

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!

Sunday, November 24, 2019

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!

Monday, November 18, 2019

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!

Sunday, November 17, 2019

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!

Monday, November 11, 2019

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!

Sunday, November 10, 2019

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!

Monday, November 4, 2019

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!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

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!