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!