Monday, December 28, 2020

PUZZLE #315: Slide Show: Double Feature 2

PUZZLE #315
SLIDE SHOW: DOUBLE FEATURE 2

In each of the two puzzles below, slide the 18 letters surrounding each grid into the empty squares so that four words are made reading across and five words are formed reading down. Letters above and below the grids slide vertically to any position without changing columns, and letters to the left and right slide horizontally without changing rows. All of the exterior letters are used only once, and as a help, each grid has two letters already placed inside.

Once both grids have been filled in, pick out one word from each and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: the two-word name of a musical television show


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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

Sunday, December 27, 2020

ANSWERS: Brick By Brick 8

It's been close to two weeks since "Brick By Brick 8" was posted on this blog, and a whopping thirteen people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Cindy Heisler ****
  • Giovanni Pagano ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Stephen Potter ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Brittany Trofimovich ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Elliott Frankfother ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, December 21, 2020

PUZZLE #314: Link-Letters 9

PUZZLE #314
LINK-LETTERS 9

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: the name of a 1980s computer game


1) _____ Rogers in the 25th Century
    Miami team that Shaquille O'Neal played for
2) Fester from The Addams Family, e.g.
    Actor Beatty who's not related to Warren Beatty
3) Sandwich made with pita bread
    Handles hard times
4) Gun a motor
    Tony-winning musical with the song "Seasons of Love"
5) When doubled, a #1 hit by the Archies
    Big lummox
6) Boat's bottom
    Jungle Book bear who later starred in TaleSpin
7) It's directly to the right of the "M" key on a QWERTY keyboard
    Leaping mammal on a yellow "XING" sign
8) Minute to _____ It (NBC/GSN game show)
    Conclusive evidence in court

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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

Sunday, December 20, 2020

ANSWERS: Snake Charmer 5

Thirteen days have gone by since "Snake Charmer 5" was posted onto this blog, and twelve people since then have successfully solved it, all of whom are listed below:

  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Cindy Heisler ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Giovanni Pagano ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Mom ****
  • Stephen Potter ****
  • Elliott Frankfother ****
There aren't any solver's comments this week, but you can still head below the break for the answers!

Monday, December 14, 2020

PUZZLE #313: Brick By Brick 8

PUZZLE #313
BRICK BY BRICK 8


Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a popular song from the 1970s


ACROSS
1) "Here I come to _____ the day!" (quote from Mighty Mouse)
    Monopoly space between Connecticut Avenue and St. Charles Place
    Clickable desktop image
2) Rome's largest fountain
    Long bone next to the radius
    Bull-ish lawnmower brand
3) Milky white heron
    "God of Mischief" portrayed by Tom Hiddleston
    Once more from the top
4) Newspaper with 130 Pulitzer Prizes: Abbr.
    Whirl around, like Crash Bandicoot
    Baby beluga
5) Symbol at the start of a music staff
    "High" shoe type
    Brandish a big blade
6) White shape on a soccer ball
    Opened a DVD player's tray
7) TV channel originally known as PAX
    In a bygone time
    Tetley beverage
8) THE FINAL ANSWER
9) Monkey that Genie turned into an elephant in Aladdin (1992)
    Honey _____ Cheerios
    Saucer in the sky, supposedly
10) TV-14 and PG-13, for two
      Pseudoscience that wanted to turn copper into gold
11) Home of Japan's largest manga museum
      Hawaii's state dance
      Layered cookie that once had a Caramel Apple flavor
12) Initials on an invitation
      Owned by that lady
      Trashy tabloid
13) Soft and white French cheese
      Large film format that won a Technical Oscar in 1997
      A Scanner Darkly star Reeves
14) Lunch or brunch, e.g.
      Dwayne Johnson's role in Moana
      Make a few changes
15) Star Fox 64 character who's a gray howling canine
      People seen on C-SPAN, for short
      Mario _____ Tour (mobile game)

DOWN
1) Malodorous odor
    Are You Afraid of the _____? ('90s Nickelodeon show)
    Parent company of Rolls-Royce
2) Diamond-shaped pattern on some socks
    Auction site that owns StubHub
    Old car company from the founder of Oldsmobile
3) Polygon's corner
    Video game stage that teaches you how to play it
4) WALL-E's love
    County event with a livestock show
    Last word of an FDR quote regarding fear
5) Part of FWIW or TGIF
    Female friend of Gumby with blonde hair and shapeshifting abilities
    Mo. when Daylight Saving Time ends in America
6) Calling on a cell
    _____ My Ride (2000s reality show hosted by Xzibit)
7) Lemur King from the Madagascar series
    Derriere
    Tiny and adorable Demon Lord from Endro! (or a former Chinese chairman)
8) Heart song that spent three weeks at #1
    Word following "pop" or "op"
    Moving company with orange and white trucks
9) Cartoonist's liquid
    Building block company that released Super Mario sets in 2020
    The Handmaid's Tale actress Bledel
10) Not of the clergy
      Jokey and silly
11) Stupefied state
      Fast food chain serving Popcorn Nuggets
      Punk subgenre performed by Less Than Jake and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
12) Type of tilted text
      Silver salmon
      Antlered animal on Idaho's state flag
13) Colored bits that rain on $100,000 winners of Wheel of Fortune
      List of slip-ups
14) Minecraft's mineral resource
      Internet slang also known as "1337"
      Not as nice
15) _____ Hear This (surreal Looney Tunes short)
      June 6, 1944
      Chobani product

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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

Sunday, December 13, 2020

ANSWERS: 5-Star Stumper 5

It's been almost two weeks since my fifth "5-Star Stumper" puzzle was posted on this blog, and twelve people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Cindy Heisler ****
  • Giovanni Pagano ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Stephen Potter ****
  • Mom ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Adam Weaver ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solvers' comments!

Monday, December 7, 2020

PUZZLE #312: Snake Charmer 5

PUZZLE #312
SNAKE CHARMER 5

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) Tea variety whose name translates to "black dragon"
2) "The Way It Is" singer Bruce
3) Witness's statements that can be cross-examined in the Ace Attorney games
4) Breakfast of Champions author Kurt
5) Afternoon nap in Acapulco
6) Victorious
7) Eritrea's capital
8) Female role found in both Othello and The Taming of the Shrew
9) Ice down again
10) Wrinkly organ seen in the box art for Cranium
11) Incarcerated Let It Be producer Phil
12) The Price is Right game that involves swapping numbered blocks to complete five prices
13) Baseball team from the University of Texas at Austin
14) 8-bit units
15) _____ & Pumbaa ('90s Disney cartoon)
16) Actress Strahovski of NBC's Chuck
17) The most daring
18) Skylit lobby
19) Cult classic horror film with an eerie undertaker known only as "The Tall Man"
20) Horse breed that originated in the Middle East
21) Without a worry in the world
22) On Beyond _____! (Dr. Seuss book about adding more letters to the alphabet)
23) Gadget and Clouseau, for two
24) With "The", video game trilogy (later a Netflix series) starring a monster slayer named Geralt

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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

Sunday, December 6, 2020

ANSWERS: All Four One

It's been close to two weeks since a new format in the form of "All Four One" premiered on this blog, and twelve people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Cindy Heisler ****
  • Giovanni Pagano ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Stephen Potter ****
  • Mom ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Elliott Frankfother ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Dan Simonds **
Now head below the break for the answers as well as several solvers' comments!