PUZZLE #367: The Block List 4

PUZZLE #367

THE BLOCK LIST 4

In each numbered row of squares, fill in the squares of each color with one of the given words below from the set of that color, keeping the letters in their original order, so that the entire row spells out a single longer word. However, you have to figure out what each smaller, color-coded word is based on the clues given.

Once you're done with the first four rows, enter the letters of the remaining words into the last row of squares similarly to spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a film from thirty years ago (1991) whose title is more than one word.

RED WORDS

• Claude, Penelope, and Sylvester from Looney Tunes, e.g.

• Palindromic joke

• Product from Mattel or Melissa & Doug

• Red Muppet who hosts The Not-Too-Late Show on HBO Max

BLUE WORDS

• "Into the Great Wide _____" (Tom Petty song)

• Liquid container or rural wind instrument

• Piece of cloth waved in semaphore codes

• Starfish limb

GREEN WORDS

• Blue, red, or yellow germ that Dr. Mario cures

• Lima or fava

• Number of Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics

• Raised racehorses, say

ORANGE WORDS

• Bloomin' _____ (Outback Steakhouse appetizer)

• Mattress spring

• Part of a bouquet mentioned in "Ring Around the Rosie"

• X-Men character with genius intellect and blue fur

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Pent Words 17

Merry Day-After-Christmas (and Happy Boxing Day, if you happen to be in Canada)! Anyhoo, it's been roughly two weeks since "Pent Words 17" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people since then have successfully figured out its Final Answer:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Sam Levitin
• Ray Youstra
• Meg Duvall
• Karen Spencer
• Patrick Jordan
• Tommy Weigle
• Tyler Hinman
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mindy Moore
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #366: Semicircle Sorting 3

PUZZLE #366

SEMICIRCLE SORTING 3

Below are 12 semicircles, each containing three or four letters. Your job is to combine them all into six circles so that a common word (either 6, 7, or 8 letters long) can be read either clockwise or counterclockwise in each circle. However, in order to do that, six of the semicircles need to be rotated 180° upside down so that they can be correctly matched up with the remaining six semicircles.

Once all of the circles have been solved, select two of the resulting words and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word item associated with the holiday season.

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Anagram Chambers 9

It's been nearly two weeks since "Anagram Chambers 9" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people successfully solved it since then, as you can see below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Karen Spencer
• Patrick Jordan
• Al Sisti
• Ray Youstra
• Tyler Hinman
• Mom
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Mindy Moore
• Meg Duvall
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Peter Abide
• Tommy Weigle

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

PUZZLE #365: Pent Words 17

PUZZLE #365

PENT WORDS 17

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) Bushes usually less than 20 feet tall

    The Way Things _____ (educational kids' book with mechanical diagrams)

2) Bar such as The Queen Vic from EastEnders

    Bacon and eggs' cooking surface

3) Clay-rich soil

    Picabo Street's sport

4) Montezuma, for one

    Marvel antihero who battles Carnage in a 2021 film sequel

5) Eyelash thickener

    French water

6) "Shakespearean" board game where you flip black and white discs

    Annual fan gathering, for short

7) "I beg to _____!"

    Dessert stolen by the Knave of Hearts

8) Cash in a coupon

    "Potent" prefix that's also a hotel chain

9) Nadir's opposite

    Full of good cheer

10) Last name of Wendy from Peter Pan

      The _____ Yorker (magazine whose website has weekly cryptic crosswords)

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)

• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• Mel Meh or Jailbreak from a terrible 2017 animated movie, e.g.

• Largest artery

• Link's bladed weapon in the Legend of Zelda series

• Nut in the name of a squash variety

• Recurring, symbolic story element

• Iced tea brand co-owned by PepsiCo and Unilever

• Hermit crab's home

• Shipping company for “when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”

• Tacky humanoid lawn ornament

• Calvin who founded his namesake fashion house in 1968

• "Fake it _____ you make it"

• Parks and Recreation actress Aubrey

• Raise one's shoulders and go "I dunno..."

• Destination for the Fifth Pillar of Islam

• Overwhelming apprehension

• He's second in an alphabetical list of vice presidents (after Adams)

• Submarine used in both World Wars: Hyph.

• _____ Out (jukebox musical with Billy Joel songs)

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Chess Words 2

It's been thirteen days since "Chess Words 2" was posted on this blog, and thirteen is also the number of people that have solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Kevin Orfield
• Sam Levitin
• Al Sisti
• Tamara Brenner
• Stephen Potter
• Tyler Hinman
• Peter Abide
• Mindy Moore
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #364: Anagram Chambers 9

PUZZLE #364

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 9

This puzzle contains a word suggested by Patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at $15 or more per month to suggest one word or phrase for me to put into a puzzle every month!

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. Unfortunately, none of the chambers are labeled, and all seven sets of clues are in no particular order, so you have to figure out which set of answers go to which proper chamber so the columns of light green squares will both spell out words reading vertically.

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

• [Small stream] + _ = [Double-_____ hamburger] + _ = [Country bumpkin in many Jeff Foxworthy jokes]

• [Title for Dracula or Duckula] + _ = [Sam of Froot Loops fame, for one] + _ = [Sotheby's event]

• [Artificial sweetener or a math symbol] + _ = [Fantastic Voyage star Welch] + _ = [Argument]

• [Vertebral column] + _ = [Equines such as Pinkie Pie] + _ = ["Rats with wings", according to New Yorkers]

• [All in the Family spinoff starring Bea Arthur] + _ = [Like a messy bed] + _ = [So commonplace as to be unnoteworthy]

• [Step in a flight] + _ = [Stats expressed with colons] + _ = [Waldorf _____ New York (luxury hotel)]

• [Takes a stab at] + _ = [Classic puzzle video game with the tagline "From Russia with Fun!"] + _ = [Party game involving a mat with colored spots]

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Triangle Tangle 3

Close to two weeks have gone by since "Triangle Tangle 3" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people since then have successfully solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tamara Brenner
• Mindy Moore
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Elliott Frankfother
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #363: Chess Words 2

PUZZLE #363

CHESS WORDS 2

Eight 8-letter words are scrambled on the chessboard, all of which are the answers to the provided clues. Each chess piece starts on the first letter of one of the words, and can be moved across the board via standard chess moves to spell the rest of the word. Every square is used exactly once. The chess pieces move as follows:

King: one space in any of the eight directions
Rook: any number of spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction
Bishop: any number of spaces in a diagonal direction
Queen: any number of spaces in any of the eight directions
Knight: two spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction and then one space in a perpendicular direction

Once all the words have been found, pick two of the words and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a common two-word phrase

  Queen's Rook: Q _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                a1 
Queen's Knight: W _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                b1 
Queen's Bishop: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                c1 
         Queen: S _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                d1 
          King: M _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                e1 
 King's Bishop: K _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                f1 
 King's Knight: F _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                g1 
   King's Rook: C _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                h1

CLUES
• 2003 Ben Affleck movie

• _____ bag

• Brew up an intricate plot

• Coins that were formerly 90% silver

• Guppies' glass home

• Provide a much-needed kick in the butt, perhaps

• Red echidna created by Sega

• Suppress

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Dial Tunes 3

"Dial Tunes 3" from two weeks ago may have been on the elaborate side, but that didn't stop a whopping twenty of you from solving it, as detailed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Dave C.
• Kevin Orfield
• Ray Youstra
• Sam Levitin
• Al Sisti
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mindy Moore
• Tommy Weigle
• Tyler Hinman
• Stephen Potter
• Meg Duvall
• Mom
• Peter Abide
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #362: Triangle Tangle 3

PUZZLE #362

TRIANGLE TANGLE 3

To solve this puzzle, enter the 4-letter answer to each clue into the diagram either from top to bottom or diagonally upward. There are two numbers starting each clue; each answer begins in the triangle marked with the first number, and ends in the triangle marked with the second.

Once the grid has been filled in, there are two more words hiding in the topmost row of letters and the bottommost row of letters. Combine them both to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a video game series

1-2) Tulip seed

2-3) When tripled, "yadda yadda yadda"

3-4) "Purple _____ all in my brain" (Jimi Hendrix lyrics)

4-5) Fitch who co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch

5-6) Trajectories for softballs or stories

6-7) Lightning bolt on Harry Potter's forehead, for one

7-8) Cheers at a college football game

8-9) Blade in prison

9-10) Laboratory tube

10-11) Fill with cargo

11-12) Cheese named after a Dutch town

12-13) The only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize

13-14) National sport of Japan

14-15) Leave out

15-16) Rocket Power character who often provides "ancient Hawaiian sayings" (or "Mambo King" Puente)

16-17) _____ Spunkmeyer (cookie brand)

17-18) One might say "ONE WAY"

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Diagramless Crossword 5

Happy Sunday-Before-Thanksgiving, everyone! On a more relevant note, it's been thirteen days since "Diagramless Crossword 5" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have successfully solved it since then, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Dave C.
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Sam Levitin
• Karen Spencer
• Meg Duvall
• Alex Sisti
• Stephen Potter
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Ray Youstra
• Mom [Hints Used]
• Michael Lebowitz
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tommy Weigle
• Mindy Moore

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

PUZZLE #361: Dial Tunes 3

PUZZLE #361

DIAL TUNES 3

First, answer as many of the numbered clues as you can and enter them into the first grid. Each clue ends with an arrow indicating the direction its answer should be entered: from top to bottom [↓], from bottom to top [↑], or even either way [↕]. For example, if the answers were JIB [↓], IRE [↓], SAD [↑], EVE [↕], AT [↑], and O [↕], you would enter them like this:

Next, try to decode the message (in the form of song lyrics) by replacing every circled letter with another letter that shares the same number on a telephone keypad, which we've provided on top of these directions (for example, B can be replaced by A or C). The decoded message should be entered into the second grid, as shown here (note that the bold vertical lines indicate divisions between words):

(From "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

The FINAL ANSWER is the name of the song containing the decoded lyrics.

Place the answers to the following clues here

1) Journey _____ the West (classic Chinese novel) [↓]

2) Letter after lambda [↑]

3) Measurement of a Mensa member: Abbr. [↑]

4) "Best Costume Design in a Musical", for one [↓]

5) Extremely fast The Incredibles character [↑]

6) Chick-_____ (fast food chain that wants you to "Eat Mor Chikin"): Hyph. [↓]

7) Stimulate, as an appetite [↓]

8) Native American in Arizona [↑]

9) Banker's offer in a Howie Mandel-hosted game show [↑]

10) Tacky light shaped like a leg in A Christmas Story [↓]

11) Grain in a Cheerio [↓]

12) Metric unit of elec. [↑]

Place the decoded lyrics here

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Snake Charmer 6

It's been roughly two weeks since "Snake Charmer 6" was posted on this blog, and a staggering twenty-one people since then have successfully solved it, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave C.
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Meg Duvall
• Karen Spencer
• Ray Youstra
• Dan Simonds
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• Michael Lebowitz
• Patrick Jordan
• Mindy Moore
• Tamara Brenner
• Elliott Frankfother
• Tyler Hinman
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• Tommy Weigle

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

PUZZLE #360: Diagramless Crossword 5

PUZZLE #360

DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 5

Diagramless crosswords are solved by using the clues and their numbers to fill in the answers as well as the black squares. When completely filled in, the black squares in the grid will have diagonal symmetry, meaning that they'll look the same when rotated upside-down. As a help, the first number has already been placed in the grid.

Once everything's filled in, two of the across answers will spell out a clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: A fictional being's name.

ACROSS
1) _____ Saigon (Tony-winning musical)

5) Language spoken in Vientiane (or someone who lives there)

8) Have lofty ambitions

11) Super stumper

14) First-ever, as a voyage

15) Diminishes the value (of)

18) "Scarborough Fair", for one

19) PART ONE OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

21) Long-gone days of old

22) _____ and the Last Dragon (Disney movie)

23) Whirled around in a swivel chair, maybe

25) Justice Dept. agency that Clarice Starling works for

28) Acorn, eventually

29) Telephone booth stuffing in the 1950s, for one

30) Face mask thickness measurement

31) Grandson of Adam and Eve

33) Belonging to you and me

35) Agatha Christie: And _____ There Were None (2005 adventure game)

39) PART TWO OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

45) "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" singer Keys

46) Facial cosmetic item that dates back to ancient Egypt

47) Toy company that popularized the yo-yo

48) Hosted a variety show, say

49) Believe to be true without any sort of fact-checking

50) Piglets' pen

51) Greek goddess of discord who appears in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

DOWN

1) Deadly black snake

2) Bartender on The Love Boat

3) Like milk that one shouldn't cry over

4) Walk like a crab

5) Roughly 2.11338 liquid pints

6) Has the same opinion

7) Easternmost country in the Arabian Peninsula

9) With 10-Down, posterior

10) See 9-Down

11) Tense and nervous

12) Villainous Romulan played by Eric Bana in Star Trek (2009)

13) Increase in interest

16) "¡Gracias!": 2 wds.

17) "_____ 'hello' to my little friend!" (memorable Scarface quote)

20) "Right Down the Line" singer Gerry

24) Burst a balloon

26) Shrieking creature from Ireland

27) Affirmation at an altar: 2 wds.

32) Rigorous, as some rules

34) Native American tribe that lent its name to the 45th state

36) Sue Bee product

37) Fencing sword with more than two vowels

38) Steve Urkel, for one

39) Winter ailments

40) Lather, _____, repeat

41) Transpire

42) Florida city where a CSI spinoff was set

43) Striped Christmas candies

44) "Slippery" trees

45) Programming language named after Mrs. Lovelace

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Slide Show: Double Feature 3

It's been nearly two weeks since "Slide Show: Double Feature 3" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people since then have figured out its Final Answer, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave C.
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Sam Levitin
• Karen Spencer
• Wendy Walker
• Michael Lebowitz
• Patrick Jordan
• Mindy Moore
• Stephen Potter
• Mom [Hints Used]
• Meg Duvall
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tamara Brenner

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #359: Snake Charmer 6

PUZZLE #359

SNAKE CHARMER 6

One of the clues in this puzzle contains a word suggested by Patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at $15 or more per month to suggest one word or phrase for me to put into a puzzle every month!

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) Draco Malfoy's house at Hogwarts

2) Tailed animal in an exercise wheel

3) Film company that distributed the Hunger Games movies

4) Retired wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve

5) Kinda ashy-colored

6) Violent whirlpool

7) Country that shares Lake Titicaca with Peru

8) Pays an artist on DeviantArt to make a picture, perhaps

9) Former Nickelodeon sitcom about a Latina teen who wants to become a singer (anagram of ANITA)

10) Get fuzzy, as vision

11) Master _____ (main character of the Halo video games)

12) Way to drive without heeding danger

13) 2005 Johnny Knoxville film endorsed by the Special Olympics committee: 2 wds.

14) Huge amounts of money for Warren Buffett, say

15) Fancy French cake

16) Flat fish with a spiny tail

17) Moby-Dick narrator

18) Rolled-up turnover filled with cheese and pizza toppings

19) Media company that re-merged with CBS in late 2019

20) _____: Impossible (1960s TV series)

21) Like clothing capable of getting splotches

22) Redhead from Riverdale

23) Spots on the previous answer's face

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Link-Letters 10

Happy Halloween, everyone! I'm gonna be busy for most of today binging Halloween episodes and specials, so I'll make this quick and list the eighteen people who solved "Link-Letters 10" from two weeks ago:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Meg Duvall
• Sam Levitin
• Alex Sisti
• Tamara Brenner
• Michael Lebowitz
• Elliott Frankfother
• Peter Abide
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Mindy Moore
• Lynn Sweeney

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

PUZZLE #358: Slide Show: Double Feature 3

PUZZLE #358

SLIDE SHOW: DOUBLE FEATURE 3

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 horror movie from the early 2000s

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 2

Almost two weeks have gone by since my second "Sudokurossword" puzzle was posted on this blog. Since then, an impressive nineteen people have successfully solved it, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Giovanni Pagano
• Kevin Orfield
• Meg Duvall
• Tyler Hinman
• Tommy Weigle
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Karen Spencer
• Stephen Potter
• Alex Sisti
• Peter Abide
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mindy Moore

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #357: Link-Letters 10

PUZZLE #357

LINK-LETTERS 10

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 young adult novel

1) Peter Griffin's only daughter in Family Guy

    It's attached to an answering machine

2) Short-term employee

    Devoured durians, say

3) Playful prank

    Very large film format for Fantasia 2000's initial theatrical release

4) Day, to José

    Part of Stimpy's face which is big and blue

5) 8-inch sandwiches from Jimmy John's, say

    Journal kept by Bridget Jones

6) Stubbs who was the original lead singer of the Four Tops

    Holier-_____-thou

7) Bashful ghost from Super Mario World

    Deducts from one's pay

8) Choose to do without

    Cube root of 1,000

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Honeycomb 3

It's been close to two weeks since "Honeycomb 3" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twenty people have solved it since then! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Dave C.
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Tyler Hinman
• Patrick Jordan
• Mindy Moore
• Meg Duvall
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tommy Weigle
• Debbie Benford
• Peter Abide
• Dan Simonds

Now with that list out of the way, head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #356: Sudokurostic 2

PUZZLE #356

SUDOKUROSTIC 2

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e5", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "5". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: a proper noun that's at least six letters long

• Is more-or-less obligated to

   __ __ __ __

   a9 c4 e1 d8

• Phoebe and Her Unicorn and Hi and Lois, for two

   __ __ __ __ __ __

   i6 h7 f4 d2 h1 a4

• Setting for Judge Mathis

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   a8 g6 d6 f2 h4 c7 i2 e9 b3

• The _____ of Happyness (2006 Will Smith film)

   __ __ __ __ __ __ __

   d3 a2 i8 f7 i1 e4 b9

• What a screenwriter writes

   __ __ __ __ __ __

   g3 g9 b6 f8 c1 e6

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Sunburst 3

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Sunburst 3" was posted on this blog, and just like last week, a total of seventeen people have successfully solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• Tyler Hinman
• Kevin Orfield
• Elliott Frankfother
• Debbie Benford
• Wendy Walker
• Alex Sisti
• Lynn Sweeney
• Michael Lebowitz
• Peter Abide
• Mindy Moore

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

PUZZLE #355: Honeycomb 3

PUZZLE #355

HONEYCOMB 3

Each six-letter word is to be entered clockwise or counterclockwise around the correspondingly numbered black cell, though the direction and starting point of each answer is for you to determine.

Once the grid has been filled out, the colored hexagons, when read either clockwise or counterclockwise, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a 6-letter word

1) Alaska's highest mountain

2) _____ Rouge! (musical directed by Baz Luhrmann)

3) Ricky Martin's old boy band

4) Accustoms to hardship [NOTE: Either spelling will fit, but my answer has no repeating letters]

5) Fighting game character's posture

6) _____ rasa (blank slate)

7) Has skepticism about

8) Coercion

9) Bring back a long-dormant media franchise, say

10) Ryan from The Drew Carey Show

11) Periods of equilibrium

12) Kind of droopy-eared hound

13) Incredible bargains

14) Bread aisle array

15) The "X" in Professor X's name

16) Bring in goods from Greece, maybe

17) Most impolite

18) Hyundai's Accent and Sonata, for two

19) "Wabbit _____!" "Duck _____!"

20) Greetings from the 50th state

21) Pulled a fast one

22) It's tested by bopping a knee with a hammer

23) Brain cell that acts on impulse

24) Like medieval England

25) Bump's idiomatic location: 3 wds.

26) Buddies in Barcelona

27) Hillary Clinton's maiden name

28) Sings like the climber in the Price is Right game "Cliff Hangers"

29) Overwhelm with noise

30) _____ of Seagulls (new wave band with three Top 40 hits): 2 wds.

31) "I think", according to Descartes

32) License needed to legally hunt

33) Winnie the Pooh character with a detachable tail

34) Archimedes' cry of triumph

35) Hole in a pool table

36) Gadget that played CD-ROM games on the go, once

37) Gone off to beddy-bye

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Gryptics 5

It's been thirteen days since "Gryptics 5" was posted on this blog, and a superb seventeen people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave C.
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Peter Abide
• Karen Spencer
• Giovanni Pagano
• Mom
• Charles Flaster
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker
• Tyler Hinman

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

PUZZLE #354: Sunburst 3

PUZZLE #354

SUNBURST 3

First, solve each 4-letter word listed in the first set of clues, then rearrange them and attach an extra letter to its end (which will be up to you to determine) to form a 5-letter word that matches one of the answers listed in the second clue set. For example, if an answer is ATOP, scramble those letters, add another letter to the end, and form the 5-letter word TOPAZ. Next, place each resulting 5-letter word into the Sunburst at their corresponding numbers, starting at the outermost tile and reading inwards. Since all the 5-letter words have the exact same final letter, make sure that each 5-letter word ends in the center of the grid.

Once the grid has been filled in, the outermost ring of the Sunburst, when read clockwise from 1 to 18, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a Japanese anime series

4-LETTER WORDS
1) Snowman who sings "In Summer" in Frozen

2) North Carolina's state tree

3) Body parts "read" by deaf people

4) Clever quipsters

5) Facial feature that Patrick Star lacks

6) Strongbox

7) "Let You Love Me" singer Ora

8) "March" creature in Wonderland

9) Make do, somehow

10) "Do not go gentle _____ that good night"

11) Roam about aimlessly

12) Carnac the Magnificent, for one

13) Chunk taken out of the Apple logo

14) _____ Bridges (1996-2001 CBS series)

15) Woolly mothers

16) Bad thing to put before the horse

17) The "D" in "Nintendo DS"

18) Glide in a wingsuit, say

5-LETTER WORDS

• "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" rock band

• As plain as day

• Awkward, clumsy, or bungling

• Character's quirk

• Emulate Muhammad Ali's butterfly

• Extremely preachy pamphlet

• "He _____ changed one bit"

• Inception

• Last name of Oliver from Oliver!

• Like any person legally allowed to see an NC-17 film

• M. Night Shyamalan movie about a man with 24 separate personalities

• NES button that starts over a game

• _____ of Fools (celebration that Quasimodo visits)

• Region in Asia nicknamed the "Roof of the World"

• Sour's counterpart

• Type of "beef" offered by Arby's

• Untagged in tag: 2 wds.

• Walt Disney World park featuring "The Seas with Nemo & Friends"

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS (and Contest Results!): Helter Skelter 6

It's been almost two weeks since my first contest puzzle in two years, "Helter Skelter 6", was posted on this blog. I'll get to the winners soon, but first, I have to list the nineteen people who have solved this puzzle:

• Grant Fikes (opted out of the contest)
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield (opted out)
• Alex Sisti
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Mindy Moore
• Yossi Fendel
• Michael Lebowitz
• Lbray53
• Wendy Walker
• Mom (ineligible)
• Peter Abide
• Lynn Sweeney
• Giovanni Pagano (opted out)

Since I have so many solvers, I've decided to give away two copies of Octopus Crosswords by Brendan Emmett Quigley! And the randomly-chosen winners of that book are: Mindy Moore and Wendy Walker! Congratulations you two, and I hope you'll enjoy that prize!

Now that the contest is officially over, head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #353: Gryptics 5

PUZZLE #353

GRYPTICS 5

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 an American TV series that debuted in the 2000s

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Moving Staircases 11

It's been nearly two weeks since "Moving Staircases 11" was posted on this blog, and thirteen people successfully solved it since then, all of whom are in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Giovanni Pagano
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Mindy Moore
• Sam Levitin
• Peter Abide
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker
• Meg Duvall

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

PUZZLE #352: Helter Skelter 6 (CONTEST PUZZLE!)

CONTEST!

PUZZLE #352

HELTER SKELTER 6

This puzzle contains a word suggested by Patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at $15 or more per month to suggest one word or phrase for me to put into a puzzle every month!

This puzzle is also something that I haven't done in a long time (over 100 puzzles ago, in fact): a contest puzzle! Unfortunately, these contest puzzles may continue to be a rare sight in the foreseeable future, as when I told Grant Fikes that I was planning to turn this puzzle into a Contest Puzzle, he pointed out a pretty big loophole: those who got this puzzle early on Patreon may have an unfair advantage over those who don't (in this case, more time to solve it than usual), hence why his Contest Puzzles became separate posts and not his usual Wordy Wednesdays. In response, I've decided to dodge any potential pay-to-win scenarios by not letting Patreons know that a contest was attached to it until after they solved it, which seems to have worked out.

But anyway, back to this current contest. The prize for winning it is a copy of Octopus Crosswords by Brendan Emmett Quigley (basically, a book full of these Helter Skelter puzzles)! There will only be one winner for this contest (who will be selected at random), though if I get a high enough amount of solvers, it'll increase to two winners. If you don't want to enter this contest, you can still solve this puzzle and not partake in the contest, but you'll have to let me know if you do decide to opt out. So now with all that out of the way, here are the directions on how to solve it!

Each answer in this crossword variation starts at the indicated number, and then moves towards the direction of the next number (though 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) Up to the task

2) Graphic novel, e.g.

3) Was indebted to someone

4) Nick Jr. character who often says "Swiper, no swiping!"

5) Negatively charged atom

6) Org. co-founded by W.E.B. Du Bois

7) Simba's family, say

8) Form a thought in one's brain

9) The Importance of Being _____ (Oscar Wilde's final play)

10) Chem. or phys.

11) Baby bird call

12) Ancient Greek astronomer who compiled the original 48 constellations

13) Short-tempered Sam from various Looney Tunes shorts

14) "Sign o' the _____" (Prince song)

15) 1999 film co-starring Tom Cruise that ends with raining frogs

16) Doom's rhyming partner

17) Moved aside (for): 2 wds.

18) Railway service set to retire their Acela trains by late 2022

19) Reduce to ripped rags

20) Finnish company whose 3310 mobile phone is notoriously hard to damage

21) Illustrations and such

22) The "O" in "MMORPG"

23) Intl. military alliance headquartered in Belgium

24) Foreboding signs

25) Hernando de _____ (Spanish explorer)

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Wonder Twins

My 350th puzzle from two weeks ago (dubbed "Wonder Twins") proved to be an instant hit, as eighteen people successfully solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Karen Spencer
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Tyler Hinman
• Patrick Jordan
• Mindy Moore
• Michael Lebowitz
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• Dan Simonds

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

PUZZLE #351: Moving Staircases 11

PUZZLE #351

MOVING STAIRCASES 11

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, hidden inside it will be this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a musician whose name is not hidden horizontally or vertically.

SHORTS

• _____ Artois (Belgian beer brand)

• Howe nicknamed "Mr. Hockey"

• Illusionist David who once held his breath underwater for 17 minutes

• Not as easy

• Presented a late-night talk show, perhaps

• Suggestions from Waze

• Taking a short snooze

LONGS

• Ended a relationship by not replying to any incoming texts, say

• Fast-food chain with the same owners as Carl's Jr.

• Fiery hot

• Incubus song with the lyrics "Meet me in outer space"

• Like a desperate dilemma: 3 wds.

• _____ maintenance (scheduled check-up)

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!

ANSWERS: Anagram Magic Square 6: Additional Adding & Anagramming

It's been close to two weeks since "Anagram Magic Square 6: Additional Adding & Anagramming" was posted on this blog. Since then, an impressive eighteen people all solved it, and here's a list of each and every one of them:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Meg Duvall
• Joe Sampson
• Mindy Moore
• Tamara Brenner
• Peter Abide
• Sam Levitin
• Karen Spencer
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Michael Lebowitz

Now head below the break for the answers! Only one solver's comment this time around, but be sure to check that out, too!

PUZZLE #350: Wonder Twins

PUZZLE #350

WONDER TWINS

It's my 350th puzzle! As you may know, I tend to do special things on this blog whenever the number of puzzles I've made hits a multiple of 50. The last couple milestones were both meta-crosswords, but this time around, I'm debuting a new format to this blog! Specifically, it's one heavily inspired by the GAMES Magazine staple "Siamese Twins", but renamed after a couple Hanna-Barbera characters (Because why the heck not? I frequently reference cartoons in my clues, after all!). I don't have much else to add to that, so I'm gonna jump straight to the directions!

There are two identical crossword grids and two sets of clues to go with them, so that you can solve them both at the same time. However, each clue number has two different clues for two different answers (sorted randomly), so you have to figure out which answer goes in which grid. To help you get started, both answers for one pair of clues have been filled in.

Once everything has been filled in, you should notice that some corresponding squares in the solved grids will have the exact same letters. Read them in order to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a video game from the late 1990s

ACROSS

1) Do harm

    Driest desert in North America

7) Tantrum-throwing tyke

    _____ clock (it was invented to speed up basketball games)

11) Opt for one over the other

      Sandy who pitched a perfect game in 1965

12) Loony, to Speedy Gonzales

      Serve ice water

13) Computer game company that created Space Quest and King's Quest

      Seep through a membrane

14) Memo heading

      Utterly amiss

15) Guru's retreat

      Like most houseplants

17) "You _____ Call Me Al" (Paul Simon song)

      Type of card with actors' lines

19) Makes a tiny adjustment

      Too (and not the kind of "too" that means "also")

23) '80s cartoon with the evil organization Cobra: 2 wds.

      Month with National High Five Day

26) Handheld harp ancestors

      "There was an old woman who lived in _____...": 2 wds.

27) "Down in the dumps" and "up in the air", for two

      Film company that once owned the Anaheim Ducks

29) 100 (or older), to a centenarian

      Icons of early '90s rap, in hip-hop slang

30) Dirtied with literal dirt

      YouTube music video type involving people mouthing the words to various songs: 2 wds.

33) Orange-haired heroine of The Promised Neverland (or a Jane Austen novel)

      _____'s Number Journey (Sesame Street video game)

36) Not as difficult

      Small and slender

39) Person, place, or thing

      What Jack Sprat's wife couldn't eat

40) Chop with a butcher knife

      States of boredom

41) 11/22/63 author Stephen

      US coin that doesn't have the word "cents" printed on it

42) Philatelist's collection

      Unpopped bit in the bottom of a popcorn bag

DOWN

1) When doubled, Top 20 hit by the Belle Stars

    AWOL hunters: Abbr.

2) "Either that wallpaper goes, _____ do!": 2 wds.

    Words almost never said by yes-men

3) _____ Creepers 3 (2017 film sequel)

    2017 film sequel subtitled "Welcome to the Jungle"

4) Flying saucers in Space Invaders

    Hairstyle for Dr. J

5) Old TV knob next to “HORIZ.”

    Poison oak reaction

6) Muse of poetry (and crosswords, given how many times she shows up in 'em...)

    Wield, as force

7) Australian way of saying "Egad!"

    Card game with "nil bidding"

8) First word in Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind"

    _____ Stoppable (Kim Possible's sidekick)

9) Belonging to both of us

    Unlike this clue's dir.

10) Foot part that can be stubbed

      Test one's patience

16) Hole-punching tool used in some Classic Concentration rebuses

      Stuck on You actress Mendes

17) Special effects used to animate Jimmy Neutron

      Ungentlemanly lout

18) Helping hand

      News agency that offers "Quirks in the News"

20) Metal often used to plate white gold

      Tales of the _____ Nights (pinball machine with a rotating genie lamp)

21) "It's big, it's heavy, it's wood", according to Ren & Stimpy

      Gunpowder barrel

22) "Leave It" rock band

      Opposite of NNW

24) Off one’s metaphorical rocker

      Pig from Dragon Ball named after a Chinese tea variety

25) Name of MGM's lion mascot

      Record label broken up in 2012

28) "Holy shamoley!"

      Tiny bit of dust

31) FBI agent investigating Laura's death in Twin Peaks

      It starts on Ash Wednesday

32) Sicily's only active volcano

      Software purchaser

33) Keyboard key beneath "Home"

      Member of a certain Benevolent and Protective Order

34) Necklace given to tourists arriving at Hawaii

      "Excusez-_____!"

35) Close-lipped, like a flower?

      The "M" in "BMOC"

37) Pencil pointer

      The night before Christmas, say

38) 19th letter, phonetically

      Lil _____ Howery (host of NBC's Small Fortune)

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 even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) 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!