PUZZLE #345: Central Scramble 4

PUZZLE #345

CENTRAL SCRAMBLE 4

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: the name of an Oscar-winning movie

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: Vanishing Act

Boy, my first "Vanishing Act" puzzle from two weeks ago must've been really popular and/or easier than usual, as a whopping twenty people have successfully solved it since then, and they all made it onto the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Giovanni Pagano
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Dave C
• Tyler Hinman
• Kevin Orfield
• Patrick Jordan
• Karen Spencer
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Joe Sampson
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Charles Flaster
• Debbie Benford
• Peter Abide

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

PUZZLE #344: Compound Crosswords 7

PUZZLE #344

COMPOUND CROSSWORDS 7

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: the name of a pinball machine made up of a compound word

CLUES

• Burrow like a gopher

• Comic book company (which isn't DC or Marvel) that publishes Spawn

• _____-crystal display

• Dental cap

• Distorted funhouse feature

• "Foolish Games" singer

• Genre featured on MTV's Headbangers Ball

• Mining tool used by Stinky Pete the Prospector from Toy Story 2

• Nocturnal birds that deliver acceptance letters to Hogwarts

• Not costing a single cent

• Plastic piece in Trivial Pursuit

• Smooth down in woodshop class

• Tintin's dog, who's white like winter weather

• Titular "Stallion of the Cimarron" from a 2002 DreamWorks film

• Unit of cabbage

• Wanda_____ (Disney+ show)

• Word following "booster" or "flu"

• Ziggy Stardust's instrument

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: The Spiral Squared 5

Thirteen days have passed since "The Spiral Squared 5" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people successfully solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Dave C
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Karen Spencer
• Lbray53
• Tamara Brenner
• Al Sisti
• Sam Levitin
• Peter Abide
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Tyler Hinman
• Lynn Sweeney
• Debbie Benford
• Wendy Walker

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

PUZZLE #343: Vanishing Act

PUZZLE #343

VANISHING ACT

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!

Below are a set of what are supposed to be valid words, but instances of one duplicated letter in each word have all disappeared! Your job is to reinsert the missing duplicate letters into each numbered string of letters so that the resulting words all match up to the provided clues (listed in no particular order). The number in square brackets next to each group shows how many of the same letter need to be inserted into it. For instance, if one of the groups is "XAMPL [2]", then you'll need to insert a letter two times ("E" in this case) to get "EXAMPLE".

Once you've completed everything, the letters that have been added back in, in order, will form another incomplete string of letters. Insert two more of the same letter to get the FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter noun

CLUES

• Alignment of three celestial bodies

• Grilling gas sold by Hank Hill from King of the Hill

• Megan Thee _____ (female rapper)

• Morgan Freeman's role in March of the Penguins

• Participant in what's widely regarded as the first Thanksgiving

• Swimmer's eyewear

• What the title "To Serve Man" referred to in a Twilight Zone episode

• Windshield cleaner at a gas station

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: Eat Your Words 6

It's been almost two weeks since "Eat Your Words 6" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people since then have successfully solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Joe Bernard
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Wendy Walker
• Kevin Orfield
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• Elliott Frankfother
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• Qmark
• Dan Simonds

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #342: The Spiral Squared 5

PUZZLE #342

THE SPIRAL SQUARED 5

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

1-5: Chocolate mint brand produced by Tootsie Roll Industries

6-11: Try again, in court

12-17: Give out homework

18-23: Tristan und _____ (Wagner opera)

24-27: Gold medal-winning skater Lipinski

28-32: Joe who played a burglar in the first two Home Alone films

33-38: Rico Rodriguez from Just Cause, for one (HINT: He's Mexican)

39-44: Biker gang member who gains telekinesis in Akira (anagram of OUTSET)

45-52: Train driver

53-57: Comedy, drama, or dramedy

58-62: Frankie _____ and the Four Seasons

63-68: Include a .PDF file with an email, say

69-76: Classical language of India

77-83: Warning from a fencer: 2 wds.

84-88: Frasier Crane's brother

89-96: Give up one's throne

97-100: Floating harbor marker

OUTWARD

100-95: "Of course I will!": 2 wds.

94-91: Sulfuric _____

90-83: Furthest edge of a tennis court

82-76: Police procedural featuring Sgt. Joe Friday

75-72: Rankles

71-68: Partner of Crosby, Stills and Young

67-61: Marsh reed

60-54: Female gargoyle from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

53-49: Color of Luigi's cap

48-42: Type of rock such as pegmatite or pumice

41-37: Grand _____ National Park, Wyoming

36-31: Type of tilted type

30-22: Divided

21-16: Having fewer wedges in Trivial Pursuit, perhaps

15-9: "Awkward Black Girl" who stars in HBO's Insecure: 2 wds.

8-5: That lady's

4-1: Pulitzer-winning novelist Ferber

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: Puzzle in the Round 4

Thirteen days have gone by since "Puzzle in the Round 4" was published on this blog, and just like last week's answer post, eighteen people have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Dave C
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Tyler Hinman
• Stephen Potter 
• Al Sisti
• Wendy Walker
• Mom and Alex Milton
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!