PUZZLE #380: Chain Reaction: Branching Out 4

PUZZLE #380

CHAIN REACTION: BRANCHING OUT 4

It's been a while since I've done this particular puzzle type, and I'm guessing that's because of its higher difficulty compared to other "Chain Reaction" puzzles (judging by the low amount of solvers that the previous "Branching Out" puzzle got). With that in mind, I should probably remind you all that you can always email me for a hint if/when you get stuck (though you'll be marked as having done so once your name gets posted on the solvers' list). Anyway, here are the directions on how to solve this particular puzzle:

First, find the answers to the clues, which are listed in alphabetical order of their answers. The bracketed numbers at the end of each clue are the lengths of each answer. 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 or compound word. There may be multiple possibilities for these phrases, but there's only one way that all the words will fit together.

The FINAL ANSWER is the seven-letter mode of transportation that goes in the pink box to create three more two-word phrases.

• "Baby Come _____" (#1 song by Player) [4]

• Encasing in crates [6]

• Largest ship in the Battleship board game [7]

• Mail-order book formerly provided by Sears [7]

• Series of mountains or islands [5]

• Lhasa Apso or Labrador [3]

• Side in a turf war [4]

• Spider-Man's hand coverings [6]

• Cricket player's shin protector [5]

• Atari arcade game where you play a marsupial trying to rescue her joey [8]

• Rifle's recoil [4]

• One of only twelve in the Hawaiian alphabet [6]

• "_____ Only" jacket ('80s fashion relic) [7]

• It's alleviated by Aleve [4]

• Flawless [7]

• Glass ewer [7]

• Pretend to be a wooden board, like in an early 2010s fad [5]

• Aim one's index finger at something [5]

• Handhold by a staircase [4]

• Place where a witness' testimony is given [5]

• Beginning (to) [8]

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: Deck It Out 7

It's been nearly two weeks since "Deck It Out 7" was posted on this blog, and a whopping nineteen people have successfully solved it since then, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Steven McKinney
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Mom
• Tyler Hinman
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Tamara Brenner
• "Darth"
• "Dot"
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• CromsFury
• Anna Tommasi

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #379: Lucky Sevens 11

PUZZLE #379

LUCKY SEVENS 11

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!

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word

ROWS
i) Marxist Guevara whose image is on t-shirts sold via capitalism

ii) Floating star-like creature from Super Mario Galaxy (anagram of MAUL)

iii) Mass _____ transit system

iv) Fairy tale character who pushes a witch into an oven

v) Italian version of "Mister"

vi) Catch in a web

vii) Sad songs and story-telling songs

viii) Surf rock guitarist Dick who performed "Misirlou"

ix) Hospital tubes, briefly

x) Postal abbr. for the Cornhusker State

xi) Rating for exactly one film released theatrically in 2021 (It's PAW Patrol: The Movie, for the record)

SEVENS

1) Like a head with a large receding hairline

2) Force into subservience

3) Uses a car's blinkers, say

4) Holy Hand _____ of Antioch (weapon used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

5) NBA team whose name was inspired by Jurassic Park

6) Animated candelabra who sings "Be Our Guest"

7) Actor Don who dons the "War Machine" suit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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: Fronts Off 5

It's been thirteen days since "Fronts Off 5" was posted on this blog, and just like last week's answer post, seventeen people have correctly solved it since then. Take a look:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Sam Levitin
• Meg Duvall
• Patrick Jordan
• Tyler Hinman
• Mom
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• Charles Flaster
• Steven McKinney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #378: Deck It Out 7

PUZZLE #378

DECK IT OUT 7

Happy Pi Day, everyone! Unfortunately, I don't have a puzzle themed after either pi or pie today; the best I can do is link to an older puzzle of mine that happened to involve pies ("Family Reunions 2" in this case, the answers to which are here). Once you're done checking that out (or not), here are the directions for a puzzle that I do have for today:

Fill in the answers to the clues below, then transfer the letters marked with playing card symbols to their proper places in the grid below. The number (or letter) of each clue will tell you what column to place those letters in. Once it's completely filled in, the grid will spell out a sentence that will provide a hint to the FINAL ANSWER.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a proper noun

A) “_____ Met You Yet” (Michael Bublé song)

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♠   ♥   ♣           ♦

2) The Meow Mix song, e.g.

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

        ♣   ♥       ♦   ♠

3) Lethal

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♣       ♦   ♠       ♥

4) Tiptup from Diddy Kong Racing, for one (HINT: he’s a shelled reptile)

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♥       ♦       ♠   ♣

5) Nevada Dam named after a 1930s President

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♥   ♣           ♠   ♦

6) Shelling out cash

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

        ♥   ♦   ♠       ♣

7) Tubes inserted into a milkshake

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♦   ♥       ♣       ♠

8) Volcanic rock used in some rubber erasers

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♥   ♠   ♣       ♦

9) _____-cube law

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

            ♥   ♦   ♠   ♣

10) Metallic alternative to Invisalign

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♥           ♣   ♠   ♦

J) Regaliceratops’ remains

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

        ♣   ♠       ♦   ♥

Q) One of 1,440 in a day

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♣   ♥   ♦   ♠

K) Setting for Oz or Orange is the New Black

   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

    ♣       ♠   ♥   ♦

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: Drop Tower 9

Almost two weeks have passed by since "Drop Tower 9" was posted on this blog, so it's time for me to list the seventeen people who have correctly solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Mindy Moore
• Meg Duvall
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #377: Fronts Off 5

PUZZLE #377

FRONTS OFF 5

First, find the answers to each clue so that there are two words in each rectangular box. Then change the first letter of each word to the new same letter for both words of a pair to form two new words, and write the new letter in the square box to the left of the rectangle.

Once you're done, read down the boxes to get the FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word

1) "Great" green alien from the final season of The Flintstones

    Acting all hoity-toity

2) A more charitable way of saying "cheapskate"

    Actress Faye from The Towering Inferno

3) Costume at a frat party

    Hocked at a shop owned by Rick Harrison, perhaps

4) Incorrect

    Singing "Deck the Halls" on a doorstep, maybe

5) Tibia’s location

    Word-finding board game with 16 lettered dice

6) More adorable

    Like a movie rated 5 out of 10, in theory

7) In _____ fertilization

    Type of phone with a spinning dial

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: Back-Oops

It's been thirteen days since a new puzzle format called "Back-Oops" was posted on this blog, and you guys must've liked it, as nineteen people have solved it since then!

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

Now head below the break for the answers!