ANSWERS: Lucky Sevens 13

It's my last post of 2023, but I don't have anything special to provide you all other than the list of sixteen people who have solved "Lucky Sevens 13" from two weeks ago:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Squishmallows United
• Patrick Jordan
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #471: Christmas Presents

PUZZLE #471

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Merry Christmas, everyone! To celebrate the occasion, I've got a Christmas present for all of you guys: a puzzle format that's brand-new to this blog! It's sort of a cross between those "One-Two-Three" crosswords and gift-wrapped boxes, and you'll see what I mean when you get to the directions:

For each of these colorful presents, you’re given clues for four words reading across and down the sides of each gift, using all of the letters in the sections of ribbon that each word crosses, like with WRAP and MINER reading across as well as WHAM and PER reading down in the provided example. After you’ve filled in these words, complete the wrapping by adding a letter that acts as a bow where the strands of ribbon cross, so that two more words are formed reading along the ribbons, as with HAVE and RAVINE in the example.

Once all of the presents have been filled out, read all of the bow letters in order to get the FINAL ANSWER: something that people who give Christmas presents may have

PRESENT #1

• Brand whose products include "3D White" toothpaste

• It calls the kettle black in a well-known idiom

• "Unskinny _____" (#3 hit song by Poison)

• Voting coalition

PRESENT #2

• Hang out on a clothesline

• Magician's word similar to "Ta-da!" or "Presto!"

• Not yet expired, like a coupon

• Press _____ key to continue

PRESENT #3

• Cenozoic and Mesozoic, for two

• Fall Out Boy singer Patrick (or a chopped-down tree's remnant)

• Math symbol that's also the name of an artificial sweetener

• Place to apply ChapStick

PRESENT #4

• African snake that's one letter off from a Latin dance

• Referee in a chess match

• "To _____ is human" (quote from Alexander Pope)

• Turn while playing checkers

PRESENT #5

• Camila Cabello song named after Cuba's capital

• Crusty covering on a wound

• Ruler of ancient Persia

• She played Dorothy on The Golden Girls

PRESENT #6

• "Black sand" on a nail file

• Predator prequel named after a predator's quarry

• Retired basketballer Dwyane who hosts The Cube on TBS

• Will-o'-the-_____

PRESENT #7

• Kilroy was _____ (WWII-era graffiti)

• Like Tonto's masked ranger friend

• Shylock asked for a pound of this in The Merchant of Venice

• Untamed

PRESENT #8

• Fights with a foil or épée, say

• Like showy, yet garish, costumes

• Rory McIlroy's sport

• _____ Saint Laurent

PRESENT #9

• Bang one's toe

• Big blast of wind

• Muppet with a unibrow on Sesame Street

• Season when May Day is celebrated

PRESENT #10

• Exclamation in Germany

• Japanese car company that manufactures the Pilot and Passport

• Saturday Night Live veteran Carvey

• Sleeping under sheets (or a Community character)

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: Slot Machine 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Slot Machine 5" was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Squishmallows United

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #470: Lucky Sevens 13

PUZZLE #470

LUCKY SEVENS 13

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) Clorox bottle

ii) Area in Microsoft Word with options like "File", "Edit", and "View"

iii) Boring and blah

iv) Coca-Cola soda that comes in "Grapefruit Citrus" and "Peach Citrus" flavors

v) Cootie _____ (paper fortune teller)

vi) New shoots for a failed film scene

vii) Last name of Phil and Lil from Rugrats

viii) Soap ingredient from a spiny plant

ix) Segment of The Amazing Race (or any long race in general)

x) Jordan Peele movie with doppelgängers in red clothes called "the Tethered"

xi) Letter that consists of a single dot in Morse code

SEVENS

1) Make an item's worth worse

2) Repairs ceramic squares

3) Sears' Christmas-themed "Wish Book", for one

4) _____ Juice (Judy Blume book about a kid who wants sun spots on his face)

5) Screaming spirit from Irish folklore

6) Threatens

7) Type of vein that moves blood from the head to the heart

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: Eat Your Words 9

It's been about two weeks since "Eat Your Words 9" was posted on this blog, so now it's time for me to list the names of all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Tamara Brenner
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Perry Groot
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #469: Slot Machine 5

PUZZLE #469

SLOT MACHINE 5

This puzzle contains a word or phrase 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!

 

In this Slot Machine, the Row answers are entered normally, from left to right in the order of the clues given. The Tumbler answers going down are entered in the same way, but all of the Tumblers have been "spun", meaning that the Tumblers' answers can start in any row and continue downwards. When a set of Tumbler answers hit the bottom of the grid, it continues at the start of the same column that it started in. There's also a "Jackpot Answer" that consists of the first letters of the first answer of each Tumbler. In the example above, the Rows spell out INN, TIE, and WOW, while the Tumblers spell out WIT, ION, and NEW, and the first letter of each Tumbler spell out WIN.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer to the Jackpot.

JACKPOT
• One of the games included in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration: ? wds.

ROWS

1) Window curtain

    Wealthy political backer (or a way to describe Garfield): 2 wds.

2) Dirty Vegas' biggest, and only, hit song in America: 3 wds.

    "_____ bin ein Berliner" (quote from John F. Kennedy)

3) Set up software

    Nick and Nora's pet dog in the Thin Man films

4) Piece of hair or DNA

    Eel at a sushi restaurant

5) A&E reality show where people with way too much stuff get help

    Kenan’s pal in a ‘90s Nickelodeon sitcom

6) _____ at the Opera (Marx Brothers movie): 2 wds.

    “Lovergirl” singer Marie

7) Initials of LBJ's successor

    Albert who was named Time's "Person of the Century" in 1999

8) 1/50th of a half-dollar

    Tangled or untangled

9) Synonym for "cache" that rhymes with "cache"

    Very long (and very angry) rant

10) Color of Woodstock's feathers in Peanuts

      _____ Majesty's Service (royal correspondence's marking as of King Charles III's coronation): 2 wds.

11) Cedar Rapids resident

      Historic city on Brazil's northeastern coast (alright, just add a vowel in front of Ms. Ronstadt's name)

TUMBLERS

1) Language where the exclamation "Oy vey!" originated from

    Parentheses' shapes

2) Corbijn who directed many Depeche Mode music videos (answer hidden in CANTONESE)

    What a shooting star actually is

3) The Office actor Wilson who voiced Gallaxhar in Monsters vs. Aliens

    It's _____ Sunny in Philadelphia (the longest-running live-action American sitcom)

4) Smacks like Moe from the Three Stooges

    _____ practice (exercise for improving one's aim)

5) Swiss-French river that flows into the Mediterranean Sea

    1980s Best Picture Oscar winner with Ben Kingsley in the title role

6) Active volcano on Sicily

    Doubly

7) Actress Davis who is the most recent person to win an EGOT

    Utters impulsively

8) It’s literally timeless

    Part of Q&A: Abbr.

9) Long-running CBS crime drama with recent spinoffs set in Hawaii and Sydney

    _____ and the Bee (2006 film whose title refers to a spelling bee)

10) Barbara Eden played one in a '60s NBC show

      Overly moralizing person (anagram of ADDICT)

11) That, in Spanish (be sure to use the feminine variant)

      Bangkok's country

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 8

It's been nearly two weeks since "Anagram Magic Square 8" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have correctly solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Bart Gold
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Perry Groot
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #468: Eat Your Words 9

PUZZLE #468

EAT YOUR WORDS 9

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the column's new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: A common surname

NUMBERED WORDS

1) _____-time strategy (computer game genre)

2) Cough up some cash

3) Parts of the hydra which regrow after getting chopped off

4) What the Wicked Witch of the West did after getting splashed with water

5) With "The", goth rock band that did "Just Like Heaven"

6) Large-scale saga

7) Comedian Caesar who passed away in 2014

8) Lola Loud's twin in The Loud House (answer hidden in EXPLANATORY)

EATEN WORDS

• America's second-largest hardware store chain (after Home Depot)

• Communication device in Maxwell Smart's shoe in Get Smart

• Droop like the middle of an old mattress

• Horton _____ a Who! (book by Dr. Seuss)

• Living quarters managed by a landlord: Abbr.

• Moore who co-starred in 1990's Ghost

• Speck of land in the ocean

• Word preceding "service" or "sync"

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: Fronts Off 7

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Fronts Off 7" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• KeoFam
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Perry Groot
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #467: Anagram Magic Square 8

PUZZLE #467

ANAGRAM MAGIC SQUARE 8

One of the clues in this puzzle contains a word or phrase 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!

The 5-letter word in each box is an anagram to the answer to each of the clues below.... almost. You see, in this puzzle, all of the answers are six letters long, so add an extra letter to each 5-letter word to get each answer. Put the number of each corresponding clue into the small box below the initial word and write down the anagram on the dash directly below that. The numbers in each row and column will add up to 65.

Once you're done with the puzzle, the added letter of each answer, in numerical clue order, will spell out a clue; the FINAL ANSWER is the answer to that clue.

1) Muppet who often greets viewers with a hearty "Hi-ho!"

2) _____ 5 ("Wake Up Call" band)

3) Completely lacking (of)

4) Acquire

5) French soup sometimes made from lobster

6) Creepy-_____

7) Rodent that Bill Murray's character in Caddyshack tries to get rid of

8) Tall castle parts

9) Oscar from Sesame Street, for one

10) BBC detective series starring Idris Elba (or Martin with his 95 Theses)

11) Melting metal together

12) Prosper or flourish

13) Wrapped headwear worn by Bugs Bunny in Ali Baba Bunny

14) Australian airline nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo"

15) Force someone to do something

16) Not revealed, as a story

17) Us actress Nyong'o

18) Part of TBS or CBS

19) _____ joe sandwiches

20) What you take snapshots of Pokémon with in Pokémon Snap

21) Dove's urban relative

22) Fume with fury

23) Capital of Austria

24) A group of these horned mammals is called a "crash"

25) Metamorphic rock that sounds pleasant?

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: Diagramless Crossword 7

It's been close to two weeks since "Diagramless Crossword 7" was posted on this blog, so here's the list of the fifteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Perry Groot
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #466: Fronts Off 7

PUZZLE #466

FRONTS OFF 7

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) Sheep that are shes

    Optical mindboggler such as the endless Penrose Stairs

2) Maid of _____

    Lighthouse's light

3) Power-absorbing mutant played by Anna Paquin in X-Men (2000)

    _____ Club (Boy George's band)

4) Choice meaning "none of the above"

    What Barbie's "skin" is made of

5) Parisian subway

    Comic book artist Dave who drew Watchmen (or some long-armed apes)

6) Pointy part of a handsaw

    Modern-day icebox

7) Word preceding "down" and "mein"

    Michael Jackson album with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean"

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 11

It's been almost two weeks since "Anagram Chambers 11" was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the names of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Patrick Jordan
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Perry Groot

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #465: Diagramless Crossword 7

PUZZLE #465

DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 7

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 character's name.

ACROSS

1) One of two limbs missing from the Venus de Milo statue

4) Female pig or guinea pig

7) Recede, like the tide

10) Necklaces from Honolulu

12) Osso _____ (veal-based dish)

13) The Loud family's pet hamster in The Loud House (or a prefix meaning "earth")

14) Pimples

15) Developer of the arcade games Bubble Bobble and Space Invaders

16) Gadot who cameoed as Wonder Woman in The Flash (2023)

17) Without accompaniment

20) PART ONE OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

23) Beyond Good and _____ (2003 Ubisoft video game)

24) Adjective for Al Yankovic

25) South Korean rapper who had a couple other Top 40 hits besides "Gangnam Style"

26) First name of Tom Hanks' wife

27) Bandmate of Crosby, Stills, and Young

29) @ @ @ @

30) Quickly touch an icon on an iPhone

32) Units of electrical resistance

35) Magnesite, magnetite & malachite, e.g.

37) Number of contestants in The Price is Right's final Showcase round

40) Flora and fauna (anagram of "I BOAT")

43) Famed music venue in Nashville, briefly

44) PART TWO OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

47) Eagerly look forward to

48) _____ Balls (pink treats by Hostess)

50) Celery piece

51) MLB team in Cincinnati

53) Moray, for one

54) Semiaquatic salamander

55) Thanos's action at the end of Avengers: Infinity War that got rid of half of Earth's population

56) Ingredient that makes a red velvet cake red

57) _____-la-la

58) Wipe up water, as with a towel

DOWN

1) Apple pie _____ mode: 2 wds.

2) Happen again, like a nightmare

3) Tiny fish that was the namesake for Gilligan's boat

4) Get dressed in armor, maybe: 2 wds.

5) Full sets of black pawns and white pawns, perhaps

6) Owl who says "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute!"

7) It's laid by a loggerhead turtle

8) Dr. Honeydew's assistant in The Muppet Show

9) South American country whose largest city is Santa Cruz

11) Now You _____ (heist film about thieving magicians): 2 wds.

12) Building raised in an Amish project

15) Fungus that's also the last name of Princess Peach

18) Swivel on a swivel chair

19) Triceratops from The Land Before Time whose name is found in "TRICERATOPS"

21) "Same here!"

22) Kind of scene that may start with the line "I remember it like it was just yesterday..."

28) Silent member of the Marx Brothers

31) Studied thoroughly

33) Music format for many early '90s MS-DOS games

34) Chicken _____ for the American Idol Soul (actual book from 2007)

36) Capital of New South Wales, Australia

37) Elizabethan contraction with two apostrophes

38) Modern Family actress Ariel

39) Ontario birthplace of Alanis Morissette

41) Nicholas I and Nicholas II

42) Go to a show

45) Dagger handle

46) _____ Point (amusement park in Ohio)

49) Exclamation in Ecuador

52) Secret agent man

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: Dilly Dally 6

It's been about two weeks since my semi-Halloween-themed "Dilly Dally 6" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of all sixteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Michael Lebowitz
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• KeoFam
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #464: Anagram Chambers 11

PUZZLE #464

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 11

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

• [Got a five-finger discount, so to speak] + _ = [Red Monopoly pieces] + _ = [Small country completely surrounded by South Africa]

• [Feature on a Ruffles potato chip] + _ = [Mr. Howe, also known as "Mr. Hockey"] + _ = [Paid no attention to]

• ["_____ U Been Gone" (Kelly Clarkson hit)] + _ = [Cricket or cockroach, e.g.] + _ = [Guide for tracing letters]

• [What the matching ends of magnets do] + _ = [Assistant] + _ = [Parks and Recreation star Amy]

• [Rotating item in geography class] + _ = [Word-searching game with lettered dice] + _ = [Online journal-hosting site owned by Google since 2003]

• [Planet that's listed first alphabetically] + _ = [Message from a blackmailer, basically] + _ = [_____ & Clank: Rift Apart (PlayStation 5 game)]

• [David who voiced Kuzco in The Emperor's New Groove] + _ = [Temporarily stopped a YouTube video] + _ = [Revises with new info]

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: Mini-Marching Bands 7

It's been nearly two weeks since "Mini-Marching Bands 7" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have correctly solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Perry Groot
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Steve Gunter

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

PUZZLE #463: Dilly Dally 6

PUZZLE #463

DILLY DALLY 6

Happy Day Before Halloween, everyone! Apologies in advance that the Final Answer isn't 100% Halloween-related, but it is horror-themed, so it's still adjacent to the season! Read on to see what I'm talking about!

Each answer in the grid below consists of two words that both start with the same letter, like ASKING ABOUT. However, each clue's answer only makes up half of the phrase (either the first or second half), while the second half is in a separate list of clues, in random order. It's up to you to match up the answers from both lists to fill in each two-word phrase.

Once the grid has been filled out, hidden inside and going up, down, or diagonally will be the FINAL ANSWER: A slasher film from the 1980s whose name also consists of two words starting with the same letter.

NUMBERED WORDS

1) Utensil used with a Wendy's Frosty

2) Sunday service site

3) Member of a pro baseball team in San Francisco

4) Soft rock band that did "Baby I'm-a Want You"

5) Trick-_____ card games

6) Printed ad on a movie theater's wall

7) Fights like Floyd Mayweather Jr.

8) Suffix for "grind" or "gem"

9) Sherwood _____ (location with a statue of Robin Hood)

10) Multiplication symbol

11) The Stanley Cup, say

MISSING WORDS

• Artistic application included with Microsoft Windows

• As the World _____ (former CBS soap opera)

• Flavor of curved yellow Runts candies

• Like the Irish and Welsh languages

• Low washing machine setting

• Metal with the elemental symbol Ag

• Ozzy Osbourne's wife for over 40 years

• Paper marked on Election Day

• Preaching to the _____

• Skyscraper's story

• Toy vehicle from Tonka

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: Drop Tower 11

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Drop Tower 11" was posted on this blog, and an astounding nineteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Perry Groot
• Mom
• Shannon Milbourne
• Lynn Sweeney
• David Millar
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #462: Mini-Marching Bands 7

PUZZLE #462

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 7

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!

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a physical puzzle

ROWS
1) Mathematical partner of mean and median

    Spinning shop class machine

2) Peel a plum, perhaps

    "I was at the movie theater", for one

3) Booker T. & the _____ ("Green Onions" group)

    Comes afterward, like hilarity

4) The Bad News Bears actress Tatum

    Shopping icon on Mercari

5) Round cracker made by Nabisco

    Spanish word that's the opposite of "baja" (which means "short" or "low", so you know)

6) "Little" mouse from E. B. White's first children's book

    OB/_____

7) Red resident of Sesame Street who's always 3 1⁄2 years old

    Kix, Trix, or Twix, for one

8) Act like a hummingbird or helicopter

    Someone whose pants are on fire?

9) Pace product

    Segment of a video game that you can try before you buy

BANDS

A) America's Next Top _____ (reality show created by Tyra Banks)

     Someone who might unironically say "There is no God!"

     Wife of Perseus in Greek mythology

     Symbols for spares, in bowling

     Frolic for fun

B) _____ 51 (mid-'90s arcade game where you shoot up aliens)

     Word that Franklin D. Roosevelt is facing on a dime

     Emery file target

     Disgusting, like a rebellion?

C) Erotic

     Greta who played Mata Hari in Mata Hari (1931)

     Silence someone on Zoom

D) Former prison that once had Machine Gun Kelly as an inmate

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: Snake Charmer 7

It's been close to two weeks since "Snake Charmer 7" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Sam Levitin
• Steve Gunter
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tamara Brenner
• Perry Groot
• Shannon Milbourne

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #461: Drop Tower 11

PUZZLE #461

DROP TOWER 11

Starting with an 8-letter word on top of the "tower", drop one letter and rearrange the rest to form a 7-letter word. Continue this process until only a 2-letter word remains. Since the tower is completely blank, use the randomly-ordered clues to figure out the words that go in each row.

Once the grid is completely filled in, look inside it for this week's FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word that can be read going down and in a straight diagonal line.

CLUES

• Arc _____ Triomphe (Parisian landmark)

• Dating app that has you swiping right or left

• Fur color of Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog 3

• Kind of eatery where Jenna works at in the musical Waitress

• Mario who was the first European to win the Daytona 500

• Roll-O-Plane, Tilt-A-Whirl, or any other amusement park attraction

• Type of spear wielded by Aquaman

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: Edges of Glory 3

It's been almost two weeks since "Edges of Glory 3" was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the names of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Perry Groot
• Sam Levitin
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Shannon Milbourne
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Joe Bernard

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #460: Snake Charmer 7

PUZZLE #460

SNAKE CHARMER 7

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) Actor Kurt who played Snake Plissken in Escape from New York (1981)

2) Word preceding "Cross" or "Comfort"

3) Disney+ series that acts as a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

4) Second earthquake following a much larger one

5) Facial part often raised by Stephen Colbert

6) Combine _____ (farming machine)

7) Recharge one's batteries, so to speak

8) Marketplace in central Venice

9) Dragon Ball Z character named after the highest-pitched woodwind

10) Charles _____ Reilly (regular panelist on Match Game)

11) Stubborn stuff to scour

12) Dubstep musician whose single "First of the Year (Equinox)" went platinum

13) "Funny bone" that also sounds funny

14) Trades passion and artistry for money: 2 wds.

15) First name of the Spanish explorer that the DeSoto car company was named after

16) Roof supports

17) Sport for the Seattle Kraken

18) Longest river entirely inside Spain (anagram of BORE)

19) Piers

20) One of the letters in "E.T."

21) Message board thread

22) Mustard's rank in Clue

23) Eurovision _____ Contest

24) LeAnn who won the "Best New Artist" Grammy in 1997

25) Tiny crustaceans swallowed whole by whales

26) Dig up from a grave

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: Pieces of Nine 11

It's been about two weeks since "Pieces of Nine 11" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of all nineteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Perry Groot
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• Shannon Milbourne
• Steve Gunter
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Al Sisti
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #459: Edges of Glory 3

PUZZLE #459

EDGES OF GLORY 3

There are several squares divided into four triangles each, plus a grid to fit them all into. First, fill in the squares with the 4-letter answers to each corresponding clue, starting with the numbered triangle, and going clockwise. Then, fit all of the filled-out squares into the grid below (without rotating them) so that wherever two squares touch along one of the heavy lines, the letters on both sides of the line are the same.

Once everything's in its proper place, the outer edges of the grid, when read clockwise, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: The name of an animated movie

1) 1/100th of a dollar

2) "____ Suey!" (System of a Down song that has nothing to do with Chinese food)

3) Parka or puffer jacket, say

4) Peppy from Star Fox 64, for one (HINT: He's not a rabbit, though he looks like one)

5) Friends character played by Matt LeBlanc who got his own short-lived spin-off

6) Word preceding "Gaga" or "Godiva"

7) _____ Jojo (Powerpuff Girls villain who has a rhyming name and a repetitive speech pattern)

8) Like one's mouth filled with Novocain

9) Victoria Beckham's nickname in the Spice Girls

10) Rolls out some new lawn

11) Woefully short Wikipedia article

12) Garb for a sharp-dressed businessman

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: Empty Word Ladder 3

It's been nearly two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 3" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have correctly solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave Currin
• Pavel Curtis
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Sam Levitin
• Shannon Milbourne
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Perry Groot
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #458: Pieces of Nine 11

PUZZLE #458

PIECES OF NINE 11

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make nine 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase

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: Honeycomb 5

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Honeycomb 5" was posted on this blog, and an impressively high twenty-one people have solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Tyler Hinman
• Patrick Jordan
• Thomas Boatwright
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Perry Groot
• Lynn Sweeney
• Shannon Milbourne
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• Al Sisti

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #457: Empty Word Ladder 3

PUZZLE #457

EMPTY WORD LADDER 3

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!

In normal word ladders, you have to turn one word into another word by changing it one letter at a time (such as CAT — COT — DOT — DOG). However, this word ladder is completely blank, meaning that the starting and ending words are completely unknown. To fill it in, we've provided clues to all of the words that link the two mystery words, though they're not listed in any particular order. Rearrange the clues' answers so that they form a proper word ladder in the white spaces, then figure out the two mystery words on the ladder's top and bottom, signified by the yellow spaces. Combine both words in either order to create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word color or a two-word food.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Charlie horse, for example

• Corvids that are smaller than ravens

• _____-country cycling (Olympic sport)

• Horror novelist Barker or adventure novelist Cussler

• Learns an entire semester's worth of material in a single night (or tries to, anyway)

• Macintosh computer's startup sound

• Onion relative chopped, then topped on a baked potato

• Regal headwear that covers King Neptune's baldness in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

• Rude and crude

• Species of Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, for short

• Tournament winner

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 4

It's been close to two weeks since "Dial Tunes 4" was posted on this blog, and a whopping twenty people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Mike Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Alex Milton
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Al Sisti
• Sam Levitin
• Steve Gunter
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Perry Groot
• Shannon Milbourne

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #456: Honeycomb 5

PUZZLE #456

HONEYCOMB 5

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 (but not both at once), will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a 6-letter word

1) Real last name of Dr. Seuss

2) Lost love lamented in Poe's "The Raven"

3) Heavily edit a manuscript, say

4) Talk aimlessly or walk aimlessly

5) Writing utensil that may be filled with glittery ink: 2 wds.

6) "_____ Bell Rock" (1950s Christmas song)

7) Yanked abruptly

8) Lower the lights

9) _____ Tussauds (wax museum in many cities)

10) Very small dress size

11) The answer to clue #27, but tripled

12) Brought bad luck to

13) Drop Dead Gorgeous actress Richards

14) Goldfish with legs from The Amazing World of Gumball (HINT: He's most likely named after evolutionist Charles)

15) Curie and Osmond, for two

16) Bold font used in many Grumpy Cat memes (or a synonym for "collision")

17) In a _____ manner (punctually)

18) Canadian wildcats with tufted ears

19) Applies force

20) Like paths in a maze

21) Video game attorney Phoenix or real life aviator Orville

22) Pay no attention to

23) Not subject to a certain law

24) Blocky dots

25) 3D solid with no edges

26) _____ of Versailles (pact signed at the end of World War I)

27) Number of days in September

28) Unseen from someone acting as a seeker, perhaps

29) Albuquerque, New _____

30) Alternate name for "zero"

31) Nuke in the microwave again

32) Like a body described in Issac Newton's first law: 2 wds.

33) "What gets wetter the more it dries?", for one (For the record, the answer is "a towel")

34) Metal used for the Statue of Liberty's skin

35) Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where he works with the Witness Protection Program (or a pencil part)

36) Eyeball or muscle pain caused by overuse

37) Gretel's brother

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: Chain Rection: Extra Links 11

It's been almost two weeks since "Chain Reaction: Extra Links 11" was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the list of all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Perry Groot
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Al Sisti
• Katiedid

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #455: Dial Tunes 4

PUZZLE #455

DIAL TUNES 4

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) Boater, bowler, or beret [↓]

2) Smallest branch on a birch [↓]

3) Unwell [↓]

4) Mafia member's hired muscle, maybe [↓]

5) Redheaded heroine from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (anagram of PRAY) [↑]

6) Relaxing resorts [↓]

7) Ukulele's fingerboard ridge [↑]

8) Jane _____ (novel by Charlotte Brontë) [↑]

9) Ridicule (answer hidden in YOGI BEAR) [↑]

10) Claim something as false, especially if it's actually true [↑]

11) Three French birds given as a gift in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" [↓]

12) Mister _____ (Saturday morning cartoon starring an actor from The A-Team) [↕]

13) First elemental symbol on the periodic table [↕]

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: Building Fences 2

It's been about two weeks since my first "Building Fences" puzzle in many, many years was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Tyler Hinman
• Perry Groot
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

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

PUZZLE #454: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 11

PUZZLE #454

CHAIN REACTION: EXTRA LINKS 11

For this puzzle, there are seven golden "links" that link together six two-word phrases when reading down. However, it's completely blank, save for some dashes that reveal how long each word is (four dashes translate to a four-letter word, for instance). To help you figure out these words, though, there are some extra silver links with words already in them which, when combined with the golden link to the left or right of it, make another two-word phrase. In the above example, the two-word phrases with silver links in them are "Chain Restaurants", "Gut Reaction", "Time Zone", and "Fruit Flies", so the final "golden chain" is "CHAIN - REACTION - TIME - FLIES".

Once you've completely filled in the chain, scramble the letters in the orange squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a seven-letter word.

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: Semicircle Sorting 5

It's been nearly two weeks since "Semicircle Sorting 5" was posted on this blog, and about fifteen people have correctly solved it since then, all of whom are listed below:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Lebowitz
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Steve Gunter
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Perry Groot
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney

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

PUZZLE #453: Building Fences 2

PUZZLE #453

BUILDING FENCES 2

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!

If you don't recognize this type of puzzle despite the "2" in the title, there's a reason for that: I haven't made a "Building Fences" puzzle since way back in the first year of my blog, back when I went overboard with clues that required a very specific set of knowledge to figure out (not coincidentally, this was also well before I regularly used a test-solver for my puzzles). Seeing as it's been so long since then, you'll probably need to know what the directions are, so here they are!

Enclose each oddly shaped field with the required word by writing the letters in the circles ("Posts") along the boundaries of the field. Words may be entered in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Since each field shares portions of its fence with its neighbors, you will find as you go along that parts of your next word may already be filled in.

Once you've completely filled in the grid, the outermost Posts, starting at the top left corner and reading clockwise, will spell out a clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: a person's name

1) A little under two-and-a-half acres (HINT: It coincidentally anagrams into "THE ACRE")

2) Abe's bill, slangily

3) Disposes (of)

4) Container made out of a waffle in a Baskin-Robbins

5) Stop sign's shape

6) Soda or cider, say

7) Reroutes traffic

8) Tropical flower with over 2,000 species

9) Wager that's guaranteed to win: 2 wds.

10) "_____ in Me" (tune performed by Kaa in The Jungle Book)

11) Blue hedgehog playable in Sega Superstars Tennis

12) "Tonight, Tonight" or "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", for instance

13) French word for a sidling crustacean (which is the same as the English word, but with a vowel on the end)

14) Sets of points, in geometry

15) The main characters of Chicago P.D., e.g.

16) Whirling or twirling

17) Music video by Blind Melon with a "Bee Girl": 2 wds.

18) Warning regarding an errant golf ball

19) Laundry detergent worth shouting about?

20) Final move in many chess games

21) Decks used by fortune tellers

22) One who finished a race dead last, say

23) Mr. Holland's _____ (1995 film)

24) Remus who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in the third Harry Potter book

25) Mel Blanc's only son (or a Christmas carol)

26) Kwik-E-_____ (convenience store frequented by the Simpsons)

27) Left on a luxury liner

28) Awakened

29) Most repulsive

30) Go extinct: 2 wds.

31) Comedians in Cars Getting _____ (talk show hosted by Jerry Seinfeld)

32) Painter Édouard who was friends with the almost-identically-named painter Claude

33) Most robust

34) Gene who played Lex Luthor in Superman (1978)

35) Duked it out

36) Resend an email to someone else

37) African capital with the largest population

38) Brooklyn and the Bronx, for two

39) Singer McLachlan who co-founded the Lilith Fair music festival

40) Judicial order

41) Country on the Dominican Republic's western border

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!