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!