PUZZLE #476: Helter Skelter 8

PUZZLE #476

HELTER SKELTER 8

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 verb

1) Invertebrate that loves to read?

2) _____ oblongata (brain part)

3) Indirectly refer (to)

4) Totally clueless as to what's going on

5) Ohio birthplace of both Stephen Curry and LeBron James

6) Wendy's, to Burger King and McDonald's

7) Pickle brand with a stork mascot

8) James who hosted The Late Late Show from 2015 to 2023

9) Material for Levi's 501 jeans

10) Avenger who puts on the "Hulkbuster" armor in Avengers: Age of Ultron: 2 wds.

11) Emptying an udder

12) Barry, Robin, or Maurice from the Bee Gees

13) "You're gonna need a _____ boat" (quote from Jaws)

14) With "The", Batman foe with a suit covered in question marks

15) Even less lofty in status

16) Schoolhouse _____! (Saturday morning cartoon)

17) What kernels grow on

18) Gospel groups

19) Broke up clods in the dirt

20) Smallest Great Lake, in both size and name

21) Ferrari who founded the Ferrari company (anagram of ZONE)

22) Org. that once had Ulysses S. Grant and Charlton Heston as presidents

23) Arthur _____ Stadium (the world's largest tennis stadium)

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: Color Wheels 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Color Wheels 5" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then (the most I've gotten for this puzzle type!). Take a look:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #475: Squeezed in the Middle 20

PUZZLE #475

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 20

For this puzzle, you're going to sandwich together words (entered in the white rectangles) by surrounding it with a letter on each side, one at the beginning and one at the end, making a new word in the process. Once you're done, the extra letters you've added in the "crust" (the brown squares) will spell out a two-word phrase. In the example above, the words URN, RAT, and OVER become BURNT, IRATE, and GOVERN, and the letters in the brown squares, reading down, spell out BIG TEN. However, to make things trickier, the "Wholes" will be in no particular order, so it's up to you to figure out which one of the "Centers" it matches up with!

Once you've filled out everything, the letters in the brown squares, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a person born in 1920

CENTERS

1) Greeting used in A. A. Milne's original Winnie-the-Pooh stories

2) _____ al-Fitr (holiday that marks the end of Ramadan)

3) Green tube that the Super Mario Bros. travel through

4) Last word in the Bible or Biblical sermon

5) Counterpart to Down in some common word puzzles

6) Word following "Stone", "Iron", or "Bronze"

7) Cardinal direction not used in any U.S. state name

WHOLES

• _____ beaver (pumped-up person)

• Fungi that raise a lot of dough?

• Maryland's state team sport which involves sticks with scoops

• Montag from MTV's The Hills

• Oscar-winning duet by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

• Really regret

• Trademarked name for an adrenaline autoinjector

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: Line 'Em Up 13

It's been about two weeks since "Line 'Em Up 13" got posted on this blog, and thirteen just so happens to be the number of people who have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #474: Color Wheels 5

PUZZLE #474

COLOR WHEELS 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!

The five- and six-letter answers in this puzzle go in three directions: straight across, uphill (up diagonally), and downhill (down diagonally), all from left to right, with one letter per triangle. Each entry is marked with a colored pointer: red for across, green for uphill, and blue for downhill. This is important, because all the answers are grouped according to the direction that they're entered into the grid. To make things a tad easier, six letters have already been entered into the grid.

Once you've completely filled in the grid, the two unclued blue entries will combine to make the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a well-known businessperson

ACROSS (marked with red arrows)

• "O Canada", for Canada

• Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, e.g.

• The largest dam in Egypt

• Emperor Julius who was not the namesake of a salad

• Ethan Frome author Wharton

• Failed Ford cars from the '50s

• Wink Martindale-hosted game show based on blackjack (or a sacrificial chess opening)

• Charles de _____ Airport

• "May _____ your order?": 2 wds.

• Certain blue pill whose function I can't exactly describe in a family-friendly manner

UPHILL (marked with green arrows)

• Guinea-_____ (small African country)

• Avoid or evade

• Pain resulting from lifting something too heavy

• Tiny Greek vowels?

• London-based market that once insured Gene Simmons' tongue

• Musician Janelle with the Gold-certified song "Tightrope"

• Oyster lining also known as "mother-of-pearl"

• Expert in a very specific field

• "_____ Magically Delicious!" (Lucky Charms' slogan)

• Wascally animal hunted by Elmer Fudd

DOWNHILL (marked with blue arrows)

• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

• _____ Republic (clothing store owned by Gap Inc.)

• Rusted-up Tin Man's request in The Wizard of Oz

• Pokémon _____ Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (pair of Nintendo 3DS games)

• Took care of fallen autumn leaves without a leaf blower

• With "The", Jason Mraz hit subtitled "(I Won't Worry)"

• Positioned, as a building

• Heavy overcoat (anagram of RESULT)

• Former 20/20 co-anchor Elizabeth (or last name of YouTuber Angry Joe)

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 7

It's been nearly two weeks since "Puzzle in the Round 7" was posted on this blog, and everyone who has solved it since then is listed below:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #473: Line 'Em Up 13

PUZZLE #473

LINE 'EM UP 13

Place the answers to each numbered clue in the squares to the right of each corresponding number (a number in brackets following each clue will tell you how many letters are in each answer). Once you have the answers, align them properly in the grid so that going down, a two-word phrase will be spelled out by the two red columns in the grid's center.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a celebrity who has hosted game shows and reality shows

1) Mammal such as Kuma or Panda from the Tekken video games [4]

2) Step on a rotten banana peel, maybe [4]

3) Agcy. headquartered in the J. Edgar Hoover Building [3]

4) "Round" numbers used in binary [6]

5) Company that makes Air Force and Air Jordan sneakers [4]

6) _____ Lanka (country with the former English name of "Ceylon") [3]

7) Only female member of Gorillaz (or a spaghetti strand) [6]

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: Christmas Presents

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Christmas Presents" was posted to this blog on Christmas day, which means that it's time for me to unveil the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Mom & Alex Milton
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Walker
• Kevin Orfield
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #472: Puzzle in the Round 7

PUZZLE #472

PUZZLE IN THE ROUND 7

Happy New Year! Since it's officially New Year's Day, I've made sure that my first puzzle of 2024 also involves the New Year (kinda)! Take a look:

To solve this tough puzzle, fill in as many of the 5-letter answers next to their clues as you can. Next, look for shared letters, and then enter each letter into its correct place in the diagram (though you'll most likely need to scramble the order of the letters to make them fit). The letter in the grid's center will be shared by all of the answer words. As a little hint, look for unshared letters to help you determine the letters that will go in the outer ring to form the FINAL ANSWER, reading from 1 to 24.

The FINAL ANSWER is the name of a film with a scene set at a New Year's party

1) Leafy green vegetable that comes in a "Fordhook Giant" variety

     _ _ _ _ _

2) 23-time Jeopardy champ Mattea (or a bug in ads for Raid)

     _ _ _ _ _

3) Product by Seiko with a strap

     _ _ _ _ _

4) "De-fense! De-fense!", for one

     _ _ _ _ _

5) _____ Picchu (Incan ruins in Peru)

     _ _ _ _ _

6) The Scream painter Edvard

     _ _ _ _ _

7) From the Netherlands

     _ _ _ _ _

8) "_____ of Grey" (The Grateful Dead's only Top 10 hit)

     _ _ _ _ _

9) Car with two doors and two rows of seats

     _ _ _ _ _

10) Walt Disney World park with the "Journey into Imagination with Figment" ride

     _ _ _ _ _

11) With "The", NBC singing competition that Morgan Wallen once competed on

     _ _ _ _ _

12) Group of thirteen Wiccans

     _ _ _ _ _

13) Bus stop’s seat

     _ _ _ _ _

14) Ergo

     _ _ _ _ _

15) Coach Lombardi who is the namesake of the Super Bowl's trophy

     _ _ _ _ _

16) Sibling’s daughter

     _ _ _ _ _

17) Metal planned to be recycled

     _ _ _ _ _

18) Manila envelope closer

     _ _ _ _ _

19) _____ Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981 book)

     _ _ _ _ _

20) Huge tumble at the stock market

     _ _ _ _ _

21) Food-ordering app for local pizzerias named after a pizza piece

     _ _ _ _ _

22) Honeycomb compartments

     _ _ _ _ _

23) Mohs _____ of mineral hardness

     _ _ _ _ _

24) Twenty-six containers of varying dollar amounts in Deal or No Deal

     _ _ _ _ _

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!