PUZZLE #509: Empty Word Ladder 4

PUZZLE #509

EMPTY WORD LADDER 4

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 tennis term or a two-word surfing term.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Beagle, Borzoi, Briard, or some other specific dog type

• Five Guys Burgers and _____

• Growing _____ (sitcom that lasted seven seasons)

• Handlebar coverings

• Island excursions given away as prizes on Wheel of Fortune, say

• Loaf that you can bake in the computer game Ultima VII

• Makes an attempt

• Puts on a few pounds

• Radio DJ Alan who was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

• Smiles like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland

• Unshackles

• Watching this dry is insanely boring, according to a well-known idiom

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 12

It's been nearly two weeks since "Drop Tower 12" was posted on this blog, and an impressive twenty people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Wendy Walker
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Dan Simonds
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Mom
• Stasi Gustafson
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Derek Allen
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #508: Flower Power 8

PUZZLE #508

FLOWER POWER 8

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 answers to this petaled puzzle will go in a curve from the number on the outside to the center of the flower. Each number in the flower will have two 5-letter answers, one going in a clockwise direction, and the other going in a counterclockwise direction.

Once you're done, look through the adjacent numbered petals to find two more words (going either clockwise or counterclockwise), and combine them both to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of an optical illusion

CLOCKWISE

1) New Agey auras

2) Quickly sped-through section of "The Alphabet Song"

3) Little bits, or letters in Ancient Greece

4) "¡Hasta _____!" (Spanish for "See you later!")

5) "Get _____ of yourself, man!": 2 wds.

6) Dull metallic thump

7) Like a barely audible sound

8) Material used for Beanie Babies and other stuffed toys

9) Soup stock

10) Libel and slander, for two

11) Sam who directed both Evil Dead II and Spider-Man 2

12) Act overdramatically

13) Swizzle _____

14) Burr played by Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton

15) Added to the staff

16) Sam Cooke song named after a Valentine's Day icon

17) Made a mosaic

18) One creating a leaf pile

COUNTERCLOCKWISE

1) Logically sound

2) Gave a thumbs-up to a post on Facebook, perhaps,

3) Implant firmly: Var.

4) Introvert

5) Bugattis, Ferraris, and Infinitis

6) Like anything that costs less than a dollar

7) Gives a severe whupping to with a whip

8) São _____, Brazil

9) Duck hunter's hideout

10) Part of an elm or an elephant

11) Hens' house

12) The Day the _____ Stood Still ('50s sci-fi film)

13) "Will 2K" rapper Will

14) The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy creator Maxwell (or molecule parts)

15) Caribbean country east of Jamaica

16) Sorceress from Greek myths who often turns her enemies into pigs

17) Titular dinosaur hunter from a 1997 Nintendo 64 game (answer hidden in ARTURO KENNY)

18) Mature like a melon

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: Anacrossword 5

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Anacrossword 5" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Mike Armstrong
• Wendy Walker
• KeoFam
• Steve Gunter
• Stasi Gustafson
• Derek Allen
• Dan Simonds

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

PUZZLE #507: Drop Tower 12

PUZZLE #507

DROP TOWER 12

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

• Influential animator Iwerks (answer hidden in DOUBLES)

• Like the "Eye" in the title of a Toni Morrison book

• "No ifs, ands, or _____!"

• Not nearly as blatant

• Port on a PC

• Squeezable paint containers

• Winnie the Pooh and the _____ Day (Oscar-winning short film)

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 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Dial Tunes 5" was published on this website, and a whopping twenty-one people have successfully solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Josie Giles
• Sam Levitin
• Stasi Gustafson
• Derek Allen
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Walker
• Tower
• Michael Lebowitz
• KeoFam
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!