PUZZLE #554: Empty Word Ladder 5

PUZZLE #554

EMPTY WORD LADDER 5

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 the correct order to create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase relating to marketing.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Burn, but barely

• Crank-operated hoisting device

• Feathered appendages that allow Hawkgirl to fly

• Grimace at a groin shot, say

• Grows smaller, as the Moon

• Magical sticks that can be bought at Ollivanders in the Harry Potter universe

• Plays the voice-activated video game Karaoke Revolution, for example

• Sabrina the Teenage _____ (Archie Comics character)

• The greatest thing _____ sliced bread

• Twists a key to power an old toy mouse, with "up"

• United Kingdom country whose capital is Cardiff

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 8

Two weeks have passed by since "Diagramless Crossword 8" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom [Help used]
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• Chris Kochmanski
• Stasi Gustafson
• Derek Allen

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #553: Anagram Magic Square 9

PUZZLE #553

ANAGRAM MAGIC SQUARE 9

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) Successfully disarm a bomb

2) Fancy fish eggs

3) Type of flower that the vanilla bean is derived from

4) Be Kind _____ (2008 movie where Jack Black works at a video rental store)

5) Kiss album with "Tears Are Falling" (or a refugee's sanctuary)

6) Surname of futuristic Hanna-Barbera characters George, Jane, Judy, & Elroy

7) Pre-fetus stage

8) Submit a video to America's Funniest Home Videos' website, perhaps

9) 5 × 18

10) French curly-haired dog such as Georgette from Oliver & Company

11) Voice box in the throat

12) Crunchy peanut butter alternative

13) Little tune such as "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There"

14) Lara Croft's manservant Winston from Tomb Raider II, for one

15) Fish-tailed fellow

16) Any number that divides into a larger number evenly

17) Positive particle in an atom

18) _____ metals (periodic group which includes lithium and potassium)

19) Mourn

20) Marsupial that “plays dead”

21) Anyone with an IQ of 200 or more

22) Messenger of the Greek gods (and of expensive luxury handbags?)

23) Don't take any _____ nickels

24) "Have You Ever?" singer who played Moesha on Moesha

25) Like an open bank account that allows transactions

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 8

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Fronts Off 8" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Cindy Heisler
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• KeoFam
• Derek Allen
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #552: Diagramless Crossword 8

PUZZLE #552

DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 8

This puzzle (suggested by Patron Grant Fikes) 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!

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 person's name.

ACROSS

1) Warty amphibian such as Slippy from Star Fox: Assault

5) With "The", Hope van Dyne's superhero identity in Marvel movies

9) Currency for Greece

10) Actress Kendrick from the Pitch Perfect trilogy

11) Striped feline in the Chinese zodiac

12) Traffic signals

14) Lead singer of the Holograms in a very 1980s cartoon

17) PART ONE OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

19) Bearded bovine on Wyoming's state flag

20) "Finally, it's over!": 2 wds.

21) "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" band (or a birthday dessert)

22) Les États-_____ (French for "The United States")

23) Renewable energy source for rooftop panels

24) Win Ben _____'s Money (Comedy Central game show)

26) Flour factory

27) Handle hardship

28) Single-celled organism often seen in The Far Side comics

31) More cunning

33) PART TWO OF THE FINAL ANSWER'S CLUE

37) Learn the _____ and outs of something

38) Utterly lacking in logic

39) They can't handle telling the truth

40) Famed '50s Cleveland Browns quarterback Graham

41) "Behold!", in ancient Rome

42) Vowelless version of "Hey! Over here!"

43) A fortnight has fourteen of these

DOWN

1) Supermodel Crissy who married John Legend in 2013

2) You _____ to Be in Pictures (Looney Tunes short combining animation and live action)

3) "Chain of Fools" singer Franklin

4) English county on the English Channel (anagram of SORTED)

5) "Clean" word following "brain" or "mouth"

6) Pay to play poker

7) Grew uncontrollably (especially in winter?)

8) 2006 anime film featuring devices that let people enter dreams (or a spice made of red peppers)

11) Retired MMA fighter Ortiz

13) Not a winner

14) Richie Cunningham's kid sister in Happy Days

15) Red dye (answer hidden in TEOSINTE)

16) NYSE, NASDAQ, etc.

18) Architectural schematics

21) Orange, green, and purple are secondary ones

23) _____ & Schuster (publishing house)

24) Genre that the magazine Amazing Stories specializes in: Hyph.

25) Simplest figure skating jump: 2 wds.

26) Country north of Burkina Faso

29) Made water hot enough to bubble

30) Continent with the answer to 26-Down

31) Doesn't hog all of one's toys, say

32) "_____ not and say we did"

34) Comic strip detective Dick known for his yellow hat and coat

35) Munches on macaroons, maybe

36) Coin opening in an arcade cabinet

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: Squeezed in the Middle 22

It's been almost two weeks since "Squeezed in the Middle 22" was posted on this blog, so now it's time to take a look at everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Kevin Orfield
• Chris Kochmanski
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Wendy Walker
• Derek Allen
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Craig Leach
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #551: Fronts Off 8

PUZZLE #551

FRONTS OFF 8

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) Garbage bag brand that's stronger than those other "wimpy, wimpy, wimpy" types

    Lumberjack's version of "Heads up!"

2) Sons of Anarchy actor Jimmy

    Craftiest (HINT: think of a certain cartoon coyote from Warner Bros.)

3) The first letter in "R.E.M."

    False teeth

4) Simon whose song "You're So Vain" is partially about Warren Beatty

    Having no name, such as Korn's eighth album

5) Father of Perdita's fifteen puppies in Disney's 101 Dalmatians

    More unclear, like ancient film reels

6) Use cash or a debit card

    Letter between delta and zeta

7) Meta _____ 3 (VR headset released by Facebook's parent company in 2023)

    Big the Cat's pet amphibian in Sonic Adventure (HINT: It's not "Toady")

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: Deck It Out 10

It's been almost two weeks since "Deck It Out 10" got posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• KeoFam
• Derek Allen
• Lynn Sweeney
• Craig Leach
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Alex Milton
• Steve Gunter
• Joe Bernard

Now head below the break for the answers!