PUZZLE #580
INSIDERS 5
Before we get to my latest puzzle, I have some news I wanted to share! You see, Diary of a Crossword Fiend's ORCA Awards for the best crosswords of 2025 are coming up, and at least one of my puzzles got nominated in the "Best Variety Crossword" category! Not only that, Crossword Fiend has also crafted a puzzle pack featuring most of this year's nominees (the proceeds of which will go to a suicide prevention nonprofit), and my nominated puzzle(s) managed to get included! Donors who purchase this pack will not only gain access to plenty of other puzzles and support a good cause in the process, but also get early access to the final ORCAs ballot, which won't get posted publicly until February 3rd. You can find more details regarding the ORCA Awards Puzzle Pack (as well as how to get it for yourself) at https://crosswordfiend.com/14th-orca-award-puzzle-pack/. Now then, with all that info out of the way, here are the directions to this week's puzzle:
Each row in this puzzle consists of two answers, clued in the order in which they appear. Going across both of these answers is a third word, known as an "Inner Word". For example, if a row's two answers were JETSAM and PLEA, then the Inner Word for that string of letters would be SAMPLE (like so: JETSAMPLEA). The Inner Words are listed in no particular order, and shading them or crossing them out in each row is highly recommended.
Once everything's been filled in, all of the letters not used in the Inner Words, when read left to right and row by row, will spell out a clue to the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word title
ROWS
1) Dilapidated dwelling
_____-Pot (trademarked slow cooker brand)
2) Superlative suffix for "rich" and "poor"
"Rich" is this to "poor", grammatically speaking
3) Shape of Subaru's starry logo
Military units that you control in the Total War series of strategy computer games
4) Pollute or poison, as water
Less polite
5) Stand-up comedienne Rudner
The _____ of the Shrew (play that 10 Things I Hate About You is loosely based on)
6) The two smallest of ten fingers
Letter after sigma
7) Wooden boards for a carpenter's construction project
Answering machine’s beep, e.g.
8) "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" duo
"There's No Business Like Show Business" singer Ethel who also acted in a film of the same name
INNER WORDS
• Blatantly ignore a "No Trespassing" sign, maybe
• Darkest, like a graphic novel illustration that's mostly black
• Foucault's Pendulum author whose last name "Eco" is usually an answer in a crossword
• Japanese floor mat
• Kindergartener's shoe fastener that was inspired by plant burs
• Please _____ Don't Hurt 'Em (diamond-certified album with "U Can't Touch This")
• WALL-E director Andrew
• Word following "false" or "burglar"
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!
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