Sunday, May 24, 2026

ANSWERS: Question Quest 3

About two weeks have gone by since "Question Quest 3" was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to post the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Marie desJardins
  • Joe Bernard
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Wendy Walker
  • Sam Levitin
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Okieboy2008
  • KeoFam
  • Mom
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, May 18, 2026

PUZZLE #596: Vanishing Act 6

PUZZLE #596
VANISHING ACT 6

Below are a set of what are supposed to be valid words, but instances of one duplicated letter in each word have all disappeared! Your job is to reinsert the missing duplicate letters into each numbered string of letters so that the resulting words all match up to the provided clues (listed in no particular order). The number in square brackets next to each group shows how many of the same letter need to be inserted into it. For instance, if one of the groups is "XAMPL [2]", then you'll need to insert a letter two times ("E" in this case) to get "EXAMPLE".

Once you've completed everything, the letters that have been added back in, in order, will form another incomplete string of letters. Insert three more of the same letter to get the FINAL ANSWER: an 11-letter noun


CLUES
• 1996 tornado movie that got a sequel 28 years later
• Broadway play that was brought back, say
• Chocolate candies from Hershey's with paper strips sticking out of them
• Hit song by one-hit wonder Shawn Mullins whose chorus contains the word "rockabye"
• Mass multiplied by velocity
• Silencing someone with a tied-up handkerchief, perhaps
• Small booklet with instructions on how to play an Atari 2600 game
• Triangular flag waved by a baseball fanatic

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!

Sunday, May 17, 2026

ANSWERS: Helter Skelter 10

It's been almost two weeks since "Helter Skelter 10" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to look at the seventeen people who have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Marie desJardins
  • Joe Bernard
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • Sam Levitin
  • Chsir Kochmanski
  • Derek Allen
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Wendy Walker
  • KeoFam
  • Mom
  • Steve Gunter
  • Michael Lebowitz
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, May 11, 2026

PUZZLE #595: Question Quest 3

PUZZLE #595
QUESTION QUEST 3

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!

Below, there's a sentence with multiple blanks, and the words that fill in those blanks have been split apart and scattered throughout the grid. Your job is to locate the correct first letter for each word and then follow the given compass directions throughout the grid for each answer (So for example, "2W" means to move two spaces west). Each letter in the grid will be used exactly once. As a helpful tip, try to look at the directions for the following letters to see how far from the grid's top, bottom, or sides you must look. For instance, if the directions for a word's second letter are 6N, the first letter must be somewhere in the bottom two rows.

Once you've filled in all of the blanks and finished each word, read the finished sentence and solve the resulting clue for the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word title


What __ __ __ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
     ?? 5N 5W 6S 2E 5N 2E   ?? 5E 3N 3W 5S 3W 2S
__ __ __ __ __ __ is about a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
?? 2N 3E 3S 3E 2N            ?? 2S 1E 3S 3E 2N 2W 3N
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ sent to the __ __ __ __ __ __
?? 2W 3N 1W 1N 4W 1S             ?? 4W 4S 1W 2N 4E
after being __ __ __ __ __ into a __ __ __ __ __ __ by a
            ?? 5S 3E 2E 4N        ?? 2S 3W 2S 2E 5N
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __?
?? 1W 2N 4W 3N 3E 4S 4W 1S 2E 4N 4E 1S   ?? 1W 2S 4E 5N 4W 2S

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!

Sunday, May 10, 2026

ANSWERS: Deck It Out 11

It's been close to two weeks since "Deck It Out 11" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Joe Bernard
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Sam Levitin
  • Derek Allen
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Okieboy2008
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Bart Gold
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Mom
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • Steve Gunter
  • Qmark
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, May 4, 2026

PUZZLE #594: Helter Skelter 10

PUZZLE #594
HELTER SKELTER 10

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 word


1) Least quiet
2) Wife _____ (2000s reality show ripped off by Trading Spouses)
3) Promising prodigy
4) Tropical fruit in smoothies
5) "Get Him Back!" singer Rodrigo
6) Nonliteral saying
7) Eye-related (anagram of RUCOLA)
8) Quinn who played Benny in Benny & Joon
9) Home planet of Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
10) Caffeinated root beer brand claiming "It's Good Since 1898"
11) Rapper from A Tribe Called Quest named after a stick with cotton swabs
12) Bible quote such as "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another"
13) Lunchmeat with the first name of O-S-C-A-R?
14) Book-loving pig from U.S. Acres
15) Under the effects of Novocain, say
16) Chicago-style deep dish pizza chain, informally
17) The _____ of '76 (patriotically-named pinball machine)
18) Garlic-crushing device
19) Sword holder
20) The horizontal line seen in the answer to clue #11
21) Classical element other than water, fire, or air
22) Card such as the Wheel of Fortune
23) Wrapped-up headwear worn by Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z
24) Cruel boor
25) Progressive rock band with vocalist Geddy Lee

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!

Sunday, May 3, 2026

ANSWERS: Link-Letters 15

Two weeks have passed by since "Link-Letters 15" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Marie desJardins
  • Joe Bernard
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Derek Allen
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Wendy Walker
  • Sam Levitin
  • KeoFam
  • Steve Gunter
  • Mom
  • Lynn Sweeney
Now head below the break for the answers!