ANSWERS: Chess Words 7

It's been roughly two weeks since "Chess Words 7" was posted on this blog, and it proved to be quite a toughie, since only fourteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Wendy Walker
• Derek Allen
• Steve Gunter
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #614: Word Squares: Projectors 9

PUZZLE #614

WORD SQUARES: PROJECTORS 9

There are a series of clues whose answers will fit into the provided grid, reading across and down. However, all of the answers are one letter too long to fit in properly, so each one must have either its first or last letter sticking out (or "projecting" out) of the grid. Once you're done, start at the top left and read the "Projectors" either clockwise or counterclockwise to get another word or phrase. In the example above, the Projectors spell out SAMPLE.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the eight-letter name of a company based in Wisconsin

CLUES

• Cylindrical pasta that's one letter off from a certain coin

• Get all greasy, as a bodybuilder: 2 wds.

• Laser printer's powder

• Lie on one's rump and do nothing while something bad goes on: 2 wds.

• Neil deGrasse _____ (astrophysicist who lost on Celebrity Jeopardy)

• Part of "EU" or "USSR"

• Spiny (yet soothing) plants sometimes used in hand sanitizer

• The Perks of _____ a Wallflower (2012 coming-of-age film)

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: Eat Your Words 12

Two weeks have passed by since "Eat Your Words 12" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to list the names of all the people who have successfully solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Bart Gold
• Kevin Orfield
• Derek Allen
• Wendy Walker
• Steve Gunter
• Ian
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #613: Chess Words 7

PUZZLE #613

CHESS WORDS 7

This puzzle type was suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Normally, you can suggest a puzzle type of your own choice over on my Patreon page, but both slots are still full, so you might have to resort to PayPal if you still want to make a request of your own.

Eight 8-letter words are scrambled on the chessboard, all of which are the answers to the provided clues. Each chess piece starts on the first letter of one of the words, and can be moved across the board via standard chess moves to spell the rest of the word. Every square is used exactly once. The chess pieces move as follows:

King: one space in any of the eight directions
Rook: any number of spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction
Bishop: any number of spaces in a diagonal direction
Queen: any number of spaces in any of the eight directions
Knight: two spaces in a horizontal or vertical direction and then one space in a perpendicular direction

Once all the words have been found, pick two of the words and combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a fictional item from comic books

  Queen's Rook: F _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                a1 
Queen's Knight: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                b1 
Queen's Bishop: W _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                c1 
         Queen: G _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                d1 
          King: E _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                e1 
 King's Bishop: H _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                f1 
 King's Knight: S _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                g1 
   King's Rook: I _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                h1

CLUES

• Bodybuilder’s build

• Dirty rotten scoundrel

• Four-player arcade game from the mid-’80s

• Multi-platinum Journey album with "Wheel in the Sky"

• Poisonous purple (or pink) flowering plant

• Suitable for those with sophisticated tastes

• Welcomed with open arms (or hugged with closed arms)

• Word in the name of Sesame Street's production company

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: Anagram Magic Square 10

Thirteen days have passed since "Anagram Magic Square 10" was posted on this blog, and a total of seventeen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mom [Hint Used]
• Bart Gold
• KeoFam
• Kevin Orfield
• Steve Gunter
• Nicholas Weaver

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #612: Eat Your Words 12

PUZZLE #612

EAT YOUR WORDS 12

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the column's new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a chain store

NUMBERED WORDS

1) Brought to court

2) Superhero costume designer from The Incredibles

3) Cafeteria staple that may double as a makeshift sled

4) "The Fox and the Crow" or "The Fox and the Grapes", e.g.

5) _____ × Family (anime about a secret agent, his assassin wife, and their telepathic daughter)

6) Late Dawson's Creek star Van Der Beek

7) Converse via Instagram Direct Messenger, perhaps

8) Contented kitty sound

9) Mediocre, in modern slang (HINT: It becomes a synonym for "murky" when spelled backwards)

EATEN WORDS

• 2011 animated film about a blue parrot taken to a large Brazilian city

• Act as a barber to a baaing sheep, perhaps

• Bank with a blue octagon logo

• Cilium on an eyelid

• Exchange money for goods and services

• Go on for so long about an uninteresting subject that the audience falls asleep, say

• Greek letter that is pronounced like something that unlocks doors

• _____ Maid (children’s card game)

• Sleeveless top often worn by Goofy

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: Empty Word Ladder 6

About two weeks have gone by since "Empty Word Ladder 6" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have solved it since then! Take a look:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Marie desJardins
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Chris Kochmanski
• Michael Lebowitz
• Derek Allen
• Patrick Jordan
• Steve Gunter
• Wendy Walker
• Mom
• Bart Gold
• Stasi Gustafson
• KeoFam

Now head below the break for the answers!