Monday, August 31, 2026

PUZZLE #611: Anagram Magic Square 10

PUZZLE #611
ANAGRAM MAGIC SQUARE 10

One of the clues in 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 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) Yellow-bellied, lily-livered, chicken-hearted scaredy-cat
2) Terror felt by the previous answer
3) With "The", "Suddenly Last Summer" band (or some roadside inns)
4) Stringed instrument heard in the soundtrack of 1949's The Third Man
5) Pepperoni, for instance
6) Member of an NBA team that plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena
7) Squat down, like Super Mario about to do a backflip
8) Without needing to hide anymore
9) Sing like a stool pigeon?
10) Emitted light
11) _____ to Win It (NBC game show originally hosted by Guy Fieri)
12) Leap like a lurking lioness
13) Overrun, as with too many insects
14) Finally make it big
15) Giant cyan planet where the PlayStation 1 game Blasto is set
16) Hasty drawing
17) It's the Easter _____, Charlie Brown (Peanuts special where Snoopy delivers eggs)
18) Rotational force represented by the Greek letter tau
19) Les Paul guitar company
20) The Grateful Dead's Deadheads or Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads, say
21) Leg parts with femurs
22) Go over a topic yet again
23) _____ Dearest (film with Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford)
24) Either multiplier in a multiplication problem
25) Nonparallel, like some bars that gymnasts perform on

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, August 30, 2026

ANSWERS: Brick By Brick 11

It's been almost two weeks since "Brick By Brick 11" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to list all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

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

Monday, August 24, 2026

PUZZLE #610: Empty Word Ladder 6

PUZZLE #610
EMPTY WORD LADDER 6

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 make the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase relating to automobiles.


CLUES
• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER
• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER
• Film's orchestral soundtrack
• Flies high like the majestic eagle
• Hippie's tie-dyed top, e.g.
• Illinois-based team that recorded "The Super Bowl Shuffle" (and won it weeks later)
Jersey _____: Family Vacation (MTV show that's somehow still airing)
• Martin who appears with Steve Martin in Wells Fargo commercials
• Permanent markings, such as those on the Joker's mouth in The Dark Knight
• Startle someone with a shout, say
• Wild pigs

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 get a hint from me in exchange for a "hint star"; more details for that are on the sidebar to the right) 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, August 23, 2026

ANSWERS: Section Six 12

It's been roughly two weeks since "Section Six 12" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have solved it since then, as you can see by the following list:

  • Marie desJardins
  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Joe Bernard
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • SquishmallowsUnited
  • Sam Levitin
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Wendy Walker
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Derek Allen
  • Steve Gunter
  • Mom
  • Lynn Sweeney
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

Monday, August 17, 2026

PUZZLE #609: Brick By Brick 11

PUZZLE #609
BRICK BY BRICK 11
 

Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a 1990s sitcom


ACROSS
1) The Mystery of the Blue Train and Murder on the Orient Express author Christie
    Not powered on
    Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, for two
2) Fungus such as Iceland moss (even though it's not closely related to moss)
    Word following "turf" or "Trojan"
    Cote d'_____ (the French Riviera)
3) Too, too much
    Environmentally-friendly prefix
    _____ chocolate M&M's
4) Jeopardy (and not the kind seen on a quiz show)
    Paper-delivery kids that went on strike in 1889
5) Phileas who went around the world in 80 days
    Original The Closer cable network
6) Subtle summons that's surprisingly legal to play in Scrabble
    Prior to, poetically
    City that's home to Iowa State University
7) Letters between a real name and a nickname
    Like something that can't be bought anywhere
8) THE FINAL ANSWER
9) Ninths, after being halved
    Suffix for "velvet"
10) Captain of the Nautilus submarine in two Jules Verne stories
      Abbr. on a Broadway sign that basically means "no seats left"
      "Puppy Love" singer Paul
11) Ignited
      Spheres such as the Dragon Balls from Dragon Ball
12) Take money from the bank (legally, of course)
      Enemy of Spider-Man dressed like a horned gray mammal
13) Long-Haired ____ (short film with Bugs Bunny dressed as a conductor)
      Had ham, perhaps
      Site for many brawls in many western films
14) Frankenstein's lab assistant not present in the original Frankenstein novel
      Spanish version of "Huh??"
      Indiana or Illinois, on a Monopoly board
15) "Danger _____" (Kenny Loggins hit)
      Little rascal
      Pyramid builders of Chichén Itzá

DOWN
1) Skewed
    Cover with asphalt or blacktop
    Kraft Cheez _____
2) Donate to a blood drive, say
    Bundle of yarn
    Parrot who has his own musical number in Aladdin: The Return of Jafar
3) Taiwanese PC manufacturer
    Beetle Bailey's short-tempered superior
    1982 sci-fi film with a villainous Master Control Program
4) "_____ Shop" (Macklemore song where he raps about buying used clothes)
    Volt ÷ ampere
    At this very location
5) "Greetings!"
    Numerous, like stories that were never narrated
6) Press _____ key to continue
    Magical being such as Shazzan or Kazaam
    Resident of Basra or Baghdad
7) Christians' pre-meal prayer
    21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street star Channing
8) A Prayer for _____ Meany (John Irving novel)
    Chris who played both Captain America and the Human Torch
    Cry like a willow?
9) Sapphire's side
    Gray Great Dane owned by the Jetsons
10) :(
      Blood of the Greek gods
      Yosemite _____ (Looney Tunes cowboy)
11) Purposefully delays play, in the NFL
      Cheer for an Italian diva
12) Door hinge holder
      One-time Chinese chairman Zedong
      The Olsen twin who's slightly older by two minutes
13) Playable protagonist of Assassin's Creed II
      Buddy who played Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies
      New York college with a name that's three-fourths vowels
14) In a proper manner
      Aerodynamic
      Part of a sentence such as "part" or "sentence"
15) Majorly miffs
      The highest active volcano in Europe
      Lowest dollar denominations in the board game Spy Alley

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, August 16, 2026

ANSWERS: Fronts Off 9

Two weeks have passed by since "Fronts Off 9" was posted on this blog, and eighteen people have successfully solved it since then:

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

Monday, August 10, 2026

PUZZLE #608: Section Six 12

PUZZLE #608
SECTION SIX 12

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.

This puzzle's grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise OR counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outermost ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, and each answer’s starting points are marked with a dot [•]. However, which direction they proceed in is for you to figure out. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you figure out the letters in the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section's outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Once you're done, unscramble the six spaces with stars in them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a six-letter word.


RING 1
1) "YEOW, that hurts!"
2) Welded together
3) Joey formerly of *NSYNC (answer hidden in SOLFA TONES)
4) Drop the ball, if you're a clumsy NFL player
5) CVS _____ (America's largest drugstore chain)
6) Completely dead, as dodos and dinos

RING 2
• Electric current unit whose symbol is the first letter of the alphabet
• Deceptive poker ploy
The Phil _____ Show (1967-96 daytime talk show)
• Merit badge earner
• Imprecise

RING 3
• Spots or sees
• Amount that fits into a fist
• Word following "balance" or "laser"
• Before the government's share is added to a grocery bill, say

RING 4
Don't Forget the Lyrics! hostess Niecy (or a bandmate of Crosby and Stills)
• Quoted out of _____
• Went on and on with tangent after tangent and with seemingly no real point to be made

RING 5
• Beach umbrella's offering
• "Un-Break My Heart" singer Toni

RING 6
• Boston baseball team featured in the 2005 film Fever Pitch: 2 wds.

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, August 9, 2026

ANSWERS: Code Crossword 3

Thirteen days have passed since "Code Crossword 3" was posted on this blog, and it proved to be quite a toughie, since only fourteen people managed to solve it:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Marie desJardins
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Derek Allen
  • Sam Levitin
  • Darth
  • SquishmallowsUnited
  • Mom
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

Monday, August 3, 2026

PUZZLE #607: Fronts Off 9

PUZZLE #607
FRONTS OFF 9

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) Numeric unit scored in any pinball game
    Askew (anagram of CODEC KEY)
2) A rolling one gathers no moss (as proved by the Mythbusters)
    Purple plants that are the state wildflowers of Louisiana and Michigan
3) Hand covering for Mario or Wario
    All covered with age lines
4) Actress Blair who played Regan in The Exorcist and Exorcist II
    Tiny bite
5) Castle dungeon’s light source
    Dragon from Walt Disney World's Journey into Imagination (or a "fraction" of imagination)
6) _____ Jack (British flag)
    Shutting up the pundits on TV, in a way
7) Under-the-table payment
    Clara Cluck, Miss Prissy, and Foghorn Leghorn, for three

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, August 2, 2026

ANSWERS: Lucky Sevens 16

About two weeks have gone by since "Lucky Sevens 16" was posted on this blog, and an astounding twenty-one people have solved it since then! Take a look:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Joe Bernard
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Sam Levitin
  • KeoFam
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Derek Allen
  • Wendy Walker
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Nicholas Weaver
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • SquishmallowsUnited
  • Mom
  • Steve Gunter
  • Bart Gold
  • Ian Hunter
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple of solvers' comments!

Monday, July 27, 2026

PUZZLE #606: Code Crossword 3

PUZZLE #606
CODE CROSSWORD 3

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.

In this crossword puzzle, the numbers in the grid's squares (from 1 to 26) stand for letters of the alphabet. You must crack the code to reveal the words. For each letter that matches a certain number, place that letter in each square containing the number as well as the answer key next to the grid, with all 26 letters appearing at least once in the completed grid. As a little help, one of the letters has already been decoded and placed in the grid.

Once you're done, look through the answer key using a certain pattern to get the FINAL ANSWER: A 13-letter word


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, July 26, 2026

ANSWERS: Pieces of Nine 14

It's been almost two weeks since "Pieces of Nine 14" was posted on this blog, so now's the time to list all eighteen people who have solved it since then:

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

Monday, July 20, 2026

PUZZLE #605: Lucky Sevens 16

PUZZLE #605
LUCKY SEVENS 15

One of the clues in 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!

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word associated with grammar


ROWS
i) Literal pen name that's also a brand of lighters
ii) "Roger that"
iii) Playful prank
iv) The titular Abbott Elementary, for one
v) Stock character defined by her innocence & naïveté
vi) Talking white cat from Sailor Moon (or the Greek goddess of the hunt)
vii) Stringed instrument whose name is an anagram of INSEAMS
viii) Abbr. preceding a date on a cornerstone
ix) _____ Boot (1980s German film about a submarine)
x) Article that may go before the word "article"
xi) Letter in American Sign Language formed by sticking out the pinkie and thumb

SEVENS
1) Type of delivery for when it absolutely, positively has to be here right now: Hyph.
2) Skilled breadmaker, for one
3) Wolfs down
4) Connived and conspired
5) Former Supreme Court justice Scalia
6) Ludicrously abundant
7) "_____ Race" (Queen song about how much the singer wants to ride his two-wheeler)

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, July 19, 2026

ANSWERS: Quadruple Cross 7

I hope this doesn't become a pattern, because this is the second time in three weeks that I forgot to schedule the answers post in its usual time. Ah, well, at least "Quadruple Cross 7" got the most solvers I've had in a long while, with an astounding twenty in total:

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

Monday, July 13, 2026

PUZZLE #604: Pieces of Nine 14

PUZZLE #604
PIECES OF NINE 14

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make nine 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase


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, July 12, 2026

ANSWERS: Drop Tower 14

Two weeks have passed by since "Drop Tower 14" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people have solved it since then:

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

Monday, July 6, 2026

PUZZLE #603: Quadruple Cross 7

PUZZLE #603
QUADRUPLE CROSS 7

To begin solving this puzzle, view each numbered square in the grid as being in the center of a plus-shaped cross where two five-letter clue answers intersect. There are two clues corresponding to each number, and each numbered pair of crossing answers has the same middle letter. Here's the tricky part: which one of each pair's two answers goes across and which one goes down is for you to figure out, so make sure all of the answers overlap each other properly!

Once the grid has been filled in, read the sixteen outermost letters in a clockwise fashion to get the FINAL ANSWER: the name of a video game for the original PlayStation


CLUES
1) Charlie Chaplin losing a Charlie Chaplin-lookalike contest, for example
    Magnifier attached to a sniper rifle
2) "Kick it up a _____" (catchphrase of Emeril Lagasse)
    Plucked piece of a peony
3) Car rental company surprisingly not based in Texas, despite its name
    Irritate, like a too-tight spandex suit
4) Big, Big Hero 6, or Big Trouble in Little China, e.g.
    Crow cousin
5) Bespectacled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character and others with the same name (anagram of RAMIS)
    Naiad or dryad, for one
6) _____ con carne
    Stage actor's line spoken directly to the audience
7) Barrier that may be topped with barbed wire
    Dame Judy who played M in eight James Bond films
8) Group of at least three musical notes
    Really tall mushroom with a really tiny cap
9) _____ Food (Ben & Jerry's flavor named after a jam band)
    Gooey gunk that the panelists on Nickelodeon's Figure It Out often get covered with
10) Genius group whose name comes from the Latin word for "table"
      Tablecloth material
11) Westernmost capital city in America's 48 contiguous states (HINT: It's in Oregon)
      Yo-Yo Ma's stringed instrument
12) Small stall in a mall
      ✅, 🚫, or 🤷
13) Act as a sheep's barber, so to speak
      Like the best possible possibility
14) Excuse such as "I was at the arcade at the time"
      Huge computer built in the mid-1940s
15) _____ certificate (paper for a new baby)
      Singer of "Yellow Flicker Beat", "Green Light", and "Royals"
16) Head held by Hamlet (or what's left of that head, at least)
      Hitchhiker's digit

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, July 5, 2026

ANSWERS: All Four One 2

Whoops! I forgot to schedule this one 'til now! Sorry for the extra wait! Anyhoo, here's the list of all sixteen people who have solved "All Four One 2" from two weeks ago:

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

Monday, June 29, 2026

PUZZLE #602: Drop Tower 14

PUZZLE #602
DROP TOWER 14

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
• Deiced one's windshield, in a way
• Hang down loosely
• One jumping jack, e.g.
• Prickly _____ cactus (state plant of Texas)
• San Diego MLB team whose mascot is the "Swinging Friar"
• Spin doctor's specialty: Abbr.
• Where to write down who's currently winning at minigolf, say

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, June 28, 2026

ANSWERS: Diagramless Fill-In

About two weeks have gone by since my first "Diagramless Fill-In" puzzle was posted on this blog, which means that it's time for me to reveal the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Marie desJardins
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Okieboy2008
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Sam Levitin
  • Mom
  • Derek Allen
Now head below the break for the answers!