Showing posts with label Anacrostic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anacrostic. Show all posts

Sunday, February 2, 2025

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 5

It's been nearly two weeks since "Sudokurostic 5" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Marie desJardins
  • Mike Armstrong
  • Sam Levitin
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Mom
  • Tamara Brenner
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Wendy Walker
  • Derek Allen
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • Steve Gunter
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Josie Giles
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, January 20, 2025

PUZZLE #527: Sudokurostic 5

PUZZLE #527
SUDOKUROSTIC 5

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.

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e6", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "6". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: a noun that's at least six letters long


Arabian Nights character who said "Open Sesame!": 2 wds.
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   f5 h4 b3 c9 h7 f3 b6
• Bryant who narrated the Oscar-winning animated short Dear Basketball
   __ __ __ __
   e1 i1 d7 g5
• Controversial short video app that shares its name with a Kesha song
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   e3 c5 d4 a7 e7 a2
• Made-up names for criminals
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   e9 g3 a9 i3 b4 e6 d5
• "Taste the Rainbow" candy seen in the video game Darkened Skye
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   g1 f7 e4 i8 f6 c7 d3 h6

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 links to two .PDF versions which you can print out!

Sunday, September 8, 2024

ANSWERS: Anacrossword 5

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Anacrossword 5" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Cathy Bowen
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Joe Bernard
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Josie Giles
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Sam Levitin
  • Tamara Brenner
  • Mom
  • Mike Armstrong
  • Wendy Walker
  • KeoFam
  • Steve Gunter
  • Stasi Gustafson
  • Derek Allen
  • Dan Simonds
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

Monday, August 26, 2024

PUZZLE #506: Anacrossword 5

PUZZLE #506
ANACROSSWORD 5

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 full at the moment, so you might have to resort to PayPal if you still want to make a request of your own.

Solve the clues below and transfer their answers into the crossword grid. Then, transfer the letters in the filled numbered squares to each of the correspondingly numbered dashes. Work back and forth between the crossword and the numbered dashes until the crossword is filled and the dashes read out a legible sentence.

Once you're done with everything, the sentence will spell out a hint to the FINAL ANSWER: a person's name.


__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
​01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

CLUES
• Ask the _____ (Lifeline on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
• '60s sitcom where the role of Darrin was played by two different actors named Dick
• Type of point at the end of this sentence!
• Spanish word for “party”
• Pats down like a TSA agent
• With "The", 1985 adventure film with characters named Chunk, Data, and Sloth
• The Boston Celtics' mascot, for one
• Like a loutish lummox
• Poisonous shrub with white flowers
• Futuristic firearms for Kirk and Spock
• Rehabber's reversal (or an Eminem album)
• Sports team lineups
• "Whenever, Wherever" singer who voiced Gazelle in Zootopia
• Irish clubs which are really difficult to spell
• Cylindrical crop containers
• Alternate name for the Eurasian ermine
• _____ pigeon (informant)

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, March 17, 2024

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 4

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Sudokurostic 4" was posted on this blog, and quite a few people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Pavel Curtis
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Mike Armstrong
  • Tamara Brenner
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Sam Levitin
  • Steve Gunter
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Mom
  • Josie Giles
  • Wendy Walker
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • Tower
  • Chris Kochmanski
Now head below the break for the answers and a solver's comment!

Monday, March 4, 2024

PUZZLE #481: Sudokurostic 4

PUZZLE #481
SUDOKUROSTIC 4

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e6", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "6". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: an adjective that's at least six letters long


• Collarbone
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   d3 f2 a8 b5 a1 h7 h3 f8
• Frida Kahlo, Paul Klee, and Jeff Koons, e.g.
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   f7 h1 a6 i9 a3 i4 d8
• Opening for a game of volleyball
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   g1 c9 g8 c2 f3 a5 h5
• Superlative adjective for the Burj Khalifa skyscraper
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   b3 g9 d7 b9 e1 i5 d5
• Surname of a Clue suspect in a red dress
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   b7 i2 d2 f5 c1 i7 e9

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, February 12, 2023

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 3

It's been close to two weeks since "Sudokurostic 3" was posted on this blog, and an impressive sixteen people have solved it since then:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • Chris Kochmanski
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Mike Armstrong
  • Al Sisti
  • Sam Levitin
  • Ray Youstra
  • Wendy Walker
  • Tamara Brenner
  • Patrick Jordan
  • Mom
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • Tyler Hinman
  • Steve Gunter
Now head below the break for the answers and a solver's comment!

Monday, January 30, 2023

PUZZLE #424: Sudokurostic 3

PUZZLE #424
SUDOKUROSTIC 3

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "d5", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "d" and column "5". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: a common noun that's at least six letters long


• "Break My Soul" singer
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   g2 d4 g8 f1 a1 f6 e2
• Crime such as offering a politician money under the table
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   i6 g4 e8 b3 c6 a8 f7
• Kermit the Frog's nephew (or a red-breasted songbird)
   __ __ __ __ __
   i9 h7 a4 c2 e9
• Scottish actor Sean who voiced Draco in Dragonheart
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   i5 d9 c4 d3 b1 h1 e5
• The smallest 10-digit number
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   e1 h9 b9 g6 a5 c8 i2

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, October 24, 2021

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic 2

Almost two weeks have gone by since my second "Sudokurossword" puzzle was posted on this blog. Since then, an impressive nineteen people have successfully solved it, and they're all listed below:

  • Grant Fikes
  • Cindy Heisler
  • M. Sean Molley
  • Giovanni Pagano
  • Kevin Orfield
  • Meg Duvall
  • Tyler Hinman
  • Tommy Weigle
  • Sam Levitin
  • Wendy Walker
  • Mom
  • Tamara Brenner
  • Lynn Sweeney
  • Karen Spencer
  • Stephen Potter
  • Alex Sisti
  • Peter Abide
  • Michael Lebowitz
  • Mindy Moore
Now head below the break for the answers!

Monday, October 11, 2021

PUZZLE #356: Sudokurostic 2

PUZZLE #356
SUDOKUROSTIC 2

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e5", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "5". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: a proper noun that's at least six letters long


• Is more-or-less obligated to
   __ __ __ __
   a9 c4 e1 d8
Phoebe and Her Unicorn and Hi and Lois, for two
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   i6 h7 f4 d2 h1 a4
• Setting for Judge Mathis
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   a8 g6 d6 f2 h4 c7 i2 e9 b3
The _____ of Happyness (2006 Will Smith film)
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   d3 a2 i8 f7 i1 e4 b9
• What a screenwriter writes
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   g3 g9 b6 f8 c1 e6

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, March 28, 2021

ANSWERS: Anacrossword 4

It's been close to two weeks since my fourth Anacrossword was posted on this blog, and it's also been exactly two weeks since I first relayed the idea of overhauling my hint system. Now while I have gotten another piece of feedback since last week's answer post telling me to go for it, I'm still not quite ready to implement it just yet. I should be ready by next week, however, so in the meantime, here are the fourteen people that have successfully solved "Anacrossword 4":

  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Cindy Heisler ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Giovanni Pagano ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Karen Spencer ****
  • Lbray53 ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Alex Sisti ****
  • Jay Miller ****
  • Peter Abide ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solvers' comments!

Monday, March 15, 2021

PUZZLE #326: Anacrossword 4

PUZZLE #326
ANACROSSWORD 4

Solve the clues below and transfer their answers into the crossword grid. Then, transfer the letters in the filled numbered squares to each of the correspondingly numbered dashes. Work back and forth between the crossword and the numbered dashes until the crossword is filled and the dashes read out a legible sentence.

Once you're done with everything, the sentence will spell out a hint to the FINAL ANSWER: a person's name.


__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
​01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94

CLUES
• Optical illusion that may involve a color-inverted picture
• Cozy country quarters
Mario & Luigi: _____ Team (3DS game with a rhyming subtitle)
• Starve, archaically
• Six feet underwater
• Bilbo Baggins' cousin
Spider-Man villain named after a shark with a weird noggin
• American state where Lilo & Stitch takes place
• Soft drink that comes in "Game Fuel" and "Code Red" varieties: 2 wds.
• Dav who created Captain Underpants and Dog Man
Where the Sidewalk Ends poet Shel
• Anne Sullivan, for one
• Wyoming's state dinosaur
• The Go-Go's song whose music video has them waterskiing
• Print made out of a carved block, like Escher's Sky and Water I

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, February 9, 2020

ANSWERS: Sudokurostic

It's been thirteen days since my final puzzle for Ja-New-Ary, "Sudokurostic", was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Kevin Orfield ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Stephen Potter ****
  • Mom ***
  • Patrick Jordan ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a solver's comment!

Monday, January 27, 2020

JA-NEW-ARY! PUZZLE #267: Sudokurostic

JA-NEW-ARY!
PUZZLE #267
SUDOKUROSTIC

It's the final puzzle for this theme month, and this one was based off of an idea that one of my solvers provided! Longtime solvers may recall that Lynn Sweeney, one of my regular solvers and someone who I often see in person, originally provided the idea that became "Sudokurossword". This new idea that she came up with a while ago is similar, but it involved transferring letters into a sudoku grid rather than numbers. Inspiration was quick to strike me once she told me about her idea, and this new hybrid of a sudoku and an anacrostic puzzle was what I ultimately came up with! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Below is supposed to be a sudoku/wordoku puzzle, but unfortunately, the whole grid is completely blank. To fill it in, solve the clues so that the answers fill out the dashes (one letter per dash), then transfer each letter to the grid according to the coordinates below each dash, like an anacrostic puzzle. For example, if the coordinates were "e5", then its corresponding letter should go in the square in row "e" and column "5". Not all of the grid's squares will ultimately be filled in, so it's up to you to complete the rest of the wordoku puzzle, making sure that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains the same nine unique letters without any repeats.

Once the grid has been completely filled, look through it like a word search to find the FINAL ANSWER: an adjective that's at least six letters long


• 2000s TV drama about the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815
   __ __ __ __
   d4 i7 b5 h5
Deuce Bigalow: Male _____ (Rob Schneider film)
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   d3 g6 c2 b1 e7 a5
• Female sheep from U.S. Acres (HINT: she's named after a wax secreted from sheep, which might explain why she's constantly grumpy.....)
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   i3 a6 c4 h4 g8 f9 e3
• Like clocks that aren't analog
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   g5 a2 b6 i8 d9 h2 c5
• They're streamed by Spotify
   __ __ __ __ __
   f1 c9 f6 i4 a7
• Using one of the five senses that's located in one's mouth
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   b8 f7 h9 a3 d1 i5 g1

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 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 two versions you can print out: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

Sunday, April 14, 2019

ANSWERS: Anacrossword 3

No DeviantArt picture this week, so instead, here's a full episode of the game show that inspired this puzzle, courtesy of Wink Martindale's YouTube channel

Thirteen days have passed since I posted "Anacrossword 3" on April Fools' Day, and nine people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Joe Bernard ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Mom ****
  • Stephen Staver ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Chris Hendricks ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Dan Simonds ****
Now head below the break for the answers and some solver comments!

Monday, April 1, 2019

PUZZLE #224: Anacrossword 3

PUZZLE #224
ANACROSSWORD 3

Today's offering is a type of puzzle I've done before, so there shouldn't be any major changes from the previous two installments. APRIL FOOLS! I was inspired by the obscure (and exhausting) game show Whew! to completely change up this puzzle's clues! Read on and see what I mean!

Each clue is a factual statement, but one word has been altered in each one. The answer to each clue is the word that replaces each underlined section so that each statement makes sense. Solve as many as you can and transfer the answers into the crossword grid. Then, transfer the letters in the filled numbered squares to each of the correspondingly numbered dashes. Work back and forth between the crossword and the numbered dashes until the crossword is filled and the dashes read out a legible sentence.

Once you're done with everything, the sentence will be revealed, but its last word has been changed. The FINAL ANSWER is a noun that should replace that incorrect word.


__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
​01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

CLUES
* The current host of America's Funniest Home Videos is Carlton Ribeiro
* The names of Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers are Porthos, Bathhouse, and Aramis
* Foxes and wolves are both part of the nuclear family
* The capital of Wyoming is the letter "W"
* Ceres, Eris, and Pluto are all examples of vertically-challenged planets
* Since 2013, Guy Fieri has hosted Guy's Totally Not Supermarket Sweep Games on Food Network
* The last name of alternative rock musician Beck is unknown to everyone, even himself
* In 1996, The Wallflowers had their highest-charting hit song with "One Hit Wonder"
* Harry Potter and Ron Weasley both attended Goosepimples School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
* In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, Alice comes across a nonsense poem called "Gibberish"
* At 555 feet, the tallest building in Washington, D.C. is the Washington Pointy Thing
* Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence have both played Smurfette in the X-Men film series
* The state bird of Hawaii is the humuhumunukunukuapua'a
* "I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant" is the opening line to the Hippocratic Swear Words
* Most leather jackets are made from the chewed-up hide of various animals
* The Wonderbolts are the official aerobatic squadron of the US Air Force
* Forest Forthetrees played the role of Zuri in 2018's Black Panther

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 two versions you can print out: the usual .PNG file, and a link to a .PDF file!

Sunday, November 4, 2018

ANSWERS: Crypticrostic 3

CLUE USED: "Old Roman racer's spirit protecting a really funny fellow"

It's been thirteen days since "Crypticrostic 3" was posted on this site, and to my surprise, seven people have solved it since then, the highest number yet for those tough puzzles! Take a look:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Dan Simonds **
  • Lynn Sweeney ***
  • Christi Ann Scott ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as three solver comments!

Monday, October 22, 2018

PUZZLE #201: Crypticrostic 3

PUZZLE #201
CRYPTICROSTIC 3

This next puzzle is a Crypticrostic, a type of puzzle that has been notorious for being extremely difficult (after all, only four people managed to solve the first one of these). As usual, I first sent this one to my test-solver, Joseph DeVincentis, and while he did indeed solve it, he noted that it was even harder than usual and gave me a couple ideas of easing the pain, so to speak. One of them was slightly altering a couple clues, and the other one... well, read the directions and find out!

Below is an Anacrostic with no spaces. Using normal Anacrostic rules, work back and forth between it and the clues to completely fill it out. However, all the clues are in cryptic crossword style, meaning that each clue has two halves: a definition of the answer and an indication of the answer's literal makeup via wordplay. Either half may come first, but to make things easier, both halves have been divided by a gray vertical bar. For a list of cryptic clue types, you can get one through these links.

Once you're done, the Anacrostic will reveal a cryptic clue that will lead you to the FINAL ANSWER: A title with the pattern of [9, 4]

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
__ __ __ __ __
49 50 51 52 53

Beheading very thin | American, for one [7]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   08 45 20 34 04 29 16

Friends | belonging to Kate's sitcom partner [6]
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   06 43 33 48 11 50

Old Roman racer's | spirit protecting a really funny fellow [10]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   10 47 22 17 28 51 24 37 42 01

Cowering | catcher going in a circle [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   46 30 25 09 53 35 41 03

Shoot inside of an involved | Spanish dance [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   36 13 52 07 32 05 19 40

Heading forward, bring back Robert E. Lee's | antenna [6]
   __ __ __ __ __ __
   14 27 31 38 21 44

Brood | claimed it ate fragment [8]
   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   26 49 12 39 23 18 15 02

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 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 version you can print out!

Sunday, June 10, 2018

ANSWERS: Anacrossword 2

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "Anacrossword 2", and quite a few people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:
  • Grant Fikes ****
  • Eric Maddy ****
  • Mom ****
  • Sam Levitin ****
  • Debbie Benford ****
  • Tyler Hinman ****
  • Lynn Sweeney ****
  • Dan Simonds & Vanessa Kean ****
Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

Monday, May 28, 2018

PUZZLE #180: Anacrossword 2

PUZZLE #180
ANACROSSWORD 2

This puzzle type was suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Support me on Patreon at $30 per month to suggest one puzzle type every month!

Solve the clues below and transfer their answers into the crossword grid. Then, transfer the letters in the filled numbered squares to each of the correspondingly numbered dashes. Work back and forth between the crossword and the numbered dashes until the crossword is filled and the dashes read out a legible sentence.

Once you're done with everything, the sentence will spell out a hint to the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word title.


__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
​01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

CLUES
* "Unpack Your _____" (Schoolhouse Rock song)
* February birthstone (or a purple Steven Universe character)
* Retired sprinter Usain
* Sport with spares and splits
* Blue bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures
* _____ Cat (Internet-famous feline with a perpetual scowl)
* With "The", 2009 comedy where the main characters wake up and find a tiger in the bathroom, among other oddities
* Movie about a pregnant Arnold Schwarzenegger
* Maggie Simpson's mother
* _____ 5 (Adam Levine's band)
* Kermit and Gonzo, for example
* Elongated circle
* "I Wanna Be _____" (Ramones song)
* "Let the Music Play" singer
* Not as rock-hard, like a pillow
* Cuckoo mascot of Cocoa Puffs
* Mario Kart 8 Deluxe console
* Ms. Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII
* Sebastian's song from The Little Mermaid that won an Oscar: 3 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 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 version you can print out!