ANSWERS: Family Reunions 8

It's been about two weeks since "Family Reunions 8" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have successfully solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Chris Kochmanski
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Derek Allen

Now head below the break for the answers as well as some solvers' comments!

PUZZLE #528: Family Reunions 8

PUZZLE #528

FAMILY REUNIONS 8

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are HATRED, UNSTRAP, and AUBURNS, you could drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, drop the P from UNSTRAP to get SATURN, and drop the B from AUBURNS to get URANUS, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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: Family Reunions 7

It's been almost two weeks since "Family Reunions 7" was posted on this blog, and an impressive nineteen people have solved it since then, as you can see in the following list:

• Cindy Heisler
• Grant Fikes
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Wendy Walker
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Chris Kochmanski
• Patrick Jordan
• Bart Gold
• KeoFam
• Josie Giles
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tower
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #480: Family Reunions 7

PUZZLE #480

FAMILY REUNIONS 7

Before I get to this week's puzzle, I have some major news to announce: My Patreon page now has a shop! My first offering for sale is five pages' worth of different types of Cryptogram puzzles, such as "Crypto-Lists", an encrypted 4-panel comic strip, and a new creation I call "Crypto-Quiz"! More details are on that product's store page, and it only costs $3 (but only because Patreon wouldn't let me sell it at a lower price). However, you need to have a Patreon account to gain access to it (though you don't have to necessarily subscribe to my Patreon page), so I'm also offering an alternate workaround: if you're not on Patreon, you can still send me $3 through my PayPal account, and I can send you the .PDF file via email! I haven't sold any copies of this puzzle pack yet, so I hope this bit of shameless self-promotion works! So now with all that out of the way, let's get back to our regularly-scheduled puzzle!

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are HATRED, UNSTRAP, and AUBURNS, you could drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, drop the P from UNSTRAP to get SATURN, and drop the B from AUBURNS to get URANUS, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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: Family Reunions 6

It's been about two weeks since "Family Reunions 6" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Tyler Hinman
• Kevin Orfield
• Perry Groot
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Tamara Brenner
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Bart Gold
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers and a solver's comment!

PUZZLE #437: Family Reunions 6

PUZZLE #437

FAMILY REUNIONS 6

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are HATRED, UNSTRAP, and AUBURNS, you could drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, drop the P from UNSTRAP to get SATURN, and drop the B from AUBURNS to get URANUS, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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: Family Reunions 5

It's been nearly two weeks since "Family Reunions 5" was posted on this blog, and fourteen people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Tyler Hinman 
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Peter Abide
• Debbie Benford
• Wendy Walker

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #389: Family Reunions 5

PUZZLE #389

FAMILY REUNIONS 5

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are SMEAR, HATRED, and TURBANS, you could drop the E from SMEAR to get MARS, drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, and drop the B from TURBANS to get SATURN, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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: Family Reunions 4

It's been thirteen days since "Family Reunions 4" was posted on this blog, and I suppose revealing the category ahead of time was the right move, as an impressive fourteen people have successfully solved it, all of whom can be seen in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Cindy Weatherman ****
• Leslie Yonce ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• David Cole ****
• Morgan Chase ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

As a reminder, the people colored in orange all support me on Patreon. Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #301: Family Reunions 4

PUZZLE #301

FAMILY REUNIONS 4

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are SMEAR, HATRED, and TURBANS, you could drop the E from SMEAR to get MARS, drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, and drop the B from TURBANS to get SATURN, all in the category "Planets". As an additional help, the category for the new words will also be listed on top (unlike previous versions of this puzzle).

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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 link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

ANSWERS: Family Reunions 3

Boy, "Family Reunions 3" proved to be a LOT harder than I expected! Not only did Grant Fikes fail to solve it, which hasn't happened since who-knows-when, if at all, only four people have managed to correctly solve it! That's less than half of last week's total! Take a look:

• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Debbie Benford **** 

I think the next time I make a puzzle of this type, it won't solely consist of proper names. Anyway, head below the break for the answers as well as comments from two solvers who noted how hard this one was!

PUZZLE #190: Family Reunions 3

PUZZLE #190

FAMILY REUNIONS 3

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are SMEAR, HATRED, and TURBANS, you could drop the E from SMEAR to get MARS, drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, and drop the B from TURBANS to get SATURN, all in the category "Planets". Also, it should be noted that all of the answers for this puzzle are proper nouns. As an additional help, you can ask me through email to reveal the category for you, though it will cost you one of your four "hint stars" to do so.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter name that also fits the category

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!

ANSWERS: Family Reunions 2

I know I'm supposed to reveal the answers to "Family Reunions 2" today, but first, I just wanted to let you know that my own family just got a little smaller this past week; my pet cat Maurice has been part of my life since I was in middle school, but old age got to him, and he had to be put down. I'm definitely gonna miss him...

In Memory of Maurice: 2003-2016 [Picture taken on Christmas 2008]

Sorry if I made anyone sad with this post. I don't have any way to smoothly segue from that, so here's the list of solvers for that puzzle I mentioned earlier:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• YYW ****
• Lynn Sweeney *
• Chris Hendricks ****
• M. Sean Molley ****
• Debbie Benford ***
• Alex Milton ***

And as usual, the answers and solver comments are below the break.

PUZZLE #90: Family Reunions 2

PUZZLE #90

FAMILY REUNIONS 2

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are SMEAR, HATRED, and TURBANS, you could drop the E from SMEAR to get MARS, drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, and drop the B from TURBANS to get SATURN, all in the category "Planets". Also, it should be noted that one of the answers consists of two words. (Maybe it's the MMA fighter in #9 that already consists of two words?) In case you stink at scrambling, you can always try sites like AnagramScramble.com to help you out. As an additional help, you can ask me through email to reveal the category for you, though it will cost you one of your four "hint stars" to do so.

Once you're done, the letters that have been deleted from each word will unscramble to spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word that also fits the category

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!

ANSWERS: Family Reunions

Well, it's been almost two weeks since I've posted my first puzzle for "Dump Month" (which you can still solve here, by the way), so now it's time for me to reveal the answers! Before I do so, however, here's a list of all the people who have solved it:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Dan Simonds **
• Tyler Hinman ****
• YYW ****
• Brad Eldredge ****

Now just click on "Read more" below for the answers, along with some solver comments!

DUMP MONTH! PUZZLE #57: Family Reunions

dump month

PUZZLE #57

FAMILY REUNIONS

Well, it's January, the time of year when the big movie studios dump terrible films they have no confidence in into cinemas. So in the spirit of that, I'm going to make another theme month in the form of DUMP MONTH! You see, I'm a fairly new contributor to GAMES Magazine, and they have a policy that certain types of puzzles are only done by other puzzle makers or their in-house staff. So all of the puzzles this month will be ones that were rejected (i.e. "dumped") by GAMES Magazine and/or aren't open to new contributors like me. So now that the intro's out of the way, let's start with a type of puzzle that manages to fit both of the criteria I've already listed!

For this puzzle, just change the group of 10 words below into a "family" of different words (that is, words or proper names that all have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, if three of the initial entries are SMEAR, HATRED, and TURBANS, you could drop the E from SMEAR to get MARS, drop the D from HATRED to get EARTH, and drop the B from TURBANS to get SATURN, all in the category "Planets". In case you stink at scrambling, you can always try sites like the Internet Anagram Server to help you out, though I should warn you that that site doesn't recognize all of the words used in this puzzle.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the category that all ten unscrambled words belong to.

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!