ANSWERS: Pieces of Nine: Much Harder Edition

Remember how I had eight solvers for my "Section Six 4" puzzle? Well, the puzzle following that, Grant Fikes' "Pieces of Nine: Much Harder Edition", must've lived up to its title, as that number halved. See for yourself:

• Eric Maddy ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****

If you want to know the answers, just head below the break for that as well as a couple solver comments.

PUZZLE #132: Pieces of Nine: Much Harder Edition (Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes!)

PUZZLE #132

PIECES OF NINE: MUCH HARDER EDITION

Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes

Earlier this month, Patron Grant Fikes was inspired by my "Pieces of Nine" puzzle from not too long ago and sent me his version of it. I solved it, thanked him for the "early birthday present" as I called it, and asked him if I could post it on this blog. He agreed, So here we are! Since I've dubbed this the "Much Harder Edition", the directions will be a bit different than normal, so read on to find out what they are!

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares in them) to make 10 9-letter words. Arrange them 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 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 that one 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: Sudokurossword 2

It's been two weeks since I posted a guest puzzle from Grant Fikes, and as you can see below, there's been a pretty big dip in solvers, at least compared to my usual average number of solvers. Maybe it's because of the holidays and people are too busy to take time off to solve puzzles on this site, maybe this particular puzzle proved too hard for most people, or maybe they just forgot. Whatever the reason, I'd like to remind people that if they so wish, I can send them a weekly email reminder telling them when my latest puzzle has been posted, so email me if you want to take part of this offer. Anyways, here's all four people that have solved this puzzle:

• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ***

Now head below the break for the answers and some solver comments!

PUZZLE #102: Sudokurossword 2 (Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes!)

PUZZLE #102

SUDOKUROSSWORD 2

Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes

You may recall a couple weeks ago that because of depression surrounding this recent election season, I didn't have a puzzle that week. Two of my regular solvers, Grant Fikes and Chris Hendricks, both suggested that I post a Guest Puzzle in case I have another week with no puzzle scheduled. Grant even sent me a Sudokurossword for me to use! I had already made a "4X Game" puzzle when he originally sent me this (and I also have a different one for next week as well), but I didn't want his effort to go to waste, so I accepted his offering, and now I'm posting it here for you guys to solve (though I ultimately changed three of his clues beforehand. I hope he doesn't mind)!

This puzzle comes in two parts. The first part is a sudoku, which you solve normally (the numbers 1-9 appear once in each row, column, and 3x3 box). Each row has a crossword clue next to it; the shaded cell corresponds to the crossword entry in which that answer belongs. (For example, a 5 means that the answer to that clue belongs in 5-Down in the crossword grid.) If you want to really challenge yourself, you can skip the sudoku entirely and try to fit in the crossword answers without knowing where they're supposed to go, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Once you're done, unscramble the shaded squares in the crossword to form the FINAL ANSWER: A nine-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 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: Coined Phrases 2

It's been roughly two weeks since I've posted Grant Fikes' "Coined Phrases" puzzle, so now it's time for me to reveal the answers, but not before I list out the eight people who have solved it during that time frame:

• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Adam Weaver ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***
• YYW ****
• Punjit Sharma ****
• Brad Eldredge ****

Now just click on "Read more" for the answers! One of my solvers also sent me a logic puzzle based on this puzzle, and you can try to figure that one out below the break as well!

PUZZLE #71: Coined Phrases 2 (Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes!)

PUZZLE #71

COINED PHRASES 2

Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes

I know the previous "Coined Phrases" puzzle was only a couple of weeks ago, and I usually spread out puzzles of the same type a lot further apart from each other, but since this will be the first puzzle on this site done by someone else (a Guest Puzzle, if you will), I'm going to make an exception. You see, Grant Fikes of A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog (which will be publishing its 100th Wordy Wednesday puzzle two days after I post this, so be sure to check that out!) created and sent me a "Coined Phrases" puzzle of his own after solving mine (rather quickly, I might add). I asked if it was okay to publish it on this site, and he said "Go ahead", so now here we are!

There is a set of five coins, all of which have one letter on each of their two faces. Each letter appears only once throughout the set, and no two coins share the same letter. Random flips of all the coins have produced six 5-letters words hinted at by the numbered clues. Once all six answers have been solved, use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out the letters that are printed on each coin. Finally, rearrange the coins so that both sides spell out two more 5-letter words that combine to make a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a proper name.

1) Egyptian capital
2) They activate cheats in video games
3) House of ____ (part of the UK Parliament)
4) Lubricated, perhaps
5) It can precede "System" or "Panel"
6) Diana, Princess of ____

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!