ANSWERS: Mini-Marching Bands 9

It's been close to two weeks since "Mini-Marching Bands 9" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Cathy Bowen
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Bart Gold
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #598: Mini-Marching Bands 9

PUZZLE #598

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 9

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a fictional villain

ROWS
1) Molds and mushrooms, e.g.

    Ran in the wash

2) Email pretending to be from Amazon asking for your password, most likely

    Chinese bear such as Ling Xiaoyu's pet in Tekken 8

3) Protects with metal suits, maybe

    "To _____ is human, to forgive divine"

4) Action word

    Nationality that lends its name to the alphabetically last of the seven "-stan" countries

5) Smallest dollar amounts in Monopoly

    Evil plumber from the "Ghost Story" episode of Salute Your Shorts (answer hidden in MAZE KEEPER)

6) Sister with a habit

    Pete's _____ (1977 live-action/animated Disney flick)

7) Scattered all over

    Prefix for "corn" and "cycle"

8) Redheaded WarioWare character who shares her name with a da Vinci painting

    Apple music players discontinued in 2022

9) Literal pick-me-up?

    Another name for the crazy, nasty honey badger

BANDS

A) The "F" in "NFTs"

     Turn down the brightness

     Puny part of an archipelago

     Movies that are stereotypically incomprehensible to everyone except their directors: 2 wds.

     Stars that suddenly become a lot brighter

B) Go roughing it

     "The Giant" of 1980s pro wrestling

     Organizing consultant Marie who asks "Does it spark joy?"

     Someone who makes baby grands pitch perfect: 2 wds.

C) Samuel with an eponymous telegraph code

     "We've Only Just _____" (hit song by the Carpenters)

     Jewish actor Klemperer who played Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes

D) Vulture relatives such as Beaky from Looney Toons

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: Mini-Marching Bands 8

It's been about two weeks since "Mini-Marching Bands 8" was posted on this blog, and over twenty-three people have solved it since then! Go ahead and take a look at that massive amount:

• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Marie desJardins
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Wendy Walker
• KeoFam
• Chris Kochmanski
• Tamara Brenner
• Derek Allen
• Craig & Tracy Leech
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• CP80
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Stasi Gustavson

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #533: Mini-Marching Bands 8

PUZZLE #533

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 8

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a newspaper comic character

ROWS
1) Marshy area such as the one where Shrek lives

    Synonym for "prance" that rhymes with the previous answer

2) Victory that wasn't even close

    Tales from the _____ (influential comic book series)

3) Forever and a day

    Monopoly space surrounded by "Just Visiting": 2 wds.

4) Masked swordsman whose name is Spanish for "fox"

    "Invisible" singer and American Idol alumni Aiken

5) Beech or birch

    Donkey _____ Jungle Beat (Nintendo game where you control an ape with bongos)

6) Cocker spaniel voiced by Peggy Lee in a 1955 Disney film

    "Red" flying ace on boxes of frozen pizza

7) Persevere

    Org. with Grizzlies and Timberwolves

8) Hoity-toity types

    I _____ What You Did Last Summer (Lois Duncan novel)

9) Suffix for "million" or "billion"

    Air freshener brand that manufactures PlugIns

BANDS

A) Did the backstroke or breaststroke

     Right away without delay

     Bit like a beaver

     Largest nation in Africa, after South Sudan split off of Sudan in 2011

     Alka-_____ ("Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" product)

B) Public uproar

     Keyed instrument played by Rowlf from The Muppet Show

     Knocks on the noggin

     Annual music festival held in Tennessee since 2002

C) Stealthy Japanese assassin such as Sekiro from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

     Longtime Saturday Night Live producer Michaels

     Boat's steering blade

D) Opening word for a lullaby involving a falling baby: Hyph.

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: Mini-Marching Bands 7

It's been nearly two weeks since "Mini-Marching Bands 7" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have correctly solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Perry Groot
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Steve Gunter

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

PUZZLE #462: Mini-Marching Bands 7

PUZZLE #462

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 7

This puzzle contains a word 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 answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a physical puzzle

ROWS
1) Mathematical partner of mean and median

    Spinning shop class machine

2) Peel a plum, perhaps

    "I was at the movie theater", for one

3) Booker T. & the _____ ("Green Onions" group)

    Comes afterward, like hilarity

4) The Bad News Bears actress Tatum

    Shopping icon on Mercari

5) Round cracker made by Nabisco

    Spanish word that's the opposite of "baja" (which means "short" or "low", so you know)

6) "Little" mouse from E. B. White's first children's book

    OB/_____

7) Red resident of Sesame Street who's always 3 1⁄2 years old

    Kix, Trix, or Twix, for one

8) Act like a hummingbird or helicopter

    Someone whose pants are on fire?

9) Pace product

    Segment of a video game that you can try before you buy

BANDS

A) America's Next Top _____ (reality show created by Tyra Banks)

     Someone who might unironically say "There is no God!"

     Wife of Perseus in Greek mythology

     Symbols for spares, in bowling

     Frolic for fun

B) _____ 51 (mid-'90s arcade game where you shoot up aliens)

     Word that Franklin D. Roosevelt is facing on a dime

     Emery file target

     Disgusting, like a rebellion?

C) Erotic

     Greta who played Mata Hari in Mata Hari (1931)

     Silence someone on Zoom

D) Former prison that once had Machine Gun Kelly as an inmate

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: Mini-Marching Bands 6

Merry Christmas! And since it is Christmas Day, I'll keep this brief and head straight to the solvers of "Mini-Marching Bands 6" from thirteen days ago:

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

Now head below the break for the answers, as well as a short explanation on how this coincidentally overlapped with one of my solver's puzzles!

PUZZLE #417: Mini-Marching Bands 6

PUZZLE #417

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 6

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a comic book character

ROWS
1) Smallest bills in a tip jar

    _____ horizon (black hole's point of no return)

2) Seven in Japanese (or the Darlings' dog in Peter Pan)

    Supply that's squirreled away

3) Romantic fling in many a soap opera plotline

    Rightmost numeral on a grandfather clock

4) “Ehhh, it's a possibility"

    Impressive achievement

5) Emmy-winning Family Game Night host Newton

    Abbr. on an invite

6) Marshmello music video with over 23 million likes on YouTube

    Cupcake froster

7) Color of the M&M's character who wears glasses

    Furthermore

8) Category for one of the Golden Globes' two "Best Motion Picture" awards

    The Indianapolis 500's 200

9) "_____ on Jeopardy" ("Weird Al" song featuring the voice of Don Pardo): 2 wds.

    Company that manufactured the Saturn video game console

BANDS

A) 6/42 as a simplified fraction: Hyph.

     Computer support ace: 2 wds.

     Like the wisest advice

     _____-state drive

     The Caped Crusader

B) 1997 animated movie whose titular princess is voiced by Meg Ryan

     Scooter brand whose name means "wasp" in Italian

     Hedley _____ (Blazing Saddles villain who frequently gets called "Hedy")

     Do nothing, like bread?

C) Winged creatures that revive your health in the Legend of Zelda games

     Close-knit Scottish unit

     Cowboy toy whose phrases include "There's a snake in my boot!"

D) Become buddies with

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: Mini-Marching Bands 5

It's been thirteen days since "Mini-Marching Bands 5" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people have successfully solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Pavel Curtis
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Wendy Walker
• Meg Duvall
• Tamara Brenner
• Giovanni Pagano
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Joseph Sampson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mindy Moore
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #347: Mini-Marching Bands 5

PUZZLE #347

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 5

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 answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a clothing company

ROWS
1) Like some tablet apps downloaded at no cost

    Certain binary digits

2) "He's So _____" (Pointer Sisters song)

    Ultimate end

3) Key to the left of F1

    Author of Little Women and Little Men

4) Cello relative with four strings

    Starr who was MVP for the first two Super Bowls

5) Achmed Khan's kid brother in Backyard Baseball (or another way to spell an Arab chief)

    Flightless bird from South America

6) Buddhist shrine

    Initials preceding "Constitution" or "Enterprise"

7) Gerund's suffix

    In the thick of

8) The Jane _____ Book Club (2007 romance film)

    Narcissist's problem

9) Code for crafting a webpage

    "Trembling" poplar tree

BANDS

A) Mr. _____ (villain from Batman & Robin who loves to make bad ice puns)

     Slab with hieroglyphs and Greek letters: 2 wds.

     One of 150 poems in the Old Testament

     Language spoken in Bangkok

     Covers with concrete

B) Jekyll's worse half

     Elvira, _____ of the Dark (horror host)

     Stir Crazy actor Wilder

     Destructive waves

C) LibreOffice's version of Microsoft Excel (or a college math course, for short)

     Hawaiian island with Waikiki Beach

     Baseballer Joe mentioned in "Mrs. Robinson"

D) Canine breed of Mr. Peanutbutter from BoJack Horseman

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: Mini-Marching Bands 4

It's been thirteen days since my fourth "Mini-Marching Bands" puzzle was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Cindy Heisler ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Kevin Orfield ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Stephen Potter ****
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #286
MINI-MARCHING BANDS 4

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a music video and movie director

ROWS
1) South Korean singer who did "Gentleman" and "Gangnam Style"
    Angelic child depicted in many Precious Moments products
2) Language where we got the words "bangle" and "bungalow"
    Desert in southern Mongolia
3) Voice higher than baritone
    Hello Neighbor: Hide and _____ (indie horror video game)
4) "Pretty Boy" Floyd, for one
    Coach Riley who owns the trademark for "three-peat"
5) S-shaped molding often seen in architecture and crosswords
    Baptism or bat mitzvah, e.g.
6) Cinnamon-brown pear
    Gets warmer, as in a game of "Hot and Cold"
7) Farming prefix (HINT: Switch the middle two letters to get the name of a Best Picture Oscar winner)
    Pine tree's seed producers
8) Pluribus, as in "e pluribus unum"
    _____ Jam: A New Legacy (upcoming film starring LeBron James and Bugs Bunny)
9) Cartoon character with a blue beehive
    Like tales of Paul Bunyan (or Paul Bunyan himself)

BANDS
A) Lover of Eros/Cupid
    Inventor of a cube with six colors
    Cover a surface by repeatedly using a single tile shape
    Cricket's father's mother in Big City Greens
    Payphone location
B) _____ Girls (folk rock duo who appears in the crossword documentary Wordplay)
    Frequently flog, like a dead horse
    Summary of previous episodes
    Jewish version of a church
C) Like myths involving Loki (not the Marvel one)
    Keyed instrument played by Alicia Keys
    Painfully tight undergarment that Pirates of the Caribbean's Elizabeth hates wearing
D) _____ of Arabia (film that won seven Academy Awards)

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: a .PNG and a link to a .PDF!

ANSWERS: Mini-Marching Bands 3

The Powerpuff Girls, mentioned in the clue for TRIPLETS

Thirteen days have passed since "Mini-Marching Bands 3" was posted on this blog, and ten people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Stephen Staver ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Joe Bernard ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Eric Maddy ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a couple solver comments!

PUZZLE #230: Mini-Marching Bands 3

PUZZLE #230

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 3

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: A two-word movie title

ROWS
1) Fat, in French (HINT: Think of a New Orleans celebration)
    Word following "comic" or "Möbius"
2) Basketball player from San Antonio
    South Korean host of the 1988 Summer Olympics
3) _____ and Omega (2010 animated film about wolves)
    Boringly repetitive teaching technique
4) Fictional lawyer Perry
    Pretzel seasoning
5) India._____ ("Video" singer)
    Not that
6) With "The", Steve Martin film where he "was born a poor black child"
    Eragon actor Jeremy
7) Better Call Saul channel
    Sketched again
8) Rock genre of Anti-Flag and Against Me!
    Small thicket of trees
9) Black-tailed or white-tailed ungulate
    Actress Garbo (I would've used a griffon from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but that'd be too obscure, even for me!)

BANDS
A) Organic tennis court covering
    The Powerpuff Girls or Donald Duck's nephews, e.g.
    It's called a "jumper" in England
    Avarice
    Slumber party attire
B) Loose change holder
    Project's preliminary plan
    Vulcan who said "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"
    2 is one
C) American _____ (Triple Crown-winning horse)
    Gavel-pounding judge's shout
    Cincinnati Bengal-turned-sportscaster Collinsworth
D) Picketing one's workplace, perhaps: 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 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!

ANSWERS: Mini-Marching Bands 2

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "Mini-Marching Bands 2", and since then, eight of you have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Dan Simonds *
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #161: Mini-Marching Bands 2

PUZZLE #161

MINI-MARCHING BANDS 2

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, starting at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

Once you've filled everything in, read the letters on the diagonal dashed line for the FINAL ANSWER: A two-word phrase

​ROWS

1) '60s Joker portrayer Cesar

    Number that's "ichi" in Japanese

2) H-shaped Greek letter

    Buccaneer's crime

3) Muslim veil

    _____ Men ("Who Let the Dogs Out?" group)

4) Hiro's aunt in Big Hero 6

    Railroad Tycoon vehicle

5) _____-deucey (backgammon variant)

    Religious 80s sitcom starring Sherman Hemsley

6) Kmart and Walmart competitor

    Dr. Robotnik's first name

7) Blue hue worn by the San Jose Sharks

    One over par

8) Specialized lingo

    Clownfish created by Pixar

9) Roman version of the Greek goddess Artemis

    Paper Mario partner who lights up dark spaces (HINT: it's also a light bulb measure)

BANDS

A) City that wasn't built in a day

    Carol (2015) actress Mara

    Pester

    Resident of Canada's capital

    First _____ kit

    Type of briefcase used by lawyers

B) Mammal with a long, flexible snout

    Goal worth Gamerscore points in any Xbox One game

    Beast bested by Puss in Boots

    Deep purple berry from Brazil

C) Obese alien choked to death by Leia

    Pal in Puerto Rico

    Very loud trumpet noises

D) Video game genre of Command & Conquer and Civilization

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!

ANSWERS: Mini-Marching Bands

It's been about two weeks since I've published my first attempt at a "Marching Bands" puzzle (which you can still solve either here or here), so now it's time to reveal the answers! Before I do that, however, here are a list of people who have solved it:

• Grant Fikes **
• Eric Maddy **
• Tyler Hinman **
• Yossi Fendel **
• Sam Levitin **
• Mom **
• Adam Weaver **
• Lynn Sweeney *

Now just click on "Read more" below for the answers!

EASY VERSION: Mini-Marching Bands

It's been roughly a week since I've published my "Mini-Marching Bands" puzzle, and so far, 7 people have managed to solve it. If you want an easier version of said puzzle, just go below the break!

PUZZLE #13: Mini-Marching Bands

PUZZLE #13

MINI-MARCHING BANDS

This next puzzle of mine is Marching Bands, as made famous by Brendan Emmett Quigley. I know it's smaller than the usual ones, but I've tried making a full 6-band puzzle which didn't quite work out, so I made a smaller one to compensate. Anyway, here are the directions:

The answers in this grid march both across the Rows and around the Bands. Each row contains two answers, clued in order. Their dividing point is for you to determine, except in Row 5, where the two answers are separated by a black square. The answers in each Band will be entered clockwise, staring at a lettered square (A-D) and ending in the space below that square. The dividing points in each band's string of words are also for you to determine. Each square will be used twice; once in a Row's word, and once in a Band's word.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the answer in Band "D": A two-word video game character who would fit this puzzle's "mini" theme quite nicely.

ROWS
1) Payton or Melrose
    Award-winning graphic novel series by Jeff Smith
2) Spanish frog
    Cache
3) Actress who played the Invisible Woman twice
    Art made up of computer text
4) Paint layer
    Fear & Loathing _____ Vegas
5) One half of an ice cube grabber
    Manga/anime character whose alter ego is the "King of Games"
6) Fred's job in Science Court, for short
    Don't give away
7) _____ the Fourth Wall (comedic web series reviewing comic books)
    "Gimme Some More" rapper
8) "Muffin-top" material
    Group of eight
9) You might get rid of these with Dr. Scholl's Freeze-Away (I didn't get paid for this blatant plug of a product I don't use!)
    Shakespearian commotions

BANDS
A) Sleeping with Ghosts band
     Grape drinks favored by M*A*S*H's Radar (and plenty of crosswords)
     Apple product first released in 2010
     What you need to sip up the second answer in Band "A"
     Tracy Chapman's debut single
B) 1997 Don Bluth animated film
     Irritate
     Metallic blue?
     Jane Goodall saw chimpanzees use one in 1960
C) Sheepish sounds
     You're looking at it right now!
     Writ requiring someone to testify
D) The FINAL ANSWER (see directions for more details)

Once you think you know what the FINAL ANSWER is, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com before March 15th and I'll place your name on a list of solvers when I post the answers to this puzzle. You can also use those e-mail addresses to give me feedback/comments on my puzzle or send me the FINAL ANSWER to last week's stumper (which you can solve here with an easier version here). If you want a version of this puzzle you can print out, head below the break for just that!