ANSWERS: Empty Word Ladder 5

It's been almost two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 5" got posted on this blog, and twenty people have solved it since then:

• Marie desJardins
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Cathy Bowen
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Okieboy2008
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Chris Kochmanski
• Derek Allen
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Stasi Gustafson
• Lynn Sweeney
• Craig Leach

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

PUZZLE #554: Empty Word Ladder 5

PUZZLE #554

EMPTY WORD LADDER 5

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 create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase relating to marketing.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Burn, but barely

• Crank-operated hoisting device

• Feathered appendages that allow Hawkgirl to fly

• Grimace at a groin shot, say

• Grows smaller, as the Moon

• Magical sticks that can be bought at Ollivanders in the Harry Potter universe

• Plays the voice-activated video game Karaoke Revolution, for example

• Sabrina the Teenage _____ (Archie Comics character)

• The greatest thing _____ sliced bread

• Twists a key to power an old toy mouse, with "up"

• United Kingdom country whose capital is Cardiff

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: Empty Word Ladder 4

It's been almost two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 4" was posted on this blog, and an impressive twenty people have solved it since then:

• Cathy Bowen
• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Pavel Curtis
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Josie Giles
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Chris Kochmanski
• Wendy Walker
• Stasi Gustafson
• Sam Levitin
• KeoFam
• Tamara Brenner
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Derek Allen

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

PUZZLE #509: Empty Word Ladder 4

PUZZLE #509

EMPTY WORD LADDER 4

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 either order to create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word tennis term or a two-word surfing term.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Beagle, Borzoi, Briard, or some other specific dog type

• Five Guys Burgers and _____

• Growing _____ (sitcom that lasted seven seasons)

• Handlebar coverings

• Island excursions given away as prizes on Wheel of Fortune, say

• Loaf that you can bake in the computer game Ultima VII

• Makes an attempt

• Puts on a few pounds

• Radio DJ Alan who was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

• Smiles like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland

• Unshackles

• Watching this dry is insanely boring, according to a well-known idiom

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: Empty Word Ladder 3

It's been nearly two weeks since "Empty Word Ladder 3" was posted on this blog, and nineteen people have correctly solved it, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave Currin
• Pavel Curtis
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Sam Levitin
• Shannon Milbourne
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Perry Groot
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Steve Gunter
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #457: Empty Word Ladder 3

PUZZLE #457

EMPTY WORD LADDER 3

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!

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 either order to create the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word color or a two-word food.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Charlie horse, for example

• Corvids that are smaller than ravens

• _____-country cycling (Olympic sport)

• Horror novelist Barker or adventure novelist Cussler

• Learns an entire semester's worth of material in a single night (or tries to, anyway)

• Macintosh computer's startup sound

• Onion relative chopped, then topped on a baked potato

• Regal headwear that covers King Neptune's baldness in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

• Rude and crude

• Species of Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, for short

• Tournament winner

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: Empty Word Ladder 2

Thirteen days have gone by since "Empty Word Ladder 2" was posted on this blog, and seventeen people since then have successfully solved it! Here's the list of all of them, but just as a reminder, the ones listed in orange are people who support me on Patreon:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Meg Duvall
• Al Sisti
• Sam Levitin
• Jon Kremsky
• Mindy Moore
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Michael Lebowitz
• Peter Abide
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner

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

PUZZLE #373: Empty Word Ladder 2

PUZZLE #373

EMPTY WORD LADDER 2

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. This pair of words makes up the FINAL ANSWER: two related medical words.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• "All She _____ to Do Is Dance" (Don Henley song)

• Bides one's time

• Exists

• Fur color of Ice Bear from We Bare Bears

• Henry VIII had six

• Human body's largest internal organ by mass

• Shrinks like a moon

• Simple machine with a fulcrum

• Southernmost country in South America

• Tiny bits that rhyme with "bits"

• What the playable characters in Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer ride on

• _____ You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock film)

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: Empty Word Ladder

Before I get to the answers for "Empty Word Ladder", I have an announcement to make: I'm considering retiring the "Hint Star" system that I've been using for the past several years now. My reasoning behind this is twofold: nobody's been really using it (except for those I see in person, and even then, it's usually one, maybe two hints used, if at all) and I've come to realize that this system has been more needlessly complicated than necessary.

Fortunately, I've already came up with a possible (and simpler) replacement: Each solver can ask for as many hints as they want, but if they do, they'll have a "[hint(s) used]" tag next to their name. If that sounds okay to you (or if you come up with a better alternative), let me know in the comments or through email, and I'll plan to implement it in the next week or two. Until then, here are the eleven solvers from my first Word Ladder puzzle from thirteen days ago:

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

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

PUZZLE #324: Empty Word Ladder

PUZZLE #324

EMPTY WORD LADDER

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.

CLUES

• WORD AT THE START OF THE LADDER

• WORD AT THE END OF THE LADDER

• Angle in handwriting

• Bar for a pet parakeet

• Hippie's V sign

• Informal lingo

• Invisible vehicle flown by Wonder Woman

• Princess playable in Super Mario 3D World

• Robert who sang for Led Zeppelin

• Streaming TV service owned by Dish Network (or a broken arm holder)

• Wizards of Waverly _____ (Disney Channel sitcom)

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!