PUZZLE #194: Pent Words 11

PUZZLE #194

PENT WORDS 11

For this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (they’re sorta like Tetris pieces, except they’re areas made up of five squares each) and put a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, reading left to right beginning with the top row, will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example above, the rows spell out CHINS, PARTY, and ANKLE, and the pentominoes spell out the words CHINA, STYLE, and PRANK.) Use the across answers to figure out where the pentominoes go.

Once you're done, combine the two unclued pentominoes to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: A two-word phrase

ACROSS (Two answers per row)
1) Twister's bullying big brother from Rocket Power
    Red root veggie seen in salads
2) Empty, like some apartments or stares
    Theater award given by The Village Voice
3) Touch up, as a painting
    Viewtiful _____ (stylish GameCube game)
4) Extra car tires
    Swallow hard
5) One of 18 sections of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Moray, for one
6) Eyewitness's tale
    _____ Minella (punnily-named Muppet chimp)
7) Quick haircut
    A bicycle built for two
8) Unexpected sports victories
    Historical Aaron played by Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton
9) Snake that bit Cleopatra
    Gromit's owner in a series of claymation shorts
10) Hen houses
      American Ninja Warrior co-host Gbaja-Biamila

PENTOMINOES (Five letters per answer)
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Mustard relative seen in salads
* Ring-tailed creature native to Madagascar
* Cookie _____ (cereal)
* White hamster from Hamtaro (or an old movie theater name)
* Mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles
* Insect stage before pupa
* Sound from a gym rat lifting heavy weights
* Rapper Shakur whose album All Eyez on Me reached diamond status
* With "El", legendary Luchador who wore a silver mask
* Spicy dance?
* Kindly villager voiced by John Goodman in The Emperor's New Groove
* Place to buy lemonade from kids
* SiriusXM medium
* Celestial body with a tail
* Peanut butter cup creator H. B. _____
* Steel rod in concrete
* Female Futurama character with one eye
* "Headstrong" hard rock band

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: Island Hopping

It's been thirteen days since "Island Hopping" was posted on this blog, and six people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Sam Levitin ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Dan Simonds ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****  

Now head below the break for the answers as well as some comments from two of my solvers!

PUZZLE #193: Lucky Sevens 6

PUZZLE #193

LUCKY SEVENS 6

Stacked together below are seven Sevens made up of 7 squares each. The answers to each Seven start in their respectively numbered squares and continue along its path surrounded by a bold outline, going right and then down. Meanwhile, the answers to the Rows go straight across the grid, including those with only one or two letters in them.

Once you've filled in the grid, the letters in the colored squares (in the order of the Sevens that they appear in, starting with the Seven marked with a 1) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A seven-letter word

ROWS
i) Bancroft who was the first woman to reach the North Pole
ii) Hit song by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger featured in the soundtrack to Spider-Man (2002)
iii) Buff lobster from SpongeBob SquarePants
iv) Peanuts character who frequently calls Peppermint Patty "sir"
v) Play make-believe
vi) Using a whisk on eggs
vii) Hockey legend Wayne
viii) _____ 51 (arcade game where you shoot aliens)
ix) Shop _____ You Drop (game show)
x) 60, to Cicero
xi) With "The", even shorter name for a community center founded in 1844

SEVENS
1) “The reports of my death are _____ exaggerated” (quote incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain)
2) Real name of "The Bride" from the Kill Bill movies
3) _____ Logic (Steely Dan album)
4) One-hit wonder whose "Toy Soldiers" went to #1
5) Crime that may be "grand" or "petty"
6) Red fish that could be a distracting clue?
7) Bothered, like a younger sibling

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: Code Crossword

It's been thirteen days since my first "Code Crossword" puzzle was posted on this blog, and it proved to be a tad easier than "Family Reunions 3", as six of you guys have successfully solved it. Here's the list:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Mom ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

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

PUZZLE #192: Island Hopping

PUZZLE #192

ISLAND HOPPING

This next puzzle was inspired by one of my usual solvers, Lynn Sweeney. I introduced her to Hashi puzzles not too long ago, and while we were solving some together, Lynn and I came up with a couple twists for this puzzle that would make it suitable for this blog. I wound up using both ideas while making this next puzzle, so I hope you enjoy this effort we came up with!

Presenting a wordy twist on Hashi/Bridges! Below is a sea of islands, all labeled with lowercase letters, floating among blue capital letters. Your job is to connect all the islands with bridges (or lines) between islands so that the islands form a single connected group. First, replace the lowercase letters on each island with the answers to each corresponding clue, all of which will be numbers greater than zero. Then, use the numbers to add bridges while obeying the following rules:

1. The number on each island tells you how many bridges are to be connected to that individual island.
2. There are a maximum of two bridges between any pair of islands.
3. All bridges are placed vertically or horizontally, never diagonally or at an angle.
4. A bridge never passes through or over an island.
5. Bridges cannot cross over each other.

Once you've connected all the bridges, it's time do do some travelling! Begin at the island marked "Start" and cross over bridges until you arrive at the island marked "Finish", picking up blue capital letters along the way. The FINAL ANSWER will be what the blue letters spell out, in order.

a) Number of colors on Poland's flag
b) Brett Favre's jersey number
c) Number of US Presidents elected more than two times
d) Number of the Super Mario Bros. game that introduces the Raccoon power-up
e) Number of Sleeping Beauty's fairy godmothers in the Disney movie
f) Number of Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics
g) Number of US states whose names end in "T"
h) Number of members of Cream
i) Lithium's atomic number
j) Foreigner album that includes "Urgent" and "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
k) Number of points that a "U" tile is worth in Scrabble
l) Number of sons in the Brady Bunch family
m) Number of sisters Rarity has in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
n) It's a "magic number", according to Schoolhouse Rock!
o) Keyboard key that shares its space with a dollar sign
p) Number of billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri in an Oscar-winning movie
q) Number of NBA championships won by the Miami Heat (so far)
r) Metallica song with the lyrics "Hold my breath as I wish for death"
s) Number of seasons that NBC's Chuck ran for
t) Crash Bandicoot __: Cortex Strikes Back

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 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 #191: Code Crossword

PUZZLE #191

CODE CROSSWORD

This puzzle contains a word suggested by Patron Grant Fikes as a reward for being the only person (that I know of) to solve my 15th Patreon-exclusive puzzle from this past June. If you want to suggest words of your own, support me on Patreon at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month, or support me at $30 a month to suggest an entire puzzle type each month!

In the crossword puzzle below, the numbers in the grid's squares (from 1 to 26) stand for letters of the alphabet. You must crack the code to reveal the words. For each letter that matches a certain number, place that letter in each square containing the number as well as the answer key next to the grid, with all 26 letters appearing at least once in the completed grid.

Once you're done, look through the answer key to get the FINAL ANSWER: A 12-letter word

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: Wordy Web 2

The final puzzle of Double Sevens Month, "Wordy Web 2", was posted nearly two weeks ago, and nine people since then have correctly solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Mom ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ***

Now head below the break for the answers as well as a comment from one of my solvers!

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: Squeezed in the Middle 12

It's been almost two weeks since "Squeezed in the Middle 12" was posted on this blog, and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Michael Avanessian ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Dan Simonds ****

Now head below the break for the answers as well as comments from a couple of my solvers!