PUZZLE #342: The Spiral Squared 5

PUZZLE #342

THE SPIRAL SQUARED 5

This puzzle turns in two directions. The Spiral's "Inward" clues yield a sequence of words to be entered clockwise in the spaces from 1 to 100. The "Outward" clues yield a different set of words to be entered counterclockwise from 100 to 1. Fill in the answers, one letter per space, according to the numbers beside each clue. Make sure to keep track of which way you're going!

Once you've filled out the grid, read out the highlighted squares diagonally to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: a ten-letter word.

INWARD

1-5: Chocolate mint brand produced by Tootsie Roll Industries

6-11: Try again, in court

12-17: Give out homework

18-23: Tristan und _____ (Wagner opera)

24-27: Gold medal-winning skater Lipinski

28-32: Joe who played a burglar in the first two Home Alone films

33-38: Rico Rodriguez from Just Cause, for one (HINT: He's Mexican)

39-44: Biker gang member who gains telekinesis in Akira (anagram of OUTSET)

45-52: Train driver

53-57: Comedy, drama, or dramedy

58-62: Frankie _____ and the Four Seasons

63-68: Include a .PDF file with an email, say

69-76: Classical language of India

77-83: Warning from a fencer: 2 wds.

84-88: Frasier Crane's brother

89-96: Give up one's throne

97-100: Floating harbor marker

OUTWARD

100-95: "Of course I will!": 2 wds.

94-91: Sulfuric _____

90-83: Furthest edge of a tennis court

82-76: Police procedural featuring Sgt. Joe Friday

75-72: Rankles

71-68: Partner of Crosby, Stills and Young

67-61: Marsh reed

60-54: Female gargoyle from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

53-49: Color of Luigi's cap

48-42: Type of rock such as pegmatite or pumice

41-37: Grand _____ National Park, Wyoming

36-31: Type of tilted type

30-22: Divided

21-16: Having fewer wedges in Trivial Pursuit, perhaps

15-9: "Awkward Black Girl" who stars in HBO's Insecure: 2 wds.

8-5: That lady's

4-1: Pulitzer-winning novelist Ferber

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: Puzzle in the Round 4

Thirteen days have gone by since "Puzzle in the Round 4" was published on this blog, and just like last week's answer post, eighteen people have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Giovanni Pagano
• Dave C
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Patrick Jordan
• Sam Levitin
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Tyler Hinman
• Stephen Potter 
• Al Sisti
• Wendy Walker
• Mom and Alex Milton
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #341: Eat Your Words 6

PUZZLE #341

EAT YOUR WORDS 6

In this puzzle, the words hinted at by the numbered clues (The "Numbered Words") can "eat" a word hinted at by a different set of clues (The "Eaten Words") without rearranging any of the letters. For example, the word BIT can eat the word AND to form BANDIT. All of the new words are entered into the grid in the order of the Numbered Words, and the Eaten Words are in no particular order.

Once all of the new words have been placed, the letters in the highlighted third column will spell out two more words. Insert one of the column's new words into the other to get the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a board game

NUMBERED WORDS

1) "_____ for the Moment" (Eminem tune that samples Aerosmith's "Dream On")

2) Maggie from The Buzz on Maggie, for one (HINT: she's a bug that's usually pesky)

3) Gymnastic cushions

4) TV service that cord-cutters get rid of

5) Nikki Bella's wrestling twin

6) 2000s ABC drama set on an island with polar bears and a "smoke monster"

7) Rip and tear to shreds

8) "Guilty" or "not guilty" statement

9) Pointy prong on a pitchfork

EATEN WORDS

• Andy's son in The Andy Griffith Show

• Commodore or commander, e.g.

• God of thunder playable in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

• Have possession of

• Kiss from a canine

• _____ Management (Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson film)

• Rock trio with a hit song about a white room with black curtains

• Uno y dos

• Word preceding "ballerina" or "donna"

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: Super Sixes 4

It's been close to two weeks since "Super Sixes 4" got posted on this blog, and an impressive eighteen people have successfully solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Dave C
• Giovanni Pagano
• Kevin Orfield
• Karen Spencer
• Sam Levitin
• Stephen Potter
• Brian Cross
• Mom
• Patrick Jordan
• Tamara Brenner
• Tyler Hinman
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Peter Abide
• Alex Milton

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

PUZZLE #340: Puzzle in the Round 4

PUZZLE #340

PUZZLE IN THE ROUND 4

To solve this tough puzzle, fill in as many of the 5-letter answers next to their clues as you can. Next, look for shared letters, and then enter each letter into its correct place in the diagram (though you'll most likely need to scramble the order of the letters to make them fit). The letter in the grid's center will be shared by all of the answer words. As a little hint, look for unshared letters to help you determine the letters that will go in the outer ring to form the FINAL ANSWER, reading from 1 to 24.

The FINAL ANSWER is the name of an illustrated children's novel

1) Spiteful, like a feline?

     _ _ _ _ _

2) Luxury boat seen in the "I'm on a Boat" music video

     _ _ _ _ _

3) Like a 3° angle

     _ _ _ _ _

4) New York city on the Mohawk River

     _ _ _ _ _

5) _____ remover (product such as Spray 'n Wash)

     _ _ _ _ _

6) Poorly-received version of Windows released in 2007

     _ _ _ _ _

7) Sculpture of Jesus and Mary signed by Michelangelo

     _ _ _ _ _

8) Create on canvas

     _ _ _ _ _

9) Favre who was in (and won) Super Bowl XXXI

     _ _ _ _ _

10) Choctaw, Chickasaw, or Cherokee

     _ _ _ _ _

11) Aquatic mustelid

     _ _ _ _ _

12) Rock singer Reznor who won two Best Original Score Oscars

     _ _ _ _ _

13) Three threesomes, say

     _ _ _ _ _

14) Redundant partner of "foremost"

     _ _ _ _ _

15) Seven-minute movie

     _ _ _ _ _

16) Life preserver shape

     _ _ _ _ _

17) The Joker's hired goons, e.g.

     _ _ _ _ _

18) _____ Sudan, Africa

     _ _ _ _ _

19) UFO-worshipping groups, for some

     _ _ _ _ _

20) Garth Brooks' Oklahoma birthplace

     _ _ _ _ _

21) Be a braggart

     _ _ _ _ _

22) Talking canine seen in Jetsons: The Movie

     _ _ _ _ _

23) It shoots electric darts

     _ _ _ _ _

24) NES controller button that either begins or pauses a game

     _ _ _ _ _

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: Squeezed in the Middle 17

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Squeezed in the Middle 17" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Dave C
• Pavel Curtis
• Tyler Hinman
• Kevin Orfield
• Karen Spencer
• Patrick Jordan
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Sam Levitin
• Giovanni Pagano
• Lynn Sweeney
• Wendy Walker
• Peter Abide

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

PUZZLE #339: Super Sixes 4

PUZZLE #339

SUPER SIXES 4

Enter the answers to the Across clues in the appropriate rows reading from left to right. The answer to each "Sixes" clue starts in the numbered square and goes either clockwise or counterclockwise around its 3x2 rectangle (the direction is left for you to determine by using the Across answers).

Once you've completely filled in the grid, the letters in the gray squares, read from top to bottom, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of a musical group that originally had six members

ACROSS
i) Piece in the board game Go

ii) Baleen whale's grub

iii) Stimulant in Barq's root beer

iv) Colosseum combatants

v) Timothy who played 007 in The Living Daylights

    "_____ Green is people!" (famous last line from a '70s dystopian film)

vi) Book after 2 Chronicles

     What a funambulist walks on

vii) Scarlet plants of the primrose family

      Handle a halberd, say

viii) Used a crowbar

        Jerks who drive way too close to another car's rear bumper

ix) Last name of a talkative cartoon rooster

     Light in the night sky

x) #1 Beatles song that begins with a harmonica riff: 3 wds.

    He's toast

xi) The titular wimpy kid from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books

     Toys in the Attic rock band

xii) Change from gas to liquid again

xiii) Picketers' posters

xiv) Red carpet walker, briefly

xv) Sheep's milk sac

SIXES

1) CD's songs that can be "hidden"

2) Model train brand in the National Toy Hall of Fame

3) Coated like a Christmas ham

4) "Curiously Strong" mint

5) Oldest student in high school, perhaps

6) Damon Salvatore's brother in The Vampire Diaries

7) Virtual animal from a website popular in the 2000s (such as a Kacheek or Korbat)

8) Scottish kilt pattern

9) Like Snidely Whiplash's mustache

10) "_____ Ride" (Christmas song by the Ronettes)

11) Wee wave

12) Block progress of

13) Really large number that inspired the name of a really large tech company

14) Snarl up like fishing wire

15) Respectful tribute

16) Cutting-edge

17) Pirates of the Caribbean: At _____ End

18) Nintendo 64 game where you play as a wizard's hand covering

19) The woman wearing the scarlet letter

20) Fabrics for overalls

21) Type of mining used during a gold rush (Anagram of PARCEL)

22) Ring around the sun

23) Snuggle up

24) Siamese, Sphynx, Scottish Fold, and others

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: Dilly Dally 4

It's been thirteen days since "Dilly Dally 4" was posted on this blog, and sixteen people have correctly solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• M. Sean Molley
• Dave C
• Kevin Orfield
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Tamara Brenner
• Peter Abide
• Alex Milton
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney
• Giovanni Pagano
• Wendy Walker

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

PUZZLE #338: Squeezed in the Middle 17

PUZZLE #338

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 17

For this puzzle, you're going to sandwich together words (entered in the white rectangles) by surrounding it with a letter on each side, one at the beginning and one at the end, making a new word in the process. Once you're done, the extra letters you've added in the "crust" (the brown squares) will spell out a two-word phrase. In the example above, the words URN, RAT, and OVER become BURNT, IRATE, and GOVERN, and the letters in the brown squares, reading down, spell out BIG TEN. However, to make things trickier, the "Wholes" will be in no particular order, so it's up to you to figure out which one of the "Centers" it matches up with!

Once you've filled out everything, the letters in the brown squares, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: the name of an '80s sitcom

CENTERS
1) Wheel of Fortune category with puzzles like "MUSIC FESTIVAL"

2) Neither Dem. or Rep.

3) My Little _____: Pinkie Pie's Party (Nintendo DS game)

4) Interview with the Vampire actor Stephen

5) Stepladder's step

6) Tree rings' indication

WHOLES

• Champing at the bit

• Lucid _____

• Nick News anchorwoman Ellerbee

• Rock genre for Melvins or Mudhoney

• Sneezy's place in an alphabetical list of Snow White's dwarves

• Word derived from someone's name, like Jacuzzi

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: Quadruple Cross 3

Before I reveal the answers to "Quadruple Cross 3" from two weeks ago, I just wanted to let you guys know that this very puzzle was featured on a podcast not too long ago! You see, there's a podcast called "Fill Me In" that talks about crosswords (and whatever else that comes to the hosts' minds), and on episode #297 from May 25th, they gave a shoutout to my site and this specific puzzle format! If you want to hear it for yourself, you can listen to that specific episode over here (one of the main topics from it is the crossword history of a 3-letter word usually clued as "Donkey", so obviously there's a Mild Language Warning for those who care about that sort of thing) and if you want to fast-forward to the relevant part, it's around the 1 hour & 13 minute mark. So a big thanks to Brian and Ryan (the hosts of the show) for talking about it, and another thanks to Peter Abide, who let me know about it! Now with that bit of news out of the way, here are the nineteen people who have successfully solved this puzzle:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Dave C
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Karen Spencer
• Sam Levitin
• Stephen Potter
• Izak Bulten
• Seth Christenfeld
• Mom
• Tamara Brenner
• Patrick Jordan
• Wendy Walker
• Al Sisti
• Lynn Sweeney
• Lila Goldenberg
• Peter Abide

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