PUZZLE #434: The Spiral Squared 7

PUZZLE #434

THE SPIRAL SQUARED 7

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

1-8: Meal shipment from GrubHub or DoorDash

9-13: Dynamite inventor Alfred

14-20: Observe closely

21-25: Surname on a green-and-yellow tractor

26-31: Weaselly animal commonly kept as a pet (except in Hawaii and California)

32-40: Leftmost foot lever on a piano: 2 wds.

41-44: Word preceding "rock" or "rain"

45-51: The _____ Hall Show ('90s talk show with a "Dog Pound")

52-60: Drink from another water bottle, say

61-64: Stand-up comedian Love who is a judge on Criss Angel's Magic With the Stars

65-71: Answering machine's playback

72-77: "I didn't do it!" or "It wasn't me!"

78-83: University grounds

84-88: "Excelsior!", for New York

89-96: Like the side of toast that (supposedly) always lands on the floor

97-100: _____ Erikson Day (holiday celebrated by Norwegian-Americans and SpongeBob)

OUTWARD

100-94: Center _____ (Willie Mays' position)

93-90: Latin phrase spoken by Caesar after Brutus' betrayal: 2 wds.

89-81: "Down the hatch!": 2 wds.

80-73: Postcards from the Edge actress Shirley

72-68: French artist Edgar who often painted ballerinas

67-60: Florida tribe that owns the Hard Rock Cafe

59-55: Arriving after the school bell

54-47: Black Canary, Black Widow, and Shuri as Black Panther, to name a few

46-40: Square root symbol

39-35: Capable and not clumsy

34-29: _____'s Home for Imaginary Friends (Cartoon Network series)

28-22: Roller derby official in a striped shirt

21-17: Material for Mudd Jeans

16-13: Green-haired driver from Crazy Taxi (or a figure skating jump)

12-8: Ivory's partner in a song by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney

7-1: Much-maligned

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: Insiders 2

It's been about two weeks since "Insiders 2" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to list the names of everyone who solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #433: Line 'Em Up 12

PUZZLE #433

LINE 'EM UP 12

Place the answers to each numbered clue in the squares to the right of each corresponding number (a number in brackets following each clue will tell you how many letters are in each answer). Once you have the answers, align them properly in the grid so that going down, a two-word phrase will be spelled out by the two red columns in the grid's center.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the original name of a sports team

1) "Anti-comedian" Andy portrayed by Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon [7]

2) Produce an egg [3]

3) "Nose" of Rambi the Rhino from Donkey Kong 64 [4]

4) Birthstone for June that technically isn't a stone [5]

5) _____ RemotePlus (add-on for Nintendo's remote-shaped controllers) [3]

6) Organ that cleans toxins from the blood [6]

7) Country singer Johnny who famously covered Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" [4]

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: The Block List 5

It's been nearly two weeks since "The Block List 5" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to reveal the list of all eighteen-plus people who have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Nancy Stueve
• Chris Kochmanski
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Mom
• KeoFam
• Tyler Hinman
• Tamara Brenner
• SquishmallowsUnited
• Zach Moore
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter

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

PUZZLE #432: Insiders 2

PUZZLE #432

INSIDERS 2

Each row in this puzzle consists of two answers, clued in the order in which they appear. Going across both of these answers is a third word, known as an "Inner Word". For example, if a row's two answers were JETSAM and PLEA, then the Inner Word for that string of letters would be SAMPLE (like so: JETSAMPLEA). The Inner Words are listed in no particular order, and shading them or crossing them out in each row is highly recommended.

Once everything's been filled in, all of the letters not used in the Inner Words, when read left to right and row by row, will spell out a clue to the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word title

ROWS

1) Pungent like kimchi or wasabi

    '90s computer-themed kids' game show named after a mouse sound

2) _____ Island Immigration Museum (New York tourist attraction)

    Past, present, or future, in grammar class

3) "Childlike" monarch of Fantasia in The Neverending Story

    Tokyo, back in the 1700s

4) Watching wildlife

    Procter & Gamble's laundry detergent in a red bottle

5) Paper that absorbs ink from a quill

    If _____ Give a Mouse a Cookie (children's picture book)

6) Someone who checks a wine's flavor

    Like an arm that's been slept on for too long

7) "O Canada", for Canada

    Ancient Egyptian symbol that means "life"

8) Reflected sound that the Grinch argues with in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

    Fight the temptation

INNER WORDS

• Aloe Blacc song that hit the top ten on Billboard in 2014: 2 wds.

• Breastbone

• Cleaning the floors, cleaning the toilet, cleaning the litter box, etc.

• Flattened flowers in a book

• Hair metal band that did "Headed for a Heartbreak"

• Mega Millions, for one

• Regularly recurring

• Takes heed, or hears

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 19

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Squeezed in the Middle 19" was posted on this blog. A whopping nineteen people have solved it since then (technically, it's more, since one of them solved it with family members), and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Nancy Stueve
• Joe Bernard
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Michael Lebowitz
• Mike Armstrong
• Al Sisti
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• KeoFam
• Zach Moore
• Mom
• Lynn Sweeney
• Steve Gunter
• SquishmallowsUnited

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #431: The Block List 5

PUZZLE #431

THE BLOCK LIST 5

One of the clues in this puzzle contains a 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!

In each numbered row of squares, fill in the squares of each color with one of the given words below from the set of that color, keeping the letters in their original order, so that the entire row spells out a single longer word. However, you have to figure out what each smaller, color-coded word is based on the clues given.

Once you're done with the first four rows, enter the letters of the remaining words into the last row of squares similarly to spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a brand of cleaning products whose name is more than one word.

RED WORDS

• Camper's canvas covering

• _____ de plume (pen name)

• Divisible by two

• Fix, as a fight

BLUE WORDS

• Automated spam sender

• Bled in the washing machine

• Synonym for "mutilate" or "maul" that also starts with "M"

• Video game company that developed Columns and Crazy Taxi

GREEN WORDS

• "Everything You _____" (#1 hit by Vertical Horizon)

• Great blue wading bird

• Pointy part of a football shoe

• Sisters who sing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" in The Sound of Music

ORANGE WORDS

• "Air Force Ones" rapper

• First of three Latin words in Caesar's boast

• Icon on an iMac that looks like a garbage can

• The title character of Shrek Forever After, for one

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: Puzzle in the Round 6

It's been close to two weeks since "Puzzle in the Round 6" was published on this blog, and seventeen people (one of whom solved it as a family) have solved it since then:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #430: Squeezed in the Middle 19

PUZZLE #430

SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE 19

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 a 1980s teen film

CENTERS

1) Ogre in Japanese folklore

2) Chinese wind instrument hidden in the word "NICARAGUANS"

3) Former Roxy Music member Brian

4) Wide-_____ lens

5) Last name of Jessie from Saved by the Bell

6) Stretched out on the couch, say

7) All gone, like lunch

WHOLES

• Disney movie about Rapunzel which is the most expensive animated film ever

• Element after Vanadium in an alphabetical list

• Female governor from The Secret of Monkey Island (or a Seinfeld character)

• _____ Prime (Netflix series about Sega's blue hedgehog)

• Reptile with a dewlap

• Spanish, in Spanish

• Tidies up

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: Eat Your Words 8

It's been almost two weeks since "Eat Your Words 8" was posted on this blog, and over nineteen people have solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Kevin Orfield
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Patrick Jordan
• Nancy Stueve
• Tamara Brenner
• Mom
• Al Sisti
• Lynn Sweeney
• KeoFam
• Zach Moore
• Steve Gunter

Now head below the break for the answers!