PUZZLE #106: Brick By Brick 2

PUZZLE #106

BRICK BY BRICK 2

Place the 2x3 bricks into the grid below so that a crossword puzzle with rotational symmetry is formed. Each of the Across and Down clues hint at answers that appear in that row or column, all of which are in order. Be careful with the rows marked with a 7, 8, and 9, as the bricks that are placed in those rows will be split in half by a blue line, which you can see in the diagram above. Also, the letters that go in the blue line's squares will complete one answer in every Down column, though you'll have to figure out what those letters are.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the name of a video game that I got for Christmas yesterday

ACROSS

1) Simba's uncle
    Unimaginative dalmatian name
    Spanish-speaking kid from the Backyard Sports series
2) Euphonium's big brass cousin
    Snow queen who created Olaf
    Many characters in The Avengers (The British one, not the Marvel one)
3) Do as you're told
    Superhero name of Marvel's Janet van Dyne
    Pants-wearing member of the Warner Brothers (and Sister) from Animaniacs
4) 1957 Frank Sinatra musical film
    Like this answer
5) He "Goes to Washington" in a famous Jimmy Stewart film
6) Ease up
    Business card nos.
    Kon-Tiki, for one
7) Commissioner Bud who was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016
    The original protagonist of the Puyo Puyo series of puzzle games (Anagram of REAL)
    Norway's most populated city
8) THE FINAL ANSWER
9) Uncommon
    My Little Pony's Pinkie and family
    Meat Loaf's role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
10) Crosswordese leftovers
      Oldest sister from The Loud House
      Oglers
11) Kidnappers' demands
12) Bugs, to Elmer Fudd
      _____ Things (Steven King novel)
13) Heroes character whose paintings can predict the future
      Related (to)
      Nestlé's bubbly chocolate bar
14) Drawing tool for Rudy Tabootie
      _____ Effect: Andromeda (upcoming video game)
      The world's most famous loch
15) Former Destiny's Child member Rowland
      Android from Star Trek: The Next Generation
      Lament for "poor Yorick"

DOWN
1) Word in a red octagon
    George Jetson's pooch
    John ____ (Keanu Reeves' comeback role)
2) Largest Caribbean island
    Joy who is the only original cohost of The View left
    Arthur who won Wimbledon in 1975
3) Cain's brother in DC's House of Mystery (Oh, and the Bible as well)
    Command & Conquer: Red _____ (strategy game)
    False god, according to Judges
4) Brandy's brother
    They make up a mosaic
    Base or basket suffix
5) Horseshoe-shaped letter
    "Weird Al" Yankovic song about I Love Lucy
6) Home for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    With "The", Successor to "The '90s Are All That"
7) Sony console that originated as a CD-based add-on to the Super Nintendo
    Intel rival
8) Org. in the Spy Kids movies
    Corporate couplings
    Hypnotic Jungle Book snake
9) Touch a touchscreen, maybe
    Person who practices prestidigitation
10) Puzzled, or on the Pacific
      High IQ Society that turned 70 in 2016
11) USA Network series featuring Shawn and Gus
      Candy creator H. B. _____
12) On _____ with (equal to)
      The Price is Right announcer before Fields
      Sigourney's role in Ghostbusters (1984)
13) Peter Gabriel song about an anti-apartheid activist
      Remark to the audience
      Anime studio that did This Art Club Has A Problem! (Okay, it's a synonym for "perceive" or "touch")
14) Albanian coins
      Decorative buttons that Joanna hates to wear in Office Space
      Major or minor constellation
15) Spanish bears
      Paint shades
      Not a win

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: Lucky Sevens 2

Merry Christmas! I've got presents to open, so I'll keep this short. Here's all the people who have solved "Lucky Sevens 2" from a couple weeks ago:

• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Chris Hendricks ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****

And now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #105: Helter Skelter 2

PUZZLE #105

HELTER SKELTER 2

Each answer in this crossword variation starts at the indicated number, and then moves towards the direction of the next number (thought it may or may not stop there). The direction of the last answer is to be determined by the solver.

Once the grid has been filled out, unscramble the gray squares to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: An 8-letter word

1) Bikini top
2) Super _____ Crag (The final stage in Global GUTS)
3) Topaz or Turquoise, e.g.
4) Customizable avatar created by Nintendo
5) Lick _____ (KISS album and song): 2 wds.
6) Diagram that sadly does not taste like apple or cherry: 2 wds.
7) Cumberbatch's role in The Imitation Game
8) Oscar from Sesame Street, for one
9) Children's book about a teddy bear looking for a button
10) _____ Jones (live-action/animated movie)
11) Busytown creator Richard
12) Downward dog discipline
13) Croc's cousin
14) High school in Grease
15) Finalizes, as a guess on Don't Forget the Lyrics!: 2 wds.
16) Title character in a 2016 stop-motion film by Laika
17) "Tar" in Spanish (which makes the name of a certain tar pit group rather redundant...)
18) Like the tin roof in "Love Shack"
19) Green Teletubby
20) Screamed
21) Law that's been heavily abused to unfairly take down Youtube videos and such: Abbv.
22) "Be that _____ may ...": 2 wds.
23) Full House surname

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: Chain Reaction: Branching Out

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted "Chain Reaction: Branching Out", and since then, eight of you have managed to successfully solve it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Yossi Fendel ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now just head below the break for the answers and some solver comments!

PUZZLE #104: Lucky Sevens 2

PUZZLE #104

LUCKY SEVENS 2

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 left 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) will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: A company known for a certain color

ROWS
i) Movie starring rapper T.I. that's set in Georgia's largest city
ii) Lumino City is the sequel to this indie game (Anagram of MULE)
iii) Samus' armored suit that appears in every Metroid game
iv) Many Rugrats characters
v) He replaced Letterman in 2015
vi) "Did you guys start without me?": 3 wds.
vii) With "The", "Firestarter" electronica group
viii) Green-skinned Green Lantern who shares her name with a green gemstone
ix) Busta Rhymes album featuring "Gimme Some More": Abbv.
x) Internet country code for America's northern neighbor
xi) Tau's shape

SEVENS
1) The Mindy _____
2) Padmé's queenly alter ego (wait, didn't I already use her four puzzles ago?)
3) Howie Day's biggest only Top 40 hit
4) Charles who invented the first mechanical computer
5) Entertainment magazine known for its distinctive headlines
6) Cogsworth's candelabra cohort
7) No fewer than: 2 wds.

I know a lot of these are tough clues, but remember: you can always ask for help or look up the clues yourselves. Anyways, 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: Sudokurossword 2

It's been two weeks since I posted a guest puzzle from Grant Fikes, and as you can see below, there's been a pretty big dip in solvers, at least compared to my usual average number of solvers. Maybe it's because of the holidays and people are too busy to take time off to solve puzzles on this site, maybe this particular puzzle proved too hard for most people, or maybe they just forgot. Whatever the reason, I'd like to remind people that if they so wish, I can send them a weekly email reminder telling them when my latest puzzle has been posted, so email me if you want to take part of this offer. Anyways, here's all four people that have solved this puzzle:

• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• YYW ****
• Giovanni Pagano ***

Now head below the break for the answers and some solver comments!

PUZZLE #103: Chain Reaction: Branching Out

PUZZLE #103

CHAIN REACTION: BRANCHING OUT

First, find the answer to each corresponding clue, all of which are in no particular order. Then place the answers into the white boxes in the diagram below (leave the pink box alone for now) so that reading right, each pair of boxes that are connected with a line create a two-word phrase.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is the seven-letter word that goes in the pink box to create three more two-word phrases.

* Betty White's character in The Golden Girls [4]
* Bike part that attaches to the sprockets [5]
* Candle composition [3]
* Charlie Parker's nickname [4]
* Crush or Squirt from Finding Nemo, for example [6]
* Crystal that powers some clocks [6]
* Emulating a bunny rabbit [7]
* Kind of ironic justice [6]
* Ms. Antoinette [5]
* Oasis location (if you're lucky) [6]
* Oil company with a red and yellow scallop as its logo [5]
* Puzzle magazine that debuted in 1977 [5]
* Reciprocal, like respect [6]
* Ringer at a boxing match [4]
* Soup can shape [8]
* Surprised or electrocuted [7]
* The Hot 100 has 100 of them [5]
* Tramp's partner in a Disney film [4]
* Wheel _____ Club (Program for Wheel of Fortune fans) [8]
* Where Gilligan was stranded [6]
* WNBA team from New York [7]

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: 4X Game 5: XX/XY 3

As I write this, I'm in the middle of not feeling very well. Mind you, it's not because only four people so far solved my Grant's puzzle from last Monday, but because I've had a bad bug for almost all of this past week. So I'll try to make this short and reveal the solvers for "4X Game 5: XX/XY 3" from thirteen days ago:

• YYW ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Grant Fikes ****
• Mom ****
• Brad Eldredge ****
• Giovanni Pagano ****

Now just head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #102: Sudokurossword 2 (Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes!)

PUZZLE #102

SUDOKUROSSWORD 2

Guest Puzzle by Grant Fikes

You may recall a couple weeks ago that because of depression surrounding this recent election season, I didn't have a puzzle that week. Two of my regular solvers, Grant Fikes and Chris Hendricks, both suggested that I post a Guest Puzzle in case I have another week with no puzzle scheduled. Grant even sent me a Sudokurossword for me to use! I had already made a "4X Game" puzzle when he originally sent me this (and I also have a different one for next week as well), but I didn't want his effort to go to waste, so I accepted his offering, and now I'm posting it here for you guys to solve (though I ultimately changed three of his clues beforehand. I hope he doesn't mind)!

This puzzle comes in two parts. The first part is a sudoku, which you solve normally (the numbers 1-9 appear once in each row, column, and 3x3 box). Each row has a crossword clue next to it; the shaded cell corresponds to the crossword entry in which that answer belongs. (For example, a 5 means that the answer to that clue belongs in 5-Down in the crossword grid.) If you want to really challenge yourself, you can skip the sudoku entirely and try to fit in the crossword answers without knowing where they're supposed to go, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Once you're done, unscramble the shaded squares in the crossword to form the FINAL ANSWER: A nine-letter word

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!

PUZZLE #101: 4X Game 5: XX/XY 3

PUZZLE #101

4X GAME 5: XX/XY 3

Before we get to this week's puzzle, here's some backstory for it: in late August of this year, I sent GAMES Magazine four puzzles similar to "4X Games", though the ones I've sent them involved single X's instead of four of them crammed together. After months of silence from GAMES, I've decided to email them back last Monday, and a couple hours later, I finally heard back from them, and they've decided to ultimately pass on them (On the plus side, I finally got confirmation on the publishing date of my second set of "Word Sandwiches" puzzles, so look forward to seeing those published soon in the February 2017 issue of GAMES!) So after all that, I've decided to incorporate two of the unused puzzles into this week's puzzle (they're X #1 and X #3, in case you're curious).

Below, there are 3 "X"'s and one "Y"; the "X"'s each contain four 5-letter answers, and the "Y" has three. Each answer is entered at an angle (save for one of the words in the "Y"), following one of the arrows as it does so, and the last three letters of one answer will be the first three letters of another, albeit in reverse order. In the example above (I know all the answers are three letters instead of five, but hopefully you'll still get the idea), the words in the "X" are MAP, PAT, TAR, and RAM, and the words in the "Y" are ROT, TON and NOR. However, to make things even harder, none of the clues are numbered or in order, so you'll have to figure out which word goes in which angle, but don't worry, as each "tip" of each "X" or "Y" (the outermost letters) will contain the same letters as the "tips" of its neighboring "X" or "Y". Going back to the example above, the rightmost "tips" in the "X" contain the letters "R" and "T", so the leftmost "tips" in the "Y" has the same exact letters, in the same exact placement.

Once you're done, unscramble the letters in the "tips" that have no neighbors (the yellow squares) to get this week's FINAL ANSWER: A three-letter song title

X #1

* da Vinci's The Last Supper or Michelangelo's The Last Judgment, e.g.

* Fluid that could make you tell the truth, supposedly

* Shrek and Fiona, for two

* The largest of the Florida Keys

X #2

* Honey badger

* Indian instrument played by Muriel from Courage the Cowardly Dog

* "_____ Roll" (The Price is Right game): 2 wds.

* Zeus' first wife

X #3

* _____ cum laude

* Jordan's capital

* One giving a title, perhaps

* Romulus' twin

Y #4

* Romanian Olympic gold medalist Comăneci

* The British call this type of car a "saloon"

* West Wing workers

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!