PUZZLE #171: 5-Star Stumper 3

PUZZLE #171

5-STAR STUMPER 3

The answer to each numbered pair of clues go in the 10 spaces surrounding each correspondingly numbered star in the grid. The first answer of each set starts in the appropriately numbered space (with the arrow in the same space telling you which direction to go), and the second answer follows immediately after. Meanwhile, the answers that go in the red stripe surrounding the grid are clued in order, and even though it's up to you to determine where the chain of answers begins, we can tell you that the red stripe's answers go clockwise.

Once the entire grid has been filled in, reading the white spaces from left to right and top to bottom will reveal this week's FINAL ANSWER: A recent video game

STARS
1) Charles from Death Wish (1974)
    Biblical boat measured in cubits
2) Sleek and shiny, like a photo
    Country once ruled by Ayatollah Khomeini
3) 2004 Ashlee Simpson song covered in Elite Beat Agents: 2 wds.
    "...early _____, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise": 2 wds.
4) Turkish cash
    Long nerve fibers
5) Game played in The Color of Money
    Like a no-good slimeball

RED STRIPE
* "Hang On _____" (Ohio's state rock song)
* Its slogan is simply "The Diamond Store"
* Fe, on the periodic table
* Navigational aid used by bats
* The middle two initials in WASP: Hyph.

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: Sudokurossword 3

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "Sudokurossword 3", and six of you since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ****
• Debbie Benford ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #170: Chain Reaction: Branching Out 2

PUZZLE #170

CHAIN REACTION: BRANCHING OUT 2

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 five-letter movie title that goes in the pink box to create three more two-word phrases.

* Animal _____: Pocket Camp [8]
* Enjoying a novel [7]
* Grand Funk _____ [8]
* It supposedly has a pot of gold at the end [7]
* Like Marlee Matlin [4]
* Lite-_____ (toy with colorful pegs) [5]
* _____ Lōc ("Wild Thing" rapper) [4]
* Manual transmission [5]
* Member of the Powerpuff Girls with blonde pigtails [7]
* Not up [4]
* Number of bits in a byte [5]
* _____ of speech [6]
* Planes, Trains and Automobiles co-star John [5]
* PowerBook company [5]
* Prints left by wild animals [6]
* Prop for Mr. Peanut [4]
* Roller rink users [7]
* Rotary device on an old phone [4]
* Source of bathtub suds [4]
* The Incredibles' speedy son [4]
* The Marriage of Figaro or The Magic Flute, e.g. [5]

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: The Block List

It's been thirteen days since I've posted "The Block List", and nine people since then have successfully solved it, as you can see in the list below:

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

Now head below the break for the answers, as well as both a comment from one of my solvers and a link where you can play the FINAL ANSWER if you so wish!

PUZZLE #169: Sudokurossword 3

PUZZLE #169

SUDOKUROSSWORD 3

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 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: Deck It Out 3

Aack! I forgot to schedule this post! Sorry about that! Here's the belated answers to "Deck It Out 3" and the people who solved it:

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

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

PUZZLE #168: The Block List

PUZZLE #168

THE BLOCK LIST

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: an edutainment computer game from the '90s whose title is more than one word.

RED WORDS
* "The ___ have it"
* Make illegal
* Life history, for short
* Finn created by Mark Twain

BLUE WORDS
* Musical Fox show with coach Sue Sylvester
* Licensed to _____ (Beastie Boys album)
* Make an attempt
* Blood vessel

GREEN WORDS
* Creepy, like a Great Lake?
* Former 49er Jerry
* One end of a Q-tip
* How to _____ Your Dragon

ORANGE WORDS
* Elizabethan and Victorian, for two
* Helga's older sister in Hey Arnold!
* Classic 1993 adventure game where you travel through "linking books"
* _____ Blade (Billy Bob Thornton film)

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: Anagram Magic Square 3: Subtracting & Scrambling

It's been two weeks since I've posted "Anagram Magic Square 3", and eight of you have successfully solved it since then, as you can see in the list below:

• Grant Fikes ****
• Eric Maddy ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Dan Simonds ***
• Mom ****
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Pavel Curtis ****

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #167: Deck It Out 3

PUZZLE #167

DECK IT OUT 3

Fill in the answers to the clues below, then transfer the letters marked with playing card symbols to their proper places in the grid below. The number (or letter) of each clue will tell you what column to place those letters in. Once it's completely filled in, the grid will spell out a sentence that will provide a hint to the FINAL ANSWER.

This week's FINAL ANSWER is a title

A) Shirt splotches
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♢       ♣   ♠       ♡
2) Buffalo or yak, e.g.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣   ♠   ♡           ♢
3) Winnie-the-Pooh character whose catchphrase is "Oh, D-D-Dear!"
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠       ♢   ♣   ♡
4) The real name of Disney's Sleeping Beauty
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠   ♣   ♡           ♢
5) Web master?
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♡           ♢   ♣   ♠
6) Crab that lives in a vacated shell
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣       ♢       ♡   ♠
7) _____ Jenkins (character from a World of Warcraft-related viral video)
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♣   ♢       ♡   ♠
8) Like a vampire's teeth
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♠   ♢   ♡           ♣
9) The first enemy you encounter in Super Mario Bros.
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♣   ♡   ♠   ♢
10) Épée wielder
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
    ♡   ♣       ♢       ♠
J) Six feet, according to a sailor
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♢   ♠   ♣       ♡
Q) Main villain of Avengers: Infinity War
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♠   ♡       ♣   ♢
K) High School Musical director/choreographer Kenny
   ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
        ♡   ♢   ♠   ♣

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: Extra Links 5

Before I reveal the answers to my fifth "Chain Reaction: Extra Links" puzzle, I just wanted to inform you of a game I've been playing a lot lately. It's a free game on Steam called Picross Touch, and it's basically a bunch of Picross puzzles. I've already completed the main game a little over a week ago, but it also includes an area where you can solve user-made puzzles or even create puzzles of your own for other people to solve. I've already made four of my own and uploaded them, and one of them has been the #1 "Trending" level since last Wednesday and still is as of this writing! (I call it "Splatoon Squid") So if you're interested, you can Download Picross Touch right now for free through Steam (It's also on Google Play and Apple's App Store, but it doesn't look like either of those versions include custom levels). If you want to play the puzzles I have on there so far, just type "Splatoon Squid", "Big U", "Vampire Smiley", or "Samus Aran" in the game's search bar while you're in the game's Workshop area.

Now with that unpaid advertisement out of the way, lets look at the whopping ten people who have solved my puzzle from thirteen days ago, one of whom is a new one who makes crosswords for USA Today!

• Grant Fikes ****
• Pavel Curtis ****
• Patrick Jordan ****
• Sam Levitin ****
• Mom ***
• Eric Maddy ***
• Lynn Sweeney ****
• Tyler Hinman ****
• Dan Simonds ****
• Debbie Benford ***

Now head below the break for the answers!