PUZZLE #415: Dilly Dally 5

PUZZLE #415

DILLY DALLY 5

This is my fifth time creating a "Dilly Dally" puzzle, possibly my most restrictive format to craft. Not only do I have to come up with alliterative two-word phrases where both words are of the same length, I have to come with concise clues for them as well (which, depending on the phrase, isn't as easy as it sounds). So this time, I've decided to change things up quite a bit, both to make it slightly easier on myself, and to ensure I won't run out of alliterative phrases for future puzzles. This will necessitate a change in directions, though, so read on for how to solve this newly-revamped puzzle!

Each answer in the grid below consists of two words that both start with the same letter, like ASKING ABOUT. However, each clue's answer only makes up half of the phrase (either the first or second half), while the second half is in a separate list of clues, in random order. It's up to you to match up the answers from both lists to fill in each two-word phrase.

Once the grid has been filled out, hidden inside and going up, down, or diagonally will be the FINAL ANSWER: A cult film from the 2000s whose name also consists of two words starting with the same letter.

NUMBERED WORDS

1) They "Run the World", according to a Beyoncé song

2) 1/1,800th of a half-hour

3) _____ Guiana (South American territory)

4) State's section, like one of 62 in New York

5) Part of "XL"

6) One of ten turns for bowling

7) Sheep's grazing area

8) Hearts and clubs, for two

9) "_____ the beef?" (quotable line from a Wendy's ad)

10) Ticking timepiece in the stomach of the crocodile from Peter Pan

11) 2005-2017 crime procedural series on FOX starring Emily Deschanel

MISSING WORDS

• Bird on a box of Cocoa Puffs

• Computer gadget with a scroll wheel

• Cooks in oil

• "Don't move a muscle!"

• In _____ Color ('90s sketch comedy series)

• Like a very rare (and very leaky) steak

• Ralph Emerson's middle name

• Sense involving the eyes

• _____ State Warriors (2022 NBA champions)

• Tennis venue

• Web browser preinstalled on an Apple iPad

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: Edges of Glory 2

It's been close to two weeks since "Edges of Glory 2" was posted on this blog, so now it's time for me to reveal all the people who have figured out its Final Answer (who, coincidentally, just had what would've been his 100th birthday yesterday):

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #414: Anagram Chambers 10

PUZZLE #414

ANAGRAM CHAMBERS 10

For this puzzle, there are several dark-green "chambers" with yellow rectangles and light green squares in them. For each chamber, you take a word in the first yellow rectangle as hinted at by the clue, add a letter from the light green square, and scramble them to get a word in the second yellow rectangle, then you repeat the process to get the word in the third yellow rectangle. Unfortunately, none of the chambers are labeled, and all seven sets of clues are in no particular order, so you have to figure out which set of answers go to which proper chamber so the columns of light green squares will both spell out words reading vertically.

Once all of the chambers are in the correct order, the light green squares will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase

• [They make up molecules] + _ = [Blue tank engine from a long-running children's show] + _ = [Organ attached to the esophagus]

• [Mobster John nicknamed "The Teflon Don"] + _ = [Hauling around, as a shopping bag] + _ = ["Heartache _____" (Eagles song)]

• [Royal domain] + _ = [Duchamp who painted Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2] + _ = [Werther's Original product]

• [Be an unsportsmanlike winner] + _ = [Italy's version of ice cream] + _ = [America's best-selling toothpaste brand]

• [Verses collected in Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic] + _ = [Ask too much of] + _ = [Pinky swear, for one]

• [Cloaks on the backs of many superheroes] + _ = [Carrie actress Sissy] + _ = [Tiny containers of Sweet'n Low]

• [Vice _____ (the other way around)] + _ = [Strongly wants, like food] + _ = [Neckwear for snowmen]

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: Pieces of Nine 10

Thirteen days have passed by since "Pieces of Nine 10" was posted on this blog. Plenty of people have solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Joe Bernard
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Michael Lebowitz
• Sam Levitin
• Tamara Brenner
• Bill Lombard
• Mom
• KeoFam
• Patrick Jordan
• Lynn Sweeney

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #413: Edges of Glory 2

PUZZLE #413

EDGES OF GLORY 2

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!

There are several squares divided into four triangles each, plus a grid to fit them all into. First, fill in the squares with the 4-letter answers to each corresponding clue, starting with the numbered triangle, and going clockwise. Then, fit all of the filled-out squares into the grid below (without rotating them) so that wherever two squares touch along one of the heavy lines, the letters on both sides of the line are the same.

Once everything's in its proper place, the outer edges of the grid, when read clockwise, will spell out the FINAL ANSWER: The name of a cartoonist

1) Maldives' continent

2) Jeff Bridges' brother

3) Skewed view

4) Last name of "Break Your Heart" singer Taio

5) Ringlet of hair

6) Future inheritor

7) The Sensational She-_____ (comic book series about Bruce Banner's cousin Jennifer Walters)

8) Speak like Sylvester the Cat

9) Break in the action (HINT: three-quarters of its letters are identical to each other)

10) Planet with a crater resembling a smiley face

11) Football interception

12) _____ Krispies Treats

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: Wordy Web 5

It's been about two weeks since my Halloween puzzle, "Wordy Web 5", was posted on this blog. Fifteen people (plus a family) have successfully solved it since then, and they're all listed below:

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

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #412: Pieces of Nine 10

PUZZLE #412

PIECES OF NINE 10

Arrange the trigrams (blocks with three squares/letters in them) to make nine 9-letter words. After that, sort the new words so that the first one alphabetically is in row 1, the second one alphabetically is in row 2, and so on.

Once you're done, read down two of the columns for the FINAL ANSWER: the two-word name of a legal drama 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 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: Chain Reaction: Extra Links 10

It's been nearly two weeks since "Chain Reaction: Extra Links 10" was posted on this blog, so now's the time for me to unveil the list of everyone who has solved it since then:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Tyler Hinman
• Mike Armstrong
• Sam Levitin
• Michael Lebowitz
• Adam Weaver
• KeoFam
• Wendy Walker
• Tamara Brenner
• Lynn Sweeney
• Mom

Now head below the break for the answers!

PUZZLE #411: Wordy Web 5

PUZZLE #411

WORDY WEB 5

Happy Halloween, everyone! And to celebrate, I've brought out my spookiest puzzle format: Wordy Web! Its Final Answer is appropriate for today, too, so read on for directions on how to figure it out!

This Web's set up with Circles and Strands, but there are no letters with which the words are woven. To complete this puzzle, enter the answers to the Circles' clues (numbered 1 to 6) clockwise around the concentric rings of the Web, though it's up to you to determine the starting point for each Circle. All of the Circles' clues are presented in order. To help figure out the Circles' starting points, fill in the Strands' answers (marked with A to L) starting at each respective letter and traverse the Web from left to right. Some of the strands have only one answer, while others have two.

Once you've completely filled in the Web, the letters in the red spaces, reading down, will spell out this week's FINAL ANSWER: some people you might encounter today on Halloween

CIRCLES
1) Transform like a Power Ranger

    Do the math

    Steed's straps

    Players in a play

    Fear the Walking Dead network

2) Lord Farquaad's kingdom in Shrek (2001)

    Collect too much stuff

    Place to drill up black gold: 2 wds.

    Native American tribe whose name is 3/4ths vowels

3) _____Hot (liniment brand shilled by Shaquille O'Neal)

    Rays that make a fluorescent object glow: 2 wds.

    State where Donny and Marie Osmond were born

    Annie Lennox album with the hit song "Walking on Broken Glass"

4) Zits and pimples

    Rocko's _____ Life (classic Nicktoon)

    Controversial airport agcy. with full-body scanners

5) "Burnt" Crayola color

    Tony-winning musical set in Lower Manhattan's East Village

6) Short vocal solo in opera

STRANDS

A) Grandpa Pickles from Rugrats

B) Ibuprofen brand introduced in 1984

C) Disney villainess with henchmen named Jasper & Horace

D) Joseph who composed the Surprise Symphony

    Rock's narrow fissure

E) _____ Mountains (Pennsylvanian chain whose highest peak is Camelback Mountain)

    Dickinson from 1960's Ocean's 11

F) Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda

    At a greater distance

G) The "O" in "AOC"

     Emulate The Undertaker or The Ultimate Warrior, say

H) Takes up residence at a new home: 2 wds.

     Luxury car brand with four rings in its logo

I) Ron Howard's younger brother

   Like _____ of bricks: 2 wds.

J) Whiskered fishes whose name sounds like muck-covered felines

K) Temporary committee type: 2 wds.

L) Favorite drink of the March Hare and the Mad Hatter

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: Semicircle Sorting 4

Roughly two weeks have gone by since "Semicircle Sorting 4" was posted on this blog, and a number of people have solved it since then, all of whom are listed below:

• Grant Fikes
• Cindy Heisler
• Chris Kochmanski
• Kevin Orfield
• Mike Armstrong
• KeoFam
• Charles Flaster
• Tyler Hinman
• Mom
• Sam Levitin
• Wendy Walker
• Lynn Sweeney
• Tamara Brenner
• Michael Lebowitz

Now head below the break for the answers!