Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words! (Week 2 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:

The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NONE

The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): ONE

The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: TWO

The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): ALL

Week 1:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than 10: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BORROWER, counterexample: ROWER): ONE

[Jason Boomer] The set of words with length of 8 or more: ONE

[Jessica Timmerman] The set {BALLOON, BEEPED, BOOKING, BOOMING, BULLFROG, CHICKEN, FEED, FEELING, FOOD, GULL}: NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with second-to-last letter between L and S inclusive: ONE

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BRANCHLESS, counterexample: RANCH): NONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing a double vowel (AA, EE, II, OO, UU, YY): NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 through 10: ALL

Week 2:

[Arkayde] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words in which either the first or the second letter appears in the string HE WEARS MANY HATS: NONE

[John and Izak Bulten] The set of all words containing a double letter between NN and ZZ inclusive: TWO

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7-letter words that contain the letter O at least once: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words ending with a double letter: NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a letter between J and P inclusive*: NONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words with 3 or more consecutive consonants (consonants being as all letters except A, E, I, O, U, and Y): ONE

*Kyle didn't clarify in time whether this included J and P or not; I went with inclusive because it matched the week 0 clue. Better to give information that wasn't intended to be asked for than no information.

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $46.

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 356: Section Six 35

WORDY WEDNESDAY #354

TOUCHWORD 17 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Mary Maynard **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #355

PENT WORDS 71 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

RYAN FALEY HITS THE BIG THREE-ZERO-ZERO!

Congrats to colleague Ryan Faley hitting 300 puzzles with his newest challenging offering, "He Wears Many Hats"! Way to go!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #356

SECTION SIX 35

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise or counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outer ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, but their starting points and direction are for you to determine. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you place the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section's outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Arrange the letters in the six starred spaces to form the final answer, a 6-letter word.

Ring 1 
1 Punish a child, perhaps 
2 Beverage brand based in, surprisingly enough, New York 
3 ____ Columbia (Canadian province) 
4 Nocturnal insect inhabiting small crevices 
5 The first reindeer mentioned in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" 
6 Legend 

Ring 2 
* Radio host Gregg nicknamed "Opie" 
* Innumerable 
* ____ Vocal Band (gospel group) 
* Classic TV series about the Cartwrights 
* Read the ____ act 

Ring 3 
* Dietary supplement brand created by a schoolteacher 
* Word before "party" or "rail" 
* ____ of Thrones (2011-2019 HBO series) 
* ____ wedding 

Ring 4 
* Metal band with the album Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? 
* 1998 film whose title refers to a Japanese samurai without a master 
* Diamond in the ____ 

Ring 5 
* Spiny mammal 
* Common type of golf club 

Ring 6 
* Actor Segal who starred in TV Land's Retired at 35

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 14-letter, 3-word answer for "Colorfully-titled 1968 Vietnam War film starring John Wayne"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words! (Week 1 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:

The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NONE

The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): ONE

The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: TWO

The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): ALL

Week 1:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than 10: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BORROWER, counterexample: ROWER): ONE

[Jason Boomer] The set of words with length of 8 or more: ONE

[Jessica Timmerman] The set {BALLOON, BEEPED, BOOKING, BOOMING, BULLFROG, CHICKEN, FEED, FEELING, FOOD, GULL}: NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with second-to-last letter between L and S inclusive: ONE

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BRANCHLESS, counterexample: RANCH): NONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing a double vowel (AA, EE, II, OO, UU, YY): NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 through 10: ALL

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $48.

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 355: Pent Words 71

WORDY WEDNESDAY #353

HEX PATHFINDER 22 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #354

TOUCHWORD 17 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #355

PENT WORDS 71

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.

ACROSS (two answers per row): 

1 Neighbor of Turkey / Peculiar 
2 Layer, as of a wedding cake / Crazy ____ (card game) 
3 Carrie who played Princess Leia / Leave out 
4 ____ valley / Wildebeest 
5 Comedian Gottfried / Golfer Ernie 
6 Sigmund and the ____ Monsters / Grasshopper relative 
7 1995 Martin Scorsese film / Dragon's ____ (1983 arcade game) 
8 ____ wolf (South American canine resembling a fox on stilts) / WWF No ____ (2000 wrestling video game) 
9 Extraordinary ability / Popular lunch meat 
10 Have something in common, perhaps / Moray, for one 

PENTOMINOES: 
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER 
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER 
* Icy 
* Garfield ____ Garfield (webcomic adapted from the newspaper comic Garfield) 
* Item tossed in Scotland 
* Silly 
* Women's fitness magazine 
* Mushrooms and such 
* Animal known as the ship of the desert 
* Reasons to call a plumber, perhaps 
* Rascal 
* Mars vehicle 
* Fuming 
* Chex ____ (1996 first-person shooter game that replaces the violence of Doom with cereal) 
* Texas city named after a President 
* Cylindrical rod 
* ____ Wolfhound 
* "Rhythm of the ____" (DeBarge song) 
* It may be Socratic 
* Parts of molecules 

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Beverage brand based in, surprisingly enough, New York"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words!

I am thinking of three (not two) distinct English words that are at least 2 letters long and no more than 15 letters long. All of the words are valid in Scrabble according to https://scrabble.merriam.com/. Your goal is to guess them. Everyone who guesses the trio of words correctly by the time the contest is over will be entered for a chance to win a copy of my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion).

Once per week, each and every single person reading this blog post is allowed to e-mail a set of words to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. If it is a set of at least 10 words, I will publicly post on this blog (on the following Monday at 12:01 AM Central time) whether NONE, ONE, TWO, or ALL of my words are in that set. If it is a set of 9 words or fewer, I will privately give you the same information. If I can't easily verify whether a set of words has at least 10 words in it, I will assume it does, so if you want your information kept private, submit your set of words in the form "{CINQ, QADI, QAID, QATS, QOPH}" rather than "the set of all Scrabble-legal 4-letter words with a Q and not a U".

Once someone has guessed the trio of words (that is, submitted to me a set of exactly three words and gotten a result of ALL), one last weekly update will be posted on this blog, and then people who haven't guessed the words yet will have one more week to try to do so and be entered in the prize drawing.

This contest will also benefit the Food Bank of West Central Texas. The money pool which I will donate to them will start at $50, and then go down $2 for every weekly update that has gone by without someone guessing the trio of words. If the money pool would hit $0, I will instead withdraw the prize drawing. So even if you aren't interested in the prize drawing, your participation may help someone else solve the words faster and thus help charity!

To kick things off, I'll make four guesses for you, chosen from among the guesses that were made in Let's Guess Two Words II!:

The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NONE

The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): ONE

The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: TWO

The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): ALL

Good luck, and yappy guessing!

Wordy Wednesday 354: Touchword 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #352

PATHFINDER 21 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Izak Bulten *
John Bulten *
Kevin Orfield **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #353

HEX PATHFINDER 22 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #354

TOUCHWORD 17

(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent.

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1  2020 video game whose release on the same day as Animal Crossing: New Horizons inspired many pieces of crossover fan art: 2 wds. / Smart

2  College campus building, briefly / Hit song for The Who / Machine for shaping wood, perhaps

3  Clear a hard drive to prepare it to store data, say / Inflammation of the liver

4  ____ 21 (fashion retailer) / Squabble, as between lovers / Part of an eye

5  Kind of poetry that often mimics natural speech patterns: 2 wds. / ____ projection

6  Piece of armor for the shin / On the rocks / Tremendous bargain

7  Palestinian city / With The, NBC singing competition / Loathe

8  Pavilion in a park, perhaps / Slyly disparaging / Direction from Fort Worth to Dallas

9  Rational / ____ and Herzegovina / “I ____ to Do That” (Paul Brandt song)

10 Common playground sighting / Defraud / “We're an American ____” (Grand Funk Railroad song)

11 Rocker Jimi / Sheath for a sword

12 “____, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” / Remington product / “All ____!” (train conductor’s shout)

13 ____ and home / ____ market / Animal also known as a hog-nosed coon

14 Smell / ____ & Louise (1991 film) / Prickly pears and such

15 Car dashboard component / One of the Minor Prophets

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Garfield ____ Garfield (webcomic adapted from the newspaper comic Garfield)"? 

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Logicsmith Exhibition 8: [SPOILERS FOR WORDY WEDNESDAY 341] (RESULTS!)

WARNING: THIS CONTEST STILL CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WORDY WEDNESDAY 341, "THE OMINOUS PENTHOUSE 2"!!!

Wordy Wednesday 353: Hex Pathfinder 22

WORDY WEDNESDAY #351

PATHFINDER 20 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #352

PATHFINDER 21 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #353

HEX PATHFINDER 22

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered hexagon and winds through the grid, starting in the indicated direction. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, a 7-letter word.

1E 1843 novella whose film adaptations include one from 1992 featuring the Muppets (15, 3 wds.) 
2W Core group (5) 
3SE ____ silver (8) 
4SW Group of cattle (4) 
5E Dormant (6) 
6W Novelist Jerome David ____ (8) 
7NW A type of endive (8) 
8SE Item used as a percussion instrument in a composition by Leroy Anderson, made popular by the film Who's Minding the Store? (1963) (10) 
9W Squid, when it’s being eaten (8) 
10SW Parasitic worm (5) 
11W The ____ Trap (1961 Disney film that was remade in 1998) (6) 
12SE Reduce in intensity, as a violent war (10, hyph.) 
13SW Disreputable (5) 
14E ____ trick (6) 
15W Visible (8) 
16SE Tin alloy in some utensils (6) 
17SE Kind of kids Joe Biden notoriously said “are just as bright and just as talented as white kids” (4) 
18NW Certain conifer (4) 
19W Small piano (6) 
20SE Engages in violent public disorder (5) 
21W Singing group in a church (5) 
22E You might throw a tantrum if you lose yours (6) 
23SW ____ World Tour (2020 animated film) (6) 
24SE Workforce (9) 
25SW Additive in some cigarettes (7) 
26NE Male red deer (4) 
27SW ____ Men (2010 sci-fi flick about a man with an artificial heart bought on credit) (4) 
28NW Facility where old people who no longer work live (14, 2 wds.) 
29NE ____ Jack (2003 film) (8) 
30W Work together (9) 
31SW Part of a stereotypical scientist’s getup (7, 2 wds.) 
32W Match Game regular Charles ____ Reilly (6) 
33E Peninsula whose name is Turkish for "chain of wooded mountains" (6) 

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What animal is also known as a hog-nosed coon? 
* Patron Puzzle #74, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Words Without Friends. 

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 352: Pathfinder 21

WORDY WEDNESDAY #350 

PENT WORDS 70 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #351 

PATHFINDER 20 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #352 

PATHFINDER 21 

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in some direction, and makes one or more right-angled turns as it winds through the grid. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1 1843 novella whose television adaptations include one from 1962 featuring Mr. Magoo (1 9 5) 
2 Open to be disputed (9) 
3 Subject of a 2020 gaffe for President Donald Trump (don’t inject yourself with this stuff, kids) (6) 
4 Break the ____ (game show that aired 1945-1957, or an unrelated game show that aired 1976-1977, or another unrelated game show that aired 1985-1986) (4) 
5 Was restless (6) 
6 Like many an emotional teenager (6) 
7 Religion whose main denominations are Sunni and Shia (5) 
8 Tight-____ (4) 
9 Altarpiece with a left, middle, and right panel (8) 
10 Castigate (7) 
11 Ravi Shankar, famously (8) 
12 Word before “search” or “mall” (5) 
13 Eyelash-enhancing cosmetic (7) 
14 Popular hot dog condiment (6) 
15 ____ driver (4) 
15 Green Italian sauce (5) 
16 Hathi’s rank in Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967) (7) 
17 Musk of SpaceX fame (4) 
18 Laboring groups of convicts (5 5) 
19 Coffee shop offering (5) 
20 It may provide illumination at a rave (6 5) 
21 Course outlines (7) 
21 Giving a smacker (9) 
22 Cancels, as a mission (6) 
23 Canine or molar (5) 
23 Grouping of buttons in a web browser interface, for example (7) 
24 Like some bachelors (8) 
25 Austin & ____ (2011-2016 Disney Channel series) (4) 

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 4-letter word for "____ Men (2010 sci-fi flick about a man with an artificial heart bought on credit)"? 

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 351: Pathfinder 20

WORDY WEDNESDAY #348

LOGICROSSWORD 8 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Stephen Potter **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley ** 
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #349 

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 11 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #350 

PENT WORDS 70 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #351 

PATHFINDER 20 

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in some direction, and makes one or more right-angled turns as it winds through the grid. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1 “____ of the Dog” (Nazareth song) (4)
2 Inhabitant (7)
3 Recreational boat (5)
4 Character in the Super Smash Bros. series whose iconic move is a fiery punch (7 6)
5 Toadlike final boss of Super Mario Bros. 2 (4)
6 Notable ancient Greek astronomer (7)
7 Frustrated (8)
8 Ancient Greek philosopher of paradox fame (4)
9 Measurement of liquid precipitation in inches (8)
10 Having many subtleties (7)
11 Book after Haggai (9)
12 Song by Alex North and Hy Zaret made famous by The Righteous Brothers (9 6)
13 Tyler of the Cincinnati Bengals (4)
13 Partner of lettuce and tomato, perhaps (5)
14 “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is ____” (Matthew 26:41) (4)
14 One whose job is to fuse pieces of metal together (6)
15 ____ This (1999 film about a mafioso and his psychiatrist) (7)
16 English physicist James Prescott ____ (5)
17 Yarbrough of Reno 911! (6)
18 Cause to be filled with love (6)
19 Pep ____ (5)
20 It’s formed when perpendicular lines meet (5 5)
21 Sharp flavor (4)
22 Raccoon relative with a prehensile tail (8)
23 Horse feature (4)
24 Golden ____ (buffet restaurant chain) (6)
25 Small cucumber relative that’s often pickled (7)
26 A trip to the grocery store, say (6)
27 William who formed a printing company with Andrew McNally (4)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Hathi’s rank in Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967)"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Logicsmith Exhibition 8: [SPOILERS FOR WORDY WEDNESDAY 341]

WARNING: THIS CONTEST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WORDY WEDNESDAY 341, "THE OMINOUS PENTHOUSE 2"!!!

Wordy Wednesday 350: Pent Words 70

WORDY WEDNESDAY #347 

LOGICROSSWORD 7 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Stephen Potter *
Kevin Orfield **
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #348 

LOGICROSSWORD 8 (hint)

As of this writing, 3 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #349 

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 11 (hint)

As of this writing, 8 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #350 

PENT WORDS 70 

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.

ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 That ____ Cat! (1965 film where a cat assists an FBI agent, with an unnecessarily punctuated title) / Chaperone
2 Give authority to / For each
3 Peter of The Maltese Falcon (1941) / Dreck
4 Very soft mineral / Bassets and such
5 Impudence / Has the same opinion
6 Dopehead / Certain legume
7 "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" band / Russian composer Mussorgsky
8 ____ McBeal (1997-2002 TV series) / One who manages accounts on a ship
9 Character who asks, "Would you eat them with a fox?": hyph. / Off-kilter
10 It may be noble / A ____ Cat!?! (2013 film where a cat speaks to humans, with an even more unnecessarily punctuated title)

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* ____ pointer (item which has entertained many a cat)
* Sabrina the Teenage Witch's cat
* German bacteriologist and dish namesake Julius
* Long lock of hair
* Pursue secretly, perhaps
* More recent or modern
* English unit of currency
* Scrabble pieces
* Soylent ____ (1973 film)
* Knight's protection
* Landform at the mouth of a river, perhaps
* When a Stranger ____ (1979 thriller)
* Commodore computer model
* Get a point
* Actor Crews of Everybody Hates Chris
* Confessions of a Teenage ____ Queen (2004 film)
* Semiaquatic rodent sometimes hunted for its fur
* Japanese restaurant staple

COMING NEXT WEEK. . . 

* What's a 4-letter word for "William who formed a printing company with Andrew McNally"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy update: 11x11x11 Touchword & Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #3!

This update to the Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy initiative is to announce the 11x11x11 Touchword pack & Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #3!

11x11x11 TOUCHWORD

This pack contains 11 11x11 miniature Touchword puzzles that will provide many minutes of enjoyment. In a crossword, words cross each other; in these puzzles, they merely touch. More specifically, every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent. (Click here for a 15x15 example.)

PATRON PUZZLES FOR PHILANTHROPY PACK #3

The original Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy pack consists of 24 Patron Puzzles and two issues of Fox & Badger Magazine (all of which were originally only available to Patreon supporters) for US$11.10. Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #2 consists of 24 Patron Puzzles and one issue of Fox & Badger Magazine for US$11.10. I am pleased to announce the release of Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #3, consisting of 24 more Patron Puzzles (#49-72), all for the price of US$10.

This time around, Patron Puzzles include the following:

* Four Codewords puzzles (example).

* Four large Snake Crisscross puzzles (example).

* Two 15x15 Pathfinder puzzle (example).

* Three diagramless crossword puzzles (example).

* A 21x21 Framelinks puzzle (example).

* A giant Anacrossword (example).

* And much more!

As a reminder, this is a charity initiative. Please e-mail me (glmathgrantATgmailDOTcom) a copy of your charitable receipt (it must be a new donation, dated no earlier than one day before you email me) to receive this pack of puzzles. I am currently soliciting donations to these five charities:

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which aims to prevent suicide.
• American Red Cross, which provides disaster relief in the USA.
• Child's Play Charity, which outfits children's hospitals and shelters with toys and games.
• Food Bank of West Central Texas, a local food bank.
• Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, which provides emergency medical aid around the world.

I'm also offering Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #1 (24 previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$11.10), Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #2 (24 more previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$11.10), the LiveJournal Logic Pack (300 logic puzzles for US$3), the Section Six Six-Plus-Six Pack (12 Section Six puzzles for $6), the Magnum Opus Snake Crisscross (one giant puzzle with over 300 entries for US$5), and 10x10x10 Crosswords (10 10x10 crosswords for US$5). No matter what your budget is, I hope you will support these causes and get some fun puzzles to solve.

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (RESULTS!)

It's time for the results of this contest!

Wordy Wednesday 348: Logicrossword 8 & Wordy Wednesday 349: Snake Crisscross 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #346

SECTION SIX 34 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #347

LOGICROSSWORD 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 1 person has solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #348

LOGICROSSWORD 8

(click here for a PDF version)

Blacken some cells in the grid below, and fill the rest with letters to form words left-to-right and top-to-bottom, crossword style. All words are Scrabble-legal (see scrabble.merriam.com); however, most of the words in the intended solution should be familiar.

Arrange the letters in the shaded cells to get the final answer, a single word. (If any of the shaded cells are blackened, then the final answer will be less than 8 letters long.)

* No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges.
* The word FACETIOUS reading horizontally intersects the word RHYTHM reading vertically.
* The word ASHY reading horizontally intersects the words AAHS and THAE reading vertically.
* The word LOX intersects the word OXO.
* The word SYZYGY reads vertically.
* The words AY, HOOCH, OOH, and RYA appear somewhere.
* Row 3’s rightmost letter is the same as row 4’s leftmost letter.
* One of rows 1 through 7 contains a 4-letter word that ends in IKE.
* Column G contains a letter which appears only once in the grid.
* Two words intersect at A1 which end with the same letter; the horizontal word has an odd number of letters in it.

WORDY WEDNESDAY #349

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 11

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's crisscross grid contains entries which read across and down as normal; these words are defined in alphabetical order by length under the heading “Crisscross Words.” The grid also contains a number of “snakes”: areas which follow a single clear path. Each of these snakes contains an entry which snakes from one end of the path to the other. These entries are defined under the heading “Snake Words”, and are also clued in alphabetical order by length. You must determine how the grid is divided into snakes; no two snakes overlap.

Arrange the letters in the highlighted cells to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

CRISSCROSS WORDS
3 LETTERS
____ of God
Donkey relative
Consumed
Transparent sheet used in animation
Electric ____
Douglas ____
That woman
Concealed
Spoil
____ neutrality
Partner of Wynken and Blynken
Race participant, perhaps
2011 film about a macaw named Blu
Joey created by A. A. Milne
4 LETTERS
Some hats
The Hunchback of Notre ____
____ jockey
____ of plenty
An Egyptian goddess
Has a brief sleep
Flow slowly
University namesake Roberts
It may be made of coral
Certain trailer, briefly
5 LETTERS
Absinthe ingredient
Sorrowful poem
Boxer Liston
Asparagus stalk
"____ Be Startin' Somethin'" (Michael Jackson song)
____ of Warcraft
6 LETTERS
India’s “Jana Gana Mana”, for one
Onion relatives
Infuriate
One obsessed with minute details
7 LETTERS
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes author Maya
“____ Independence” (Björk song)
8 LETTERS
Forgave
Charm
9 LETTERS
Associated organization
Certain sweetener: 2 wds.
Four-winged insect
Electric Light ____ (rock band)
11 LETTERS
In dire need of laxative
SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
Part of a battery where oxidation occurs
Wind ____
The protagonist in the 2001 video game Devil May Cry
Errol of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Item for a watchmaker
Confused struggle
____ & Martin's Laugh-In
Mountain in the book of Exodus
“The final frontier”, as per Captain Kirk
Italian scooter brand
6 LETTERS
The birthplace of St. Francis
Don portrayed by Jon Hamm in Mad Men
“Octopus’s ____” (The Beatles song)
January birthstone
Spin
Miami ____ (newspaper)
____ 5 (rock band)
A light purple
Flowery
Derides
Evening party
7 LETTERS
Atlanta’s NFL team
8 LETTERS
Alienate
10 LETTERS
Economic system that commies loathe
12 LETTERS
1950 book credited with introducing the word “nerd”: 5 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Sabrina the Teenage Witch's cat"?
* Patron Puzzle #73, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a diagramless crossword.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (Week 6 update — FINAL UPDATE!)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Week 1:
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing at least 3 consecutive letters that are consonants (i.e. not AEIOUY): NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word SOUND: NEITHER
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words where three or more of the letters are from the set {A,E,I,O,U,Y}: NEITHER
[Michael Tang] The set of words of length 5, 6, 7, or 8: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than or equal to 9: NEITHER

Week 2:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of lengths 5 or 6: ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words with second letter between O and Z inclusive: ONE
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters (with possible repeats) in the words DHOLE UNITS: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 or 7: ONE

Week 3:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words at least 5 letters long, beginning with letters B-H inclusive: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter from BENDY TRACK: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain an S adjacent to another consonant (any letter other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y): ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between A and G inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: BOTH

Week 4:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words where the second letter is anything other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all 1-syllable words, according to HowManySyllables.com: ONE
[John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain at least one instance of the letter S: BOTH
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which the same letter appears more than once: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NEITHER

Week 5:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words in which exactly one of the letters is not in ETAOIN SHRDLU (examples: TREK, TREKS; counterexample: TREKKED): ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words which start with L: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters from the words NUDE SLOTH: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which contain the letter L: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] [private guess of a set of 4 words]: NEITHER

Week 6:
[Daniel Levitin] [private guess of a set of 1 word]: ONE
[Jason Boomer] [private guess of a set of 5 words]: ONE
[Ken G. Safrit] The set of all words composed only of letters from HORSEMINT and which include the letter N or the letter O, but not both: BOTH
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words containing the letter O: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which have at least one Scrabble-legal anagram according to scrabble.merriam.com: ONE
[Roger Strain] The set of words where the second letter is contained in FOXGER: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all 6-letter words matching the pattern "CVCVCC", where "V" means {A,E,I,O,U,Y}, and "C" means the other 20 letters: ONE
[yyw] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: BOTH

Since the pair of words has been guessed, $30 has been donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas and $30 has been donated to My Block My Hood My City!

Everyone now has one more week to guess the pair of words and get entered into the prize drawing!

Wordy Wednesday 347: Logicrossword 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #345

PENT WORDS 69 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Izak Bulten **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #346

PENT WORDS 34 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #347

LOGICROSSWORD 7

(click here for a PDF version)

Blacken some cells in the grid below, and fill the rest with letters to form words left-to-right and top-to-bottom, crossword style. All words are Scrabble-legal (see scrabble.merriam.com); however, most of the words in the intended solution should be familiar.

Arrange the letters in the shaded cells to get the final answer, a single word. (If any of the shaded cells are blackened, then the final answer will be less than 8 letters long.)

* No two black cells share an edge or a corner. Every row and every column contains exactly two black cells. [Note: These are different from the rules regarding black cells in previous Logicrossword installments.]
* In cell C2, the word STAR intersects the word BATTLE.
* The word AEON intersects the word CANTO.
* The word EXTRA intersects the word INLIER.
* Six 2-letter words appear in the grid: AH, AL, AR, AY, ER, and NO.
* A word reads vertically which contains the substring HO.
* The letters K and U appear exactly once each.
* Row 3’s leftmost letter and rightmost letter are the same.
* Row 4 contains only four distinct letters.
* Some column contains the letters G and I.
* Column A does not contain a 4-letter word.
* Column D contains a word whose second letter is the same as the last letter of a word in column F.
* Column E’s bottommost letter is in the first half of the alphabet (A through M).

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword that will make you go OOH....
* What's a 7-letter word for "'____ Independence' (Björk song)"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (Week 5 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Week 1:
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing at least 3 consecutive letters that are consonants (i.e. not AEIOUY): NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word SOUND: NEITHER
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words where three or more of the letters are from the set {A,E,I,O,U,Y}: NEITHER
[Michael Tang] The set of words of length 5, 6, 7, or 8: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than or equal to 9: NEITHER

Week 2:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of lengths 5 or 6: ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words with second letter between O and Z inclusive: ONE
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters (with possible repeats) in the words DHOLE UNITS: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 or 7: ONE

Week 3:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words at least 5 letters long, beginning with letters B-H inclusive: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter from BENDY TRACK: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain an S adjacent to another consonant (any letter other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y): ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between A and G inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: BOTH

Week 4:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words where the second letter is anything other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all 1-syllable words, according to HowManySyllables.com: ONE
[John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain at least one instance of the letter S: BOTH
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which the same letter appears more than once: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NEITHER

Week 5:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words in which exactly one of the letters is not in ETAOIN SHRDLU (examples: TREK, TREKS; counterexample: TREKKED): ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words which start with L: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters from the words NUDE SLOTH: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which contain the letter L: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] [private guess of a set of 4 words]: NEITHER

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $30.
The money pool for My Block My Hood My City is now $30.

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 346: Section Six 34

WORDY WEDNESDAY #344

LOGICROSSWORD 6 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #345

PENT WORDS 69 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #346

SECTION SIX 34

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise or counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outer ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, but their starting points and direction are for you to determine. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you place the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section's outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Arrange the letters in the six starred spaces to form the final answer, a 6-letter word.

Ring 1
1 Item in your Christmas stocking, if you've been naughty
2 Turn on
3 Proclaim
4 Ancient Greek garment
5 Item for preserving footwear's shape: 2 wds.
6 ____ wrap

Ring 2
* The ____ Army (charity often seen around Christmas)
* Allan who produced the movie Grease
* Boil with anger
* Cartoonist Adams
* Disquiet

Ring 3
* First word in "The Christmas Song"
* Common sugar substitute
* Rip of Men in Black
* Colgate alternative

Ring 4
* Surname of Nicholas Guest's and Julia Louis-Dreyfus's characters in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
* Musical interval between two consecutive C's
* Dangerous scene for which an actor might be replaced by a double

Ring 5
* ____ City Christmas Card (1989 album by jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis)
* ____ belt (car safety device)

Ring 6
* Miracle on 34th ____ (1947 Christmas film)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword that hopefully won't take an AEON to solve. . .

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (Week 4 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Week 1:
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing at least 3 consecutive letters that are consonants (i.e. not AEIOUY): NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word SOUND: NEITHER
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words where three or more of the letters are from the set {A,E,I,O,U,Y}: NEITHER
[Michael Tang] The set of words of length 5, 6, 7, or 8: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than or equal to 9: NEITHER

Week 2:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of lengths 5 or 6: ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words with second letter between O and Z inclusive: ONE
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters (with possible repeats) in the words DHOLE UNITS: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 or 7: ONE

Week 3:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words at least 5 letters long, beginning with letters B-H inclusive: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter from BENDY TRACK: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain an S adjacent to another consonant (any letter other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y): ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between A and G inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: BOTH

Week 4:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words where the second letter is anything other than A, E, I, O, U, or Y: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all 1-syllable words, according to HowManySyllables.com*: ONE
[John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that contain at least one instance of the letter S: BOTH
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which the same letter appears more than once: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NEITHER

* Note that some words, such as "extraordinary", have different numbers of syllables in different pronunciations, but How Many Syllables returns only one number (5, in this case). Sometimes, different words with different numbers of syllables have the same spelling, such as "mare" as in a female horse or as in a feature on the moon; How Many Syllables still only returns one number (1, in this case). I decided to use this website because it seems to be the easiest place to get this information from. For example, the word "atheism" is considered by leading syllable experts to be a 3-syllable word, but it's really difficult to glean that from m-w.com, because what appears to be a syllable breakdown, "athe·​ism", is actually showing all the places you can properly hyphenate the word, and you're apparently not supposed to hyphenate a word right after the first letter or right before the last letter, and the pronunciation of the word makes it look like a 4-syllable word, but apparently "ism" is counted by many linguists as a single syllable. Confusing. I hope I never have to touch another syllable in my life.

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $33.
The money pool for My Block My Hood My City is now $33.

Submit more guesses!