Wordy Wednesday 432: Touchword 22

WORDY WEDNESDAY #430
PENT WORDS 86 (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 **
Karen Spencer **
Stephen Potter *
Tyler Hinman **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Michael Lebowitz **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #431
CRYPTICROSTIC 14 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #432
TOUCHWORD 22
(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and 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 Humanities and related college studies: 2 wds. / ____ shooting

2 Partners of gizzards / What finally breaks one’s patience and endurance: 2 wds.

3 U-turns / Criminal

4 Paper quantity / The ____ McCoy / Cognitive scientist Hofstadter

5 Trotted about playfully / Horn-shaped corn chip brand

6 One reselling tickets at steep prices / 12 Angry Men (1957) actor with a notable environmental activist son: 2 wds.

7 Agriculturist and rock band namesake Jethro / Gossip blogger Hilton / Space Jam: A New ____

8 Flower whose name is used as an acronym for Calvinist doctrine / All ____ and no steak / Off-color

9 Long, narrow pieces, as of bacon / Big name in polo shirts / Rough ____

10 There are two in a full count / Sweeney ____: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Angel ____ (toilet paper brand)

11 Most well-groomed, as hair / Xbox One, for one

12 Away from the wind / Like some training / Available at a reduced price: 2 wds.

13 ____ vera / A province of Indonesia / Carter’s veep

14 Certain single-celled organism / Name shared by a yellow candy and a vodka cocktail: 2 wds.

15 Notification to the public of an abducted child: 2 wds. / Razor-sharpening need

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "2019 biopic about an English fantasy author"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Three Words IV! (Week 5 update - FINAL UPDATE!)

For full rules, see here.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

Week 0:

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Week 1:

[Buster Beachside] The set of all words containing exactly four letters, exactly three of which are consonants: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all words that end with a vowel: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose first letter appears in the words "SPEED RACER": TWO

[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter strictly after Q alphabetically (RSTUVWXYZ): NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which a letter appears more than once: TWO

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words which begin with a letter found in the words "FOOD BANK": ONE

Week 2:

[BentFork06] The set of all 4-letter words which start with a vowel: NONE

[Buster Beachside] The set of all 5-letter words: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all the words that contain the bigram PH: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose second-to-last letter appears in the words "RAIN MAN": ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and is a consonant other than S: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing exactly two vowels: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that contain 3 or more vowels: TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words in which all vowels are in alphabetical order (examples: FACETIOUSLY, BABOON, HMM): ONE

[Spheniscine] The set of all words with at least three vowels: TWO

Week 3:

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose third letter appears in the words "PERFECT BLUE": NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with an even number of letters greater than five: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words of odd length (3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, or 15): TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length less than or equal to 5 letters: NONE

Week 4:

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose fourth letter appears in "A MAN ESCAPED": ONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words whose fourth-to-last letter appears in "GOLDEN TAN": ALL

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the first half of the alphabet: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that have a third letter found in "SUNSHINE DAY": ALL

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6, 7, or 8: TWO

Week 5:

[Grant Fikes] The set of all words with a total of exactly five occurrences of letters that do not appear in "THE THREE R'S": ALL

[John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: ALL

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in the American English version of The Oxford 3000 (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/external/pdf/wordlists/oxford-3000-5000/American_Oxford_3000.pdf): TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 9 or 10: ONE

Since the trio of words has been guessed, $50 has been donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas, and the remaining $22 in the money pool will carry over to the next contest!

Everyone now has one more week to guess the trio of words! Results will be announced on September 20, and then Let's Guess Three Words V will start on September 27.

Wordy Wednesday 431: Crypticrostic 14

WORDY WEDNESDAY #428
HEX PATHFINDER 26 (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 **
Karen Spencer **
Mary Maynard **
Stephen Potter *
Tyler Hinman **
Brian Cross **
Kevin Orfield **
Michael Lebowitz **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #429
CRYPTICROSTIC 13 (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 **
James Haddad **
Karen Spencer **
Tyler Hinman **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Michael Lebowitz **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #430
PENT WORDS 86 (hint)

As of this writing, 11 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 #431
CRYPTICROSTIC 14
(click here for a PDF version)

The answer is enumerated (3 3 5).

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

A useful transportation option, primarily! __ __ __ __

                                           18 25 04 31

Boss is part of telethon choir __ __ __ __ __ __

                               23 20 22 34 01 10

“Color a length of tree trunk” overheard in discussion __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                                       08 33 12 19 15 07 02 38

Disgusting unkempt substance! __ __ __ __

                              29 16 06 13

Rationality of black cuckoo in pigpen __ __ __ __ __ __

                                      39 21 28 05 11 36                                            

Spiritual leader derides garments __ __ __ __ __ __

                                  26 32 24 30 37 35

Tune I remix is “Come Together” __ __ __ __ __

                                09 03 27 17 14

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What 12 Angry Men (1957) actor has a notable environmental activist son?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Three Words IV! (Week 4 update)

For full rules, see here.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

Week 0:

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Week 1:

[Buster Beachside] The set of all words containing exactly four letters, exactly three of which are consonants: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all words that end with a vowel: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose first letter appears in the words "SPEED RACER": TWO

[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter strictly after Q alphabetically (RSTUVWXYZ): NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which a letter appears more than once: TWO

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words which begin with a letter found in the words "FOOD BANK": ONE

Week 2:

[BentFork06] The set of all 4-letter words which start with a vowel: NONE

[Buster Beachside] The set of all 5-letter words: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all the words that contain the bigram PH: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose second-to-last letter appears in the words "RAIN MAN": ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and is a consonant other than S: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing exactly two vowels: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that contain 3 or more vowels: TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words in which all vowels are in alphabetical order (examples: FACETIOUSLY, BABOON, HMM): ONE

[Spheniscine] The set of all words with at least three vowels: TWO

Week 3:

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose third letter appears in the words "PERFECT BLUE": NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with an even number of letters greater than five: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words of odd length (3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, or 15): TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length less than or equal to 5 letters: NONE

Week 4:

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose fourth letter appears in "A MAN ESCAPED": ONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words whose fourth-to-last letter appears in "GOLDEN TAN": ALL

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the first half of the alphabet: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that have a third letter found in "SUNSHINE DAY": ALL

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6, 7, or 8: TWO

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $72. (Reminder: up to $50 will be donated for this contest, and the excess will carry over to the next one.)

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 430: Pent Words 86

WORDY WEDNESDAY #427
PATHFINDER 24 (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 **
Karen Spencer **
Kyle Nils **
Tyler Hinman **
Kevin Orfield **
Michael Lebowitz **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #428
HEX PATHFINDER 26 (hint)

As of this writing, 12 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 #429
CRYPTICROSTIC 13 (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 #430
PENT WORDS 86
(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 Oregon’s state fruit / Classic Ravel composition which almost became the title theme for The Legend of Zelda
2 Close buddy / 2002-2003 sci-fi series created by Joss Whedon
3 Noisy item on an ambulance / “Little ____ Coupe” (The Beach Boys hit)
4 Window covering / Couches
5 “____!... I Did It Again” (Britney Spears hit) / Steal repeatedly in small amounts
6 “____ to be Stupid” (Weird Al song) / Insect of the order Dermaptera
7 ____ Lake (the largest of New York’s Finger Lakes) / Texas ____ University
8 Setting of many a joke / Negative mark earned through a misdeed
9 Two Mules for ____ Sara (1970 western film) / Nixon’s nixin’
10 Former Italian currency unit / Fastening line

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Terminate
* Terminated
* Tiny little Wonka candies
* Ann ____, Michigan
* Word before “diamond” or “sugar”
* Tropical mammal whose secretion is used in perfume
* Analyze
* Do the ____ Thing (1989 film)
* A washer cycle
* Love & ____ Drugs (2010 film)
* Pesto ingredient
* “What’s it all about, ____?” (Cher lyric)
* It's about 39.37 inches
* Do lawn care, perhaps
* Expressionist painter Neiman
* Beverage brand that sponsors the bus of the Carolina Hurricanes
* ____ flare
* Beyond angry

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Crypticrostic!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Three Words IV! (Week 3 update)

For full rules, see here.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

Week 0:

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Week 1:

[Buster Beachside] The set of all words containing exactly four letters, exactly three of which are consonants: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all words that end with a vowel: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose first letter appears in the words "SPEED RACER": TWO

[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter strictly after Q alphabetically (RSTUVWXYZ): NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which a letter appears more than once: TWO

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words which begin with a letter found in the words "FOOD BANK": ONE

Week 2:

[BentFork06] The set of all 4-letter words which start with a vowel: NONE

[Buster Beachside] The set of all 5-letter words: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all the words that contain the bigram PH: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose second-to-last letter appears in the words "RAIN MAN": ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and is a consonant other than S: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing exactly two vowels: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that contain 3 or more vowels: TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words in which all vowels are in alphabetical order (examples: FACETIOUSLY, BABOON, HMM): ONE

[Spheniscine] The set of all words with at least three vowels: TWO

Week 3:

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose third letter appears in the words "PERFECT BLUE": NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with an even number of letters greater than five: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words of odd length (3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, or 15): TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length less than or equal to 5 letters: NONE

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $74. (Reminder: up to $50 will be donated for this contest, and the excess will carry over to the next one.)

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 428: Hex Pathfinder 26 & Wordy Wednesday 429: Crypticrostic 13

WORDY WEDNESDAY #426
SECTION SIX 42 (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 **
Karen Spencer **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
Kevin Orfield **
Michael Lebowitz **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #427
PATHFINDER 24 (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!

LAST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!
WORDY WEDNESDAY #428
HEX PATHFINDER 26
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

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.

1NW From 2003 through 2016, he passed for a total of 34,183 yards, the most of any quarterback in Dallas Cowboys history (8, 2 wds.)

2NW 2007 hack and slash game with Travis Touchdown (12, 3 wds.)

3NW Small restaurant (6)

4SW Old Testament queen (6)

5SW “____ Tonight” (1979 hit for the Eagles) (9)

6NE ____ speaker (7)

7SW Blubber (4)

8SW Follow (10)

9NW Georges Braque, for one (6)

10NW Courage (5)

11E Royal seat (6)

12E CNN commentator Cooper (8)

13W Giannis Antetokounmpo’s team (14, 2 wds.)

14NW Board game originally released in France as La Conquête du Monde (“The Conquest of the World”) (4)

15W Mischievous one (7)

16NE March of ____ (organization that works for the health of mothers and babies) (5)

17SE Device on a submarine (5)

18NW “Dancing on the Ceiling” singer (12, 2 wds.)

19SW Deep cut in flesh (4)

19SW Pertaining to the stomach (7)

20NE 3-2-1 ____ (1980-1992 PBS science series) (7)

20SE Name shared by the southernmost city in Illinois and an African capital city (5)

21SE Like an autonomous car (10)

22E Doomed from the start (13, 3 wds.)

23SW ____ of Dreams (1993 Billy Joel album) (5)

24SW Attempts (5)

25NE Envision, as a concept (6)

25W Like some coffee (7)

26SW Wily trick (4)

27NW Japanese art of growing small potted trees (6)

27E “God ____ Our Homeland Ghana” (Ghana’s national anthem) (5)

28E ____ circuit (5)

29NE Electronic dance music genre originating from Chicago (5)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #429
CRYPTICROSTIC 13
(click here for a PDF version)
(click here for rules)

The answer is enumerated (5-3).

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Big name in home security beginning to bulwark skating arenas __ __ __ __ __ __

                                                              24 19 14 04 39 30

Bit of coffee blend is not strong __ __ __ __ __ __ 

                                  07 22 26 01 13 37

Demon loses one shield __ __ __ __ 

                       27 35 23 17

Endlessly fake leader in coronavirus information! __ __ __ __ __

                                                  18 03 29 15 10

Hazy comedian Rocca in the air above us __ __ __ __ __ 

                                        12 32 20 34 40

Reportedly damages car rental company __ __ __ __ __

                                      09 25 38 08 21

Wander back around central Beijing – monumental __ __ __ __ __

                                                28 33 36 06 02

Watch actor Danson around noon __ __ __ __

                               31 16 11 05

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Love & ____ Drugs (2010 film)"?
* Patron Puzzle #88, which will be delivered on September 1, 2021, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is titled Just Solve A Simple Word Search.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

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

For full rules, see here.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

Week 0:

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Week 1:

[Buster Beachside] The set of all words containing exactly four letters, exactly three of which are consonants: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all words that end with a vowel: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose first letter appears in the words "SPEED RACER": TWO

[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter strictly after Q alphabetically (RSTUVWXYZ): NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which a letter appears more than once: TWO

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words which begin with a letter found in the words "FOOD BANK": ONE

Week 2:

[BentFork06] The set of all 4-letter words which start with a vowel: NONE

[Buster Beachside] The set of all 5-letter words: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all the words that contain the bigram PH: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose second-to-last letter appears in the words "RAIN MAN": ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and is a consonant other than S: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing exactly two vowels: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words that contain 3 or more vowels: TWO

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words in which all vowels are in alphabetical order (examples: FACETIOUSLY, BABOON, HMM): ONE

[Spheniscine] The set of all words with at least three vowels: TWO

Kyle Nils was technically late this week, but since I had time to edit the post, and since Kyle and Spheniscine are demonstrating some amazing teamwork, I decided to include the guess anyway.

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $76. (Reminder: up to $50 will be donated for this contest, and the excess will carry over to the next one.)

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 427: Pathfinder 24

WORDY WEDNESDAY #425
PENT WORDS 85 (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 **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #426
SECTION SIX 42 (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 #427
PATHFINDER 24
(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 Moisten cooking meat, say (5)

2 NH3 (7)

3 Electric organ inventor and namesake Laurens (7)

3 Sports term originating from cricket, when H. H. Stephenson took three wickets in consecutive balls and was rewarded with a cap for the feat (3 5)

4 Items for fishermen (4)

5 Horror novelist Stephen (4)

6 Qualities (10)

7 Bangkok resident (4)

7 Stuff inserted in a needle’s eye (6)

8 Northern inlet of Asia’s Yellow Sea (5 3)

9 Margarine (4)

10 Sport from which the Japanese sport of gateball is derived (7)

11 Central American bird of the trogon family (7)

12 Film director Kubrick (7)

13 World ____ (annual baseball championship) (6)

14 Song in which Lee Ann Womack asks for “a man who can tame a wild mustang” (8)

15 Lacking wordiness (5)

16 Far from careless (11)

17 Prove the falsehood of (6)

18 Attractively full-figured (6)

19 Country in the Iberian Peninsula (5)

19 Certain Arabs (6)

20 Boats that carry people across a body of water (7)

21 Ventricle's counterpart (6)

22 My Friend ____ (1941 Mary O’Hara novel about a mustang horse) (6)

23 Wombs (5)

24 Zero out a scale (4)

25 Feline with orange and black stripes (5)

26 Royalty payment for a rerun, for instance (8)

27 Swiss breakfast made of rolled oats and fruit (6)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Name shared by the southernmost city in Illinois and an African capital city"?
* A Crypticrostic!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

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

For full rules, see here.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

Week 0:

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Week 1:

[Buster Beachside] The set of all words containing exactly four letters, exactly three of which are consonants: NONE

[Cody McWilliams] The set of all words that end with a vowel: NONE

[Izak Bulten] The set of all words whose first letter appears in the words "SPEED RACER": TWO

[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter strictly after Q alphabetically (RSTUVWXYZ): NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words in which a letter appears more than once: TWO

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words which begin with a letter found in the words "FOOD BANK": ONE

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $78. (Reminder: up to $50 will be donated for this contest, and the excess will carry over to the next one.)

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 426: Section Six 42

WORDY WEDNESDAY #423
PATHFINDER 23 (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 **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Tyler Hinman **
Brian Cross *
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #424
CODEWORDS 15 (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 **
Karen Spencer **
Tyler Hinman **
Brian Cross *
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #425
PENT WORDS 85 (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 #426
SECTION SIX 42
(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 Derringer, for example

2 A city in Pennsylvania

3 Not correct

4 ____ Happened to… Robot Jones? (2002-2004 cartoon)

5 Fear ____ (reality series)

6 Old Faithful, for one

Ring 2

* “____ my dead body!”

* Shawl that might be used as a bedspread

* The ____ Inferno (1974 disaster film)

* Feeling apprehension 

* Feel sorry for

Ring 3

* It may be measured in pounds

* Garden-variety

* They beat deuces

* Footrace participant

Ring 4

* Certain blood vessel

* Boredom

* The ____ Channel (network with Local on the 8s)

Ring 5

* Page listing corrections to a printed work

* “The ____ Takes It All” (ABBA song)

Ring 6

* Harry who wrote the music for the musical 42nd Street, or senator Elizabeth

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Electric organ inventor and namesake Laurens"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess Three Words IV!

New rules are in bold! Read them carefully!

I am thinking of three 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 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles worth $10 (its value is no longer tied to the charity money pool), plus a surprise gift featuring a fox/badger character that veterans of this blog might remember (same surprise as in my last contest — I don't wish to spoil the surprise, but I've got dozens). Additionally, one random person who meaningfully participates in this contest (either by making a public guess at any time or by correctly guessing the word trio) will win the same prize package in a second random drawing! Now you don't even need to solve anything to win, just help people solve something! This is truly remarkable!

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. To give me more time to prepare the weekly posts (in case of a freak statewide power outage, for example), the deadline to guarantee your guess being accepted is 12:01 AM Central time each Sunday. If it is a set of at least 10 words or it is defined by a property of the words rather than an explicit list, 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 and you list the words explicitly (that is, you guess "{CINQ, QADI, QAID, QATS, QOPH}" rather than "the set of all Scrabble-legal 4-letter words with a Q and not a U"), I will privately give you the same information in an email sometime that Sunday.

I reserve the right to reject any guess if it is impossible for the average reader (who doesn't know what my words are already) to determine whether or not any given word is in your set within a relatively short amount of time. This is a difficult quality to define empirically, but valid guesses would include "the set of all words starting with a letter in the word PRIME" or "the set of all words with a prime number of distinct letters", and invalid guesses would include "the set of the three words Grant is thinking of" and "the set of all words still in at least one possible word trio given the information publicly available right now, and which, if the words in that set were listed and numbered alphabetically starting from 1, would have prime indices". Keep it simple!

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, including one last hint from me, 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. The deadline for this final week will be 12:01 AM Central time on the following Monday (that is, the aforementioned 12:01 AM Sunday deadline will not be applied). The rules for private guesses still apply (you must explicitly list the three words you are guessing, not define them uniquely by some convoluted property).

This contest will also benefit the Food Bank of West Central Texas. The money pool will start at $80, the amount determined by the previous contest, and then go down $2 for every weekly update that has gone by without someone guessing the trio of words. (Exception: the value cannot go below $2.) Up to $50 of the money pool will be donated once the words are guessed. If there's any money left over, it will carry over to another word-guessing contest one week after the results of this contest are announced. 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 two guesses for you (not four, because you people are getting smarter!), chosen from among the guesses that were made in Let's Guess Three Words III!. Note: Unless otherwise specified, "vowel" and "consonant" are defined as per National Puzzlers League rules, since those are the rules my readers seem to want to go along with. This means that A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels, and the other 20 letters are consonants.

The set of all words in which the second letter is a vowel: ONE
The set of all words containing a string of three or more consecutive consonants (e.g. THREE) and/or a string of two or more consecutive vowels (e.g. THREE): TWO

Good luck, and happy guessing!

Wordy Wednesday 425: Pent Words 85

WORDY WEDNESDAY #422
DIVIDED INTO COLUMNS 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:
Cole Kendall **
Karen Spencer **
Tyler Hinman *
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #423
PATHFINDER 23 (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 #424
CODEWORDS 15 (hint)

As of this writing, 6 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 #425
PENT WORDS 85
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Kyle Nils. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

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 Mammalian feature / ____ 5 (1993-1998 sci-fi series)

2 Comedian Mulaney / Pincher bug

3 Mouth, slangily / Freshly made over

4 Become adjusted (to) / “Trip Through Your ____” (U2 song)

5 Emerald, for example / Dishonor

6 Personal belief / Earl Grey, for example

7 Miner’s target / Rot

8 Piercing item / Morally rigid, like “religious scholar” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi according to The Washington Post in 2019

9 Word for a person, place, thing, or idea / Prince of ____ (video game franchise)

10 South America’s third largest country / Incontinence pad brand you can “rely” on

PENTOMINOES:

* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

* Negatively charged particle

* Fouled up

* Long narrow sea arm bordered by steep cliffs

* Moisten cooking meat, say

* Jeweler’s lens

* Item in the Tor logo

* Local ordinance

* Become mature, as fruit

* ____ Cowboy (1980 film with Debra Winger as Sissy)

* Spin quickly

* Excessive moralist

* Honking waterfowls

* Junkies

* Large shrimp

* Verboten

* Bird’s nest on a cliff

* In the lead

* “A mind is a terrible thing to ____”

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Fear ____ (reality series)"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: A Musical Crisscross (RESULTS!)

About two weeks ago, I posted the contest A Musical Crisscross. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 423: Pathfinder 23 & Wordy Wednesday 424: Codewords 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #421
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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 **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman *
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #422
DIVIDED INTO COLUMNS 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 5 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!

LAST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!
WORDY WEDNESDAY #423
PATHFINDER 23
(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 Mollusc-flavored vegetable juice brand (7)

2 Be generous (6)

2 Purple-wearing member of a fictional foursome (9)

3 Trigger (3 3)

4 Skor ingredient (6)

5 A noble gas (5)

6 Like many an interjection (11)

7 Absolutely serious (2-8)

8 Boxing arena (4)

9 The Satanic ____ (Salman Rushdie novel) (6)

10 Beginning point (5)

11 Ancient harp relatives (5)

12 Word before “column” or “wheel” (8)

13 “When in ____. . .” (4)

14 1975 hit for David Bowie (4)

15 Openings through which gas can escape (5)

16 One using the beta version of software (6)

17 As the ____ flies (4)

18 Simple ____ (rock band) (4)

18 Braid (5)

19 Boom’s support (4)

19 Island of ____ Toys (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer location) (6)

20 Soccer team number (6)

21 Up (5)

22 Conceited (4)

22 Old Dominion tourism slogan (8 2 3 6)

23 Dome-shaped dwellings (6)

24 The second-most populous Massachusetts city (9)

25 Like a binder where the pages can be rearranged (5-4)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #424
CODEWORDS 15
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Kyle Nils. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

In the crossword puzzle above, every letter is represented by an integer from 1 through 26. You must decipher the code to reveal the words.

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to spell the final answer, an eight-letter word.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "____ Cowboy (1980 film with Debra Winger as Sissy)"?
* Patron Puzzle #87, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Vocabulary Fun Pack.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: A Musical Crisscross (easier version!)

Last week, I posted the contest A Musical Crisscross. As promised, here is an easier version with two words placed at the outset. I hope you will try this puzzle out. Remember, you stand a chance to win prizes and to help feed people (see the original post for more details)! The deadline is 11:59 PM Central time on August 1, 2021!

Wordy Wednesday 422: Divided Into Columns 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #420
PENT WORDS 84 (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 **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Tyler Hinman **
Brian Cross **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #421
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 17 (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 #422
DIVIDED INTO COLUMNS 7
(click here for rules)
(click here for a PDF version)

Leader, as of police __ __ __ __ __

                     22 19 88 10 53

____ sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. . .) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                                  69 57 01 79 74 85 52 36 24

Dried corn prepared in a caustic solution __ __ __ __ __ __

                                          05 66 89 67 34 78

Caterpillar also called a looper __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                 51 06 09 72 38 61 91 96

Ice Cube’s Ride Along (2014) costar: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                            94 23 21 60 65 33 50 58 71

Not tight __ __ __ __ __

          27 02 35 14 92

Where Hooper’s Store is located: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                        20 56 97 49 16 32 46 81 90 93 77 03

Sneakiness __ __ __ __ __ __ __

           41 17 18 75 42 30 73

Big name in Western hats __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                         25 47 39 59 63 87 82

Item that shields a driver from light: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                              13 48 68 07 11 44 62 95

Grow one’s molars and canines __ __ __ __ __ __

                              80 28 37 70 15 04

____ sunrise (cocktail) __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                        55 76 43 83 26 29 86

Shape of a sound signal __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                        84 08 31 40 45 12 54 64

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "The Satanic ____ (Salman Rushdie novel)"?
* A Codewords!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Contest: A Musical Crisscross

(PDF of this puzzle to print out)

Fit the words below the grid into the crisscross, reading left to right and top to bottom. The letters in the pink cells, in order from left to right starting with the top row, will spell a lyric from a song.

ACRYLIC DESCENT MESSIER SHELLAC

AMIABLE DESPAIR METHANE SIGHTED

AMONGST ENDGAME MINUTIA STENCHY

ANATASE GAROTTE ODYSSEY SURNAME

BRAMBLE LEARNED PANACHE THIOLIC

COPYCAT MANMADE PROMISE TRITONE

CUBICAL MANTRAS SCISSOR UGLIEST

CYCLOPS MEMENTO SCULPTS

Send your filled-in grid to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on July 25, 2021, to get two entries in the contest; identify the song before that time for another two entries (a maximum of four). Then an easier version of this puzzle will be posted with two words placed already as hints; solvers who submit their filled-in grids before 11:59 PM Central time on August 1, 2021 will get one entry, and solvers who identify the song before then will get one entry. A randomly-selected winner will win signed copies of the April 2018 and June 2018 issues of Games World of Puzzles (they were sitting around, and I think I intended to give them away long ago given their pristine condition) plus a surprise gift featuring a fox/badger character that veterans of this blog might remember. Additionally, for every entry in this contest, I will add $2 to a money pool, up to $50 of which will be donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas in my next contest (a word-guessing contest where the pool decreases every week the words remain unguessed, so any money above $50 will serve as a time buffer). Happy solving!

(Edited 2021/7/21 to change the black cells to an ink-saving grey.)

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy update: 10x10x10 Crosswords II

This update to the Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy initiative is to announce the 10x10x10 Crosswords II pack. A sequel to 10x10x10 Crosswords, this contains 10 10x10 mini-crosswords for the price of US$2. Compared to the predecessor, 10x10x10 Crosswords II contains a heightened emphasis on offbeat puzzles; there are 2 themed puzzles, 2 themeless puzzles, 3 vwllss puzzles (where all vowels are removed from the answers before entering them; there are no Y's, and each puzzle comes with an easier version with full answer enumerations and a harder version without them), and 3 Something Different puzzles (where literally any combination of words is allowed to be an entry). Each puzzle comes in PUZ form (for electronic solving) and PDF form (for printing), and solutions (including full answers to the vwllss puzzles, with vowels added back in) are all available as well.

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), Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #3 (24 more previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$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), 10x10x10 Crosswords (10 10x10 crosswords for US$5), 11x11x11 Touchword (11 11x11 Touchword puzzles for $3), and the Anacrossword Twenty-Pack (20 Anacrosswords for $8). No matter what your budget is, I hope you will support these causes and get some fun puzzles to solve.

Wordy Wednesday 421: Snake Crisscross 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #418
DIGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 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:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Karen Spencer **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #419
TOUCHWORD 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:
Cindy Heisler **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Kyle Nils **
Mary Maynard **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #420
PENT WORDS 84 (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 #421
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 17
(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

Donkey relative

The Sacramento ____ (newspaper)

Billy the ____

On the ____ (on the run)

French first-person pronoun

____ de plume

Miner’s yield

Music genre of Jamaican origin

____ and feather

Piece of advice

4 LETTERS

From the start

____ and crafts

Eager

Blessing

____ as Ice (1991 film starring Vanilla Ice)

Bean ____ (tofu)

College residence, briefly

Black, poetically

Nothing

Enforcer of drug laws, slangily

____ Season (2006 animated movie)

Uproar

Measure of paper

“____ and shine!”

Certain mint

5 LETTERS

____ Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974 crime film)

Man making a vow, possibly

Absolutely mutilates

Finely chop

Walnut relative

A twill fabric

____ bear

“____ not, want not”

6 LETTERS

Marshy bodies of water

Halo: ____ Evolved (2001 video game)

CNN anchor Anderson

Mute

Dolly Parton hit

Nullify

8 LETTERS

Swedish electric car brand

9 LETTERS

Romani character in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

10 LETTERS

Number of drinks it takes to get excessively drunk, perhaps: 3 wds.

14 LETTERS

Legendary pop musician. . .: 2 wds.

. . . and the author’s favorite song by said pop musician: 2 wds.

SNAKE WORDS

5 LETTERS

Texas Revolution battle site

Frasier’s surname

Late-night legend Letterman

“Sentimental Journey” singer Day

Emulate Romeo and Juliet

Silly

Become liable to, as expenses

____ Sound Machine (pop music band)

Dark coffee

Swedish prize namesake Alfred

The Threepenny ____

Emulate Patrick Chan, say

____: The Sixth Sense (1989 NES game that’s just a tarot card reading)

Exercise

6 LETTERS

Unit of electric current

Coax

Energetic individual

Exit

Log-cutting tool used by two people: 2 wds.

Cheered (for)

7 LETTERS

Blade on a rifle

You might stick both of your feet into it to glide down a snowy mountain

Place to anchor a boat

Anthem of the country “where pines and maples grow”: 2 wds.

“____ at the Sun” (1997 U2 song)

Bad things to cross, as per Ghostbusters

8 LETTERS

Sully

Biodiversity concern: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 12-letter, 2-word answer for "Where Hooper’s Store is located"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!