Wordy Wednesday 268: Hex Pathfinder 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #265

PENT WORDS 53 (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:
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
John Bulten **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #266

SECTION SIX 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:
Bryce Herdt **
John Bulten **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #267

CODEWORDS 9 (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 #268

HEX PATHFINDER 16

(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.

1W Rainwater container (7)
2E One who abstains from cigarette use (9)
3SW Nikon rival (5)
3SW Light narrow boats (6)
4NE Michael Moore documentary about health care (5)
5E Board game in which players make the red planet livable (16, 2 wds.)
6W Author Hemingway (6)
7SW Certain raccoon relative (5)
7SW Heraldry concern (10, 3 wds.)
8NE Beginning (5)
9SE Maltreats (6)
10NW ____ hound (6)
11NE Autumn Sonata director Bergman (6)
12E Bad smell (4)
13SE Certain internal organ (6)
14NW You can’t make a silk one out of a sow’s ear (5)
15NE 2004-2012 Fox medical drama (5)
15SE New Testament king who wanted to murder baby Jesus (5)
16NW Extremely overweight (5)
17W Judge’s outer garment (4)
18E ESPN show hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon (21, 3 wds.)
19NW ____ go Bragh (4)
20SE Not courageous (5)
21NW Stick for jamming ammunition into a firearm (6)
22SW Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ____ (4)
23NW Attentive (5)
23SW Actress Hathaway (4)
24SE It wasn’t built in a day (4)
25SE Horse’s sound (5)
26NE Ten-cent piece (4)
27W Measure of how tall something is (6)
28SW Pet store purchase (5)
29NE Fake attack (5)
29W Circus participant, sometimes (4)
30E Lottery-like casino game (4)
31NW Hammer-wielding comic book character (4)
32SW Professional bowler’s goal (6)
33NE Tees and such (6)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "America's Funniest Home ____"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 267: Codewords 9

WORDY WEDNESDAY #264

FRAMELINKS 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:
Bryce Herdt **
John Bulten *
Michael Tang **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #265

PENT WORDS 53 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #266

SECTION SIX 26 (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 #267

CODEWORDS 9

(click here for a PDF version)

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 4-letter word for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ____"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 265: Pent Words 53 & Wordy Wednesday 266: Section Six 26

WORDY WEDNESDAY #263

FRAMELINKS 10 (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:
Bryce Herdt **
John Bulten *
Michael Tang **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #264

FRAMELINKS 11 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #265

PENT WORDS 53

(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 "Werewolves of ____" (Warren Zevon song that sounds an awful lot like a Lynyrd Skynyrd song) / Hideous
2 Space ____ (Vlaada Chvátil board game) / Comprehend
3 Deathly pale / "____ Paradise" (Weird Al song)
4 Squelch / ____ & Order: Special Victims Unit
5 Common sandwich condiment, briefly / Smells
6 Thick / Patreon CEO Jack
7 Catlike / 12 months
8 Shoptalk / Novelist Wharton
9 A new ____ on life / Sub-detecting device
10 Triple ____ (certain liqueur) / "Sweet Home ____" (Lynyrd Skynyrd song that sounds an awful lot like a Warren Zevon song)

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Came up
* John, Paul, George, and Ringo, for four
* Kid
* Symbol in writing
* ____ Island (former island in New York City)
* Becoming author Michelle
* Stereotypical cop's breakfast item
* 100 centimes, in Algeria
* La ____ (Milan opera house)
* John of tractor fame
* Religion with Mohammed as its prophet
* Marijuana, slangily
* It's made from regenerated cellulose
* What an insomniac might count
* Person who prefers solitude
* Shoptalk
* "____ not, want not"
* Planet ____ (2006 miniseries)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #266

SECTION SIX 26

(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 Common Wheel of Fortune category
2 Camera part
3 Murphy of The Haunted Mansion (2003)
4 The North Star
5 President Hoover
6 The Binding of ____: Rebirth

Ring 2
* Fast
* One more advanced in age
* Cog projections
* Piece of luggage, perhaps
* ____ Columbia

Ring 3
* Characteristics
* Spokesperson's pitch
* Absolutely hate
* Theft

Ring 4
* Layer
* Descendant of Jacob
* Newbery Medal winner Eleanor or crossword puzzle author Harvey

Ring 5
* Pittsburgh team
* Take a nap, say

Ring 6
* One of 26 in the English alphabet

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Codewords!
* Patron Puzzle #55, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Framelinks.

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

Wordy Wednesday 264: Framelinks 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #262

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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:
Bryce Herdt **
Mary Maynard **
Michael Tang **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #263

FRAMELINKS 10 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #264

FRAMELINKS 11

(click here for a PDF version)

Fill in the empty squares in the diagram with the given letters to form words.
Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.
AAA BBBB CC D EEEEEEEE F GGGG HHHH IIIII KK LLL MMMMM NNNN OOOO P RRRRRR S TTTTTTT U YY ZZ

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Becoming author Michelle"?
* What's a 6-letter word for "One of 26 in the English alphabet"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 263: Framelinks 10

WORDY WEDNESDAY #261

PATHFINDER 12 (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:
M. Sean Molley **
Bryce Herdt **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #262

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 8 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #263

FRAMELINKS 10

(click here for a PDF version)

Fill in the empty squares in the diagram with the given letters to form words.
Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.
AAAAAAAA BB CCC DDDDDDD EEEEEEEEEE HH III LLLL MMMMM NNNNNNNN OO PP RRRRRRR S TTTTT Y

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Another Framelinks!

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

Wordy Wednesday 262: Snake Crisscross 8

WORDY WEDNESDAY #259

IN-GENIE-OUS (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 a hint. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey **
Adam Weaver **
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #260

PENT WORDS 52 (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:
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #261

PATHFINDER 12 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #262

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 8

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by PlasmaMan.
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
“Take On Me” band: hyph.
Snake associated with Cleopatra
Lair
George Gershwin’s brother
On the ____ (on the run from the law)
Spoil
Kimono accessory
Stimpy’s partner
In medias ____
Number of commandments
Application
4 LETTERS
Kournikova of tennis
Tom Hardy’s role in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Root ____
Reverberation
Otherwise
Offhand
Certain heron relative
Repair
Southern stew ingredient
South ____ (cartoon with Cartman)
A mode of Indian music
“Darn!”
Emulate the MGM lion
Snare
5 LETTERS
Out of bed
Boxer Mike
6 LETTERS
Obscure, as confidential parts of text
____ Island (New York City borough)
Dormant
Short-sleeved garment: hyph.
7 LETTERS
Container for keeping a drink hot or cold
8 LETTERS
Chooses not to vote
Polluted precipitation: 2 wds.
The capital of North Dakota
A brand of chewing gum
9 LETTERS
A Massachusetts town
10 LETTERS
Flashy jewelry: hyph.
11 LETTERS
Bitterly angry
SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
One portraying a role
Buffalo
Task
Approximately
Stuff injected anally
Forbidden in Islam
Angry
Pi Day’s month
Mickey or Minnie, for one
Newspaper pieces about the recently deceased, for short
Forcefully removes from a position
____-fire
____ plug
Tony of comic books
____ Will Be Blood (2007 film)
6 LETTERS
Bruce of comic books
Writes defamatory statements about
Courteney’s Friends role
Zero of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Number of pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed Jesus
____ Joe’s (American grocery store chain)
7 LETTERS
Not for
Depleted
Brother or sister
8 LETTERS
Giving alcohol to an alcoholic, say

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!
* Patron Puzzle #54, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is not written yet. I need to get to work, obviously!

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

Wordy Wednesday 261: Pathfinder 12

WORDY WEDNESDAY #258

CODEWORDS 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:
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #259

IN-GENIE-OUS (hint)

As of this writing, 3 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's a hint. 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 #260

PENT WORDS 52 (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 #261

PATHFINDER 12

(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 Pertaining to current events, perhaps (7)
2 Athlete in a 2018 Nike ad campaign (5 10)
3 Shamu, for one (4)
4 A type of beetle (6)
5 Tentacled sea creatures (6)
6 Military academy student (5)
7 Noisy fight (6)
8 The Legend of Zelda: A ____ to the Past (4)
9 Small restaurant (6)
10 Not dead (5)
11 A teenager going out might have one (6)
11 Picasso emulator, perhaps (6)
12 ____ oil (6)
13 Old-timey jukebox (11)
14 Submarine’s weapon (7)
15 Defeat thoroughly (7)
16 Said again (8)
17 Lyft alternative (4)
18 Pursue (5)
19 Mr. Musk (4)
20 Clinton’s 1996 opponent (4)
21 ____ duck (6)
22 One of the Greek Muses (5)
23 Four pecks (6)
24 Suave (6)
25 Large crustacean (4 4)
26 Buy (8)
27 Like a successful mountain climber vis-à-vis a mountain (4)
28 Give heroin to a drug addict, say (6)
29 A grocery store checker scans it (3 4)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Zero of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 259: In-Genie-ous & Wordy Wednesday 260: Pent Words 52

WORDY WEDNESDAY #257

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #258

CODEWORDS 8 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #259

IN-GENIE-OUS

(no PDF version)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #260

PENT WORDS 52

(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 Emit light, as something hot / Maddow of MSNBC
2 A railroad in Monopoly / Newsman Rather
3 Verb feature / Amount on a tag, perhaps
4 "____ Ga Ga" (Queen song) / Selected
5 ____ chamber / Reagan's predecessor
6 Small donkey used as a pack animal / A type of billiards shot
7 "All the world's a ____. . ." / Software prototypes
8 Clothing store purchase, perhaps / Small digging tool
9 A river in Europe / ____ Without a Cause
10 Mike of boxing fame / Slang

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* San Diego baseballer
* Prognosticators
* Explode
* Twist, as a wet towel
* A lot
* Emit light
* Era
* Prop for Bob Ross
* ____ Orange (herbicide)
* Hurt
* Aids a criminal
* Swap
* Blood of the Greek gods
* Sired, Biblically
* Los Angeles Lakers guard Stephenson
* Device for detecting submarines and such
* Violent public displays
* A type of billiards shot

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 4-letter word for "Shamu, for one"?
* Patron Puzzle #53, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), hasn't been written yet. Looks like your author's been slacking off! Oops!

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

Wordy Wednesday 258: Codewords 8

WORDY WEDNESDAY #256

SECTION SIX 25 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #257

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #258

CODEWORDS 8

(click here for a PDF version)

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. . .

* A video! Really.
* What's a 5-letter word for "Los Angeles Lakers guard Stephenson"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 257: Snake Crisscross 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #254

PATHFINDER 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:
Jack Bross **
M. Sean Molley **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #255

PENT WORDS 51 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #256

SECTION SIX 25 (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 #257

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 7

(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
____ King Cole
Basketball hoop feature
____ King Cole
Make a knot
Male fox
4 LETTERS
Blended tea drink
The Hunchback of Notre ____
College student’s living quarters, briefly
Lack of difficulty
____ Girl (2014 thriller)
Aslan, for one
Stallion’s mate
Philosopher John Stuart ____
Nothing, in Spanish
“Go away!”
____ chef
Pack down tightly with a series of blows
Powdered drink mix trademark
Chinese finger ____
5 LETTERS
Occur as a result
____ square (ancestor of the sudoku puzzle)
Place to get your hair done
6 LETTERS
Tropical lizards
Name of Bell Labs’ Plan 9 Bunny
Finger-wiping cloth at a table
7 LETTERS
Appetites
Highly developed skill
“These Arms of Mine” singer Otis
9 LETTERS
Othello’s wife
Symbol seen in a subtraction problem: 2 wds.
“After the Gold Rush” singer: 2 wds.
SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
Home ____ (1990 comedy)
Cries from a flock
It can be measured in degrees or radians
Regions
Australian canine
TV show : episode :: magazine : ____
Somewhat, informally
Four-seated automobile
Jewish Passover service
“All ____ Up” (Elvis song)
Boozehound
A city in Florida
6 LETTERS
Really showering with affection, with “on”
Numbskull
7 LETTERS
____ Dollar Listing New York
Celebrated
8 LETTERS
Estrange
9 LETTERS
Hermitage
11 LETTERS
Seat for lying down in: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Codewords!
* Patron Puzzle #52, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Fill-In Crossword.

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

Wordy Wednesday 256: Section Six 25

WORDY WEDNESDAY #253

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #254

PATHFINDER 11 (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 #255

PENT WORDS 51 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #256

SECTION SIX 25

(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 A type of handgun
2 Entities
3 Conceited
4 Wild marjoram
5 Acorn-obsessed Ice Age character
6 The five-finger one is illegal

Ring 2
* Butt
* Be made up (of)
* Units of currency in Mario games
* Certain American Indian's dwelling
* ____ of the Body Snatchers

Ring 3
* Nasal cavity
* La Paz's country
* Namesake of the Little Caesars parody in Home Alone
* Psalm 34 is one in Hebrew

Ring 4
* Aired again
* Musician with a bow
* Incites to attack

Ring 5
* Title character Twist in a Charles Dickens novel
* You might have a midlife one

Ring 6
* Traditional 25th anniversary gift

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Name of Bell Labs’ Plan 9 Bunny"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 254: Pathfinder 11 & Wordy Wednesday 255: Pent Words 51

WORDY WEDNESDAY #252

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 5 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #253

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 6 (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 #254

PATHFINDER 11

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!
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 ____ Free or Die Hard (2007 film) (4)
2 Naked and ____ (TV series that debuted in 2013) (6)
3 Shape of a ball (6)
3 Watering devices in yards (10)
4 Later than now (9)
5 She played Mrs. Murphy in The Blues Brothers (6 8)
6 USA for Africa song (2 3 3 5)
7 Mike who narrates Deadliest Catch (4)
8 “Scarborough ____” (4)
9 Some pieces of silverware (11)
10 Clenched (4)
11 Turbo of 2013’s Turbo, for one (5)
12 ____ & Faith (2003-2006 sitcom) (4)
12 The fourth most-spoken language in the world (5)
13 A Hispanic grocery store or a place for aging wine (6)
13 Cotton-eating insect (4 6)
14 Desdemona’s husband (7)
15 Site for a party before a football game, perhaps (8)
16 Reflecting nacreous light (10)
17 Mathematician René (9)
18 Washed-out (4)
19 High regard (6)
20 One to whom an Australian might say “G’day” (4)
20 ____ toast (5)
21 The Lion King villain (4)
22 Partitions of dollars (5)
23 Strip dividing highway lanes that travel opposite directions (6)
24 Princess to whom “Candle in the Wind 1997” is a tribute (5)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #255

PENT WORDS 51

(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 React to a bad joke, perhaps / Part of a baseball cap
2 Morays and such / Connected to the Internet
3 Like the weather on a white Christmas / Game played by Deep Blue
4 Scold / Sandwich cookie brand name
5 Be skeptical / Meters or liters, for two
6 Actor Penn of Mystic River (2003) / Circle visible around the sun
7 Military conflict / Jamaican music genre
8 Withdraw (from) / 1/12 of a foot
9 Nation just south of Italy / Story
10 Black eye / British art museum name

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Dice-rolling party game
* Picture contained by a bigger picture, perhaps
* Match Game announcer Johnny
* Irritated spots
* Be buoyant
* Varnish ingredient
* Like some gases
* United Airlines rival
* Not even the least bit drunk
* Drench
* Mr. Earp
* Parody
* Tempozan Ferris Wheel's city
* Metalworking item often dropped on cartoon characters
* All rival
* Task
* Cognizant
* Super ____ Bros. (1999 fighting game)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter word for "The five-finger one is illegal"?
* Patron Puzzle #51, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Vocabulary Fun Pack.

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

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy update: Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #2!

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. I am pleased to announce, on this Giving Tuesday, the release of Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #2, consisting of 24 more Patron Puzzles (#25-48) and one more issue of Fox & Badger Magazine (with 12 puzzles and a meta), all for the same price of US$11.10. Amazing!

This time around, Patron Puzzles include the following:
* Four 13x13 Codewords puzzles (example).
* Three 15x15 Pathfinder puzzles (example).
* Four 21x21 Framelinks puzzles (example).
* Five large Snake Crisscross puzzles (example).
* A giant Anacrossword (example).
* A sequel to Wordy Wednesday 37.
* A puzzle three-pack inspired by my colleague Ryan Faley.
* 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 four charities:

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which aims to prevent suicide. As a suicidal depression sufferer and near victim myself, it seems like a worthy cause.
• 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, making coping with the circumstances which put them there just a little bit easier.
• Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, which provides emergency medical aid around the world.

I'm offering the original Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy pack (24 previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$11.10), the LiveJournal Logic Pack (300 logic puzzles for US$3), and the Section Six Six-Plus-Six Pack (12 Section Six puzzles for $6). No matter what your budget is, I hope you will support these causes and get some fun puzzles to solve.

Wordy Wednesday 253: Snake Crisscross 6

WORDY WEDNESDAY #251

ANACROSSWORD 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #252

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 5 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #253

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 6

(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
1986-1990 sitcom about Gordon Shumway
Baseball ____
Singer Henley
Guitarist Paul
____ bygones be bygones
Don't Tell ____ the Babysitter's Dead (1991 flick)
Second-to-last letter in the Greek alphabet
4 LETTERS
Performed very well in
Uncle’s partner
“Curses!”
“Novocaine for the Soul” band
Give off
Basketballer Lamar
Daze
5 LETTERS
Layers, as of paint
Language from which we get the word “umiak”
Actor Plemons
Tails’s real first name in the Sonic the Hedgehog games
It may be fine
Wedge-shaped piece
A type of fish
6 LETTERS
____ 110th Street (1972 crime drama)
Cuban dictator Fidel
A type of fish
Decoration made from a bundle of strings
8 LETTERS
Game with llama-shaped piñatas
Oregon’s largest city
9 LETTERS
A sparkling wine
10 LETTERS
Excessively flamboyant: 3 wds.
SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
Prince Fielder's father
Raccoon relative
Game with 54 wooden blocks
____ 666 (2001 horror flick)
Mixed precipitation
6 LETTERS
Blue Diamond offering
Make a valuation of
Author Truman
Breakfast items for stereotypical cops
Parade
Landlord, for example
AT&T rival
7 LETTERS
Item that always has a spiky end sticking up
Dancer’s garment, perhaps
9 LETTERS
Houston sports stadium
Herb in some tea
Wallflower

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Naked and ____ (TV series that debuted in 2013)"?
* What's a 5-letter word for "Match Game announcer Johnny"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 252: Snake Crisscross 5

WORDY WEDNESDAY #249

FRAMELINKS 9 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #250

PENT WORDS 50 (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:
Jack Bross **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #251

ANACROSSWORD 17 (hint)

As of this writing, a number of 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 #252

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 5

(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
Carney of Harry and Tonto (1974)
Possesses
Bill who appeared on The Big Bang Theory in 2013 and 2018
Split ____ soup
Hot tub with a whirlpool
____ Lanka
Number of frames in a game of bowling
4 LETTERS
____ cheap
Lazy
Be lazy
Organ with which we smell
Symbol on a music score indicating silence
5 LETTERS
Behave in an unruly manner: 2 wds.
Improvised: 2 wds.
Make amends
One in a military academy
Item holding a piece of jewelry together
The Planets composer Gustav
It secretes bile
Body opening
Total
6 LETTERS
Excite
Fats ____
Romp
Biblical hunter whose name can also mean “idiot”
Foul odor
7 LETTERS
Salon employee
8 LETTERS
Band worn around the wrist
It may be found roasting on an open fire
9 LETTERS
Field for Copernicus or Galileo
Very thin line in fabric
11 LETTERS
Route for 19th century American settlers that’s the subject of a computer game: 2 wds.
SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
2018 headline maker Kavanaugh
On a weather map, it may be cold or warm
Excessively hurried
Cretan king of myth
Mature
Publicity ____
6 LETTERS
Absolutely loves
Enumerated
Chef Jamie
Absolutely rotten
Recurring Metroid boss or film director Scott
Small upright piano
Some fasteners
Red vegetable
7 LETTERS
Teetotaler’s bane
Be revelrous
____ and cream
Craft store item with holes in the shape of a design
8 LETTERS
Stilton who resides in New Mouse City in children’s books
Mode of transportation at Disneyland
Air

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter word for "Game with llama-shaped piñatas"?
* Patron Puzzle #50, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($1 or more per month), is a Mini-Puzzle Fun Pack.

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

Wordy Wednesday 251: Anacrossword 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #248

PATHFINDER 10 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #249

FRAMELINKS 9 (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 #250

PENT WORDS 50 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #251

ANACROSSWORD 17

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Tyler Hinman. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95
Popular morning drink
Subject to erratic fluctuations
Contend
The last episode in a TV season, for example
One who pens words for another to take credit for
Programming error in a video game
MC ____ (“U Can’t Touch This” performer)
Grating, as a voice
Nonsense
Part of the eye
Musical word that means “quiet”
Square or triangle, for one
Second person pronoun
____ to Ride (board game with trains)
Long in the ____
You might vanish without one
Website where Trump posted a message about “covfefe”
Italian composer Giuseppe
XC90 maker
Equivocate or flip-flop
Make a high-pitched, plaintive sound

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter word for "Stilton who resides in New Mouse City in children’s books"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 249: Framelinks 9 & Wordy Wednesday 250: Pent Words 50

WORDY WEDNESDAY #247

HEX PATHFINDER 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jay McConnell *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #248

PATHFINDER 10 (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 #249

FRAMELINKS 9

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!
Fill in the empty squares in the diagram with the given letters to form words.
Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.
AAAAAAAA B CC D EEEEEEEEEEEEEE GGGGG H IIIIIII LL MMMMM NNNNNNNNN OOOOOO RRRRR SSSSS TTTTTTT UUU YY

WORDY WEDNESDAY #250

PENT WORDS 50

(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 Aunt of pancake mix fame / Release one's anger
2 ____ of Africa (1985 film) / ____ Pizza Cats (1990-1991 cartoon)
3 A fox or a table has four / Breastbones
4 Leave out / Bizet opera
5 Yogi who said, "I never said most of the things I said" / Fish-eating mammal in the weasel family
6 A form of tangelo / Clean or celibate
7 Irritate / Tempt
8 ____ Tuned (1992 film) / South Park: Bigger, ____ & Uncut
9 One of 90 in the measure of a right angle / Cheese named after a region in France
10 European automobile race site / A dark shade of blue

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Concur
* A unit of energy
* "I hate to ____ your bubble. . ."
* Last letter of the Greek alphabet
* Deck associated with divination
* Entertain
* Material for some stockings
* Word before "poker" or "search"
* Spooky
* IHOP side offering
* Japanese egg noodles
* Gives off
* The Neon ____ (2016 horror film)
* Secret place to hide things away
* "____ Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper song)
* Brusque
* Storage spot in a house
* Expert

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* On what website did Trump post a message about “covfefe”?
* Patron Puzzle #49, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Snake Crisscross.

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

Wordy Wednesday 248: Pathfinder 10

WORDY WEDNESDAY #246

SECTION SIX 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #247

HEX PATHFINDER 15 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #248

PATHFINDER 10

(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 Japanese art of growing tiny trees (6)
2 “____ you!” (response to a sneeze) (5)
3 Insect in a Biblical plague (6)
4 Civil War figure George Armstrong ____ (6)
5 Comic strip created by Kevin Fagan (7)
6 Microscopic particles of a substance composed of atoms (9)
7 One who might reject people of lower classes (4)
8 Expert (5)
9 Group of fish (6)
10 Get away from (5)
11 Amazon smart speaker (4)
12 Grouses with feathered feet (10)
13 ____ Movie (Seltzer and Friedberg “comedy”) (4)
14 One October birthstone (4)
15 Cerebral ____ (5)
16 Towards shelter (4)
17 Absolutely love (5)
18 Truce (9)
19 Football coach who said, “Winners never quit and quitters never win” (5 8)
20 Ran out of juice, as a battery (4)
20 Used a rod, perhaps (7)
21 Pine ____ (weasel relative) (6)
22 ____ Joy (candy bar) (6)
23 Former Vice President Walter (7)
24 Direct (5)
24 Word following “nervous” or “digestive” (6)
25 ____ Movie (Seltzer and Friedberg “comedy”) (4)
26 Paper alternative (7)
26 Pierce (9)
27 Unexpected obstacle (4)
28 Cookbook offering (6)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!
* What's a 5-letter word for "Word before 'poker' or 'search'"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 247: Hex Pathfinder 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #245

PENT WORDS 49 (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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #246

SECTION SIX 24 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #247

HEX PATHFINDER 15

(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.

1W ____ pole (5)
1SE An angry child might throw one (13, 2 wds.)
2E Top’s opposite (6)
3E Genesis garden location (4)
4E Automaton (5)
5W 1998 movie where Jim Carrey’s character discovers his entire life is a TV series (13, 3 wds.)
6SE Truthfulness (8)
7SW Head & Shoulders alternative (8, 2 wds.)
8NE Certain Australian marsupial (6)
9SW Relay race need (5)
10E Forcibly squeezed (in) (10)
11SW Property that prospective buyers can go inside (9, 2 wds.)
12W Give a darn (4)
13SW Sidney of In the Heat of the Night (7)
14SE Dracula portrayer (6)
15NE Nix by simply not signing, as a bill (10, 2 wds.)
16W Chardonnay, for example (4)
16W Croquet need (6)
17SE Welles of Citizen Kane (5)
18NW Drums that come in connected pairs (6)
18E 2017 Emma Watson role (5)
19E Parts of brains or ears (5)
20NE Very overweight (5)
21NE Maritime greeting (4)
21SE Scottish beef cattle breed (5)
22SE Televised (5)
23W Paradox namesake (4)
24E Pastry whose name is French for “lightning” (6)
25NE Place to buy meat (4)
25W Leave (6)
26SE Nasal cavity (5)
27SE Emulates a seamstress (4)
28NE Cores (6)
29W Birthplace of Saint Francis (6)
29W Delegate (6)
30E Stockholm resident (5)
31E Circus prop (7)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What football coach said, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”?

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

Wordy Wednesday 246: Section Six 24

WORDY WEDNESDAY #243

FOXGERYPTICS 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #244

TOUCHWORD 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:
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Michael Avanessian **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #245

PENT WORDS 49 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #246

SECTION SIX 24

(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 Signed the back of, as a check
2 Adjoin
3 Alaska city named after a U.S. Secretary of State
4 Former Fleetwood Mac member Buckingham
5 Mythological figure slain by Artemis
6 Unborn human being

Ring 2
* Put off
* Like some servants
* "But seriously, ____. . ."
* Term for a socially inept person derived from If I Ran the Zoo
* President Woodrow

Ring 3
* Like a pug
* Wheel of ____
* Part of KFC
* Dispatch

Ring 4
* Purge a Facebook relationship
* Potable
* Wear away, as water forming a canyon

Ring 5
* Mercury of Queen
* Danish monetary unit

Ring 6
* Sutherland of 24

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 13-letter, 3-word answer for "1998 movie where Jim Carrey’s character discovers his entire life is a TV series"?
* Patron Puzzle #48, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Pathfinder.

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