Wordy Wednesday 167: Touchword 3 & Wordy Wednesday 168: Touchword 4

WORDY WEDNESDAY #163

PATHFINDER 4 (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:
Anthony Bailey **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jason Boomer **
John Reid **
Lewis Chen **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #164

HEX PATHFINDER 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Bryce Herdt **
Jason Boomer **
John Reid **
Lewis Chen **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #165

PENT WORDS 33 (hint)

As of this writing, 13 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 #166

SECTION SIX 16 (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!

DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS ALL MONTH!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #167

TOUCHWORD 3

(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent. (You can think of it as a diagramless, cylindrical Share-A-Letter puzzle.)

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

1 Capital on the River Thames / Popular gum flavor
2 Reduce the volume of, perhaps / Unwanted critter
3 Satisfied / Always
4 Deplaned / ____ the Dragon (Bruce Lee flick) / Disney character who says, “Thanks for noticin' me”
5 “Where were you on the night of the murder?” response / “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer / ____ a reasonable doubt
6 Language of the Qur’an / Parsley, for example / “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, often
7 College student organization, briefly / Crossword writers’ favorite tennis player Arthur / Revel
8 Mister ____ (Marvel character) / Completely comfortable: 2 wds.
9 Airline with a kangaroo logo / A region in China / “Days in the ____” (Drake song)
10 Repeat someone else’s words, perhaps / 2017, for example / Long pole on a ship
11 Part of the small intestine / State for which Bernie Sanders is a Senator
12 Place from which the only way to go is back: 2 wds. / Connotation
13 Diane of Annie Hall / Recipient of a charitable gift / Kind
14 Bootlick / Second to ____ / The Prince of ____ (1998 film)
15 Dope / Henrik Ibsen play with incidental music by Edvard Grieg: 2 wds.

WORDY WEDNESDAY #168

TOUCHWORD 4

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Anthony Bailey. 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 a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent. (You can think of it as a diagramless, cylindrical Share-A-Letter puzzle.)

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

1 Six of these clues (including this one) have them / The Amazing ____ (TV series)
2 Richard Carpenter’s sister in The Carpenters / Near miss: 2 wds.
3 It became divided in 1948 / Plumbing problem / Act properly
4 ____ bear (Alaskan mammal) / Rotary kitchen utensil
5 Word after “social” or “mass” / Beer barrels / Depression created by a meteorite
6 Shea Stadium team until 2008 / Eight 0’s and/or 1’s / What some food is made from
7 The Great ____ (F. Scott Fitzgerald novel) / Musical speed / Gateway ____ (Missouri landmark)
8 Open wide, as one’s mouth / Spruce up / TV personality who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013
9 Escapade / Former Twitter CEO Williams / Cottonwood, for one
10 Brief appearance / Informal speech
11 Message upon losing your last life: 2 wds. / Power
12 Zootopia character voiced by Shakira / Fur ____ (site that probably has much fan art of the aforementioned character)
13 Witch ____ / Page / Complete
14 Unfriendly / Remove imperfections from, as a photograph
15 Sticky note trademark: hyph. / ____ apparent / Martial artist Lee

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Dog breed whose name comes from the German word for 'pointed'"?
* What's a 5-letter word for "With The, site that sells 'I Enjoy Branded Merchandise' coffee mugs"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 165: Pent Words 33 & Wordy Wednesday 166: Section Six 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #161

CRYPTICROSTIC 2 (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:
Anthony Bailey **
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Deusovi **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #162

ANACROSSWORD 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Jason Boomer **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #163

PATHFINDER 4 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 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 #164

HEX PATHFINDER 9 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 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!

DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS ALL MONTH!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #165

PENT WORDS 33

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Pavel Curtis. 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, 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 Machine used by Nazi Germany to encrypt messages / Companion of Crackle and Pop
2 Psychiatrist, slangily / Spengler of Ghostbusters
3 Certain sculptures / Triple ____ (orange-flavored liqueur)
4 Avis competitor / Worth
5 Mario Tennis character with an egg on his racket / Slowly wear away
6 ____ baller / Not large
7 "Baby ____ Back" (Sir Mix-A-Lot song) / French painter Marcel
8 The Jetsons' family dog / Hopping mad
9 Craziness / Clue
10 "____ the World" (Eric Clapton song) / Lascivious look

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Andean pack animal
* Preach to the ____
* Comic detective Dick
* ____-hair pasta
* Last Greek letter
* College paper
* Spanish explorer Juan ____ de León
* Pillages
* Midday meal
* Rand McNally offering
* Suppose
* "To ____ own self be true"
* Avoid
* Practitioner of the world's third-largest religion
* Comedian Cheech
* Game show host Tomarken
* Pleasant smell
* Creature in a pit, perhaps

WORDY WEDNESDAY #166

SECTION SIX 16

(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 River in the title of a Strauss waltz
2 A catapult relative, or a wild ass
3 Prefer
4 Secret code in which a message is written
5 Aptly-named Cerulean Gym leader specializing in Water-type Pokémon
6 One worshiping a false god

Ring 2
* Signature hairstyle for Bob Ross
* Plentiful
* Monarchy advocate
* Former Secretary of Labor Robert
* Turn a hypothesis into a theorem

Ring 3
* Perimeter
* Linger
* Restaurant chain renowned for flapjacks
* A Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes

Ring 4
* The blood of the Greek gods
* Big name in door-to-door cosmetics sales
* Belt that holds ammunition

Ring 5
* ____ Bunker's Place (All in the Family spin-off)
* "____ Bridge is falling down. . ."

Ring 6
* One of sixteen in the title of a 1984 romance flick

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A pair of Touchwords!

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

Wordy Wednesday 163: Pathfinder 4 & Wordy Wednesday 164: Hex Pathfinder 9

WORDY WEDNESDAY #160

PENT WORDS 32 (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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
Bryce Herdt **
cohendeb **
Lewis Chen **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #161

CRYPTICROSTIC 2 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 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 #162

ANACROSSWORD 11 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 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!

DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS ALL MONTH!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #163

PATHFINDER 4

(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 Movie where Bill Murray wakes up on February 2. . . over and over. . . (9 3)
2 Some dyed fabric (5)
3 City in northwest Mexico (7)
4 Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister (6 7)
5 Divvy out sparingly (5)
6 Establishment offering coin-operated washers and driers (10)
7 At a brisk pace, in music (7)
8 "Hey, Soul Sister" group (5)
9 Place where horses are kept (6)
10 Dog in Peter Pan (4)
11 Do a housemaid’s chore (4)
12 Like some awakenings (4)
13 Popular variety of red vegetable (well, fruit, technically) (4 6)
14 Actress Melissa Joan (4)
15 Poet Nash (5)
16 Basketball feat (4 4)
17 Favorable sign (7)
18 Cosmopolitan ingredient (6 3)
19 Care for the terminally ill (7)
20 Torpid (8)
21 Form in which some medicine is taken (7)
22 Reverberate (4)
23 The answer to this clue is a four-letter one (4)
24 Yearn (4)
25 Regulars at shindigs (5 7)
26 Musician with the album Hard II Love (5)
27 False religious teaching (6)
28 Ready to retire (6)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #164

HEX PATHFINDER 9

(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered hexagon and winds through the grid, starting in the indicated direction. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries. Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, a 7-letter word.

1E Movie where Bill Murray wakes up on February 2. . . over and over. . . (12, 2 wds.)
1SW “I’m rubber, you’re ____. . .” (4)
2SE Attack from Chuck Norris, perhaps (14, 2 wds.)
3SE Word following “fourth” or “real” (6)
4NE Palmer’s pegs (4)
5SE It may be electric (5)
6SW Functional (6)
7SW Dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy (5)
7SW Pass ____ (measure up) (6)
8E Occurred (8)
9SE Having the power to review court decisions (9)
10SW Evil doll in Child’s Play (6)
11SE Greek goddess of victory (4)
12SE Frequently (5)
13NE Zelda game in which, as patron Daren Crevan informs me, you can photograph a fox (15, 4 wds.)
13W Annoy repeatedly (6)
14SW One group’s influence over another group (8)
15SW Man in drag, for example (12, 2 wds.)
16W U.S. President ____ Alan Arthur (7)
17W Steadily shrinks (8)
18E Like some orders (4)
19SW Close securely (4)
20SW Nonsense (10)
21NW Clunker (5)
22NW Moderated discussion between opposing parties (6)
23NW Indifference (6)
23NW Native Americans for whom a helicopter is named (7)
24NW ____ the Planet of the Apes (1970 film) (7)
25SW Escape, as a pursuer (5)
26NW Bad thing to have pulled over your eyes (4)
27NW ____ Forest (Robin Hood setting) (8)
28NE Puff ____ (5)
29E Prevented, as a crisis (7)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Game show host Tomarken"?
* What'a s 6-letter word for "One of sixteen in the title of a 1984 romance flick"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 161: Crypticrostic 2 & Wordy Wednesday 162: Anacrossword 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #159

FOXGERYPTICS 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
M. Sean Molley *
Bryce Herdt **
Chris Hendricks **
Lewis Chen **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *
Yossi Fendel **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #160

PENT WORDS 32 (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!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #161

CRYPTICROSTIC 2

(click here for a PDF version)

The answer is two words of length (6 6).
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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

Broken glass in traffic lights __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                               16 20 28 53 07 47 37
Covered in vines, I struggled __ __ __ __ __
                              04 22 52 43 29
Enthusiastic prima donna heading west __ __ __ __
                                      44 14 26 41
Japanese military leader's firearm loses temperature __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                     49 13 18 32 36 27
Lanky leader is meditating __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                           12 42 15 21 51 01 31 06 
Resentment: the way I see it, briefly, __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   it's bad in the slightest degree    39 02 17 08 23 50 11 46 33
Rotated to handle a weapon, reportedly __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                       10 34 48 38 24 09 03
Surround and endlessly covet metal __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   05 40 25 30 45 35 19

WORDY WEDNESDAY #162

ANACROSSWORD 11

(click here for a PDF version)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 96 97 98 99
Horror-struck
Composer Lloyd Webber
Don’t Wake ____ (Children’s board game)
Research’s partner
Rung on the ladder of success
Prepare for slaughter, perhaps
“I once was lost, but now am ____. . .” (“Amazing Grace”)
Actress Goldie
Kuala Lumpur’s country
Stuff inside a bone
Not in favor
Children’s game with the goal of separating linked hands: 2 wds.
Payback
“Natural ____ will not remove ignorance from future generations.” (Richard Dawkins)
Bravado
Laboratory item: 2 wds.
Catcher’s name in “Who’s on First?”
Pisa is famous for a leaning one
Gossipmonger

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A pair of Pathfinders!
* Patron Puzzle #25, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Framelinks!

Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy update: The LiveJournal Logic Pack!

Before I started "A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog" (remember the days when I posted logic puzzles on this blog? The foxy badger in my new banner by PunkJax doesn't!), I had a LiveJornal blog called "*Insert Clever Title Here*". My, how my titling skills have improved since then. After posting 99 puzzles publicly, I decided as an experiment to offer my future puzzles on a password-protected page and sell access to it. I got up to puzzle 300 before I decided that I craved the attention that a public blog would get me and started the blog you're reading right now; without it, I doubt I would have attracted the attention of World Puzzle Championship veteran Thomas Snyder and become one of the most prolific contributors to Grandmaster Puzzles. A ZIP file of all 300 logic puzzles can be yours for the low price of US$3.00. A handful of these puzzles have appeared on this blog before (mostly when debuting new puzzle types), but most are unavailable elsewhere (including the original 99 puzzles, ever since the image hosting service they were on went down or removed the images).

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 300 logic puzzles of varying difficulties. (Solutions are, sadly, not included.) I am currently soliciting donations to these three charities:

• 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.
• New to this update: 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. (I'll accept donations to any reputable mental health or suicide-prevention charity, but this particular one seems relatively broad in its scope.)

Please spread the word about Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy amongst all of your puzzle-loving friends. I want to do as much good as I possibly can. So far, I've raised a total of US$135 for these three charities, which is surprising given how little clout I possess in the puzzle community. Every dollar raised through this initiative will hopefully make the world a better place. It would be lovely to host such charity initiatives on a website at some point, but websites are way above my pay grade, so for now, I'll just accept forwarded receipts from charitable donations.

Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Puzzle 619: Fencing Match 53

I turn 30 tomorrow, so have this pair of 30th birthday cakes. This puzzle was originally posted over 11 years ago on my LiveJournal, where it was written for the 30th birthday of fellow puzzle writer (and my greatest inspiration at the time) Adam "Zotmeister" Wood, meaning I was almost 19 when I wrote it, yet upon re-solving it it feels like the kind of puzzle I'd write today, so I thought I'd remake it in my newer image style and share it here. Special thanks to patron Edderiofer He for asking me for images of the old LiveJournal puzzles (the images are no longer available on the LiveJournal itself) and finding this in the ZIP archive.

Rules of Fencing Match

On the lack of recent Wordy Wednesday posts.

You may have noticed that Wordy Wednesday puzzles have not gone up last Wednesday nor this Wednesday. That's because I was not at my computer to make said posts. I was undergoing inpatient therapy at Oceans Behavioral Hospital for suicidal depression which I have battled for over 9 years. This happened too suddenly for me to give anyone any kind of warning. The first two days were absolute living hell, and my first roommate having memory problems and driving me crazy by appropriating my belongings thinking they were his drive me so crazy that I wanted to injure myself and go to a regular hospital so I wouldn't have a roommate to worry about; however, the staff made it very clear that if I did so, I'd just end up back at the behavioral hospital afterwards. I had to play along if I wanted to get out, whether to kill myself and make sure I never go back or to go out and enjoy life. A combination of coping skills and medicine has me back in the mood to live, at least long enough to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Living with autism is the worst. You can feel very irrational things and have a rational side of your brain which recognizes those things as such, yet feel trapped in feeling them. Past few months, I've been feeling like I need to kill myself over every single tiny foul-up I commit. The latest one? Getting banned from a Twitch stream I hadn't followed in a while for saying I'd watch for old times sake while waiting for another streamer to return from lunch. If you don't have autism, believe me, you don't want it. I'd give up all my puzzle-writing talents to be a normal person, without this irrational suicidal depression stuff. But since I'm stuck with it, I'll work on overcoming my issues and providing you with puzzle-related entertainment.

To give me time to recuperate and readjust to the real world, I will resume the Wordy Wednesday series next week. To compensate for the missing weeks, every week in June will be a double puzzle week!

I want to devote myself more to mental illness and/or suicide activism in the future. Are there any good charities for these things that I could add to my Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy initiative? The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has a four-star rating on Charity Navigator, and seems like a good candidate.

Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 160: Pent Words 32

WORDY WEDNESDAY #158

CRYPTICROSTIC (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
M. Sean Molley **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Deusovi **
Jason Boomer **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #159

FOXGERYPTICS 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved last week's 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 #160

PENT WORDS 32

(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 Terrier's tether / Additional
2 Material in an Elvis song title / Because
3 Become dry and wrinkled / "Friends in ____ Places" (Garth Brooks song)
4 Peter of tongue twister fame / Private instructor
5 ____ deco / Like the shape of DNA
6 Be a skeptic / Extremely angry
7 Dis / Item worn around the neck in cold weather, perhaps
8 One shouting "Safe!", perhaps / Marlin's son
9 Kerchief / "See ya!"
10 Makes a quick note / Old ____ (1957 Disney film)

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* New York city on the Mohawk River
* The ____ of Nibbleswicke (Roald Dahl book)
* Kazooie's partner
* "I Can't ____ 55" (Sammy Hagar song)
* Hotel lobby
* Impatient
* Saturday Night Live announcer Don
* A new ____ on life
* Fluid injected through the anus
* There are 19 in the board game Catan
* "Drops of Jupiter" band
* Large violin relative
* Japanese dish of rice and fish
* ____ of the ball
* The fourth most populous city in Australia
* Name on Joy Villa's dress at the 2017 Grammy Awards
* Large brass instruments
* Statue of Liberty's island

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* More cryptic clues!

Until next time, yappy solving!

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Preview: Mini Cryptic Crossword Plus

Thus far, my charity initiative Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy, wherein a charitable donation of US$11.10 can get you a pack of 24 puzzles and 2 small metas, has raised a total of US$65 for Child's Play Charity and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders. I decided to write this puzzle, a smaller version of Patron Puzzle #24, as a preview of what to expect in this puzzle pack, Have fun with it!

PATRON PUZZLES FOR PHILANTHROPY PREVIEW:

MINI CRYPTIC CROSSWORD PLUS

(click here for a PDF version)

In this cryptic crossword, the answer from the wordplay half of each clue contains an extra letter. For example, if the clue were "Shy memo for North American canine (6)", the answer would be COYOTE, as clued by "North American canine"; the wordplay half clues COY+NOTE, which has an extra N. These extra letters can be anagrammed to produce this puzzle’s final 8-letter answer.

ACROSS
1 Nannies head west for a buck (4)
6 Orchestra's initially considerate with a wind instrument (7)
7 Excellent supporter, at last (7)
8 Endless ceremony for poet Dove (4)
DOWN
2 Tennessee firearm: it's not worth much (6)
3 Ms. Knight is joyful, certainly (6)
4 Derisive person's strongbox (6)
5 Refrigerator decoration destroyed garment (6)

If you enjoyed this puzzle, consider participating in Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy. For the price of US$11.10, you will get access to a larger version of the puzzle above (with 31 cryptic clues instead of a mere 8) and a bunch of other puzzles that don't involve cryptic clues. For philanthropic people on a budget, I now offer this: you can get Patron Puzzle #24, Cryptic Crossword Plus, for a donation of just US$1! Hey, every little bit helps, they say. :)

Until next time, yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 159: Foxgeryptics 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #157

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 3 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith *
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #158

CRYPTICROSTIC (hint)

As of this writing, 12 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. The type of wordplay involved in each clue is specified in an effort to give cryptic crossword novices a foothold. 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!

PATRON PUZZLES FOR PHILANTHROPY!

I have recently begun an initiative called Patron Puzzles For Philanthropy, wherein my first 24 Patron Puzzles will be made available to those who make charitable donations to Child's Play Charity and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders. Click the link for more info!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #159

FOXGERYPTICS 7

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains word suggested by patrons Anthony Bailey, James Sinnett, and 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!
Insert a single letter in each space of each grid so that each grid's five rows and five columns spells a word from left to right or top to bottom (including the letters outside the grid). Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an eight-letter word.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What'a s 5-letter word for "Saturday Night Live announcer Don"?

Until next time, yappy solving!

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy

Be sure to check out all of the posts tagged "Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy" for the latest details on this initiative!

I have now been on Patreon for approximately 2 years, during which time I've posted 24 Patron Puzzles, which are available to people who give me $5 or more per month. Since then, one of those puzzles has been made available for free and one of those puzzles was made available to all patrons at the $1 level and up (to compensate for being late). Therefore, the total cost to access all of these puzzles, according to my calculations, is US$111. However, starting from now, I will e-mail you a ZIP file of all 24 of these puzzles for the low price of US$11.10, That's 90% off! The catch? You don't pay the money to me. (If you want me to have money, you should consider supporting me on Patreon and getting access to my Wordy Wednesday puzzles earlier than anyone else. You will also gain access to future Patron Puzzles.) Instead, in a small effort to contribute something good to the world, you shall instead make your US$11.10 payment (or a greater amount if you're feeling generous) to one of these two charities:

• 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.

So far as I know, these two charities are fairly non-political and non-controversial. I have raised money for them in the past, and am happy to continue to do so.

So as to ensure that I have no opportunity to misappropriate funds, 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), and I will send Patron Puzzles #1-24 and Fox & Badger Magazine #1 & #2 (two small puzzle suites with metas). You will also receive all solutions (with the temporary exception of Patron Puzzle 24, the solution to which will be given next month; everyone who solves the puzzle by then, whether they received it through Patreon or via this charity drive, will be entered into a drawing, the winner of which gets to suggest a seed word for a future Wordy Wednesday puzzle).

Patron Puzzles include the following:
* Several 13x13 Codewords puzzles (example).
* Several 15x15 Pathfinder puzzles (example).
* Several 21x21 Framelinks puzzles (example).
* A giant Anacrossword (example).
* A Pent Words puzzle (example) that becomes a logic puzzle.
* Several 10x10 mini-crosswords.
* A puzzle three-pack inspired by my colleague Ryan Faley.
* A variety cryptic where the answers to the wordplay halves of the clues include extra letters (example).
* And much more!

Please spread the word about Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy amongst all of your puzzle-loving friends. I want to do as much good as I possibly can. I hope to make more puzzle packs available in the future, as well.

Yappy solving, everyone!

Wordy Wednesday 158: Crypticrostic

WORDY WEDNESDAY #156

SECTION SIX 15 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
M. Sean Molley **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #157

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 3 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 people have solved last week's 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 #158

CRYPTICROSTIC

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Anthony Bailey. 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!
The answer is a 7-letter word.

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

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

A Sacha Baron Cohen character and a Stark are in a row __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                                       03 45 15 25 39 20 23 

Disperses jazz vocalists? __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                          16 11 43 13 28 21 33 04

Good master of ceremonies for word game __ __ __ __ __

                                        32 05 12 18 08

Hides badly after play on words is penalized __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 

                                             22 38 30 44 41 19 26 40

Magician's skill is marginal, we hear __ __ __ __ __ __ __

                                      10 02 34 07 31 09 42

Verily, a hoodlum hides an oaf __ __ __ __ __

                               35 27 17 24 37

Video streaming site has no time for enchantress __ __ __ __ __

                                                 06 29 14 01 36

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Two more Foxgeryptics!
* Patron Puzzle #24, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is Cryptic Crossword Plus. If you found the cryptic clues in this week's puzzle too easy, you might have slightly more difficulty when the answer to the wordplay portion of each clue includes an extra letter!
* Something big is coming on May 1. . . .

Until next time, yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 157: DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 3

WORDY WEDNESDAY #155

PENT WORDS 31 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith *
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
M. Sean Molley **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #156

SECTION SIX 15 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved last week's 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 #157

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 3

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Jack Bross. 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 96

Use a guillotine __ __ __ __ __ __
                 42 16 09 60 04 35
Period of a man’s youth __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                        03 73 53 81 95 32 63
It may be geodesic __ __ __ __
                   14 84 52 19
Ghosts ‘n ____ (1985 video game) __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                 25 61 10 46 37 51 76
Newspaper-dispensing item __ __ __ __ __
                          56 06 36 79 40
Rainy season near the Indian Ocean __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   65 67 45 77 57 50 86
Record company founded in Detroit __ __ __ __ __ __
                                  17 87 24 70 91 68
Artificial brain of sorts: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                  02 66 88 20 62 43 55 29 83
Quilted ____ (toilet tissue brand) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   38 64 05 85 31 22 90 92
Sitting on a horse, for example __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                15 80 96 78 27 39 93 47 58 28
Two-way radios, colloquially: hyph. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                    33 01 11 72 34 18 89 07 49 54 75 13 41 
One responsible for an online site __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   74 44 48 59 12 82 08 26 30
Word in the name of many Razzie awards __ __ __ __ __
                                       94 71 23 21 69

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* My most cryptic Wordy Wednesday yet. . .

Until next time, yappy solving!

We interrupt the usual puzzles to promote Super Plexis on Kickstarter.

(Edited on 2017-04-15 to fix the link to the Kickstarter.)

This is NOT a sponsored post, and I am NOT a developer of this game. What I am, however, is an avid fan of Super Plexis. I want to see this game succeed, and if I can persuade even one of my readers to support it, I will have accomplished something.

If you are a reader of this blog, you are almost certainly a fan of puzzles. The puzzles on this blog (both logical and lexical) can be printed out and enjoyed at your own pace. However, I am also a longtime fan of action puzzle games, games like Tetris and Dr. Mario which challenge the player to think on their toes. Ever since playing a demo of Tetris Attack (which has nothing to do with Tetris) on a hotel room TV when the game was brand new, said game has been one of my absolute favorite action puzzle games of all time. I have also played two of its follow-ups, Pokémon Puzzle League for Nintendo 64 and Planet Puzzle League for Nintendo DS. A small developer called Medley Studio is working on a game called Super Plexis which promises to take the fast-paced gameplay of Tetris Attack and improve it in many ways. This isn't some crappy knock-off like "Rhythm Heaven-Fever" for iOS; this is a genuinely awesome game, which I have been very excited about ever since I started beta-testing it last October. They currently have a Kickstarter running, and they're 30% of the way to their goal of $6,000.

If you own an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), then you don't have to back the Kickstarter on completely blind faith; you can download the demo of Super Plexis for the low, low price of free. I've ranted against the freemium business model before, but this game is designed much differently than typical freemium games. The monetization is through short ads at the end of every round of play. (Hey, it's less invasive than having ads show up over the game, especially in a fast-paced game where you don't want to tap ads on accident.) For in-game currency called Lumina that can either be purchased for about $4 or earned through playing the game a lot (you get 1 Lumina per block you clear, and you get bonus Lumina for earning Experience Points and leveling up, or completing certain objectives in Adventure mode), you can block those ads forever. You can also use that currency to unlock new characters, new skins for those characters, new block skins, and new icons to use in multiplayer mode. Aside from the characters you unlock (who are, at least hopefully theoretically, balanced with the two you have from the start) and the ad blocker, everything you buy is purely cosmetic and gives you no gameplay advantage. You're not buying energy that will only last you a short period of time like in most freemium games, which are designed to milk whales out of thousands of dollars; you're buying things you permanently unlock. Overall, I think Super Plexis approaches the freemium model in a way that has earned my goodwill and my money. Don't own an iOS device? An Android version is reportedly on its way, and if the Kickstarter reaches its $20,000 stretch goal, they promise to port the game to Nintendo Switch(!!!). Also, you can learn more about the game by following the Medley Studio Twitch channel, and watch the game played live (or watch the VOD's of past streams).

The Super Plexis Kickstarter page gives you a ton of information on the game, so I shan't reiterate much of it here. If you're familiar with Tetris Attack already, the main differences to be aware of are as follows:

• You can swap blocks vertically now, in addition to horizontally.
• In Tetris Attack, you can only build up a chain by having blocks that were above cleared ones fall and themselves clear upon landing. In Super Plexis, in addition to this tactic, now called "chain combos", you can now clear groups of 4 or more blocks in rapid succession to extend the size of your chain combo. This tends to be a much faster way to build a chain combo, but is uses more blocks, so there's a trade off.
• In Super Plexis, as with the garbage blocks in Tetris Attack, the dead blocks are transformed into normal blocks by clearing normal blocks adjacent to them. Only the dead blocks immediately touching the cleared blocks get transformed, but if you clear a group of 4 or more blocks next to the dead blocks, you'll transform deeper layers of dead blocks. This mechanic, like the mechanic above, gives more value to clearing 4 or more blocks at once than the mechanics of Tetris Attack do.
• Blocks clear much faster, especially the dead blocks, in Super Plexis than in Tetris Attack. Having many garbage blocks on your playfield in Tetris Attack can result in it taking several seconds for the animation of them transforming into regular blocks to finish, giving you plenty of time to make a garbage chain (which is easier than a regular chain and an essential survival skill). Garbage chains in Super Plexis are much, much more difficult, as all garbage blocks transform in approximately one second.
• Players now compete to deplete each other's health. When your blocks reach the top of the screen, you're in danger of losing health; losing all of your health makes you lose the game. Clearing chain combos sends dead blocks to the opponent, filling their screen up faster. Health can be replenished by clearing randomly-appearing health blocks (the more cleared at once, the greater the health boost). This creates some fantastic tension as one player stats losing a bunch of health, as opposed to in Tetris Attack, where one player just loses in an instant because their blocks hit the top.
• Players can now select from multiple characters with different stats and abilities. Some are defensive (Vulmir uses bombs to clear blocks and turn dead blocks into normal blocks; Aria clears all blocks of a single color), and some are offensive (Cleff deals direct damage to the opponent; Macktooth freezes many of the opponent's blocks for a few seconds so they can't be cleared or moved, even by gravity). Wromp's ability to slow down time is a hybrid of offensive and defensive, since it both increases the time frame in which you can extend a chain combo and decreases how frequently you take damage from hitting the top.

If you haven't played Tetris Attack, the above stuff will be gobbledygook, at least without more context. So here's a brief overview of the gameplay.

Super Plexis presents the player with a stack of blocks like this:

(I'm stealing one of their screenshots, because I'm lazy and fair use is a thing.)

Blocks continuously spawn from the bottom of the screen, pushing the stack of blocks up towards the ceiling. If the stack hits the ceiling and nothing is done about it, the player will start losing health. To prevent this, the player must swap blocks up, down, left, and right to make horizontal and vertical matching lines of 3 or more. The instructions take great pain to point out that, unlock the match-3 games which have flooded the mobile market which are clones of Bejewled, you can swap blocks even if they don't produce a match; you can move blocks freely. You can even swap a block left or right with an empty space, which is great for leveling out a lopsided stack like the one pictured above.

The primary skill in this game is in forming chain combos. The concept is easier to explain with a video than with text, so I shall pilfer their short video demonstrating the concept:

There is a very improvisational nature to making chain combos in Super Plexis; rather than having to plan out the whole thing in advance, you can get the chain combo started and extend it as it it detonates. It takes much practice to get the skill down, but when you do, it feels highly rewarding. (Can you match my largest combo of 40 links?) As mentioned above, clearing more than 3 blocks at a time (whether through a line of 4 or more blocks, or through two or more lines at the same time) will extend your chain combo as well, giving you unprecedented freedom to make chain combos

The main mode is the versus mode, which can be played online against a human or offline against the AI. There is also a practice mode where you try to survive for as long as possible and play for a high score, and an adventure mode in the works where you solve puzzles and accomplish goals to progress. The available levels provide a good teaser for what's to come in future updates.

Every dollar pledged towards the Kickstarter will help make the game better, but larger pledges earn larger rewards. You can even leave your mark on the game for $75 and commission a custom portrait for online versus, or pledge even more to suggest custom block skins, custom challenges for Adventure Mode, or even custom characters. If you can't afford a $75 pledge, you can still get great stuff like the game soundtrack and Shop Tokens to buy stuff from the shop without Lumina. Whatever you can afford, I hope you can join me in supporting this excellent game.

Wordy Wednesday 156: Section Six 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #153

ANACROSSWORD 10 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Chris Hendricks **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin & Jonathan **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #154

HEX PATHFINDER 8 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #155

PENT WORDS 31 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved last week's 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 #156

SECTION SIX 15

(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 Harbor a grudge against
2 Wise
3 Game franchise featuring Ryuta Kawashima: 2 wds.
4 They might involve conspiracies
5 Normal
6 "You're kidding me!" 2 wds.

Ring 2
* Makes like a bear in winter
* Got bigger
* Popular dip for tortilla chips
* ____ pollution
* Period during which electric service is interrupted

Ring 3
* Magic: The ____ (popular trading card game)
* One of 50 on Old Glory
* Smith's partner in firearms
* Disney duck dressed in green

Ring 4
* In accord with moral law
* Less elevated
* Golden ____ Bridge (San Francisco landmark)

Ring 5
* Corpse eater in Arabic mythology
* Ugly item featured around Christmas

Ring 6
* Andy of "15 minutes of fame" fame

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Ghosts ‘n ____ (1985 video game)"?

Until next time, yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 155: Pent Words 31

WORDY WEDNESDAY #152

CODEWORDS 4 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Anthony Bailey **
Benjamin Smith *
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett **
Adam Weaver *
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #153

ANACROSSWORD 10 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle from last week. 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 #154

HEX PATHFINDER 8 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle from last week. 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 #155

PENT WORDS 31

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Anthony Bailey. 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, 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 Emulates a boxing referee, perhaps / "I ____ You Dance" (Lee Ann Womack song)
2 Pinky's partner / Planet that's one astronomical unit away from the sun
3 Virtuosity / Publicity piece
4 Sage / Luke Skywalker's father
5 Candies often bought around Easter / ____ of Home (cooking magazine)
6 Tear to pieces / Amalfi Coast's country
7 Like a memorable tune / What M&M's do in your mouth, and not in your hands
8 Stop sign color / Novelist Salman
9 Like Pepe le Pew / It may be pierced
10 Small waterfall / Attempt

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Windows ____ Player (Microsoft application)
* Wait ____ Dark (1967 thriller)
* ____ and bounds
* A Japanese dog breed
* Novelist Wharton
* "Mo ____ Mo Problems" (The Notorious B.I.G. song)
* Item worn by a chef
* Kiosk
* Was brilliant
* Capital of Western Australia
* Singer Miley
* One of 32 in Monopoly
* Military trainee
* Skedaddle
* Detested
* Evil organization in G.I. Joe
* Use Tinder, perhaps
* Black and white sea creatures

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter, two-word answer for "Game franchise featuring Ryuta Kawashima"?

Until next time, yappy solving!