Wordy Wednesday 299: Hex Pathfinder 20

WORDY WEDNESDAY #297

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:
M. Sean Molley **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt *
Kevin Orfield **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #298

FOXGERYPTICS 15 (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 #299

HEX PATHFINDER 20

(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 Song that begins, “I've paid my dues time after time” (17, 4 wds.)
2E Singer/actress Merman (5)
3NE What one might do on a stack of Bibles (5)
4SW Indifferent to pleasure and pain (5)
5W Book after Nehemiah (6)
6E Like a bachelor (6)
6SW Substance at a hair salon (7)
7W The Postman Always Rings ____ (5)
8NE "She's cheer captain and I'm on the ____" (Taylor Swift lyric) (9)
9W Competent (7)
10SE Cold drink favored by Kermit the Frog in memes (7, 2 wds.)
11E Projection in a church (4)
12E Game in which a maximum break is 147 (7)
13SW Actress Stone (6)
14SE Medical swelling (5)
15W Flock females (4)
16E Barack Obama, politically (8)
17SW Japanese word literally meaning “empty hand” (6)
18E Word before “charge” or “perception” (5)
19SE Occasional (8)
20E Fire ____: Three Houses (2019 Nintendo game) (6)
21W Item depicted on Israel's coat of arms (7)
22NE 1999-2006 TV series popularly associated with characters talking while walking (11, 3 wds.)
23SW Sensational promotion (8)
24NW Use a rudder (5)
25SE Song in the opening of Shrek (7, 2 wds.)
26NE Not terribly pleasant to look at (6)
27E Regain consciousness (6, 2 wds.)
28E Knight’s defensive covering (5)
29E Surname of an Italian banking family (6)
29E Wind instruments with keyboards (9)
30W “The Freshmaker”, according to an old slogan (6)
31SE False god (4)
32E Home city to the NBA’s Kings (10)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Support Your ____ Sheriff! (1969 Western)"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 298: Foxgeryptics 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #296

SECTION SIX 29 (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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #297

PATHFINDER 15 (hint)

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

WORDY WEDNESDAY #298

FOXGERYPTICS 15

(click here for a PDF version)

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's a 7-letter, 2-word answer for "Song in the opening of Shrek"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 297: Pathfinder 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #295

PENT WORDS 59 (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 **
Mark Ballinger **
Tyler Hinman **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #296

SECTION SIX 29 (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!

I'VE RELEASED A NEW ALBUM!

I've released a new free music album entitled Dabby Road and Other Oddly-Titled Tracks. Check it out!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #297

PATHFINDER 15

(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 Like a list of U.S. Presidents in which Wilson is last, probably (12)
2 Crane in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (7)
3 Pertaining to a cow (6)
4 Martha’s ____ (8)
5 ____ tectonics (5)
6 Thomas Edison’s middle name (4)
7 Starbucks offering (4)
8 Long-running NBC soap opera (4 2 3 5)
9 Jasmine’s tiger in Aladdin (5)
10 Starbucks offering (5)
11 Metal Gear ____ V: The Phantom Pain (5)
12 Atop the ____ Wall (video series in which Linkara reviews comic books) (6)
13 Mend (4)
14 Killer whales (5)
15 Completely occupy the attention of (7)
15 One on this planet (9)
16 High-pitched sound like that of striking a crystal goblet (4)
17 Jezebel’s husband in the Old Testament (4)
18 Florence ____ (herb) (6)
18 Large-eared fox (6)
19 Hit song for The Clash (4 3 6)
20 Badgering (9)
21 Sleeps noisily (6)
22 Close to the ____ (4)
23 “King of the Wild Frontier” Davy (8)
24 Dunham of the HBO series Girls (4)
25 Supreme council of ancient Rome (6)
26 Sales promotion you might have to mail in for (6)
27 There’s one on each side of the throat (6)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A pair of Foxgeryptics!
* Patron Puzzle #62, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a pair of Codewords.

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

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy update: Magnum Opus Snake Crisscross!

This update to the Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy pack is to announce the Magnus Opus Snake Crisscross! It's yours for a charitable donation of US$5 or more. It's just one single puzzle, but it's huuuuuuuuuuge, with over 300 entries waiting to be solved. Don't know what a Snake Crisscross is? Wordy Wednesday #262 is a pretty good example of one. A bit too difficult? Here is the easier version, and here is the answer. If you enjoyed that puzzle but wish it were much bigger, then give the Magnum Opus Snake Crisscross a try for many hours of entertainment!

When you order the Magnum Opus Snake Crisscross, you'll get four files: a hard version of the puzzle with no snake boundaries given, an easy version of the puzzle with all snake boundaries given, a list of all 300+ clue answers, and of course the filled-in solution grid.

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.
• NEW! Food Bank of West Central Texas, a local food bank. In case you want to feed people or something.

I'm also offering Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #1 (24 previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$11.10), Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy Pack #2 (24 more previously Patreon-exclusive word puzzles for US$11.10), the LiveJournal Logic Pack (300 logic puzzles for US$3), 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 296: Section Six 29

WORDY WEDNESDAY #294

PATHFINDER 14 (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 **
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #295

PENT WORDS 59 (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 #296

SECTION SIX 29

(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 Popular sci-fi TV series: 2 wds.
2 Lawyer Dershowitz
3 Teflon, for one
4 A Christian sacrament
5 Singer Presley who may or may not be dead (if you believe tabloids)
6 Nut in some pies

Ring 2
* Letter
* A city in Los Angeles County
* Big name in test preparation
* Tragic Shakespearean king
* Basic unit of computer data size

Ring 3
* Grocery shopping aid
* It loves company
* Approximately correct
* Cocoon

Ring 4
* ____ sore
* Ready ____ One (2018 movie)
* "Happy as a clam", for example

Ring 5
* Astronomer Johannes
* ____ gel

Ring 6
* 29 Knuts, in the Harry Potter universe (or an agricultural tool)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Jasmine’s tiger in Aladdin"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 295: Pent Words 59

WORDY WEDNESDAY #292

VANNA'S ON STRIKE! (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 **
Jason Boomer **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #293

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #294

PATHFINDER 14 (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 #295

PENT WORDS 59

(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 ____ Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool (1992 video game) / Game, ____, and match
2 Wily / The last book of the Old Testament
3 Wilson who played Eli Cash in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) / Old Testament heroine
4 A weasel relative / American anthropologist Margaret
5 Related to the kidneys / Prevaricating
6 Inuit dwelling / Fisherman's wicker basket
7 It may be alphabetical / A religious doctrine
8 Claim to be true / Value of a penny
9 Inventor Nikola / Increase in a salary
10 Head lice treatment brand / Country in the United Kingdom

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Christian apologist William Lane ____
* Ore deposits
* Bedard who voiced the title character in Pocahontas (1995)
* Spiral-horned antelope
* Autumn flower
* Shoestrings
* Exactness, as in a mathematical proof
* 1999-2004 TV series about a vampire with a soul
* Deranged excitement
* A group of eight
* Motif
* Neighbor of Saudi Arabia and Oman
* Aired again
* ____ rule
* Canadian singer-songwriter Furtado
* Not at all wordy
* Camping shelters
* Game played poorly by patzers

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 4-letter word for "Lawyer Dershowitz"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 294: Pathfinder 14

WORDY WEDNESDAY #291

TOUCHWORD 14 (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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Michael Avanessian **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #292

VANNA'S ON STRIKE! (hint)

As of this writing, 2 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 #293

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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 #294

PATHFINDER 14

(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 Solve a cryptogram, say (6)
2 Become silent (4 2)
3 A toothbrush brand (5)
4 By the ____ of one’s pants (4)
4 Jewish Passover service (5)
5 Come into conflict (7)
6 Singer ____ Del Rey (4)
7 ____ of Exile (online role-playing game) (4)
7 Emulated a pastor, perhaps (8)
8 ____ Libre (2006 comedy) (5)
9 Mountain lion (4)
10 Japanese board game (5)
11 The Last ____ (da Vinci painting) (6)
11 Certain resin (7)
12 Fallacious reasoning, for example (7)
13 Steal merchandise (8)
14 Highest (9)
15 Army building where people eat (4 4)
16 A hair care brand (7)
17 Soft mineral from which a powder is made (4)
18 One using a phone (6)
19 ____ care (6)
20 “It Is Well with My ____” (Christian hymn) (4)
20 Substance associated with Nickelodeon (5)
21 Associated with birth (5)
22 Josh who played Principal Max Anderson in Billy Madison (6)
23 Russian ____ (2002-2003 game show) (8)
24 Sesame Street’s Telly, for one (7)
25 Defective automobile (5)
26 Actress Brenda who appeared in 255 episodes of Days of Our Lives (5)
26 2009-2010 sitcom starring Jay Harrington as the title character (6 3 3)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Bedard who voiced the title character in Pocahontas (1995)"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 292: Vanna's On Strike! & Wordy Wednesday 293: Snake Crisscross 9

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58 (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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Michael Avanessian *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tina Martin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #291

TOUCHWORD 14 (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!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #292

VANNA'S ON STRIKE!

(click here for a PDF version)

It’s the bonus round, and it seems that our beloved hostess refuses to turn the letters (er, turn them on) unless she gets a bonus, too.

WORDY WEDNESDAY #293

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 9

(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
Con ____ (1997 film)
Ketchum of the Pokémon anime
Consumed
Lamprey, for one
Poetic preposition
____ Shorty (TV series)
____ bygones be bygones
Spoil
Candy associated with collectible dispensers
Remy, for one
Decay
Item that shows a piece of merchandise’s price
Chess master Mikhail
Short-sleeved shirt, for short
2000 pounds
Monthly electronic music and hip hop magazine
Mad About ____ (1992-1999 TV series)
A school of Buddhism
4 LETTERS
“____ Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jepsen song)
Coca-____
Website on which a new species of urchin was discovered in an auction
Adventure Time protagonist
Bug in a circus
____ liquor
Long pole on a ship
Like a busybody
One October birthstone
Matured
____-deaf
5 LETTERS
Lost: 2 wds.
It doesn’t pay
Two strokes below par
____ Kitty (Sanrio character)
Non-clergy
Regretting
“Trick or ____!”
6 LETTERS
"The only thing we have to fear is fear ____" (FDR)
Holt of Dateline NBC
____ post
7 LETTERS
Its capital is St. George's
Shirley’s partner
Mammal with a suicidal reputation
8 LETTERS
Teacher
Show whence the catchphrase, “Good news, everyone!”
9 LETTERS
Sponsorship
10 LETTERS
Rickety old car

SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
Come ____ at the seams
Former British Parliament member Nancy Witcher ____
Marshy American wetland
Boston hockey player
Former European coin
Like Keebler’s mascot Ernie
Pianist John
Japanese mattress
Croc’s relative
Like some anesthetics
It was awarded the George Cross by King George VI
ESPN analyst Taylor
Super Smash Bros. ____ (GameCube fighting game)
Becomes dim
Lariat
Exxon rival
Mike of boxing fame
Certain hotel employee
6 LETTERS
A European peninsula
Author Hemingway
Christian ____ (2014 romantic comedy)
Medieval catapult
One who downloads movies illegally, for example
7 LETTERS
Walmart employee
Holy month of Islam
Certain circus prop
9 LETTERS
Pertaining to the heavens

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter word for "Russian ____ (2002-2003 game show)"?
* Patron Puzzle #61, 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!

Wordy Wednesday 291: Touchword 14

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 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:
M. Sean Molley **
Tyler Hinman **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58 (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 #291

TOUCHWORD 14

(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  ____: Warriors of Rock: 2 wds. / Opponent
2  Carry a fetus / Early
3  Exam / ____ Up (2006 movie) / ____ cheese
4  Campsite sights / Non-permanent employee / ASAP
5  Flat representation of the elevation of an area: 2 wds. / Certain musical form
6  Real estate with separately-owned units, briefly / Suave / Board game related to pachisi
7  Nation that borders Cameroon and Libya / Certain piece of headwear / Escape
8  Click repeatedly, as someone’s teeth in cold weather / 1995 film about a pig / Impolite
9  A type of sculpture / Former car manufacturer that was headquartered in Trollhättan / ____ compactor
10 Austrian composer Johann / Doing some activity: 2 wds. / Clean
11 Swamp / Stay home for dinner, perhaps: 2 wds. / “____ My Hair” (Willow Smith song)
12 It might surround a castle / Up to ____ / Familial association
13 ____ or Die! (1988 video game) / Miner’s tool / One who won’t join a labor union
14 Saturday Night Live offering / A Great Lake / Automobile that carries passengers for a fare
15 The ____ Life of Zack & Cody / Like some questions

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* My dumbest puzzle in a while. I'm sorry.
* What's an 8-letter word for "Show whence the catchphrase, 'Good news, everyone!'"?

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

Contest: Fill-In Crossword (RESULTS!)

About two weeks ago, I posted my Fill-In Crossword contest to celebrate the 11th anniversary of my blog. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 290: Pent Words 58

WORDY WEDNESDAY #288

TOUCHWORD 13 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58

(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, 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 A Pokémon or a monster in Hebrew folklore / "____ Man" (hit song for The Village People)
2 Nullifies / Arsenic and Old ____
3 Made graffiti, perhaps / Akin to
4 Young ____ (spin-off of The Big Bang Theory) / ____ Lanka
5 Like some eyes / Ctrl+V function
6 Romantic couple / ____: The Last Airbender (2005-2008 cartoon)
7 Somber / Out of the ____ (not in the know)
8 Skin care brand / Not verbose
9 Beyond sufficient / Make the ____ (1989-1991 Nickelodeon game show)
10 Hooded snake / Bury, as a dead body

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Goof ____ (1992-1993 Disney cartoon)
* Expert
* Irritate
* Lee of the rock band Rush
* Detroit's NFL team
* Jewish Passover service
* Spaghetti, for example
* In the lead
* Fall guys
* Tree associated with Canada
* ____ Garden (restaurant chain)
* Make changes to
* One weber per square meter
* Uncanny
* ____ full o'Nuts (coffee brand that has no nuts)
* Xevious developer
* Proposition in a mathematical proof, perhaps
* Pinky and the ____

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What former car manufacturer was headquartered in Trollhättan?

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

Wordy Wednesday 289: Crypticrostic 6

WORDY WEDNESDAY #287

TOUCHWORD 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tina Martin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #288

TOUCHWORD 13 (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!

CONTEST: FILL-IN CROSSWORD!

Here's a new contest where you can win fantastic prizes. Good luck!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 6

(click here for a PDF version)

The answer is two words enumerated (3 8).

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

Buoyant car insurance mascot surrounded __ __ __ __ __ __
    by lava, beginning to tremble       15 25 32 63 09 68
Chortle at the Spanish expression of disgust __ __ __ __ __
                                             14 69 26 45 22
Color in comic character __ __ __ __ __ __
                         77 48 73 07 02 29
Crazy Irani man is one who opposes predestination __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                  38 16 66 28 49 06 72 10
Creature from "Press Your Luck" is very theatrical after end of show __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                                     18 08 53 71 12 40
Foolish ending to haiku: "Northwest is empty" __ __ __ __ __ __
                                              44 35 05 60 70 80
Frankenstein’s assistant follows voltage with force __ __ __ __ __
                                                    30 78 50 56 81
Hectored terrible Democrat around actor Richard __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                39 13 61 36 51 20 58 55
I have The Police's lead singer taking in __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
    nitrogen and playing the stock market 34 27 59 42 01 17 11 76 79
Prohibit articles with fruit __ __ __ __ __ __
                             37 75 57 46 54 65
Shake annoying child in fight __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                              33 74 41 52 23 03 67
Smooth small herb __ __ __ __ __
                  47 43 62 04 21
Tailless bird with sticky substances __ __ __ __
                                     64 31 19 24

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Goof ____ (1992-1993 Disney cartoon)"?

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

Contest: Fill-In Crossword

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the first post on this blog! To celebrate, here's a contest.

The answers in the crossword below are clued alphabetically by length; you must figure out where they belong. When you’re done, one row or column will have three entries that, when read aloud in order, sound out a two-word song title; this song title is your final answer.

3 LETTERS
Exist
What a Blu-Ray player might also play
Moray, for example
Fiend
“____ Raining Men”
Solomon’s ____ (video game)
Seize
____ Life to Live (soap opera)
Item a miner mines for
Not in
Spot on a die
Propel, as a boat
Participate in a footrace
Channel worn by repeated passage
Morse code distress signal
“Here Comes the ____”
The Last O.G. network
Tamera Mowry's sister

4 LETTERS
Radio host Glenn
2006 Pixar film
____ cut (bristly haircut)
Deduct from, as wages
Make changes to
Long narrative poem
Not easy
Some retrievers, briefly
Camera part
Read an online forum without posting
Dawn, poetically
A shoe brand
Number of a cat’s lives, supposedly
“Darn!”
____ and bones
Nasal mucus, slangily
____ leopard
Bark up the wrong ____
Accustom to not being nursed
Fleece

5 LETTERS
Advil alternative
Francs’ replacement
Sells
Restaurant offerings
“Nights in White ____”
Roebuck’s partner
Weather-manipulating Marvel heroine
Ostentatious

6 LETTERS
1986 sci-fi sequel
Sexually arousing
Jerusalem’s country
The ____ Kid (1984 film)
Language spoken in Seoul
Extol
Need: 2 wds.
“____ Night” (Christmas song)
Mid-size Hyundai model
Involving two sound channels
Coin-like objects used in an arcade
Gene who played Willy Wonka

7 LETTERS
Area on a computer with icons
Infinite

Send your answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on July 20, 2019 to enter the contest. A randomly-selected entrant with the correct answer will win a signed copy of the Spring 2015 issue of Will Shortz's Wordplay (the final copy I have!), a signed copy of my book Logic Puzzles 101, a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles, and a copy of my board game TAILITS! Up to four other randomly-selected entrants with the correct answer will win a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles and a copy of my board game TAILITS. That's five chances to win!

Good luck, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 288: Touchword 13

WORDY WEDNESDAY #286

SECTION SIX 28 (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 **
Mark Ballinger *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #287

TOUCHWORD 12 (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 #288

TOUCHWORD 13

(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  V-shaped cut / Mathematician who’s the namesake of a test: 2 wds.
2  With The, 1984 Robert Redford film / Statuette
3  Honolulu’s island / “Bananaphone” singer / Certain polearm
4  “Do unto ____. . .” / Type of bomb, for short / Immature insect
5  Cause of anxiety / Province in western Canada
6  Ulcers and such / ____ reef / Place to sleep on a vehicle
7  Colonnade at the entrance of a building / Belonging to us / ____ Dawn I Die (1939 James Cagney film)
8  Cartoonist Stephan / 60 minutes / Unsolved Mysteries host Robert
9  “____ not, want not” / Comic strip created by Jeff MacNelly / Big name in train travel
10 Stinging insect / Murphy of The Haunted Mansion (2003) / Unconcerned about right and wrong, perhaps
11 Crowned / Madonna or Lady Gaga, for one / A type of fungus
12 Massachusetts peninsula: 2 wds. / “As I was going to St. ____. . .” / Quarry
13 Cornbread / A trigonometric function / Aptly-named spike-covered enemy in Super Mario Bros.
14 Blankets worn in Mexico / From scratch / Radar system’s sound
15 Indifferent / Twist, as a wet towel

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A very difficult Crypticrostic!

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

The Joy of Puzzling: Word Sandwiches (RESULTS!)

I received 9 entries to Part I and 7 entries to Part II of The Joy Of Puzzling: Word Sandwiches. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 287: Touchword 12

WORDY WEDNESDAY #285

PENT WORDS 57 (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 **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tina Martin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #286

SECTION SIX 28 (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 #287

TOUCHWORD 12

(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  Notorious American gangster Al / A region in China / Smallest member of a litter
2  Blade on the end of a rifle’s muzzle / Get in the way of
3  Marshy wetland / Scourge / Light fixture attached to a wall
4  Hide, in a way / Former Italian soccer player Antonio
5  Burn / Amusing short story
6  “Who’s buried in Grant’s ____?” / Tallinn’s country / Portal
7  A Greek city / Former UN Secretary-General Annan / A knight’s defensive covering
8  Musical comedy about missionaries in Uganda: 4 wds.
9  Grass eaten by pandas / Hoopla
10 1942 Disney flick / Rogue / Lead singer of The Police
11 Simpson who became the Duchess of Windsor / Waterproof canvases used for protection / Publicly execute, perhaps
12 Trounce / Ripped apart / “____ on you!”
13 ____ is Missing! (1993 video game) / Certain wading bird / Domesticated
14 Like some vows / What a football game goes into when there’s a tie score after the fourth quarter
15 Per ____ / One unrestrained by morals

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What mathematician is the namesake of a test?
* Patron Puzzle #60, 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 286: Section Six 28

WORDY WEDNESDAY #284

TOUCHWORD 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:
Tyler Hinman **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #285

PENT WORDS 57 (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 #286

SECTION SIX 28

(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 Reek
2 ____ of a Salesman
3 Quite old
4 ____ collie
5 It holds everything together
6 Last letter of the Greek alphabet

Ring 2
* At the peak of
* All My ____ (soap opera)
* American painter Thomas Hart ____
* Resident of Port-au-Prince, for example
* Judges

Ring 3
* Object associated with a saint or martyr
* A family's house and its adjoining land
* Actor Glen of Game of Thrones
* Breeding ground

Ring 4
* Thing on a list, perhaps
* Rolled into a helical shape
* Got

Ring 5
* Performer of stand-up, for example
* "I don't know, but I've been ____. . ."

Ring 6
* One of 28 in a gaming set

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 15-letter, 4-word entry for "Musical comedy about missionaries in Uganda"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 285: Pent Words 57

WORDY WEDNESDAY #282

TOUCHWORD 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:
Tyler Hinman **
Bryce Herdt **
Jason Boomer **
Michael Tang **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #283

HEX PATHFINDER 19 (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:
Tyler Hinman **
Bryce Herdt **
Michael Tang **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #284

TOUCHWORD 11 (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 #285

PENT WORDS 57

(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 ___ the Picture (1991 Nickelodeon game show) / "____ Star" (Deep Purple song)
2 A poisonous element / Number of rows and columns in this puzzle
3 Slanted surface / Rub out, as a pencil mistake
4 Arctic garment / Impressionist painter Oscar-Claude
5 Emulate the man in "guess i'll die" memes / ____-watch
6 Pointedly critical remark / Actor Michael of Bonanza
7 Kept out of a game, as a sports team member / Former Metro manufacturer
8 Raise to maturity / Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis ____
9 Pseudonym / City on the west coast of Florida
10 As I Lay ____ (William Faulkner novel) / Mammal with webbed feet

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Small plant in a garden, perhaps
* Toothpaste brand
* Dull
* Gold brick
* Over the ____ (comic strip)
* Less mean
* Voice in a choir
* Inventor Howe
* ____ of War (video game)
* Name of a farmer's dog in a children's song
* Sly 3: Honor ____ Thieves
* Tow truck in the Cars movies
* Kid
* Inexpensive
* Sports venue
* Upper part of the leg
* ____ plug
* Run off to secretly marry

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "One of 28 in a gaming set"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 284: Touchword 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #281

TOUCHWORD 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:
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #282

TOUCHWORD 10 (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 #283

HEX PATHFINDER 19 (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!

NEW BOARD GAME PROTOTYPE: MAMMALATH!

I'm developing a new board game called Mammalath. It's a simple and short abstract strategy game. Print and cut it out, or play it on Tabletop Simulator! Tell me what you think. :)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #284

TOUCHWORD 11

(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  Sensational publicity or promotion / Former monetary unit of Greece
2  India’s motion picture industry / TV personality Campos-Duffy
3  Square dance / Give up / Contest between two people
4  Mind / 1/16 of a pound / Figure out logically
5  One who recruits, perhaps / Marinara, for one
6  ____ moss / Bullies / Stabilizing agent in some foods
7  A city in Australia / Reverberate / Mountain lion
8  Normal: 4 wds.
9  Back part of one’s shin / Leftover scraps / Promote
10 Lukasiak of seasons 1-4 of Dance Moms / Ascended / Drench
11 Columbus’s state / A Great Lake / Cake
12 Dickens protagonist Twist / Soda brand favored by Radar on M*A*S*H / Colgate alternative
13 A Serb, for example / Skeleton part / Uppermost
14 Scrabble ____! (card game) / Purchased / 1990 Patrick Swayze film
15 Moderate in temperature / Actor Jackman / City on Puget Sound

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Sly 3: Honor ____ Thieves"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 282: Touchword 10 & Wordy Wednesday 283: Hex Pathfinder 19

WORDY WEDNESDAY #280

PENT WORDS 56 (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 **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #281

TOUCHWORD 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!

THE JOY OF PUZZLING: WORD SANDWICHES!

Here's a new contest where you can learn how a puzzle was written and then write your own puzzle. Good luck!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #282

TOUCHWORD 10

(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  Environment in which something develops / Profusion
2  Kathy Kinney’s role on The Drew Carey Show / Jacob’s brother / Eerie
3  Careless / “Make Mine ____” (1946 film) / Former football quarterback Romo
4  Like numbers on the number line / Metroid heroine / Utter singingly
5  Distributed playing cards / Marie who was the Queen of France
6  Yes, ____ (2000-2006 sitcom) / The Lone Ranger’s companion / “In the ____” (Elvis Presley song)
7  A type of crown / In debt / A greeting
8  Attack imaginary foes: 3 wds.
9  Sheds feathers, say / Base one position clockwise of home plate / Economist Kimball
10 Annoy / Employ / ____ potato
11 Part of the face between the mouth and the ear / Stock purchases / A compass direction
12 ____ and balances / A compass direction / Super _____ Bros. Ultimate (2018 video game)
13 One who uses hawks to hunt / Put up with
14 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy ____ / A unit of weight: 2 wds.
15 “Sugar We’re Goin Down” band: 3 wds. / Wearer of a conical cap

WORDY WEDNESDAY #283

HEX PATHFINDER 19

(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 Primatologist Goodall (4)
1SW A programming language (4)
2W Laughing mammal (5)
3W Like a memorable tune (6)
4SE “____, me hearties!” (5)
5SW Canadian-born magician who popularized casual attire for magicians (11, 2 wds.)
6E Game show where contestants competed to line up X’s and O’s (11, 3 wds.)
7NW “Same here!” (5)
7SW Judge ____ (1995 film) (5)
8SW Contradict (6)
9SE Ten tens minus ten (6)
10NW Diminished (5)
11W ____ Lake (Tchaikovsky ballet) (4)
11SE Participate in a choir (4)
12W “Juke Box ____” (Foreigner song) (4)
13SE Stinging insect (4)
14W Rubbish (6)
15NE “That hurts!” (4)
16E One ran away with the spoon in “Hey Diddle Diddle” (4)
17NW Testify to, with “for” (5)
17E Rapper who told listeners to “stop, collaborate, and listen” (10, 2 wds.)
18SE Unique (7)
19NW Preparing frozen food, perhaps (7)
20SE Like some courtroom evidence (8)
21NW Bart’s sister (4)
22W Struck down (5)
23NE 10010110, for example (4)
23W Plants of the goosefoot family (5)
24SW Operatic solo (4)
25SE DVD player button (5)
25SE Model Porizkova (7)
26NW The sun, for one (4)
27E Moisten at regular intervals, as cooking food (5)
28E Through thick and ____ (4)
29SW Hair salon item (6)
30SW Disreputable (8)
31SE Kid ____ (NES game) (6)
32NW 1991 comedy starring Steve Martin as George Banks (16, 4 wds.)
33NE First word in “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys (5)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 15-letter, 4-word answer for "Normal"?
* Patron Puzzle #59, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is not written yet. I should focus on building a backlog of Patron Puzzles soon.

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