Wordy Wednesday 10: Pent Words 2

WORDY WEDNESDAY #8
A NEW TYPE OF CROSSWORD (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. Don't forget to check out Bonza Word Puzzle, a smartphone app in which my puzzles appear; the app is free until tomorrow! Here's a list of people who solved it:
Brian Michalowski *
Bryce Herdt **
Cheryl Chan **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Jack Lance **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
Mark Navarrete **
Mark Tilford **
Michael Sylvia **
Randy Rogers *
Walker Anderson **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #9
DOUBLE FEATURES (hint)
7 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your solutions 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 #10
PENT WORDS 2
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 above, 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 4, to 2 / Ladder step
2 Many / ____ salad
3 Used a phone / Saturn manufacturer
4 Fire / Voice actor Mel
5 Elevator alternative / "A ____ of Two Cities"
6 Symbol on a music staff / "God Save the Queen", e.g.
7 Like bad toast / Belief that God doesn't interfere with nature
8 "Is that your final ____?" / Actress Kelly
9 Like a lion, but not a lioness / ____ de coin
10 Word on a magician's box / Modern ___

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Becomes sour
* Decline a hit
* Not long-distance
* Fish feature
* National ____ Association (Second Amendment rights group)
* It might be found in the proof of a theorem
* ____ crossing (British crosswalk)
* Cervine Disney character
* Rough woolen material for suits
* "____ Eyes Were Watching God"
* Original host of "Cosmos"
* Anything, slangily
* ____ furnace
* Buenos ____
* Not cloudy
* TV Land staple
* Certain Ford
* Growth ____

Wordy Wednesday 9: Double Features

WORDY WEDNESDAY #7
PATHFINDER (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:
Bryce Herdt **
Christian H.P. **
David Millar **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
Mark Navarrete *
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #8
A NEW TYPE OF CROSSWORD (hint)
A number of people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Logic puzzle fans might appreciate what I've done to make this easy version easier than the previous version. Send your solutions 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!

By the way, the Bonza app has been updated today. Download it for free before the month ends, and then check out my puzzles that appear as unlockable content therein! Support puzzle writers like me!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #9
DOUBLE FEATURES
At the Puzzlania Movie Theater, you have to figure out what movies are playing by filling in the marquees. The titles of 6 movies will read across, and different words will read down. The letters in the shaded cells will anagram to this puzzle's final answer, a 6-letter word.

Wordy Wednesday 8: A New Type of Crossword

WORDY WEDNESDAY #6
CRAZY WORD GAMES (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:
Bryce Herdt **
Christian H.P. *
Eric Prestemon **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jason Boomer **
Jeremy Conner **
Kou O. **
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **

And the winner of the contest is. . . James McGowan! You win!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #7
PATHFINDER (hint)
9 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. This one gives the direction from the first to the second letter of each answer (like a normal Pathfinder). Send your solutions 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 #8
A NEW TYPE OF CROSSWORD

(click here for a PDF version)


Inspired by the smartphone app Bonza, in which my puzzles will be appearing soon (July 23; the app will be free from then until July 31, so please check it out!). Assemble the pieces above to form a crossword with 17 related words (lengths 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8). The answer to this puzzle is the word that could be added.

Wordy Wednesday 7: Pathfinder

WORDY WEDNESDAY #5
PENT WORDS (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:
Eric Prestemon **
Giovanni Pagano **
James McGowan *
Jeremy Conner *
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #6
CRAZY WORD GAMES (hint)
10 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Remember, it's a contest! Send your solutions to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess, not to mention getting a chance to win a signed issue of Will Shortz's Wordplay. Good luck, solvers!


WORDY WEDNESDAY #7
PATHFINDER
(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 white square will be used in exactly two entries.

Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get a pair of related words that are the final answer.

1 They were Spain's former currency (7)
2 Can ____ (kitchen device) (6)
3 ____ Convention (5)
3 Real Time with ____ (4 5)
4 Secluded valley (4)
5 Part of a calyx (5)
6 Bicycle user, perhaps (7)
7 Need for a certain funeral rite (4)
8 Emulated Michael Phelps (4)
8 ____ the beans (5)
9 Spoonful of sour cream, for example (6)
9 One of her songs was covered by Whitney Houston (5 6)
10 Where Japanese fish might be displayed (3 4)
11 Harmless fib (5 3)
12 The moon, for example (9)
13 Sorrow (9)
14 End of a famous palindrome (6)
15 Made a forced bet (5)
16 Angry speech (4)
17 Major ____ (14-semitone interval) (5)
18 Vivian's "I Love Lucy" role (5)
19 Long-running racing game franchise (5 4)
20 Quarterback Kaepernick (5)
20 Place where a fan might be seen (7)
21 The Treasure State's capital (6)
22 Sleeps briefly (7)
23 Charlie of “Two and a Half Men” (5)
24 Scaly mammal (8)

Wordy Wednesday 6: Crazy Word Games

WORDY WEDNESDAY #4
DIAGRAMLESS HELTER SKELTER (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:
Eric Prestemon *
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Lance **
James McGowan **
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **
Scott Handelman **
Walker Anderson *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #5
PENT WORDS (hint)
3 people have solved last week's puzzle so far. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version that does half of the work for you by dividing the grid into pentominoes. All you have to do is write the letters in! Send your solutions 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 #6
CRAZY WORD GAMES
(click here for a PDF version)
This puzzle is a contest! The winner of this contest will receive a signed copy of Will Shortz's Wordplay, a magazine in which I had the honor of being published, and a volume of Word Games Puzzles (I ordered a 12-volume value pack, and this one happened to be a duplicate of what I already owned). Just like the last contest, the winner will be determined by random draw; solve the puzzle correctly within the next week to get two entries, and within the week after that (when an easier version will be posted) to get one entry.

WORLD CAPITALS
1. ____ artichoke: K3 C5 Q3 R1 P5 O2 L4 O1 M3
2. Birthplace of Pope Francis: R2 R1 N3 R3 B1 X2 V1 J1 W4 M4 X3
3. ____ sprout: O4 N1 V4 T3 H5 F3 K4 G2
4. Mentioned in “Marines' Hymn”: Q4 A2 J1 I4 I5 A1 C3

CHANGE-A-LETTER MOVIES
1. Macaulay Culkin copies himself: R4 X1 T2 R5 M1 D4 B1 L1 D1
2. Audrey Hepburn works at a salon: P2 S2 L5 N5 B4 S1 A1 H3 F2 P4
3. Michael J. Fox sews up a wound: O4 G1 E1 V2 J2 X1 W3 L5 S3 H4 R1 A4 V4 S5 Q2
4. Russell Crowe digs for gold: V1 O4 W2 D2 V4 D5 U2 J5 R1 B5 M3 H2 B2 F5

BY THE NUMBERS
1. Price of a shave and a haircut: U3 Q5 U4 O4 V3 I1 U1
2. Reginald Rose courtroom drama: Q1 Q5 E4 K4 C1 D1 L3 L1 N2 N1 P4 T2 F3 B2
3. Nursery rhyme rodents: K5 A5 F1 S4 J4 R2 B3 C3 I3 W1 M3 U2 C2 M5
4. Everything: X4 K2 A3 Q5 A5 B1 B3 P3 O5 F4 I2 T1 S2 G1 F1 W1 M2

FIVE+FOUR=ONE
1. SMIRK+GOAL: E3 H2 B5 I5 N2 G5 K1 T2 T3
2. ARBOR+TADS: T5 C4 P1 E2 R2 U4 L3 G3 J3
3. DEANS+TONS: U1 H3 I2 N4 O3 E5 B1 R3 A3
4. SNIFF+PROG: X1 H1 T4 G4 I4 Q3 L2 D3 N2

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