WORDY WEDNESDAY #87
ANACROSSWORD 5 (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:Giovanni Pagano *
Jack Bross **
M. Sean Molley **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
John Bulten **
John Davis **
Lewis Chen **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **
WORDY WEDNESDAY #88
DIVIDED INTO 100 CELLS 3 (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 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 #89
WORDS WITHOUT FRIENDS 3
This game of word solitaire is inspired by Solicross. Actually, it is Solicross. Don't sue me, Dell.You have 15 turns to score as many points as possible by building words on the grid. Start by taking the first 7 letters from the LETTER LIST. Form an English word using two or more letters, and place it reading across (from left to right) or down (from top to bottom) in the grid, either starting in or ending in the shaded cell. On each successive turn, cross out the letters you used and replace them with the next letters from the LETTER LIST, and then play a new word using some or all of those letters. As in Scrabble, you can play at right angles to a previous word (either incorporating a letter from it or expanding it) or parallel to a previous word, but must adjoin some previous word; adjoining letters must always form words in crossword fashion, and all letters used in a single turn must be part of a single word.
Every turn, you score for the words you made on that turn. The score for a word is the sum of all the numbers it covers (whether those letters were played on that turn or not); multiple words formed in a single turn are added up together (with shared letters counting twice). If you use all 60 letters within 15 turns, give yourself 50 extra points.
My score for this game is 615 points. After you've gotten the highest score you can (or sooner, if getting high scores doesn't interest you), follow this link for the “puzzle version" of this puzzle, which indicates where I placed the tiles; you must determine which tiles to place each turn turn to form valid words and match my solution. Any game that beats my score of 615 points will be considered a solution to this “game version”. (All words will be checked against http://www.m-w.com/scrabble for validity.) Alternatively, I will accept any score of at least 500 points, so long as at most 2 words of 4 or more letters are formed that are also in my 615-point solution. (This prevents you from claiming credit for trivial changes to my solution which don't improve the score, but keep the score above 500. If you can find a trivial change to the solution which does improve the score, then you have earned my hearty congratulations.)
In an attempt to generate interest in this puzzle, and because I'm getting rusty at this “altruism” thing, I will donate 50 cents to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières for every solution to the puzzle version and every solution to the game version that I receive before February 17, 2016, at 8:00 AM CST, up to a maximum of $25. If I receive at least one solution to the game version that beats my score of 615 points, I will double this amount! (The last time I did something altruistic on this blog, one of my readers increased the impact of my altruism by matching my donation; if this happens again, I'll be sure to let you know. . . .)
COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 5-letter word for "Swan played by Kristen Stewart"?Until next time, yappy solving!
