Wordy Wednesday 315: Pent Words 63

WORDY WEDNESDAY #313
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 3 (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:
James Haddad **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Mark Ballinger *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #314
FILL-IN CROSSWORD 8 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 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 #315
PENT WORDS 63
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 Moisten cooking meat, say / Square or rectangle, for one
2 Fill with air, as a balloon / Billiard player's stick
3 Psi's predecessor / Unscrupulous lawyer
4 One loop around a track / Have
5 Long (for) / With one's hand on one's hip and one's elbow outward
6 Will of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air / 2019 and 2020, for two
7 Annual publication of sorts / Freudian concern
8 ____ sergeant / Astronaut Shriver
9 The ____ Hungry Caterpillar / One with a freezer, perhaps
10 Beta's predecessor / Part of a flower
   
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Boot-shaped nation
* Wine-making need
* Like a 45-degree angle
* Sacred song
* The Lion King protagonist
* Large-headed African mammal, briefly
* Members of a jury, perhaps
* Actor Welles
* Billy of the band Kansas
* Large violin relative
* Laughing mammal
* Permian ____
* Base eight
* Steppenwolf author Hermann
* Irritable
* You may stake one
* Move furtively
* Consumer advocate Nader

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 6-letter word for "Rob who directed the horror movie 31 (2017)"?
* Patron Puzzle #66, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Words Without Friends.

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

Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy: 10x10x10 Crosswords

This update to the Patron Puzzles for Philanthropy initiative is to announce the 10x10x10 Crosswords pack! It's yours for US$2.50. It contains 10 10x10 mini-crosswords that will provide many minutes of enjoyment. There's variety here, too: 5 themed, 3 themeless, one vwllss, and one Something Different/freewheeling! Each puzzle comes with one PDF file (for printing), one PUZ file (for solving on the computer), and one file of the solution. The vwllss comes in two difficulty levels (one with answer enumerations, and a harder one without), and with a text file providing the full answers (with vowels included).

As a reminder, this is a charity initiative. Please e-mail me (glmathgrantATgmailDOTcom) a copy of your charitable receipt to my local food bank, the Food Bank of West Central Texas, to receive this puzzle pack. (It must be a new donation, dated no earlier than one day before you email me.) Click here for a list of all of the puzzle packs in this initiative. Happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 314: Fill-In Crossword 8

WORDY WEDNESDAY #312
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Pavel Curtis **
Tyler Hinman **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy *
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #313
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 3 (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 #314
FILL-IN CROSSWORD 8
This puzzle contains a word suggested by David Millar. 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 answers in the crossword below are clued alphabetically by length; you must figure out where they belong. The unclued shaded entries will spell a clue to the final answer.
3 LETTERS
Assist
Device in a bank: abbr.
Scooby-____
____ This, Not That
Wildebeest
Gardening implement
Color
Jumbo ____
As clear as ____ (not at all clear)
Zero
The Caspian, for one
Vase on a pedestal
Jon Anderson's band
Place to see animals

4 LETTERS
Zone
Microsoft web browser
Greek god of sexual attraction
Catty comment
____ Lisa Smile (2003 film)
____ Stew (children’s book by Bill Wallace)
Part of a cash register
Ace Ventura: ____ Nature Calls

5 LETTERS
Obligations
Toffee/chocolate candy bar
City in West Yorkshire, England
“Be My ____” (La Bouche song)
Geeks
The ____ that broke the camel’s back

6 LETTERS
Tweak, as the brightness on a computer monitor
Exhibit good conduct
Fire ____: Three Houses (Nintendo Switch game)
Oakland NFL player
Medicine man
Cusses
What a college professor might have
Voyaged

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 5-letter word for "Steppenwolf author Hermann"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 313: Diagramless Crossword 3

WORDY WEDNESDAY #311
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD (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:
James Haddad **
Mark Ballinger **
Pavel Curtis **
Tyler Hinman **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #312
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 2 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 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 #313
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 3
This crossword has 64 entries in a 15x15 grid, obeys American crossword rules, and has standard rotational symmetry.
ACROSS
1 Bird in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
5 Directed
8 Issue
9 Dreamer
11 First half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
16 Board game with insects on its pieces
17 Turn a Magic: The Gathering card sideways
18 Devil-____-care
20 In the midst of
22 Squeal
25 Affirmative vote
26 Pertaining to teeth
28 Word indicating a former name
29 At the moment
30 Isaac Newton’s title
32 Nineteenth Greek letter
34 Languid
37 ____ shot
39 Alaska and Hawaii, for two
44 Wrath
45 Below the ____
47 Space ____ (board game)
48 Children’s game
49 Not in
51 ____ Minor
52 Second half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
57 Supremacy
58 Old King ____
59 Murder, ____ Wrote
60 One ____ Hill
DOWN
1 Place to buy sandwiches
2 Leave out
3 Compact ____
4 A type of footstool
5 Fleur-de-____
6 Revise
7 Rot
10 Certain poplar
11 Steve McQueen’s son
12 “Put the ____ in the coconut. . .”
13 Big name in cosmetics
14 Dispatched
15 Popular sandwich dressing
19 Certain evergreen
21 Natural ____
23 “____ It Be” (The Beatles song)
24 Pod contents
27 Arm or leg
31 Regret
33 Actress Hagen
34 Cleverness
35 Many a Muslim, ethnically
36 Disregard
38 The Boston ____ (newspaper)
40 “Woe is me!”
41 Exam
42 A Pennsylvania city
43 ____ Search (1983-1995 and 2003-2004 reality series)
46 As the World ____
50 Texas ____ University
53 Love, to José
54 An African river
55 Leg joint
56 Little

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 6-letter word for "Fire ____: Three Houses (Nintendo Switch game)"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 312: Diagramless Crossword 2

WORDY WEDNESDAY #310
PENT WORDS 62 (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:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #311
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD (hint)
As of this writing, 10 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 "WORLD'S WORST" CONTESTS!
I'm giving away copies of my board games TAILITS and Mammalath in two contests on my blog. Despite how bad the puzzles are, the prizes have a value of over $80, so you'd better be entering. :)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #312
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 2
This crossword has 52 entries in a 15x15 grid, obeys American crossword rules, and has standard rotational symmetry.

ACROSS
1 Moves up and down repeatedly
5 Irradiate
6 The Old Man and the ____
9 Drag ____
10 Goof up
11 “____ Is Power in the Blood” (Christian hymn)
13 First half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
18 Exist
19 Plastic cup brand
20 ____ cube (mathematical puzzle)
22 Divisions of psyches
23 “Read my ____”
25 Non-prescription: abbr.
27 ____ Out (2017 horror flick)
28 Acted courageously
30 To the ____ degree
31 Play it by ____
32 “How to ____ a Life”
33 Draw
34 A ____ and a promise
37 Degrassi: The ____ Generation
39 Mineral source
40 Second half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
44 An abnormal growth
45 ____ bark beetle
46 A command in BASIC
47 Hip-hop music
48 From the top
49 Flag maker Betsy
DOWN
1 Accommodation on a vehicle
2 The largest city in Nebraska
3 Some arm muscles
4 Involving two sound channels
6 Triple ____
7 A dwarf planet
8 Mr. Schwarzenegger
12 Alberta’s capital
13 Actress Turco who played April O’Neil
14 Severe trial
15 Set a limit
16 Walt Disney’s middle name
17 Tony played by James Gandolfini
21 Dress
24 The Magnificent ____
26 Laundry detergent brand
29 2006-2013 drama about a blood-spatter analyst
35 ____ Town (2009-2015 sitcom that, disappointingly, isn’t about large cats)
36 Traditional Japanese garment
38 Samoan monetary unit
41 Some symbols on a musical staff
42 Counting ____ (rock band)
43 A mischievous mythological being

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* Another diagramless crossword!

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

TWO Contests: The World's Worst Crossword & The World's Worst Super Mario Maker 2 Level

It's December, so have two contests as an early Christmas present!

THE WORLD'S WORST CROSSWORD
PNG version:
(click to zoom in)
PDF version: CLICK HERE
PUZ version: CLICK HERE

Send your completed grid to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on December 15, 2019 to enter the contest. One randomly-selected winner will win my board games TAILITS and Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion)!

THE WORLD'S WORST SUPER MARIO MAKER 2 LEVEL
(click to zoom in)
Here's a map of a Super Mario Maker 2 level. If you want to play it, the level code is 1C4-7BH-N0G. There are also streamers on websites such as twitch.tv who will play viewer-requested levels, so if you don't own Super Mario Maker 2, you can have them play it for you. There is a puzzle hidden in this level; while watching the level be played (or playing it) might give you a subtle hint regarding how to solve the puzzle, it should be solvable just from the map above, even if you aren't a Nintendo veteran.

Send your final answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on December 15, 2019 to enter the contest. One randomly-selected winner will win my board games TAILITS and Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion)!

There will be a third prize drawing for those who solve both of the puzzles above. The prize is, as you might expect, my board games TAILITS and Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion). Good luck, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 311: Diagramless Crossword

WORDY WEDNESDAY #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt *
James Haddad *
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #310
PENT WORDS 62 (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 #311
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD
This crossword has 56 entries in a 15x15 grid, obeys American crossword rules, and has standard rotational symmetry.
ACROSS
1 “____ Will Be Loved”
4 ____ Patrol (children’s TV show)
7 Pilfer
9 Seventh letter of the Greek alphabet
10 ____ attack
11 First half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
19 ____ of interest
20 Shrek is one
21 ____ Girl Squad (Homestar Runner feature)
22 Fish eggs
23 “Cool!”
24 ____ over backwards
25 Some trucks
28 ____ code
29 Greek love god
30 Sat. predecessor
31 Lice treatment brand
32 Covered
33 Like some tea
35 “Scram!”: 2 wds.
37 Second half of a clue to the final answer: ? wds.
43 American pioneer Daniel
44 Young goat
45 A Sesame Street monster
46 Terminate
47 The in-flight magazine of Delta Air Lines
DOWN
1 ____ Lake
2 Clue
3 Homer’s Odyssey, e.g.
4 Miles ____ hour
5 Consumed, as a burrito
6 A stinging insect
7 Spick and ____
8 Reverberate
12 ____ 99 (Nintendo Switch video game)
13 Zones
14 Like many cars in a car lot
15 Director Howard
16 Concur
17 Too many ____ in the fire
18 Necessities
24 ____ shower
25 Feature of some fonts
26 “A Little More Jesus” singer Campbell
27 Cable ____
28 Southern accent
30 Defect
32 Emulate a pigeon or a baby
34 Something owed
35 Fifty Shades of ____
36 Item put on a pair of oxen
38 “____ Your Mother Know” (ABBA song)
39 A genre of music
40 You ____ Live Twice
41 ____ rummy
42 Like all primes except 2

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* Another diagramless crossword!
* Patron Puzzle #65, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Fill-In Crossword.

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

Wordy Wednesday 310: Pent Words 62

WORDY WEDNESDAY #308
FLOWER POWER 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:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 7 (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 #310
PENT WORDS 62
This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Joe Bernard. 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 Pianist Winston with the album Winter into Spring / John of diagram fame
2 Bargain / Revolving parts
3 Make free of disease or injury / Well-paid youngish worker in a city, perhaps
4 Keep / ____ suey
5 Foul odor / "Now The Day Is ____" (Christian hymn)
6 Be able to pay for / Thomas Edison's middle name
7 Deed held by a third party until a condition is met / Country singer McCoy
8 Legal guardian, for example / Some cigarettes are advertised as low in this
9 Exude / Classical composer Johannes
10 Singer LaBelle / Clergy
   
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Occurrence
* Consumed
* Amount in a recipe, perhaps
* Blood of the Greek gods
* Feature of many a clock
* Suffocate in water
* Word after "horse" or "soap"
* Stone with crystals inside
* Scandinavian
* Upper room of sorts
* Vaults
* ____ Corporation (Portal developer)
* Nancy Wilson's rock band
* F ____ (1965-1967 sitcom)
* A deadly sin
* Striped horse relative
* Choppers
* Bounce a tennis ball back and forth

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A diagramless crossword!

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

The Joy of Puzzling: Codewords (RESULTS!)

I received 4 entries to Part I and 2 entries to Part II of The Joy Of Puzzling: Codewords. Those are low numbers. Maybe people didn't want to win a book of Penny Press Codewords puzzles? Remind me to offer better prizes next time. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 309: Crypticrostic 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #306
SECTION SIX 30 (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:
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #307
FLOWER POWER (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:
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Izak Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #308
FLOWER POWER 2 (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 #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 7
The answer is two words enumerated (5 4).
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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

Editor's mark around "returning taxi" creates fiasco __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                     30 44 16 38 01 06 50
Emasculate informant in class __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                              04 25 08 39 17 48 46 31
Formal dance for 1,000 __ __ __ __
                       09 22 05 32
Gives back mined materials after catnap __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                        26 40 15 19 29 10 45 35
Mongrel on sheep meat __ __ __ __ __ __
                      49 12 24 28 18 34
Reportedly, "The Hellenic Republic" is a musical __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                 47 37 21 02 13 07
"Star Trek" star retiring at this moment, hiding passion __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                         43 20 14 41 27 33 03
Toss around juicers __ __ __ __
                    42 11 36 23

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A Pent Words I haven't written yet. Whoops.

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

Wordy Wednesday 308: Flower Power 2

WORDY WEDNESDAY #305
PENT WORDS 61 (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:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #306
SECTION SIX 30 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 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 #307
FLOWER POWER (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #308
FLOWER POWER 2
The answers to this petaled puzzle will go in a curve from the number on the outside to the center of the flower. Each number in the flower will have two 5-letter answers, one going in a clockwise direction, and the other going in a counterclockwise direction. Clues 1, 7, and 13 in each direction are given, but you must determine where the other answers go.

The final answer is a 6-letter word spelled by six adjacent numbered spaces, either clockwise or counterclockwise.
CLOCKWISE
1 Buenos ____, Argentina
7 Muslim mendicant
13 Brownish
* Aristocratic
* Cassettes
* Circe’s niece
* Dice
* Far from full
* Floozy
* Furious
* Furious
* Grocery store feature
* Increase a poker bet
* Journal
* Like dad jokes
* ____: The Hands of Fate
* The ____ of Music
* “We Are the ____”

COUNTERCLOCKWISE
1 Faulty
7 A type of boat for passengers
13 One of the senses
* Alleviated
* Ancient region in present-day Turkey
* ____ blanche
* Complains
* ____ Day (holiday for planting trees)
* Drunk
* “I Can't Give Everything Away” singer David
* Iranian monetary units
* Like a sick person’s nose, maybe
* ____ Madagascar (Valentine’s Day Madagascar short)
* Nude
* One of the seven dwarfs
* Sends a telegram
* The Fox and the ____
* Weasel relative

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A challenging Crypticrostic!

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

The Joy of Puzzling: Codewords

In this two-part contest, you'll get to solve a puzzle, learn how it was made, and try your hand at making your own puzzle!

Part I. Solve a Puzzle!
THE JOY OF PUZZLING: CODEWORDS
In the crossword puzzle below, every letter is represented by an integer from 1 through 26. You must decipher the code to reveal the words.

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to spell the final answer, an eight-letter word.

After solving, go to tinyurl.com/tjop-[answer], replacing [answer] with the answer, to learn how this puzzle was constructed and get tips on constructing your own!
Send your answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com to enter Part I of the contest. After the deadline (11:59 PM on November 15, 2019), one random entrant with the correct answer will win a book of Penny Press Codewords puzzles!

Part II. Make a Puzzle!
Now you get to write your own Codewords puzzle! To learn how I made the above puzzle, go to tinyurl.com/tjop-[answer], replacing "[answer]" in the URL with the puzzle's final answer in lowercase letters. It is not, however, necessary to watch this video or even solve the above puzzle to enter this part of the contest. Your puzzle must obey all of these rules:

* The puzzle must obey Codewords rules.
* All 26 letters of the English alphabet must be present.
* All words must be Scrabble-legal in America. (Use http://scrabble.merriam.com/ if unsure. Note that Penny Press Codewords puzzles do sometimes use hyphenated words and even multi-word phrases, but I choose to restrict myself a little bit more.)
* The puzzle must use the same grid as the puzzle above. (I hate to constrain the creativity of those who want to use words of 10 letters or longer in their puzzles, but Codewords puzzles are a dime a dozen in magazines, and this is the absolute dead simplest anti-plagiarism measure I could come up with.)
* No entry may be repeated.
* Unlike the puzzle above, there is no need to select 8 cells to anagram to a final answer.

Since test-solving is one of the most important parts of the puzzle-construction process, you are allowed to seek the assistance of one test-solver.

Send your completed puzzle, its answer, three letters you want to give as hints, and the e-mail address of your test-solver (if you had one) to devjoe@gmail.com [NOT TO ME!!!], before 11:59 PM Central time on November 15, 2019. The puzzle and its answer should be in plaintext. After the deadline, /dev/joe will then send the puzzles to me in random order and with no bylines, and without the hint letters. I will judge which puzzle I like best and give the rest of the puzzles (with the hint letters) to a couple of longtime friends who aren't as experienced with Codewords puzzles as I am (a retired math professor and his wife), and they will judge which of those puzzles they like best; the constructors of the two selected puzzles and their test-solvers (if any) will both win a book of Penny Press Codewords puzzles! The winning entries (and honorable mentions, at my discretion) will also be reproduced on my blog for my readers' enjoyment. The following things are likely to win us over:

* Fresh entries.
* PG-ratedness.
* Strategically chosen hint letters that will allow relative laypeople to get a foothold and solve it. (For the puzzle above, I'd select numbers 15, 17, and 18, because they give over half of the 9-letter word in row 3, and if they can solve that word, they get four more letters instantly.) Remember that I won't know where the hint letters are when judging my winning entry, so this judging criterion is solely for my third-party solvers (they'll almost certainly enjoy solving a puzzle more than not solving it)!

The following things will not win us over:

* Too many obscurities. (It's okay to teach me a few new words, but too many obscure words may interfere with the fun of solving it. The third-party solvers who will judge the final winner will also be senior citizens who will have trouble breaking into a puzzle which is jam-packed with newfangled words like CAZH, which is slang for "casual".)
* R-rated things (I want to reproduce the winning entries on this highly PG-rated blog, so none of George Carlin's seven dirty words, for instance, should be in the grid).
* Etymological relatives, especially obvious ones like two compound words that share a root word in common, are frowned upon by me. Keep your words varied.
* Plagiarizing my puzzle is also frowned upon! Be creative and use different words than I did!
* Submitting the puzzle to me instead of to /dev/joe is an absolute no-no! No matter how good your puzzle is, if I know who wrote it, I cannot trust myself to judge the entries impartially. Seeing the entries without knowing who wrote them ensures that the prize goes to the puzzle I like the best, and not the person I like the best. So again, DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR PUZZLES TO ME!!!

You may only submit one puzzle, but you can change it at any time before the deadline. You may be the test-solver for any number of other entrants.

Good luck, and happy constructing!

Wordy Wednesday 306: Section Six 30 & Wordy Wednesday 307: Flower Power

WORDY WEDNESDAY #304
FILL-IN CROSSWORD 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #305
PENT WORDS 61 (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!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!
WORDY WEDNESDAY #306
SECTION SIX 30
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 Gunman's accessory
2 America's Funniest Home ____
3 Word before "ear" or "tube"
4 Nation whose currency is the gourde
5 Communicating non-verbally
6 Chicken ____ (butter-stuffed chicken dish)

Ring 2
* Finland's capital
* Enroll
* Timon of ____
* Crime fiction genre
* Nix a bill

Ring 3
* Big name in bathroom fixtures, or the Wisconsin city with its headquarters
* ____ waltz
* Painter, for example
* Dancing with the Stars host Andrews

Ring 4
* Something that steadily drains resources
* Kudzu, for one
* Olympian ski racer Picabo

Ring 5
* Certain stringed instrument
* Tranquil

Ring 6
* "30 Pieces of ____" (song by Christian metal band Theocracy)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #307
FLOWER POWER
The answers to this petaled puzzle will go in a curve from the number on the outside to the center of the flower. Each number in the flower will have two 5-letter answers, one going in a clockwise direction, and the other going in a counterclockwise direction. Clues 1, 7, and 13 in each direction are given, but you must determine where the other answers go.

The final answer is a 6-letter word spelled by six adjacent numbered spaces, either clockwise or counterclockwise.
CLOCKWISE
1 A flower, or a princess in the Mario franchise
7 One of Columbus’s ships
13 Express gratitude
* A pale shade of yellow
* Atmospheres
* Author Verne
* Exhausted
* Exhausted
* French capital
* Makes a new word or phrase
* Mathematician Felix of bottle fame
* Pub projectiles
* Rotate
* Symbol sometimes used as a division sign
* Turns from solid to liquid
* Type of milk not to cry over
* Uncanny
* Use a mouse, say

COUNTERCLOCKWISE
1 Handed out playing cards
7 Danger
13 Many adolescents
* Bit of dust
* Crocker who wanted Britney Spears left alone
* In the ____ of an eye
* Inventor Howe
* Invertebrate’s lack
* Killed, as a dragon
* Nation split in 1948
* One of several the moon has, for example
* Rejects, as a lover
* Section of a grocery store with milk
* Some religious sects
* Uncles’ mates
* Use a scale
* Wed
* What a dieter might measure

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 5-letter word for "____ Madagascar (Valentine’s Day Madagascar short)"?
* Patron Puzzle #64, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a diagramless crossword.

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

Wordy Wednesday 305: Pent Words 61

WORDY WEDNESDAY #303
PATHFINDER 17 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bo & Becky Green *
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy *
Joe Bernard **
Kevin Orfield **
Mark Ballinger **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #304
FILL-IN CROSSWORD 7 (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 #305
PENT WORDS 61
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 Heedlessly casual / "Tinder Creators Developing Bible App To Enable Swiping ____ On Undesirable Verses" (headline from Christian satirical news site The Babylon Bee)
2 Cook in the microwave / Drool
3 Dr. of kiddy lit fame / Bank that prevents flooding
4 Suspend loosely / "Curses!"
5 Slyly disparaging / Actress Merman
6 Declare / Panacea
7 Bellyache / Lurch
8 19th century Polish pianist / Grow weary
9 You have one when you sit / A yellow shade of orange, or a spice
10 "New Unitarian Universalist Hymnal Just Contains John Lennon's '____'" (The Babylon Bee headline) / Short
   
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* DNA strand shape
* Some wintry precipitation
* Fell
* One of Christopher Columbus's ships
* "Night ____" (Bee Gees song)
* It may be dramatic
* Egypt's southern neighbor
* "Trick or ____!"
* Frighten
* "The Ballroom ____" (hit song for The Sweet)
* Fly like a flying squirrel
* Dickens character who taught children how to pick pockets
* Allege
* The letter Y, sometimes
* Actress Dunne
* Muddle
* Church projections
* Patronizes a store

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 6-letter word for "'30 Pieces of ____' (song by Christian metal band Theocracy)"?
* What's a 5-letter word for "Crocker who wanted Britney Spears left alone"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 304: Fill-In Crossword 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #302
PATHFINDER 16 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Joseph Bernard **
Kevin Orfield **
Mark Ballinger *
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #303
PATHFINDER 17 (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 #304
FILL-IN CROSSWORD 7
The answers in the crossword below are clued alphabetically by length; you must figure out where they belong. The unclued shaded entries will spell the final answer, a song title.
3 LETTERS
Much ____ About Nothing
Fore’s opposite
Mature
Winglike part
Boxer Muhammad ____
Certain snake
WNW’s opposite
A Greek letter
Role for Keanu Reeves in The Matrix
At this time
Square ____ in a round hole
Certain rodent
Number of frames in a game of bowling
Tic-tac-____

4 LETTERS
Actress Hathaway
Entryway
Greek god of sexual attraction
Makes a mistake
Large-leafed flowerless plant
Actress Dunham
Fail to win
Possesses
Religious denomination
Lovers’ quarrel
Quiznos offerings
“. . . and a partridge in a pear ____”
Banks of Coyote Ugly (2000)
Desire

6 LETTERS
Grand ____ National Park
Item on the end of a pencil
Aplenty
Part of a threat: 2 wds.
Student at a school designed to get you ready for college
Part of U.S.S.R.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 5-letter word for "Dickens character who taught children how to pick pockets"?

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

Contest: Vwllss Crsswrd (easier version)

It's been one week since I posted the harder version of this vwllss crsswrd. If you haven't solved it yet, here's the easy version with answer enumerations:
PDF version: CLICK HERE
PUZ version: CLICK HERE
You have until 11:59 PM Central time on October 18, 2019. Remember, up to three randomly-selected winners will win a copy of my board game TAILITS. Good luck, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 303: Pathfinder 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #301
ANACROSSWORD 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 **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Mark Ballinger **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #302
PATHFINDER 16 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 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 #303
PATHFINDER 17
This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!
In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in some direction, and makes one or more right-angled turns as it winds through the grid. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries.

Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, an 8-letter word.
1 1965-1968 series starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby as undercover intelligence agents (1 3)
2 Having lessened mental faculties due to old age (6)
3 ____-in-itself (5)
4 Michigan city in which Domino’s Pizza was first founded (9)
5 ____: The Lost Empire (2001 Disney film) (8)
6 Whipping boy (9)
7 Certain guitar accessory (4)
8 Related to the mouth (4)
9 “Kiss from a Rose” singer (4)
9 Agitated with anger (8)
10 Skeptic who demonstrated that Peter Popoff was getting revelations not from God, but from his wife via radio (5 5)
11 Sesame Street’s grouch (5)
11 Synopses (8)
12 Bean who hosted a 1985 pilot of the game show Concentration (5)
13 Tom’s rank in David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (5)
14 Warns (6)
15 Sighting in a farmer’s field (9)
16 “Soulful ____” (Young-Holt Unlimited hit) (5)
17 Certain courtroom employee, briefly (5)
17 California city where Petco Park is located (3 5)
18 Devour (6)
19 Inflatable mattress (3 3)
20 Guns N’ Roses guitarist (5)
21 Word before “industry” or “cheese” (7)
22 Rand McNally offering (5)
23 Chemical in tobacco (8)
24 Bombed (10)
25 A type of heron (5)
26 Massachusetts city named after a city in England (9)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 6-letter word for "Student at a school designed to get you ready for college"?

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

Contest: Vwllss Crsswrd (harder version)

Today is my father's birthday! To celebrate, here's a puzzle that has no relevance to that fact whatsoever. This puzzle was submitted to Outside the Box, but rejected with the suggestion that I use a lower word count than 70 next time. (Consider this a public service announcement to those of you out there who want to write their own vwllss crsswrds. . . .)

Remove all instances of A, E, I, O, and U from the entries before entering them in the grid. (There are no Y's.)
PNG version:
PDF version: CLICK HERE
PUZ version: CLICK HERE

Send your completed grid to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 8:00 AM Central time on October 11, 2019 to get two entries the contest. At that point, an easier version of the puzzle will be posted with answer length enumerations. Solve that version of the puzzle before 11:59 PM Central time on October 18, 2019 to get one entry in the contest. Up to three randomly-selected winners will win a copy of my board game TAILITS. (You can only win one prize, even if you get two entries in the contest.)

Good luck, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 302: Pathfinder 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #300
PENT WORDS 60 (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:
Joseph Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Jay McConnell **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #301
ANACROSSWORD 19 (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!

RYAN FALEY'S 250TH PUZZLE!
Fellow blogger Ryan Faley has hit the big 2-5-0 milestone. Be sure to solve his 250th puzzle and give him some congratulations!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #302
PATHFINDER 16
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 Bird a plastic version of which is a popular lawn ornament (8)
2 ____ and dangerous (5)
3 Humorous American poet (5 4)
4 A city in Michigan (3 5)
5 ____ Worth, Texas (4)
5 Skin (5)
6 Sight in many a science classroom (8 5)
7 ____ and choose (4)
7 Preserve, perhaps (6)
8 Decorated (7)
8 Allegorical 1945 novel (6 4)
9 Overused cliché (5)
10 Happens (6)
11 Item controlled by a mouse (6)
12 Hunk (4)
12 Where audio recordings are made (6)
13 Big Fat ____ (2002 comedy) (4)
14 Country singer ____ Kaye Booth (4)
15 Hairlike organelles (5)
16 Pertaining to the organization of complicated operations (10)
17 The world’s longest venomous snake (4 5)
18 Herb with yellow flowers (9)
19 Me and Earl and the ____ Girl (2015 film) (5)
20 Former capital of Turkey (8)
21 Watch What Happens Live with ____ Cohen (4)
22 Partitioning wall in a ship or aircraft (8)
23 Tube that carries air into and out of the lungs (7)
23 Compliant (9)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 9-letter word for "Michigan city in which Domino’s Pizza was first founded"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 301: Anacrossword 19

WORDY WEDNESDAY #299
HEX PATHFINDER 20 (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 **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt *
Jay McConnell *
Kevin Orfield **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #300
PENT WORDS 60 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 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 #301
ANACROSSWORD 19
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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
Note: The symbol † indicates headlines from The Babylon Bee, the "trusted source for Christian news satire".
† “The Bee Explains: ____ Vs. Republicans”
† “Federal Government Launches ____ Campaign To Pay Off $20 Trillion National Debt”
“Hollaback Girl” singer Stefani
† “Benny ____ Masterfully Knocks Down Audience Members Arranged In Notoriously Difficult 7–10 Split”
Blazing fire
What Bill Clinton claimed not to do with marijuana
† “Dave Ramsey Releases 'Should I Buy This?' ____ 8-Ball That Always Answers 'No'”
Shines, as a shoe
† “‘My Preferred ____ Are Thou/Thine,’ Explains KJV-Onlyist”
† “New Progressive Bible Prints All References To Pride In ____ Colors”
Stephen of Office Space (1999)
Actor Connery
Irish ____ (dog breed)
____ butter
An organ in the digestive system
The Girl with the Dragon ____ (2011 film)
Brightly-colored tropical fish
Virtue’s opposite
With The, ABC talk show
Wishing ____
Dog breed that sounds like a Devo song

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's an 8-letter word for "Bird a plastic version of which is a popular lawn ornament">
* Patron Puzzle #63, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Words Without Friends.

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

Wordy Wednesday 300: Pent Words 60

WORDY WEDNESDAY #298
FOXGERYPTICS 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 **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #299
HEX PATHFINDER 20 (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 #300
PENT WORDS 60
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 Concern for Al Gore / The Mediterranean, for one
2 Ideas / It may be pierced
3 Slowly moving mass of frozen water / "Gloria in excelsis ____"
4 Glowing hot coal / Aired again
5 Certain marine mollusk / 2003 comedy starring Will Ferrell as Buddy
6 "The Sheik of ____" (song sung by The Beatles) / Spooky
7 Not on time / Google's web browser
8 Happens / ____ of Dogs (2018 film)
9 Texas city that calls itself the "Storybook Capital of America" / Ginger ____
10 Fail to have / Texas city in which Friday Night Lights takes place

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* More frigid
* Chemist Marie
* Arias who played Jerry on Disney XD's Kickin' It
* Landlady Helen of Three's Company
* Calm
* Eyes amorously
* ". . . for ____ waves of grain. . ."
* Vertices, as of a graph
* Support Your ____ Sheriff! (1969 Western)
* "What's it all about, ____?" (Cher lyrics)
* Certain hardwood tree
* ____ the Riveter
* Unit of weight for precious stones
* John of tractor fame
* Hand-to-hand fight
* Red condiment in a Mexican restaurant
* Smilla's ____ of Snow (1997 movie)
* Sports Night creator Sorkin

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What dog breed sounds like a Devo song?

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

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