Outside the Fox Puzzles: Year 4!

OUTSIDE THE FOX PUZZLES: YEAR 4

 

"Touchwords are my favorite crossword variant" - Daily Crossword Links

 

Outside the Fox Puzzles is a puzzle subscription service in the style of Joon Pahk's Outside the Box Puzzles (spelled with a B, not an F). It is the world's only puzzle subscription service to guarantee that none of the puzzles have been eaten by a fox. First order of business: the logo has had quite a glow-up courtesy of an artist who goes by Seruviel! (Seruviel also drew the artwork of July below the next paragraph.) Now, instead of being several pieces of clipart slapped together looking like an angry high school mascot commissioned on a budget of a half-empty can of Pringles, it actually looks cute! Thanks a lot, Seruviel!

 

Year 3 is approaching its terminus. As of this writing, 40 weeks out of 50 have been shared with the mailing list. All of the Year 3 puzzles have been written, but many await scheduling, 10 await testing feedback, and 1 awaits an illustration. Writing so many darned puzzles and trying to keep a healthy backlog is tough work for one person, so starting with Year 4, I have enlisted the help of July Foxe, the furry rascal you see in the new logo, in crafting my grids going forward. Though I will abdicate my position as "Head Fox" to July, I will remain in all Outside the Fox Puzzles bylines as his co-author and human assistant. And considering that July is fictional, he's going to need all the assistance he can get! Without further ado, I now pass the reins to July to explain how to subscribe to Year 4.

Greetings, dearest reader! I am July Foxe, Grant's new anthropomorphic fox co-author. Though Grant and I will work together to whip up some tasty puzzle dishes for your consumption over the course of the year 2027, I have promised not to eat any of them so as to keep the name accurate as it has been for the previous years. We hope you enjoy them!

Outside the Fox Puzzles uses the pay-what-you-want model; the minimum price for one year of puzzles is US$10, but you're absolutely welcome to pay more (and some do!). Every Tuesday for 50 weeks (January 5 through December 14, 2027), at 8:00 AM Central Time, we will release three new puzzles:

• A Touchword. This is a crossword variation of Grant's invention, featuring words which touch instead of crossing. These alternate between 11x11 (mini) grids on odd-numbered weeks and 15x15 (standard) grids on even-numbered weeks.
• A gridded logic puzzle. This could be any logic puzzle genre which is playable on puzz.link or its GitHub forks.
• A variety word puzzle. This could be just about anything. The only guarantee is that words and wordplay will be involved.

You will get three PDFs each week: one for the puzzles, one for the hints, and one for the solutions. You will also get two PUZ files for each Touchword (one for the normal version and one for the easy version), plus PUZ files for any variety word puzzles which I can offer in that format.

 

Additionally, a series of 25 variety puzzles, titled Happy Foxday, will be posted daily on May 1 through May 25, leading up to Grant's "Foxday" of May 26, on which date their answers will all be shared. (He's not actually a fox, but I'll let him get away with it on his birthday.) A similar set of 25 puzzles, Merry Foxmas, will be posted daily on December 1 through December 25, with their answers posted on Foxing Day, December 26. These variety puzzles will often include puzzles that are too offbeat to be posted as regular weekly offerings, such as story logic puzzles. Add those to the 150 weekly puzzles, and you have a total of 200 puzzles!

 

Becoming a subscriber to Outside the Fox Puzzles is a simple 4-step process:

Step 1: Add outsidethefoxpuzzles@gmail.com to your address book or whitelist to ensure smooth email delivery.

Step 2: Send my human assistant Grant a payment of at least US$10. You may skip this step if you were his Patreon supporter at the $20/month Ultra Fan level at any point during 2026 or 2027. Otherwise, go to https://paypal.me/mathgrant or https://venmo.com/u/GrantBadgerFox. (Wait, Grant's pretending to be a fox on Venmo? I'll need to have a word with him. . .) ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT: Mention “Outside the Fox Puzzles Year 4” and the email address with which you want to subscribe!

Step 3: Request to join the Google group at https://groups.google.com/g/outside-the-fox-puzzles-year-4/. (This step is mostly optional, since Grant can usually invite you to the group or even add you directly if you gave him an email address with which to do so during step 2, but it does help. If you do this step, chances are the email address that Google will use is the Gmail address with which you were signed in; if that's different from the email address that you mentioned to Grant, then he will assume that the latter is the one you actually want.)
 

Step 4: Wait for Grant to manually vet your request and add you. You are now a member of the group and will receive a weekly dose of our "paw"zzles via email! If you joined after January 5, 2027, you may also dive into the archive of puzzles you missed while you wait for the next weekly email! Yappy solving! (Reach out to us via email at glmathgrant@gmail.com or outsidethefoxpuzzles@gmail.com if you have any issues.)

 

Want to subscribe to a previous year? You can instantly download all of year 1's puzzles or all of year 2's puzzles as a ZIP file! Year 3 will be added to this list as well once it's done.

We would like to publicly thank the Outside the Fox Puzzles testing team for their quality assurance efforts: Jason Boomer, John Bulten, Joseph DeVincentis, Kevin Orfield, Russ Kale, Sam Levitin, and Tower Lachesism.

 

OUTSIDE THE FOX PUZZLES SAMPLER

To entice you, here is a free sampler curated from the puzzles published thus far in Outside the Fox Puzzles! (Three puzzles from Year 3 have been added!) Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles, click here for a PDF of all of the hints (the "hint document" referred to in the instructions of each puzzle), and click here for a PDF of all of the solutions.

YEAR 1, WEEK 13 (MARCH 26, 2024)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Seductress / One of the Great Lakes
2 State represented by Bernie Sanders / One of the Great Lakes
3 Pests / Ganders’ mates
4 Surname of the first host of Jeopardy! / Symbol for silence on a music staff
5 Thoroughfare associated with the British national press: 2 wds.
6 Brings back to an initial state / Seven Years in ____ (1997 movie starring Brad Pitt)
7 Word in the fine print of many beer ads
8 ____ of mass destruction / Like Larry’s songs in VeggieTales
9 “If the shoe fits, ____ it” / Phi’s predecessor
10 Rip to shreds: 2 wds. / Boca ____, Florida
11 Feminine hygiene item / 4:3, for example

YEAR 1, WEEK 20 (MAY 14, 2024)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Relocate / Common allergen / Typeface ornamentation
2 The Spy Who ____ Me / Antics / Browse, as the Internet
3 Portrait’s counterpart / Remove doubt
4 A sedimentary rock / Charm
5 Ointment / Mass of lymphoid tissue in the throat / Oaf
6 Like a cloud’s figurative lining / 2015 animated film about Riley’s feelings: 2 wds.
7 Share, with “up” / Starr of the Beatles / ____ Note (2006-2007 anime)
8 Stop-motion series whose opening theme is an instrumental version of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”: 3 wds.
9 Captain ____ and the Teen Angels (1977-1980 Hanna-Barbera cartoon) / ____ saving time
10 Walking stick / Spotted Central American cat / The Hateful ____ (2015 film)
11 Balsamic ____ / Cheer / Composer Stravinsky
12 MasterCard alternative / Use mouthwash / One under a legal age
13 Have different opinions / Symposium
14 “Consider it ____!” / Arborist’s concerns / This Is ____ Tap (1984 rock mockumentary)
15 Impressionist Claude / Brand of chocolate mints / Danger

YEAR 2, WEEK 20 (MAY 20, 2025)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Waterproof garment / Over / 2022 musical docudrama starring Austin Butler
2 Miniature toy residence / Boll ____
3 Jenkins who created the series The Chosen / Dopehead / Presidential ____ of Freedom
4 Remains of an animal / Senator’s tenure / ____ Ruins Everything (2015-2019 TruTV series)
5 Shapes seen in the Target logo / Wrongful civil act / Basic particle of matter
6 Vlasic offering / Baseball fielding position abbreviated with two identical letters
7 Group of wolves / Bind / Seize, as power
8 1985 film that ends, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”: 4 wds.
9 Giant pandas eat it / One wearing a toque, often / Fixed gaze
10 Spectacular failure / Purple flower / Play for time
11 American name for what Brits call football / Sneaked / Military exercise
12 Favorable outcome / Lascivious / Orange peel
13 Hot ____ sundae / Tendon / Current fashion
14 Stress-relieving toy / Gold brick / Part of a clarinet
15 Squeeze between the thumb and finger / “It takes two to ____” / Santa’s helpers

YEAR 3, WEEK 5 (FEBRUARY 3, 2026)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Common pants fly feature / Super ____ Bros. (1999 fighting game)
2 One who makes brass items
3 Manage / Wood-eating insect
4 Center, as of an apple / Platform on a rooftop
5 Tranquil / Minute amount
6 Snow White and the ____ Dwarfs / A component of natural gas
7 Worship / “For ____ is the kingdom. . .”
8 Rod’s partner / Carignane, for example: 2 wds.
9 Handled effectively, as a sword / Trickery
10 What a recovering banking addict might experience?
11 Alpine stringed instrument / Collect

YEAR 1, WEEK 12 (MARCH 19, 2024)
MID-LOOP
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Draw a single loop composed of horizontal and vertical line segments connecting the centers of cells; the loop may not cross itself or branch off. Every dot must mark the midpoint of a horizontal or vertical line segment in the loop. If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document.

YEAR 1, WEEK 16 (APRIL 16, 2024)
CROSS THE STREAMS
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Shade some cells black. Numbers to the left of a row or above a column represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in that row or column, in order. “?” represents a block of any length; “*” represents any number of blocks, including possibly none. No 2x2 area may be entirely shaded. All of the shaded cells must be connected through their edges. (The thick grid lines are a counting aid, but are otherwise meaningless.) If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document.

YEAR 2, WEEK 27 (JULY 8, 2025)
AKARI
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Place light bulbs in some of the white cells so that every white cell is illuminated. A light bulb illuminates its own cell and all other white cells in a straight horizontal or vertical line, up to the nearest black cell or the edge of the grid. No two light bulbs may illuminate each other. A numbered clue in a black cell represents how many of the white cells which share an edge with it (up to four) contain light bulbs. If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document.

YEAR 3, WEEK 28 (JULY 14, 2026)
NURITWIN
Illustrated rules on pzprxs.vercel.app | Solve on pzprxs.vercel.app
Rules summary: Shade some cells black. Every outlined region must contain two connected blocks of black cells; these two blocks may not share an edge, but must be of the same size (though not necessarily the same shape). A number in a region indicates the size of the two blocks in that region. No 2x2 area may be entirely black. All of the black cells must be connected through their edges. If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document. 

YEAR 1, WEEK 10 (MARCH 5, 2024)
ANACROSSWORD
Solve the crossword using the clues provided. When the letters in the numbered squares are transferred to the same-numbered blanks, you will reveal a quote followed by its author. Work back and forth between the quote and the crossword to finish the puzzle. The clues are listed alphabetically by their answers; you must determine where each answer belongs. Additionally, spaces and punctuation are not provided for the quote. If you want help, the locations and full enumerations of the answers and the spacing and punctuation of the quote are in this week’s hint document.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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
CLUES
• Sailor’s greeting
• “Praise the Lord and Pass the ____”
• Irritate
• PopCap puzzle game in which players match gems
• Start up, as a computer
• The capital of Wales
• Certain onion relative
• Snowman in an animated Christmas special
• The Rocky ____ Picture Show
• Johnson Space Center’s city
• Immediate
• Character portrayed as a brown bear in Disney’s Robin Hood: 2 wds.
• “Monster ____” (Bobby “Boris” Pickett song)
• Like a boxing event on HBO: hyph.
• Wrinkly Chinese dog breed: hyph.
• Stiffening agent used in laundering
• Classic puzzle game whose spin-offs include Arika’s Japan-only The Grand Master arcade games
• Plane, train, or automobile

YEAR 1, WEEK 18 (APRIL 30, 2024)
PATHFINDER
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. If you want help, full answer enumerations and starting directions of the answers are in this week’s hint document.

1 Street ____ (4)
1 Goblet (7)
2 The Phantom ____ (Norton Juster novel) (9)
3 Boston ____ (2004-2008 series) (5)
4 Gad about (9)
5 Famous Edvard Grieg work (26, 7 wds.)
6 Accounting concern (7)
7 Glutinous grain with a gluelike texture (10, 2 wds.)
8 Board game in which players claim railway routes with train cards (12, 3 wds.)
9 Pieces of furniture housing printed materials (9)
10 Citrusy name of an ocean predator (10, 2 wds.)
11 The first tsar of Russia (15, 3 wds.)
12 Wormwood- and anise-flavored liquor (8)
13 Former German chancellor Angela (6)
14 Knight’s spear (5)
15 Samples, as food (6)
16 Computer directory (6)
17 Onion relative (7)
18 Have an excessive preoccupation (6)
19 Rich cake (5)
20 Goatlike companion of Dionysus (5)
21 Truck company with a bulldog in the logo (4)
21 Brief written message (4)
22 The lead singer of U2 (4)
23 Like Arial, but not Times New Roman (9, hyph.)
24 Tennis great Arthur (4)
25 Certain seabird (4)
26 Trends (10)
27 A beachgoer might want to get one (6)
28 Pressing need? (4)
29 Certain cut of pork (6)
30 Crowded (5)
31 Recently formed (7)
32 Long-barreled firearm (5)
33 ____ of contents (5)
34 ____ of ceremonies (6)
34 Singer-songwriter Alanis (10)
35 Climb (6)
36 ____ verb (“be”, for example) (7)
37 Natural incline (8)
38 Cold sensations (6)
39 Karate teacher (6)
40 Towards the back of a ship (6)
41 Psycho (1960) villain Norman (5)
42 Toss, as dice (4)
43 Jeweler’s unit of weight (5)
44 Comedienne Burnett (5)
44 Cloudy area of the lens of the eye (8)

YEAR 2, WEEK 24 (JUNE 17, 2025)
MIX-UP 

(The illustration is by Infernal.)
If you want help, an easier version is in this week’s hint document.

 

YEAR 3, WEEK 21 (MAY 26, 2026)

HIT SINGLES

The answers to the Play It Forward clues read along the record’s spiral groove in a counterclockwise direction from the outside in (space 1 through space 100), filling each space with a single letter. The answers to the Play It Back clues read in the opposite direction (space 100 through space 1), and the record will skip some of the letters along the way. The letters thus skipped, the titular Hit Singles, will spell a song title in Play It Forward order. The numbers give the starting and ending space of each Play It Forward answer; the Play It Back answers are in no particular order, and you must determine where they go and which letters they skip. If you want help, the starting and ending spaces of the Play It Back answers, the locations of the skipped letters, and full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

PLAY IT FORWARD
1-5: Process by which coaches select players
6-12: Synopsis
13-17: Quotient between two values
18-26: Notoriously pungent cheese
27-31: In flight
32-37: Handle with fondness
38-41: Mountain in Sicily
42-46: “My Own ____ Enemy”
47-50: Grocery shopping need, often
51-55: Implied
56-59: Stereo alternative
60-64: My Big Fat ____ Wedding (2002 film)
65-69: “50 Ways to Leave Your ____”
70-73: Solemn vow
74-81: Rubber-like polymer used in some cooking utensils
82-88: Continue to endure
89-93: The surfaces underneath the feet
94-97: Notion
98-100: Vanilla Ice’s genre
PLAY IT BACK
• Armed forces
• Atkinson of Johnny English (2003)
• Battering ____
• Beetle larva
• Beget
• Bright signal light
• Bring to mind
• Epic poem about the fall of man: 2 wds.
• Four-dimensional analog of the cube
• Like a comfortable-to-use keyboard
• Lures
• “Mean Mr. ____” (1969 Beatles hit)
• Mesopotamian goddess of war
• Writing implement 

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #8

 (Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles and the contest rules.)

 

Outside the Fox Puzzles is proud to sponsor the 8th Triple Crown Fox Derby! Up to three winners of this contest will receive their choice of one of these prizes, for themselves or for anyone else of their choice:
• A 1-year subscription to Outside the Fox Puzzles, which comes with 150 puzzles just like the ones in this contest!
• A $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, with which one can buy ebooks of beautiful logic puzzles written by talented authors from around the world!
• A 2-month Premium membership on Board Game Arena, with which one can play board games in real-time and turn-based modes against opponents from around the world!

My plan is to run these contests on the first Monday of every January, April, July, and October, at 12:01 AM Central Time. The entry deadline will be 13 days later (on a Sunday) at 11:59 PM Central Time; in this case, the deadline is Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 11:59 PM Central Time.

This contest combines a Touchword puzzle, a gridded logic puzzle, and a variety word puzzle with a fox race. Yes, in the real world, people bet on horse races and greyhound races, but in the fantastic world of Outside the Fox Puzzles, it is foxes who race. To participate in the contest, send an e-mail to glmathgrant@[at]gmail[dot]com. Your entry should include:
• Your answers to the three puzzles, as explained in their respective instructions. (Any format, including scans or photos of printed pages, screenshots, or plain text, will work, so long as I can read and judge it.)
• The name of the fox you'll be entering in the race (this is just for fun and has no effect on the outcome).
• The number of the gate your fox will start from (any integer between 1 and 50 inclusive) in each of the three races (the Kittucky Derby, the Sneakness Stakes, and the Tailmont Stakes). You can use the same gate any number of times.

The first race is the Kittucky Derby; to qualify, you must have submitted correct solutions to all three puzzles. The second race, the Sneakness Stakes, requires only two correct solutions, and the Tailmont Stakes requires only one. Winning an earlier race disqualifies you from a later race; otherwise, you can qualify for, and participate in, one, two, or all three races. The winner of each race is the fox that started from the lowest-numbered gate that nobody else selected! Unfortunately, when two or more foxes are crammed into the same gate, they have a tendency to fight each other and to not notice when the race has started. If no foxes qualify for a race, or if all qualifying foxes end up in fights, then there will be no winner.

The Triple Crown Fox Derby now also supports the three food banks featured previously in Kevin’s Puzzles at Home. For every valid puzzle solution received during the contest, I will add $1 to a money pool which will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. The money pool is capped at $150 ($50 per food bank), and will be matched by three anonymous benefactors.

 

These statistics on the last six Triple Crown Fox Derbies may give you an estimate of how many entrants the current Derby will have and help you plan your strategy. Enjoy the puzzles, and yappy racing!
Derby #2: 21 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #3: 22 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #4: 13 triple solves, 15 double solves, 15 single solves
Derby #5: 19 triple solves, 21 double solves, 21 single solves
Derby #6: 10 triple solves, 11 double solves, 13 single solves
Derby #7: 16 triple solves, 17 double solves, 17 single solves

TOUCHWORD

PUZ version

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

1 2019-2021 drama series about a criminal psychologist who has to work with his serial killer father: 2 wds.
2 Political commentator / Borden’s cow mascot
3 2022 video game with a sword-wielding fox protagonist / Computer expert
4 “Mickey” singer Basil / Needlework of looped stitches
5 Slice of browned bread / “____ Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)” (Elton John song)
6 Constricting snakes / Tiny ornament
7 Get vegetables ready to be frozen, perhaps / Bury
8 President Arthur’s middle name / President Arthur’s first name
9 Place for gladiatorial combat / Dwell permanently
10 Get ready / “Roll ____!” (rallying cry at University of Alabama sports games)
11 An increase in numbers, as of an organism

RING-RING
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Draw a number of rectangular loops composed of horizontal and vertical line segments connecting the centers of cells. Two loops may cross with one traveling horizontally and one traveling vertically through the same cell, but the loops may not otherwise overlap or share corners. The loops must pass through every white cell, but may not pass through black cells. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

THREE OUT OF NINE AIN’T BAD
Can you identify these 9-letter words with just three letters given? All of the words appear as uncapitalized entries in most English dictionaries. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the correct answers to at least 10 words.

 1. S_X_P____
 2. G_G_H____
 3. _RB____R_
 4. ET__U____
 5. B___FC___
 6. J___C_O__
 7. P_____H_O
 8. ___YGU___
 9. _N_K__K__
10. T__BS____
11. __DF____R
12. __PP___C_
13. _S_T_R___
14. __O_Y___Y
15. __E_Y___Y

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #7 (RESULTS!)

The 7th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby from two weeks ago has concluded. Click here for a PDF of all the puzzle solutions. The contest results follow.

16 foxes qualified for the first race, the Kittucky Derby, by solving all three puzzles. Race results:

Gate 1: Fan Of Xcitement!, Faux-Chi, Reginald, What the Heck
Gate 2: Kit Katsune, Ruin Seeker
Gate 3: Box
Gate 4: Bob, Fiddles, Poptimist 2001
Gate 5: Farrah Foxcett
Gate 6: Beelzebub
Gate 8: Vixen For A Fight
Gate 9: Tongo
Gate 16: Crimson Scarlet
Gate 49: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

Ron did not attempt the Kin-Kon-Kan and thus did not qualify. Gate 1 was the most crowded gate, with 4 foxes. Besides the winner Box, 6 other foxes managed to finish.

17 foxes qualified for the second race, the Sneakness Stakes, by solving two puzzles. Race results:

Gate 1: Ruin Seeker, What the Heck
Gate 2: Fan Of Xcitement!
Gate 3: Farrah Foxcett, Kit Katsune
Gate 4: Fiddles, Poptimist 2001, Reginald, Ron
Gate 5: Bob, Box, Faux-Chi
Gate 6: Beelzebub, Crimson Scarlet
Gate 8: Vixen For A Fight
Gate 11: Tongo
Gate 49: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

Most of the foxes in Gate 1 chose to vacate it, but since Ruin Seeker decided to give it a try, it once again failed to be a winning gate. Gate 4 became the most crowded gate, with 4 foxes. Besides the winner Fan Of Xcitement, only 3 other foxes managed to finish.

 

17 foxes qualified for the third race, the Tailmont Stakes, by solving one puzzle. Race results:

Gate 1: Faux-Chi, Vixen For A Fight, What the Heck
Gate 3: Fan Of Xcitement!, Ruin Seeker
Gate 4: Fiddles, Kit Katsune, Poptimist 2001, Reginald, Ron
Gate 6: Beelzebub, Bob
Gate 7: Box, Farrah Foxcett
Gate 10: Crimson Scarlet
Gate 11: Tongo
Gate 49: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson
For the first time ever, no fox managed to win using Gate 1 in any of the three races. Gate 2 became completely empty, and no fox was brave enough to use it. Fan of Xcitement! was busy celebrating on the winners' podium, thus giving Ruin Seeker a clear break to dump Gate 1 for the winning Gate 3. Gate 4 remained the most crowded gate, with 5 foxes now. Besides the winner Ruin Seeker, 4 other foxes finished.

The three winners, Bo Green, Randy Rogers, and Spheniscine Kynosoura, will soon be contacted about redeeming their prizes. Additionally, a $50 money pool will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank ($16.67 each), and this donation will be matched by three anonymous benefactors. Thanks to you all for participating! The 8th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby will be held on October 5, 2025.

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #7

 (Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles and the contest rules.)

 

Outside the Fox Puzzles is proud to sponsor the 7th Triple Crown Fox Derby! Up to three winners of this contest will receive their choice of one of these prizes, for themselves or for anyone else of their choice:
• A 1-year subscription to Outside the Fox Puzzles, which comes with 150 puzzles just like the ones in this contest!
• A $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, with which one can buy ebooks of beautiful logic puzzles written by talented authors from around the world!
• A 2-month Premium membership on Board Game Arena, with which one can play board games in real-time and turn-based modes against opponents from around the world!

My plan is to run these contests on the first Monday of every January, April, July, and October, at 12:01 AM Central Time. The entry deadline will be 13 days later (on a Sunday) at 11:59 PM Central Time; in this case, the deadline is Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM Central Time.

This contest combines a Touchword puzzle, a gridded logic puzzle, and a variety word puzzle with a fox race. Yes, in the real world, people bet on horse races and greyhound races, but in the fantastic world of Outside the Fox Puzzles, it is foxes who race. To participate in the contest, send an e-mail to glmathgrant@[at]gmail[dot]com. Your entry should include:
• Your answers to the three puzzles, as explained in their respective instructions. (Any format, including scans or photos of printed pages, screenshots, or plain text, will work, so long as I can read and judge it.)
• The name of the fox you'll be entering in the race (this is just for fun and has no effect on the outcome).
• The number of the gate your fox will start from (any integer between 1 and 50 inclusive) in each of the three races (the Kittucky Derby, the Sneakness Stakes, and the Tailmont Stakes). You can use the same gate any number of times.

The first race is the Kittucky Derby; to qualify, you must have submitted correct solutions to all three puzzles. The second race, the Sneakness Stakes, requires only two correct solutions, and the Tailmont Stakes requires only one. Winning an earlier race disqualifies you from a later race; otherwise, you can qualify for, and participate in, one, two, or all three races. The winner of each race is the fox that started from the lowest-numbered gate that nobody else selected! Unfortunately, when two or more foxes are crammed into the same gate, they have a tendency to fight each other and to not notice when the race has started. If no foxes qualify for a race, or if all qualifying foxes end up in fights, then there will be no winner.

The Triple Crown Fox Derby now also supports the three food banks featured previously in Kevin’s Puzzles at Home. For every valid puzzle solution received during the contest, I will add $1 to a money pool which will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. The money pool is capped at $150 ($50 per food bank), and will be matched by three anonymous benefactors.

These statistics on the previous Triple Crown Fox Derbies may give you an estimate of how many entrants the current Derby will have and help you plan your strategy. Enjoy the puzzles, and yappy racing!

Derby #1: 22 triple solves, 24 double solves, 24 single solves
Derby #2: 21 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #3: 22 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #4: 13 triple solves, 15 double solves, 15 single solves
Derby #5: 19 triple solves, 21 double solves, 21 single solves
Derby #6: 10 triple solves, 11 double solves, 13 single solves

TOUCHWORD

PUZ version

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

1 In the near future / The sharing in someone else’s feelings
2 Really ponder
3 Journey to the ____ of the Earth / Surname of Fred Flintstone’s boss
4 People in a club / Palm fruit
5 Venomous African snake / Obscure, as part of a document
6 ____ Mansion (1987 adventure game) / Vote into office
7 Little Orphan ____ / Famous folks, briefly
8 Beyond old / Experiment sites, for short
9 Bewitch / ____ and every
10 Toy invented in France under the name “L’Écran Magique”: 3 wds.
11 “Sticks and ____ may break my bones. . .” / Griffin of Suddenly Susan (1996-2000)

KIN-KON-KAN
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Place some diagonal mirrors in the grid, each connecting two opposite corners of a single cell. Every outlined region must contain exactly one mirror. Any horizontal or vertical beam of light entering the grid from a position indicated by a letter outside the grid must exit the grid at the matching letter; the number beside the letter indicates how many times the light beam bounces off of a mirror along the way. (All mirrors are reflective on both sides.) To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

SINGLELINGO
Fill in the 26 empty spaces with one copy of each letter of the alphabet to form valid words across and down. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #6 (RESULTS!)

The 6th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby from two weeks ago has concluded. Click here for a PDF of all the puzzle solutions. The contest results follow.

10 foxes qualified for the first race, the Kittucky Derby, by solving all three puzzles. Race results:

Gate 2: Ruin Seeker
Gate 4: Cowlitz, Faux-Chi, Kit Katsune
Gate 5: Bob, Neighsayer
Gate 8: Multiparticle Fox Pace, Vixen For A Fight
Gate 23: Kosh Naranek Jr.
Gate 47: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

Farrah Foxcett submitted an incorrect solution to the Shakashaka and thus did not qualify. Farrah Foxcett would have used gate 4, which would not have affected the outcome. Buster only solved the Shakashaka, and Ox only solved the Touchword. Gate 1 sat empty, waiting for some brave fox to enter at the last minute, but nobody took it. Gate 4 was the most crowded, with 3 foxes. Besides the winner Ruin Seeker, only 2 other foxes managed to finish.

11 foxes qualified for the second race, the Sneakness Stakes, by solving two puzzles. Race results:

Gate 2: Farrah Foxcett
Gate 3: Cowlitz, Ruin Seeker
Gate 4: Kit Katsune
Gate 5: Neighsayer
Gate 6: Bob, Faux-Chi
Gate 8: Vixen For A Fight
Gate 13: Multiparticle Fox Pace
Gate 32: Kosh Naranek Jr.
Gate 47: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

Due to Ruin Seeker's disqualification from this race as the winner of the previous one, only one gate, gate 6, managed to attract multiple foxes. Gate 1 was once again completely empty. Besides the winner Farrah Foxcett, only 7 other foxes managed to finish.

 

13 foxes qualified for the third race, the Tailmont Stakes, by solving one puzzle. Race results:

Gate 1: Vixen For A Fight
Gate 2: Cowlitz, Faux-Chi, Multiparticle Fox Pace
Gate 4: Kit Katsune
Gate 5: Neighsayer, Ox, Ruin Seeker
Gate 7: Farrah Foxcett
Gate 9: Bob
Gate 17: Buster
Gate 47: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson, Kosh Naranek Jr.
Vixen For A Fight seized the gate 1 opening and made it pay off! Meanwhile, Kosh Naranek Jr. decided that Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson needed some company in gate 47. You know what they say: it's a bold strategy, Cotton. Gate 2 was the most crowded, with 3 foxes. Besides the winner Vixen For A Fight, 3 other foxes finished.

The three winners, Hollie Schmidt, Ken Crowell, and Spheniscine Kynosoura, will soon be contacted about redeeming their prizes. Additionally, a $34 money pool will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank ($11.34 each), and this donation will be matched by three anonymous benefactors. Thanks to you all for participating! The 7th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby will be held on July 6, 2025.

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #6

 (Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles and the contest rules.)

 

Outside the Fox Puzzles is proud to sponsor the 6th Triple Crown Fox Derby! Up to three winners of this contest will receive their choice of one of these prizes, for themselves or for anyone else of their choice:
• A 1-year subscription to Outside the Fox Puzzles, which comes with 150 puzzles just like the ones in this contest!
• A $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, with which one can buy ebooks of beautiful logic puzzles written by talented authors from around the world!
• A 2-month Premium membership on Board Game Arena, with which one can play board games in real-time and turn-based modes against opponents from around the world!

My plan is to run these contests on the first Monday of every January, April, July, and October, at 12:01 AM Central Time. The entry deadline will be 13 days later (on a Sunday) at 11:59 PM Central Time; in this case, the deadline is Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM Central Time.

This contest combines a Touchword puzzle, a gridded logic puzzle, and a variety word puzzle with a fox race. Yes, in the real world, people bet on horse races and greyhound races, but in the fantastic world of Outside the Fox Puzzles, it is foxes who race. To participate in the contest, send an e-mail to glmathgrant@[at]gmail[dot]com. Your entry should include:
• Your answers to the three puzzles, as explained in their respective instructions. (Any format, including scans or photos of printed pages, screenshots, or plain text, will work, so long as I can read and judge it.)
• The name of the fox you'll be entering in the race (this is just for fun and has no effect on the outcome).
• The number of the gate your fox will start from (any integer between 1 and 50 inclusive) in each of the three races (the Kittucky Derby, the Sneakness Stakes, and the Tailmont Stakes). You can use the same gate any number of times.

The first race is the Kittucky Derby; to qualify, you must have submitted correct solutions to all three puzzles. The second race, the Sneakness Stakes, requires only two correct solutions, and the Tailmont Stakes requires only one. Winning an earlier race disqualifies you from a later race; otherwise, you can qualify for, and participate in, one, two, or all three races. The winner of each race is the fox that started from the lowest-numbered gate that nobody else selected! Unfortunately, when two or more foxes are crammed into the same gate, they have a tendency to fight each other and to not notice when the race has started. If no foxes qualify for a race, or if all qualifying foxes end up in fights, then there will be no winner.

The Triple Crown Fox Derby now also supports the three food banks featured previously in Kevin’s Puzzles at Home. For every valid puzzle solution received during the contest, I will add $1 to a money pool which will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. The money pool is capped at $150 ($50 per food bank), and will be matched by three anonymous benefactors.

These statistics on the previous Triple Crown Fox Derbies may give you an estimate of how many entrants the current Derby will have and help you plan your strategy. Enjoy the puzzles, and yappy racing!

Derby #1: 22 triple solves, 24 double solves, 24 single solves
Derby #2: 21 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #3: 22 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves
Derby #4: 13 triple solves, 15 double solves, 15 single solves
Derby #5: 19 triple solves, 21 double solves, 21 single solves  

TOUCHWORD

PUZ version

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

1 Myanmar’s official language / Item on a Christmas tree, perhaps
2 They play in Truist Park / Consumed
3 Gulliver’s ____ / “Forever and Ever, ____” (Randy Travis song)
4 Item on a Christmas tree, perhaps / Schuster’s publishing partner
5 Storage containers, as for recyclable material / ____ lizard
6 2013 card game in which players are big video game baddies trying to defeat heroes: 2 wds.
7 The front part of the chest / Sea creature consumed in “The Walrus and the Carpenter”
8 Just middling: hyph. / First name of the President whose last name is the author’s first name
9 Immoral / Stands the test of time
10 Stuff to wrap around leftovers, perhaps / Book of the New Testament after John
11 State of unrest / Mark left from a skin injury

SHAKASHAKA
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Shade some right triangles in the grid, each occupying exactly half of an empty cell. Each remaining white region must be shaped like a square or a rectangle. A number in a cell indicates how many shaded triangles occupy cells which share an edge with that cell. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

LOGICROSSWORD
Blacken some cells in the grid and fill the rest with letters to form words. Hereafter, a “word” refers to any string of two or more consecutive letters reading from left to right or top to bottom, bounded on both sides by black cells or the edge of the grid. All words are Scrabble-legal and appear in the NASPA Word List 2023 Edition (NWL2023); except for some 2-letter words (listed at the bottom of the page) and some obscure words which are mentioned explicitly in the clues, all of the words in the solution should be familiar. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 1 contains the word HUMBUGGED, which intersects BOHO and UTA.
• Row 2 contains a 2-letter word that contains the letter U.
• Row 5 contains the word EPHAH (which intersects PAGE) and a 2-letter word.
• Row 6 contains exactly one black cell.
• Row 9, column C, and column F each contain 6-letter words whose last letters are all the same.
• Column A contains the word ODAH.
• Column E contains the word YON (which intersects ODD), exactly one instance of the letter F, and exactly three black cells.
• Column G contains a 3-letter word that contains the letter E.
• Column H does not contain the letters N or R.
• Column I contains a 3-letter word that contains the letter C. Column I does not contain the letters I or L.
• The words ALONE, LO, OE, and REP appear somewhere in the grid.

 

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DA DE DO ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EW EX FA FE GI GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA KI LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OI OK OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO TA TE TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO ZA 

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #5 (RESULTS!)

The 5th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby from two weeks ago has concluded. Click here for a PDF of all the puzzle solutions. The contest results follow.

19 foxes qualified for the first race, the Kittucky Derby, by solving all three puzzles. Race results:

Gate 1: Farrah Foxcett, Fleet Fox
Gate 2: Endless Foxtabilities, Nesi, Paul, Ruin Seeker
Gate 3: Bob, Pifoot
Gate 4: Cowlitz, Guy, Isaac, Run Ron Run
Gate 7: Faux-Chi
Gate 11: Open Scoregami Ties
Gate 13: Pandora’s Fox
Gate 18: Fennik
Gate 22: Fonks the Fox
Gate 23: Vera Vixen
Gate 45: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

At the Beach and Fox U did not even attempt the Pentominous. No fox tried to use gate 5 or 6; if one had, they could have stolen the win from Faux-Chi. Gates 2 and 4 were the most crowded, with 4 foxes each. Besides the winner Faux-Chi, 6 other foxes managed to finish.

21 foxes qualified for the second race, the Sneakness Stakes, by solving two puzzles. Race results:

Gate 1: Fleet Fox, Pifoot
Gate 2: Endless Foxtabilities, Paul, Ruin Seeker
Gate 3: Cowlitz, Farrah Foxcett, Nesi
Gate 4: Isaac
Gate 5: Faux-Chi
Gate 6: At the Beach
Gate 7: Guy
Gate 8: Bob
Gate 13: Run Ron Run
Gate 15: Open Scoregami Ties
Gate 17: Fonks the Fox
Gate 18: Fennik
Gate 23: Pandora’s Fox
Gate 29: Fox U
Gate 31: Vera Vixen
Gate 45: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson

Gates 2 and 3 were the most crowded, with 3 foxes each. Besides the winner Isaac, 11 other foxes finished.

 

21 foxes qualified for the third race, the Tailmont Stakes, by solving one puzzle. Race results:

Gate 1: Faux-Chi, Fleet Fox
Gate 2: Bob, Cowlitz, Endless Foxtabilities, Nesi, Paul, Ruin Seeker
Gate 3: Fonks the Fox
Gate 4: Isaac, Pifoot
Gate 6: At the Beach
Gate 7: Farrah Foxcett
Gate 8: Open Scoregami Ties
Gate 9: Guy
Gate 10: Run Ron Run
Gate 17: Pandora’s Fox
Gate 18: Fennik
Gate 29: Fox U
Gate 32: Vera Vixen
Gate 45: Ferris Homer Swiper Carlson
Thanks to Faux-Chi hanging out in the winner's circle, Fleet Fox's bold gate 1 strategy managed to pay off. In fact, only gate 2 had more than one fox in it, but with 6 foxes fighting over it, it was a real bloodbath. Besides the winner Fleet Fox, 12 other foxes finished.

The three winners, Grayson Holmes, KeoFam, and Yossi Fendel, will soon be contacted about redeeming their prizes. Additionally, a $61 money pool will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank ($20.34 each), and this donation will be matched by three anonymous benefactors. Thanks to you all for participating! The 6th quarterly Triple Crown Fox Derby will be held on April 6, 2025.

Outside the Fox Puzzles: Triple Crown Fox Derby #5

 (Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles and the contest rules.)

 

Outside the Fox Puzzles is proud to sponsor the 5th Triple Crown Fox Derby! Up to three winners of this contest will receive their choice of one of these prizes, for themselves or for anyone else of their choice:
• A 1-year subscription to Outside the Fox Puzzles, which comes with 150 puzzles just like the ones in this contest!
• A $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, with which one can buy ebooks of beautiful logic puzzles written by talented authors from around the world!
• A 2-month Premium membership on Board Game Arena, with which one can play board games in real-time and turn-based modes against opponents from around the world!

My plan is to run these contests on the first Monday of every January, April, July, and October, at 12:01 AM Central Time. The entry deadline will be 13 days later (on a Sunday) at 11:59 PM Central Time; in this case, the deadline is Sunday, January 18, 2026, at 11:59 PM Central Time.

This contest combines a Touchword puzzle, a gridded logic puzzle, and a variety word puzzle with a fox race. Yes, in the real world, people bet on horse races and greyhound races, but in the fantastic world of Outside the Fox Puzzles, it is foxes who race. To participate in the contest, send an e-mail to glmathgrant@[at]gmail[dot]com. Your entry should include:
• Your answers to the three puzzles, as explained in their respective instructions. (Any format, including scans or photos of printed pages, screenshots, or plain text, will work, so long as I can read and judge it.)
• The name of the fox you'll be entering in the race (this is just for fun and has no effect on the outcome).
• The number of the gate your fox will start from (any integer between 1 and 50 inclusive) in each of the three races (the Kittucky Derby, the Sneakness Stakes, and the Tailmont Stakes). You can use the same gate any number of times.

The first race is the Kittucky Derby; to qualify, you must have submitted correct solutions to all three puzzles. The second race, the Sneakness Stakes, requires only two correct solutions, and the Tailmont Stakes requires only one. Winning an earlier race disqualifies you from a later race; otherwise, you can qualify for, and participate in, one, two, or all three races. The winner of each race is the fox that started from the lowest-numbered gate that nobody else selected! Unfortunately, when two or more foxes are crammed into the same gate, they have a tendency to fight each other and to not notice when the race has started. If no foxes qualify for a race, or if all qualifying foxes end up in fights, then there will be no winner.

The Triple Crown Fox Derby now also supports the three food banks featured previously in Kevin’s Puzzles at Home. For every valid puzzle solution received during the contest, I will add $1 to a money pool which will be split between the Food Bank of West Central Texas, the Food Bank for Larimer County, and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. The money pool is capped at $150 ($50 per food bank), and will be matched by three anonymous benefactors.

These statistics on the previous Triple Crown Fox Derbies may give you an estimate of how many entrants the current Derby will have and help you plan your strategy. Enjoy the puzzles, and yappy racing!

Derby #1: 22 triple solves, 24 double solves, 24 single solves
Derby #2: 21 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves 

Derby #3: 22 triple solves, 23 double solves, 23 single solves 

Derby #4: 13 triple solves, 15 double solves, 15 single solves  

TOUCHWORD

PUZ version

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

1 Spirited strut / Spicy dip for tortilla chips
2 Electric light fixtures that resemble candlesticks / A greenish shade of blue
3 Slide while seated / Rotation force
4 Italian dish often colored with saffron / Anger
5 Racy / Vibrato
6 Sport played in a four-walled court
7 Glossy varnish / Catherine who played Daisy Duke
8 Send off, as a rocket / Insect of order Blattodea, commonly
9 Like food that makes loud grinding sounds when chewed / Sign of things to come
10 Pleasure trip on a boat / Oman’s southwestern neighbor
11 Commendations / Pataky of Netflix’s Tidelands

PENTOMINOUS
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Divide the grid along the grid lines into regions, each containing exactly five cells. A letter in a cell indicates the shape of its region; the legend below indicates which letter corresponds to which shape, but shapes may appear rotated or reflected from their orientations in the legend. A region may contain no letters, one letter, or multiple letters. No two regions with the same shape (counting rotations and reflections as the same) may share an edge. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid.

PATCHWORK
Each row in this puzzle has two answers, to be entered in the grid in order from left to right. Answers will also be entered in irregularly-shaped patchwork pieces, always left to right, row by row within each piece, as in the examples at right. You must determine how the grid is divided and which answer goes with which piece; every square of the grid is part of exactly one piece. To qualify for the Triple Crown Fox Derby, submit the completed grid, including piece boundaries.

ROWS
1 Portugal’s neighbor / ____ wave
2 “Bohemian Rhapsody” band / What a window is made out of
3 Shaved piece of citrus peel / Saint Paul’s birthplace
4 Fashionable / Bit of corn
5 Towards shelter / Certain kitchen appliances
6 It’s in an envelope / Involuntary spasms
7 Macdonald who once hosted Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update / Ninety-nine divided by nine
8 Move smoothly / 4:3, for example
9 ____ Claire, Wisconsin / Strictly self-disciplined
10 Become less harsh / Leaf-gathering implement
PIECES
• Item in an art gallery
• NHL team with mascot Victor E. Green: 2 wds.
• Intelligent
• Throw down the gauntlet
• Nissan compact car brand
• Face the ____ (CBS public affairs program)
• Extracts toothpaste from a tube
• Enjoy a share
• Futile
• Extra hours of work
• Hardy’s partner
• Board game in which players form train routes by playing sets of matching train cards: 3 wds.
• Single-named country music singer-songwriter who collaborated with Morgan Wallen