Wordy Wednesday 702: Mini Touchword 13

WORDY WEDNESDAY #700
PENT WORDS 140 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Jason Boomer **
Joseph DeVincentis **
Kevin Orfield **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Randy Rogers **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #701
CODEWORDS 35 (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 #702
MINI TOUCHWORD 13
(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and 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 more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 6-letter word. 

1 ____ and butter / With The, novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
2 Long steps / Dull person
3 X on a bowling scorecard / Took an oath
4 Frightened / “What’s the good ____?”
5 Cylindrical thread holder / ____ Scissorhands
6 Large grey-and-white spotted cat of central Asia: 2 wds.
7 Back from square one / Fuel sold by Hank Hill
8 Voraciously consumed: 2 wds. / Canyon relative
9 “I’m a little teapot, short and ____. . .” / Source of rescue
10 Short-tailed weasels / Latticework for climbing vines
11 Act of inhaling or exhaling / Eye socket

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 4-letter word for "Remini of The King of Queens"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 701: Codewords 35

WORDY WEDNESDAY #700
PENT WORDS 140 (hint)

As of this writing, 13 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 #701
CODEWORDS 35
(click here for a PDF version)

In the crossword puzzle above, 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, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word. Note that all of the crossword entries are also Scrabble-legal.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What fuel is sold by Hank Hill?
* Patron Puzzle #145, which will be delivered on June 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Super Pent Words.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 700: Pent Words 140

WORDY WEDNESDAY #700
PENT WORDS 140
(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the Across clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the Pentominoes clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.

ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 “Harder, Better, ____, Stronger” (Daft Punk song) / Approach
2 With The, historical drama series created by Dallas Jenkins / Harp relative
3 Scuffle / Namesake of a number representing a speed’s ratio to the speed of sound
4 Brown pigment from a cuttlefish / Composer of “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
5 Kindergarten ____ (1990 film) / Mountain known in Tibet as Chomolungma
6 Long solid piece, as of candy / “A house ____ against itself. . .”
7 Judges’ garments / One-twentieth of a ream
8 Underlying ideological program / Stead
9 Larson of Captain Marvel (2019) / Posture
10 “Do ____ others. . .” / Counter the effect of
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• The ____ of Life (1979-1988 sitcom)
• Oral-B alternative
• Daniel of Home Alone
• Hooded snake
• ____ of humor
• What some marbles are made from
• Score of 40-40
• Producing strong mental images
• Greater part of a burden
• Ahead of time
• Building material whose name is Spanish for “mudbrick”
• Fall bloomer
• Laurie of The Hustler (1961)
• What calamari is made from
• Foreign
• “____ in a Bottle” (Christina Aguilera song)
• Leave no ____ unturned
• Word before “pointer” or “printer”

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Codewords!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 699 answer

WORDY WEDNESDAY #699
MINI TOUCHWORD 12 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

Wordy Wednesday #700 will go up next week, marking the end of my brief hiatus from posting. It has not, however, been a hiatus from writing, as I have upped my testing standards somewhat and refined my creation pipeline in ways which I hope will make y'all's experiences just a wee bit better going forward!

Wordy Wednesday 698 answer & Wordy Wednesday 699 hint

WORDY WEDNESDAY #698 
MINI TOUCHWORD 11 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #699
MINI TOUCHWORD 12 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 is going on a brief hiatus while I play catch-up and make a backlog (whilst hopefully upping my quality assurance standards). Wordy Wednesday 700 will be posted on May 27, 2026. Looking forward to it, and my sincerest apologies!

Wordy Wednesday is going on a short hiatus.

I have failed in maintaining my Wordy Wednesday backlog, and I have no puzzle for next week. Furthermore, I wish to give my future Wordy Wednesday offerings time to receive more testing and quality control, so from now on, the same testing team who assists with Outside the Fox Puzzles will also test future Wordy Wednesdays and Patron Puzzles. (There is overlap between this testing team and my current Patreon supporters, so I may drive them to stop giving me money needlessly, but it's a price I am willing to pay to ensure quality for the rest of you.) My intention is to return from the hiatus with WW700 on or before May 27. I apologize for the dip in quantity.

Wordy Wednesday 699: Mini Touchword 12

WORDY WEDNESDAY #697
ANACROSSWORD 50 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #698
MINI TOUCHWORD 11 (hint)

As of this writing, 12 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 #699
MINI TOUCHWORD 12
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Russ Kale. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!
In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and 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 more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 6-letter word. 

1 Mole-like nocturnal mammal / Good device to have on a cold day
2 Function in the imaginary part of a complex number’s polar form / Wil who portrayed Wesley Crusher
3 Ill-fated Ford subcompact / Rhyme’s partner
4 Scheme / “Oh, Pretty Woman” singer Roy
5 “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf ____” / “The Poisonwood ____” (1998 Barbara Kingsolver novel)
6 Vehicle that can be driven with or without a roof
7 Ice cream container, perhaps / The twin sister of Apollo
8 Lacking branching paths / Matches that determine the finalists, briefly
9 “Jakob the ____” (1999 Robin Williams film) / States positively
10 Fragment of glass / Begins
11 Cuts into narrow strips / Spud

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Um, I guess I need to write this puzzle. Oops!
* Patron Puzzle #144, which will be delivered on May 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Letravex.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 698: Mini Touchword 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #696
TOUCHWORD 35 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #697
ANACROSSWORD 50 (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 #698
MINI TOUCHWORD 11
(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and 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 more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 6-letter word. 

1 Move like a duck / Titular killer whale in a 1993 film
2 Children’s game played by snapping small discs
3 Appropriate to the occasion / Mocks on social media, with “on”
4 Thick volume / Take unrestrained pleasure
5 Eminent ____ / Protrusion or swelling
6 Hoop ____ (1994 basketball film) / Organ eaten by a zombie
7 ____ of the crop / Ligament injury
8 Movie theater / Viral disease against which young children are often vaccinated
9 Longed (for) / The twin brother of Artemis
10 Salsa made from chopped tomato, onion, and peppers: 3 wds.
11 Texas city on the Brazos / ____ Blonde (2001 Reese Witherspoon film)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What function is in the imaginary part of a complex number’s polar form?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 697: Anacrossword 50

WORDY WEDNESDAY #695
PENT WORDS 139 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #696
TOUCHWORD 35 (hint)

As of this writing, 12 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 #697
ANACROSSWORD 50
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Russ Kale. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!
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 clue to the final answer. Work back and forth between the blanks 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 final clue.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108
CLUES
• Deal or No Deal prop
• Leader of a tribe or clan
• Satisfactory
• Messenger
• Component for transmitting mechanical power
• What a conservationist wishes to conserve
• Advance through rapidly, as a video: 2 wds.
• The Alan Parsons Project album named after a Catalan architect
• Instance of theft
• Common celebratory gesture: 2 wds.
• Small replica
• “God works in ____ ways”
• Proud, pompous gait
• Loud and roaring, as applause
• Coffee-flavored Italian dessert

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 11-letter, 3-word answer for "Salsa made from chopped tomato, onion, and peppers"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

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.

Wordy Wednesday 696: Touchword 35

WORDY WEDNESDAY #694
ANACROSSWORD 49 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #695
PENT WORDS 139 (hint)

As of this writing, 12 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 #696
TOUCHWORD 35
(click here for a PDF 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. (If you want more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word. 

1 Attract with bait: 2 wds. / Projection in a church / Exercise in which you step forward while bending your front knee
2 Exact copy / Outer part of a banana / Craving
3 Place for bus passengers / Where to get an espresso / Unfocused, as vision
4 Enthusiast / Groundhog Day’s month
5 A large group / Della of "Touched by an Angel" / Mammogram target
6 2010 Justin Bieber hit / Washes with water / Theft
7 1986 film starring David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King / What a stereotypical Australian might put on the barbie
8 Film based on Ward Greene’s short story “Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog”: 4 wds.
9 Animal that Mei Lee turns into in a Pixar film: 2 wds. / Take back, as a newspaper article
10 Answer / Remnant of history
11 Irritate / Washington bills / More rigid
12 Insipid / Young calfless cow
13 Eggy, nutty cake / Repeated series of programming instructions / Zenith
14 Starboard’s opposite / Dog who imagines himself as a flying ace / Correct
15 Writer of limericks / Hasty and rash, as a judgment / Vaccination implement

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Which album by The Alan Parsons Project is named after a Catalan architect?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 695: Pent Words 139

WORDY WEDNESDAY #693
FRAMELINKS 29 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #694
ANACROSSWORD 49 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #695
PENT WORDS 139
(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the Across clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the Pentominoes clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.

ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 A bird’s roost / Earthy shade of brown
2 Wagon without sides / Trickster spider in African folklore
3 Prolonged state of unconsciousness / Season that begins in March in the Northern Hemisphere
4 “Cowardly” character in The Wizard of Oz / “Every ____ You Take” (hit song for The Police)
5 “Alas and ____” / Distinctive quality
6 A dog’s owner / ____-centered
7 Lowest male choir voice / State once represented by Tulsi Gabbard
8 Actor Ruffalo / Not rude
9 Story of a person’s life, briefly / Mustard’s rank in the board game Clue
10 Set, as cement / Monitor ____ (reptile)
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• ____ Jackson and the Olympians
• Solitary person
• “All the news that’s fit to ____”
• Happen
• Titular roe deer in a Felix Salten novel
• Shrub with purplish flowers
• Doolittle who’s the heroine of My Fair Lady
• Hiatus
• Malfoy of the Harry Potter books
• Jurassic ____ (actual, real 2012 horror film about a prehistoric ocean predator)
• Look forward to
• Coffee grinder input
• Not loquacious
• Another name for infantile paralysis
• Collect
• Stone worker
• Hiking path
• Certain primate

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What animal does Mei Lee turn into in a Pixar film?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

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 

Wordy Wednesday 694: Anacrossword 49

WORDY WEDNESDAY #692
CODEWORDS 34 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #693
FRAMELINKS 29 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #694
ANACROSSWORD 49
(click here for a PDF version)

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 clue to the final answer. Work back and forth between the blanks 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 final clue.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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
CLUES
• Paramedic’s vehicle
• Basin for robins
• Line of things linked together in series: 2 wds.
• Lane mentioned in “The Muffin Man”
• “Retrieve the ball, Rover!”
• Nectar-rich flower
• Drink made from ice cream
• Narrate from memory
• There’s ____ About Mary (1998 Cameron Diaz film)
• 1982 Meryl Streep film based on a William Styron novel: 2 wds.
• “Truth is ____ than fiction”
• Hardened plaque
• It protects a professor from dismissal

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Jurassic ____ (actual, real 2012 horror film about a prehistoric ocean predator)"?
* Patron Puzzle #143, which will be delivered on April 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Logicrossword.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 693: Framelinks 29

WORDY WEDNESDAY #691
KEVIN'S PUZZLES AT HOME ARE TWICE AS NICE (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:
Derek Allen **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Jason Boomer **
Jason Taniguchi **
Jeffrey Smith **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #692
CODEWORDS 34 (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 #693
FRAMELINKS 29
(click here for a PDF version)

Fill in the empty squares in the diagram with the given letters to form words.
Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word.

A A A A A A   B B   C C   D D D D   E E E E E E E E E   F F   G G G G G   H H H   I I I   L L   M
N N N N   O O O O O O   P P   R R R R R R R   S S   T T T T T T   U   W 

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What lane is mentioned in “The Muffin Man”?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 692: Codewords 34

WORDY WEDNESDAY #690
PENT WORDS 138 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #691
KEVIN'S PUZZLES AT HOME ARE TWICE AS NICE (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 #692
CODEWORDS 34
(click here for a PDF version)

In the crossword puzzle above, 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.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 691: Kevin's Puzzles at Home are Twice as Nice

WORDY WEDNESDAY #689
ANACROSSWORD 48 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #690
PENT WORDS 138 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #691
KEVIN'S PUZZLES AT HOME ARE TWICE AS NICE
(click here for a PDF version)

Everyone’s favorite anthropomorphic wolf Kevin Edmund Kepler has returned with five puzzles that you’ll enjoy so much that you won’t mind solving each of them twice in a row! Just don’t forget to look for the meta answer while you’re at it.

Puzzle #1
“What’s the good word?” That’s what Kevin wants to know. The vertical words seem ambiguous, but perhaps the horizontal ones will prove more unique.

Puzzle #1A

Puzzle #1B

Puzzle #2
Kevin may be a wolf, but he’s friends with mammals of a diverse bevy of species.

Puzzle #2A

• In comic books, this cave dweller inspired Bruce Wayne’s superhero alter ego.
• This dam builder is the second-largest extant rodent species, only behind the capybara.
• Geoffrey, the mascot of Toys “R” Us, is this long-necked creature.
• This spiny mammal is used in Wonderland in place of a ball when the Queen of Hearts plays croquet.
• This great ape’s name comes from the Malay for “man of the forest”.
• Algae grow in the fur of this mammal noted for its low metabolism.

Puzzle #2B

• The nine-banded variety of this hard-shelled creature is the official state small mammal of Texas.
• Political cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with first depicting the Republican Party as this animal.
• A stereotypical magician might produce this cute lagomorph from a top hat.
• This animal is endangered in part because its spiky horn is often used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• This black-and-white critter is notorious for the foul stench it sprays as a defense mechanism.
• The title character of Rocko’s Modern Life is this Australian cousin of the kangaroo.

Puzzle #3
Whoops, Kevin is blanking out on the names of these Hollywood actors and actresses! But you know what to do by now, right?

Puzzle #3A

It’s no mystery that she delighted audiences as the lead in Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996)
__ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
               02             13       19
British actor who rose to international fame in 2001 as Harry Potter
__ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
            11                01          07
He played Rick Blaine (of “here's looking at you, kid” fame) in Casablanca (1942)
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __
10    14    17                         03
Sex symbol who was the subject of Andy Warhol paintings and Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind”
__ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __
      04                         12 15
Born with the surname Coppola, he’s since made a name for himself in films like National Treasure (2004)
__ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __
   05             09             18
He played father-turned-Santa-Claus Scott Calvin in the holiday classic The Santa Clause (1994)
__ __ __    __ __ __ __ __
16 08                06

Puzzle #3B

Talk show hostess who provided the voice of Dory in Finding Nemo (2003)
__ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
08       19                            02
He deftly wielded a whip as archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __
            10       15             09
Hawaii-born actor noted for his portrayal of Aquaman
__ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __
   05 03                18
Matriarch on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) who got her own self-titled sitcom in the 1970’s
__ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __
      06          17                      07
Female hip-hop superstar who played Robyn McCall in The Equalizer (2021-2025)
__ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __
12          11             14       01
Aspiring Catholic priest who played Maverick in Top Gun (1986) instead
__ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __
04          16    13

Puzzle #4
These sums are making Kevin cross again! Are you skilled enough at math to help him?

Puzzle #4A

Puzzle #4B

Puzzle #5
On a hot Texas summer day, Kevin swears that there must be many suns beating down on him and not just one! He wishes he had something that could cool him off.

Puzzle #5A

Puzzle #5B

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Codewords!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 690: Pent Words 138

WORDY WEDNESDAY #688
MINI TOUCHWORD 10 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #689
ANACROSSWORD 48 (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!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #690
PENT WORDS 138
(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the Across clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the Pentominoes clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.

ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 Prior to / Very wide
2 Charge with a crime / ____ Patch Kids (candy brand)
3 Blood-pumping organ / Cowboy’s rope
4 ____ of paris / Jet ____ (traveler’s woe)
5 Male red deer / Romantic liaison
6 ____ Days Grace (Canadian rock band) / Tonioli of Dancing with the Stars
7 Get bigger / Item on a saucer
8 Bassist Claypool / Space for holding goods
9 Vacant opening / At a moderately slow tempo
10 Difficult physical work / Not loose, as a clothing fit
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• “Secret ____ Man” (hit song for Johnny Rivers)
• Musical instrument namesake John Philip ____
• The Jetsons’ dog
• “____ Days a Week” (hit song for the Beatles)
• Beyond disgusting
• Lost intentionally
• “Red” or “giant” mammal
• Carouse
• Sandy seashore
• Terminate, as a mission
• Thespian
• Cruel, savage person
• Big blunder
• Stricken down
• Olive Garden offering
• Spud
• Viscounts’ superiors
• Permissible

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A set of puzzles that are twice as nice!
* Patron Puzzle #142, which will be delivered on March 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Large Sudokurostic.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!