Wordy Wednesday 140: Pent Words 28

WORDY WEDNESDAY #138

HEX PATHFINDER 7 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey **
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
James Sinnett *
M. Sean Molley *
Adam Weaver *
Bryce Herdt **
Chris Hendricks **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #139

FILL-IN CROSSWORD 4 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your 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 #140

PENT WORDS 28

(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 Ray of stand-up / 4 years, for Obama
2 Shorten, as a dictionary / Kerfuffle
3 Loose rope / The Atlantic, for one
4 ____ depravity / Peter of Casablanca
5 Antagonistic / "I ____ with my little eye. . ."
6 Singer with the albums 19, 21, and 25 / Sicko director Michael
7 It might be transmitted via a snake bite / Pleasant sight to a desert traveler
8 Jamaican music genre / Claw-like appendages
9 Item for a football player, but not a soccer player / Barbara of I Dream of Jeannie
10 Disinclined, as to risk / Replete (with)

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Feature of some fonts
* Striped giraffe relative
* Played a role
* ____ icebox pie
* Gantry of a Sinclair Lewis novel
* "Duly ____"
* Word following "crown" or "pot"
* Instrument played while sitting
* Safe place
* "____ the rainbow" (Skittles slogan)
* Madagascar day ____
* Upsets
* Big Bird's teddy bear
* Song from The Sound of Music
* Use a razor
* Papas of Zorba the Greek
* Bullwinkle, for one
* ____ Your Luck (game show on which Michael Larson gained infamy)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Another installment of Foxgeryptics!
* Patron Puzzle #20, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is Faley Fun Pack. This trio of small puzzles inspired by Ryan Faley (Word Sandwiches, Sudokurossword, and Chain Reaction: Missing Links) will give you many minutes of fun!

Until next time, yappy solving!

Logicsmith Exhibition 6: Shipping Pearls (UPDATE!)

Five days ago, I posted the results of my Shipping Pearls contest. Since then, I have found another entry in my Gmail spam folder, shown below, which arrived in time to be included but which wasn't, for obvious reasons. It has been posted now. Fortunately, the outcome of the contest was not affected.

Wordy Wednesday 138 easy version update

As originally published, the easy version of WW138 had a mistake in clue 13E, which has now been fixed. My apologies.

Wordy Wednesday 139: Fill-In Crossword 4

WORDY WEDNESDAY #137

MISSING LINKS (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Eitan Cher **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #138

HEX PATHFINDER 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved last week's 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 #139

FILL-IN CROSSWORD 4

(click here for a PDF version)

The answers in the crossword below are clued alphabetically by length; you must figure out where they belong. The unclued shaded entries will spell a clue to the final answer.

3 LETTERS
Mathematician Lovelace
Pale ____
Da ____ G Show (2000-2004 Sacha Baron Cohen series)
An energy drink brand
Common bank fixture: abbr.
Champing at the ____
Animal which the Pokémon Persian resembles
A member of a Disney septet
Electric ____
Living planet in Marvel comics
What clocks in Panama are set to: abbr.
Receive
George Gershwin’s brother
Stick in the ____
The loneliest number, as per Three Dog Night
Tear
Used a sofa, perhaps
Stereotypically British drink
“. . . ___ will be done. . .”
Card

4 LETTERS
Not light
____ and every
Key ____ (film crew member)
Azerbaijan neighbor
Frigg’s husband in Norse mythology
Give a movie five stars, for example
”Note to ____. . .”
Civil wrong which doesn’t involve a contract

5 LETTERS
Bowling place
Hawaiian word for "love"

6 LETTERS
Cure-all
____ warming
“Empress of Soul” Gladys
Loll
____ Space (1999 comedy)
Commands

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What singer has the albums 19, 21, and 25?

Until next time, yappy solving!

Logicsmith Exhibition 6: Shipping Pearls (RESULTS!)

Four weeks ago, I challenged my readers to an optimization task involving writing a Masyu whose unused cells form a Battleships solution. 12 people have entered this contest; their entries are collated here.

Two entries tied for the lowest score of 807; the winner, as decided by random.org, is Robert Vollmert! He will receive a copy of my upcoming Grandmaster Puzzles e-book when it is released. In the meanwhile, I will also give him a copy of both issues of Fox & Badger Magazine so far, previously only available to Patreon supporters!

[Edited on 2016-12-23 to add an entry from Philipp Weiß, which was received before the deadline, but ended up in my spam folder and went unnoticed. Since Philipp did not get a winning score, the outcome of the competition was not affected.]

Wordy Wednesday 138: Hex Pathfinder 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #135

PENT WORDS 27 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey **
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #136

SECTION SIX 13 (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
M. Sean Molley *
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #137

MISSING LINKS (hint)

As of this writing, a number of people have solved last week's 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 #138

HEX PATHFINDER 7

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Jack Bross.
In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered hexagon and winds through the grid, starting in the indicated direction. When you have finished, every letter will be used in exactly two entries. Rearrange the letters in the shaded spaces to get the final answer, a 7-letter word.

1E Zealous (6)
2NW Male red deer (4)
3W Capital of Sudan (8)
4SW Post-apocalyptic 2007 Will Smith film (9, 3 wds.)
5W Phrase in many Jeff Foxworthy jokes (18, 5 wds.)
6NW Poet Ogden (4)
7E She married Kanye West in 2014 (13, 2 wds.)
8NW Wabbit Twouble character (9, 2 wds.)
9NE ____ road (popular ice cream flavor) (5)
10SW Like a man with an unshaven chest (7)
11NE Green viscous substance seen in many Nickelodeon shows (5)
12NW Departed (4)
12NW Dog of the Cardigan or Pembroke variety (10, 2 wds.)
13E Therefore (4)
14E Common ADHD medication (7)
15SW Like a difficult battle, perhaps (6)
16W Complain (4)
17NW Exit (6)
18SE Dandy (4)
19SE Morris of tobacco fame (6)
20W Made like a football team, perhaps (7)
20SE Austrian composer Franz Joseph ____ (5)
21NE Former namesake of Volgograd (6)
22W ____ chest (4)
23NE Walrus feature (4)
24SE Trinket (5)
25NE Certain hotel employee (7)
26NW Heap (4)
27NE Postpone (5)
28NE Cereal-stealing Barney (6)
29SW Little curly-haired dog (11, 2 wds.)
30NW Sense via touch (4)
31SE 2016 movie with the tagline, “Witness the manhunt that changed the course of human history” (5)
32SW Witty comeback (9)
33E Old Testament battle site (7)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What animal does the Pokémon Persian resemble?

Until next time, yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 137: Missing Links

WORDY WEDNESDAY #134

THE INNOCUOUS TWINS (answer)

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Anthony Bailey *
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Jack Bross **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Chris Hendricks **
Ryan Faley **
Walker Anderson **
Yossi Fendel **
yyw **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #135

PENT WORDS 27 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle from last week. 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 #136

SECTION SIX 13 (hint)

As of this writing, 8 people have solved this puzzle from last week. 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 #137

MISSING LINKS

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Giovanni Pagano.
Write words in the blanks, one letter per square, so that every pair of consecutive words, reading from left to right, forms a compound word or a phrase. The highlighted squares will spell two more words; the final answer is the two-word phrase that goes between those words.

Uncomfortable and embarrassing __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                               15 59 53 58 42 29 33
Political commentator Glenn __ __ __ __
                            56 46 41 24
Hotel employee who carries luggage __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   36 48 52 04 11 19 30
Inhale and exhale __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                  01 60 09 51 38 18 32
The Wii Remote, for one __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                        20 57 13 06 16 02 31 43 37 49
A Harley, for example __ __ __ __ __
                      14 40 10 08 22
“. . . or so ____ me God. . .” __ __ __ __
                               64 25 55 27
Like a freshly sharpened pencil __ __ __ __ __ __
                                45 34 12 62 39 23
Short message sent on a cell phone __ __ __ __
                                   07 61 03 47
Unpleasant to look at __ __ __ __
                      28 35 44 26
Musical subtitled The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                        50 05 63 21 54 17

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What 2016 movie has the tagline, “Witness the manhunt that changed the course of human history”?

Until next time, yappy solving!