Wordy Wednesday 292: Vanna's On Strike! & Wordy Wednesday 293: Snake Crisscross 9

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Michael Avanessian *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tina Martin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #291

TOUCHWORD 14 (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!

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #292

VANNA'S ON STRIKE!

(click here for a PDF version)

It’s the bonus round, and it seems that our beloved hostess refuses to turn the letters (er, turn them on) unless she gets a bonus, too.

WORDY WEDNESDAY #293

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 9

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's crisscross grid contains entries which read across and down as normal; these words are defined in alphabetical order by length under the heading “Crisscross Words.” The grid also contains a number of “snakes”: areas which follow a single clear path. Each of these snakes contains an entry which snakes from one end of the path to the other. These entries are defined under the heading “Snake Words”, and are also clued in alphabetical order by length. You must determine how the grid is divided into snakes; no two snakes overlap.

Arrange the letters in the highlighted cells to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

CRISSCROSS WORDS
3 LETTERS
Con ____ (1997 film)
Ketchum of the Pokémon anime
Consumed
Lamprey, for one
Poetic preposition
____ Shorty (TV series)
____ bygones be bygones
Spoil
Candy associated with collectible dispensers
Remy, for one
Decay
Item that shows a piece of merchandise’s price
Chess master Mikhail
Short-sleeved shirt, for short
2000 pounds
Monthly electronic music and hip hop magazine
Mad About ____ (1992-1999 TV series)
A school of Buddhism
4 LETTERS
“____ Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jepsen song)
Coca-____
Website on which a new species of urchin was discovered in an auction
Adventure Time protagonist
Bug in a circus
____ liquor
Long pole on a ship
Like a busybody
One October birthstone
Matured
____-deaf
5 LETTERS
Lost: 2 wds.
It doesn’t pay
Two strokes below par
____ Kitty (Sanrio character)
Non-clergy
Regretting
“Trick or ____!”
6 LETTERS
"The only thing we have to fear is fear ____" (FDR)
Holt of Dateline NBC
____ post
7 LETTERS
Its capital is St. George's
Shirley’s partner
Mammal with a suicidal reputation
8 LETTERS
Teacher
Show whence the catchphrase, “Good news, everyone!”
9 LETTERS
Sponsorship
10 LETTERS
Rickety old car

SNAKE WORDS
5 LETTERS
Come ____ at the seams
Former British Parliament member Nancy Witcher ____
Marshy American wetland
Boston hockey player
Former European coin
Like Keebler’s mascot Ernie
Pianist John
Japanese mattress
Croc’s relative
Like some anesthetics
It was awarded the George Cross by King George VI
ESPN analyst Taylor
Super Smash Bros. ____ (GameCube fighting game)
Becomes dim
Lariat
Exxon rival
Mike of boxing fame
Certain hotel employee
6 LETTERS
A European peninsula
Author Hemingway
Christian ____ (2014 romantic comedy)
Medieval catapult
One who downloads movies illegally, for example
7 LETTERS
Walmart employee
Holy month of Islam
Certain circus prop
9 LETTERS
Pertaining to the heavens

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 8-letter word for "Russian ____ (2002-2003 game show)"?
* Patron Puzzle #61, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a Pathfinder.

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

Wordy Wednesday 291: Touchword 14

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 6 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
M. Sean Molley **
Tyler Hinman **
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt **
Ryan Faley **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58 (hint)

As of this writing, 5 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #291

TOUCHWORD 14

(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, 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. (You can think of it as a diagramless, cylindrical Share-A-Letter puzzle.)

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1  ____: Warriors of Rock: 2 wds. / Opponent
2  Carry a fetus / Early
3  Exam / ____ Up (2006 movie) / ____ cheese
4  Campsite sights / Non-permanent employee / ASAP
5  Flat representation of the elevation of an area: 2 wds. / Certain musical form
6  Real estate with separately-owned units, briefly / Suave / Board game related to pachisi
7  Nation that borders Cameroon and Libya / Certain piece of headwear / Escape
8  Click repeatedly, as someone’s teeth in cold weather / 1995 film about a pig / Impolite
9  A type of sculpture / Former car manufacturer that was headquartered in Trollhättan / ____ compactor
10 Austrian composer Johann / Doing some activity: 2 wds. / Clean
11 Swamp / Stay home for dinner, perhaps: 2 wds. / “____ My Hair” (Willow Smith song)
12 It might surround a castle / Up to ____ / Familial association
13 ____ or Die! (1988 video game) / Miner’s tool / One who won’t join a labor union
14 Saturday Night Live offering / A Great Lake / Automobile that carries passengers for a fare
15 The ____ Life of Zack & Cody / Like some questions

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* My dumbest puzzle in a while. I'm sorry.
* What's an 8-letter word for "Show whence the catchphrase, 'Good news, everyone!'"?

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

Contest: Fill-In Crossword (RESULTS!)

About two weeks ago, I posted my Fill-In Crossword contest to celebrate the 11th anniversary of my blog. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 290: Pent Words 58

WORDY WEDNESDAY #288

TOUCHWORD 13 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 6 (hint)

As of this writing, 5 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #290

PENT WORDS 58

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron M. Sean Molley. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!

In this puzzle, 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 Pokémon or a monster in Hebrew folklore / "____ Man" (hit song for The Village People)
2 Nullifies / Arsenic and Old ____
3 Made graffiti, perhaps / Akin to
4 Young ____ (spin-off of The Big Bang Theory) / ____ Lanka
5 Like some eyes / Ctrl+V function
6 Romantic couple / ____: The Last Airbender (2005-2008 cartoon)
7 Somber / Out of the ____ (not in the know)
8 Skin care brand / Not verbose
9 Beyond sufficient / Make the ____ (1989-1991 Nickelodeon game show)
10 Hooded snake / Bury, as a dead body

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Goof ____ (1992-1993 Disney cartoon)
* Expert
* Irritate
* Lee of the rock band Rush
* Detroit's NFL team
* Jewish Passover service
* Spaghetti, for example
* In the lead
* Fall guys
* Tree associated with Canada
* ____ Garden (restaurant chain)
* Make changes to
* One weber per square meter
* Uncanny
* ____ full o'Nuts (coffee brand that has no nuts)
* Xevious developer
* Proposition in a mathematical proof, perhaps
* Pinky and the ____

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What former car manufacturer was headquartered in Trollhättan?

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

Wordy Wednesday 289: Crypticrostic 6

WORDY WEDNESDAY #287

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:
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tina Martin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #288

TOUCHWORD 13 (hint)

As of this writing, 5 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

CONTEST: FILL-IN CROSSWORD!

Here's a new contest where you can win fantastic prizes. Good luck!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #289

CRYPTICROSTIC 6

(click here for a PDF version)

The answer is two words enumerated (3 8).

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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

Buoyant car insurance mascot surrounded __ __ __ __ __ __
    by lava, beginning to tremble       15 25 32 63 09 68
Chortle at the Spanish expression of disgust __ __ __ __ __
                                             14 69 26 45 22
Color in comic character __ __ __ __ __ __
                         77 48 73 07 02 29
Crazy Irani man is one who opposes predestination __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                  38 16 66 28 49 06 72 10
Creature from "Press Your Luck" is very theatrical after end of show __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                                     18 08 53 71 12 40
Foolish ending to haiku: "Northwest is empty" __ __ __ __ __ __
                                              44 35 05 60 70 80
Frankenstein’s assistant follows voltage with force __ __ __ __ __
                                                    30 78 50 56 81
Hectored terrible Democrat around actor Richard __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                39 13 61 36 51 20 58 55
I have The Police's lead singer taking in __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
    nitrogen and playing the stock market 34 27 59 42 01 17 11 76 79
Prohibit articles with fruit __ __ __ __ __ __
                             37 75 57 46 54 65
Shake annoying child in fight __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                              33 74 41 52 23 03 67
Smooth small herb __ __ __ __ __
                  47 43 62 04 21
Tailless bird with sticky substances __ __ __ __
                                     64 31 19 24

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Goof ____ (1992-1993 Disney cartoon)"?

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

Contest: Fill-In Crossword

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the first post on this blog! To celebrate, here's a contest.

The answers in the crossword below are clued alphabetically by length; you must figure out where they belong. When you’re done, one row or column will have three entries that, when read aloud in order, sound out a two-word song title; this song title is your final answer.

3 LETTERS
Exist
What a Blu-Ray player might also play
Moray, for example
Fiend
“____ Raining Men”
Solomon’s ____ (video game)
Seize
____ Life to Live (soap opera)
Item a miner mines for
Not in
Spot on a die
Propel, as a boat
Participate in a footrace
Channel worn by repeated passage
Morse code distress signal
“Here Comes the ____”
The Last O.G. network
Tamera Mowry's sister

4 LETTERS
Radio host Glenn
2006 Pixar film
____ cut (bristly haircut)
Deduct from, as wages
Make changes to
Long narrative poem
Not easy
Some retrievers, briefly
Camera part
Read an online forum without posting
Dawn, poetically
A shoe brand
Number of a cat’s lives, supposedly
“Darn!”
____ and bones
Nasal mucus, slangily
____ leopard
Bark up the wrong ____
Accustom to not being nursed
Fleece

5 LETTERS
Advil alternative
Francs’ replacement
Sells
Restaurant offerings
“Nights in White ____”
Roebuck’s partner
Weather-manipulating Marvel heroine
Ostentatious

6 LETTERS
1986 sci-fi sequel
Sexually arousing
Jerusalem’s country
The ____ Kid (1984 film)
Language spoken in Seoul
Extol
Need: 2 wds.
“____ Night” (Christmas song)
Mid-size Hyundai model
Involving two sound channels
Coin-like objects used in an arcade
Gene who played Willy Wonka

7 LETTERS
Area on a computer with icons
Infinite

Send your answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on July 20, 2019 to enter the contest. A randomly-selected entrant with the correct answer will win a signed copy of the Spring 2015 issue of Will Shortz's Wordplay (the final copy I have!), a signed copy of my book Logic Puzzles 101, a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles, and a copy of my board game TAILITS! Up to four other randomly-selected entrants with the correct answer will win a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles and a copy of my board game TAILITS. That's five chances to win!

Good luck, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 288: Touchword 13

WORDY WEDNESDAY #286

SECTION SIX 28 (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:
Bryce Herdt **
Mark Ballinger *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #287

TOUCHWORD 12 (hint)

As of this writing, 6 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 #288

TOUCHWORD 13

(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, 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. (You can think of it as a diagramless, cylindrical Share-A-Letter puzzle.)

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1  V-shaped cut / Mathematician who’s the namesake of a test: 2 wds.
2  With The, 1984 Robert Redford film / Statuette
3  Honolulu’s island / “Bananaphone” singer / Certain polearm
4  “Do unto ____. . .” / Type of bomb, for short / Immature insect
5  Cause of anxiety / Province in western Canada
6  Ulcers and such / ____ reef / Place to sleep on a vehicle
7  Colonnade at the entrance of a building / Belonging to us / ____ Dawn I Die (1939 James Cagney film)
8  Cartoonist Stephan / 60 minutes / Unsolved Mysteries host Robert
9  “____ not, want not” / Comic strip created by Jeff MacNelly / Big name in train travel
10 Stinging insect / Murphy of The Haunted Mansion (2003) / Unconcerned about right and wrong, perhaps
11 Crowned / Madonna or Lady Gaga, for one / A type of fungus
12 Massachusetts peninsula: 2 wds. / “As I was going to St. ____. . .” / Quarry
13 Cornbread / A trigonometric function / Aptly-named spike-covered enemy in Super Mario Bros.
14 Blankets worn in Mexico / From scratch / Radar system’s sound
15 Indifferent / Twist, as a wet towel

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A very difficult Crypticrostic!

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