Wordy Wednesday 311: Diagramless Crossword

WORDY WEDNESDAY #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 7 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt *
James Haddad *
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #310
PENT WORDS 62 (hint)
As of this writing, 8 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

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

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

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

Wordy Wednesday 310: Pent Words 62

WORDY WEDNESDAY #308
FLOWER POWER 2 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 7 (hint)
As of this writing, 7 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #310
PENT WORDS 62
This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Joe Bernard. Support me on Patreon at the $5 per month level and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the $20 per month level to suggest one seed word every month!
In this puzzle, you must divide the grid into pentominoes (regions containing five cells each), and write a letter in each cell. The rows, reading from left to right, will contain the words hinted at by the ACROSS clues. The letters in the pentominoes, in reading order (left to right starting with the top row), will form the words hinted at by the PENTOMINOES clues; these clues are presented in no particular order. (In the example, the rows spell PLANT, SHARE, and BITES, and the pentominoes spell the words PLANS, TREES, and HABIT.) Use the ACROSS answers to determine where the pentominoes are.
ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 Pianist Winston with the album Winter into Spring / John of diagram fame
2 Bargain / Revolving parts
3 Make free of disease or injury / Well-paid youngish worker in a city, perhaps
4 Keep / ____ suey
5 Foul odor / "Now The Day Is ____" (Christian hymn)
6 Be able to pay for / Thomas Edison's middle name
7 Deed held by a third party until a condition is met / Country singer McCoy
8 Legal guardian, for example / Some cigarettes are advertised as low in this
9 Exude / Classical composer Johannes
10 Singer LaBelle / Clergy
   
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Occurrence
* Consumed
* Amount in a recipe, perhaps
* Blood of the Greek gods
* Feature of many a clock
* Suffocate in water
* Word after "horse" or "soap"
* Stone with crystals inside
* Scandinavian
* Upper room of sorts
* Vaults
* ____ Corporation (Portal developer)
* Nancy Wilson's rock band
* F ____ (1965-1967 sitcom)
* A deadly sin
* Striped horse relative
* Choppers
* Bounce a tennis ball back and forth

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A diagramless crossword!

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

The Joy of Puzzling: Codewords (RESULTS!)

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

Wordy Wednesday 309: Crypticrostic 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #306
SECTION SIX 30 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #307
FLOWER POWER (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Izak Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #308
FLOWER POWER 2 (hint)
As of this writing, 5 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #309
CRYPTICROSTIC 7
The answer is two words enumerated (5 4).
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

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

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

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

Wordy Wednesday 308: Flower Power 2

WORDY WEDNESDAY #305
PENT WORDS 61 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bo & Becky Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Eric Maddy **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #306
SECTION SIX 30 (hint)
As of this writing, 9 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #307
FLOWER POWER (hint)
As of this writing, 11 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

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

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

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

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A challenging Crypticrostic!

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

The Joy of Puzzling: Codewords

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following things will not win us over:

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

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

Good luck, and happy constructing!

Blog Archive