Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (Week 2 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Week 1:
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing at least 3 consecutive letters that are consonants (i.e. not AEIOUY): NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word SOUND: NEITHER
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words where three or more of the letters are from the set {A,E,I,O,U,Y}: NEITHER
[Michael Tang] The set of words of length 5, 6, 7, or 8: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than or equal to 9: NEITHER

Week 2:
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of lengths 5 or 6: ONE
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words with second letter between O and Z inclusive: ONE
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words comprised entirely of letters (with possible repeats) in the words DHOLE UNITS: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 or 7: ONE

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $39.
The money pool for My Block My Hood My City is now $39. (Their home page no longer mentions a Small Business Relief Fund; did they rebuild all the small businesses in Chicago already? I don’t know. Regardless, I’m pretty sure underprivileged Chicagoans deserve money more than I do, so I’ll still find some way to help.)

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 343: Touchword 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #341
THE OMINOUS PENTHOUSE 2 (answer)
Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the puzzle, or here for a hint. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Mark Ballinger **
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Stephen Potter **
Walker Anderson **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #342
DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 7 (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 #343
TOUCHWORD 16
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.

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.
Note: The symbol † indicates headlines from The Babylon Bee, the "trusted source for Christian news satire".
1  † “New Law Requires You To Listen To ____ Thunberg Lecture Before Purchasing Gasoline” / † “Breaking: Health Officials ____ Portland To Prevent Spread Of Communism”
2  Review / Music style with syncopated rhythm
3  Emergency / Messages sent by wire
4  Illusionist Angel / Fashion / A slang term for marijuana
5  Classic Asian dish: 2 wds. / Skin disease cured by Jesus, according to the New Testament
6  Restaurant chain serving breakfasts / American Indian dwelling, perhaps / Substitute representative
7  Thorough: hyph. / Spot, as of ink / Shrewd
8  † “____ Mounting Pressure From Snopes, Babylon Bee Writers Forced To Admit They Are Not Real Journalists” / “Obey Your ____” (Sprite slogan) / Professional boxer Tyson ____
9  Cow features / Titles for knights / The color blue, in heraldry
10 † “Nation Worried About Having No Idea What's Going On If There's No State Of The Union ____” / † “Nation Surprised To Learn Time ____ Still In Print”
11 1994 movie about a seal / Tribute / Where to find coal
12 Start of a poker pot / Actor Pauly / † “Toddlers ____ Ransom Of Goldfish Crackers For Return Of Sunday School Teacher”
13 Goddesses associated with destiny / Worn out / † "NBA Now Requiring All Players To ____ For Chinese National Anthem"
14 Islamic leader’s legal decree / Toddlers & ____ / Powdered drink mix brand
15 Got bigger / “Barbie Girl” band / Giving a diatribe

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A sequel that nobody asked for!
* Patron Puzzle #72, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is an Anacrossword.

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

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II! (Week 1 update)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Week 1:
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words containing at least 3 consecutive letters that are consonants (i.e. not AEIOUY): NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word SOUND: NEITHER
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words where three or more of the letters are from the set {A,E,I,O,U,Y}: NEITHER
[Michael Tang] The set of words of length 5, 6, 7, or 8: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than or equal to 9: NEITHER

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is now $42.
I have become aware of an organization called My Block My Hood My City with a Small Business Relief Fund to help rebuild small businesses in Chicago which have been decimated by rioters and looters. In light of recent events in America, I have decided to donate a matching amount of money to their Small Business Relief Fund as well. The money pool for the My Block My Hood My City Small Business Relief Fund is now $42.

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 342: DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #340
PENT WORDS 68 (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 **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #341
THE OMINOUS PENTHOUSE 2 (hint)
As of this writing, 6 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's a hint. 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 #342
DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 7
 “__ __    __ __    __ __ __ __’__    __ __ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __,  *__
             ^           ^        ^           ^           ^           ^
  __ __ __ __ __    __ __    __ __ __    __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __
    ^        ^           ^           ^              ^        ^        ^
  __ __ __ __’__    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __”   __ __    __ __
          ^           ^        ^        ^           ^           ^
  __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __
          ^        ^           ^        ^           ^           ^
  __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __?
    ^        ^        ^           ^
__ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __    __ __ __
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
Note: The symbol † indicates headlines from The Babylon Bee, the "trusted source for Christian news satire".
Ingredient in many household cleaners __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                      74 54 59 51 55 37 07
Weep loudly: hyph. __ __ __ __ __ __
                   14 18 03 80 61 30
† “Microsoft ____ Voted Top Web Browser For __ __ __ __
   Downloading Other Web Browsers”          63 19 35 90
An extreme scarcity of food __ __ __ __ __ __
                            32 06 02 89 75 22
† “Family Exiting Church Unable To ____ Minivan __ __ __ __
   In Sea Of Identical Minivans”                50 66 38 27
† “'Sports ____' Releases Hotly Anticipated __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   'Modest Attire' Issue”                   33 69 23 85 76 21 29 04 08 60 13
Comedian Anderson who once hosted Family Feud __ __ __ __ __
                                              87 58 82 40 09
† “Jesus Wondering Who Little White Baby __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
   In ____ Scene Is Supposed To Be”      49 01 05 53 88 43 79 71
The team in possession of the ball, in football __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                64 42 28 15 20 45 12
† “Joel ____ Saddened To Learn Some Preachers __ __ __ __ __ __
   Can Only Afford $6,000 Shoes”              56 26 77 36 11 52
“Yellow ____” (The Beatles song) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                 86 68 10 46 81 70 34 41 39
Emulate Michael Phelps __ __ __ __
                       24 47 78 17
Faint __ __ __ __ __
      73 84 72 67 44
Made an equine sound __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                     57 48 83 62 65 31 25 16

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What skin disease was cured by Jesus, according to the New Testament?

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

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words II!

I am thinking of two English words that are at least 2 letters long and no more than 15 letters long. Both words are valid in Scrabble according to https://scrabble.merriam.com/. Your goal is to guess them. Everyone who guesses the pair of words correctly by the time the contest is over will be entered for a chance to win a copy of my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion).

Once per week, each and every single person reading this blog post is allowed to e-mail a set of words to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. If it is a set of at least 10 words, I will publicly post on this blog (on the following Monday at 12:01 AM Central time) whether NEITHER of my words, ONE of my words, or BOTH of my words are in that set. If it is a set of 9 words or fewer, I will privately give you the same information. If I can't easily verify whether a set of words has at least 10 words in it, I will assume it does, so if you want your information kept private, submit your set of words in the form "{CINQ, QADI, QAID, QATS, QOPH}" rather than "the set of all Scrabble-legal 4-letter words with a Q and not a U".

Once someone has guessed the pair of words (that is, submitted to me a set of exactly two words and gotten a result of BOTH), one last weekly update will be posted on this blog, and then people who haven't guessed the words yet will have one more week to try to do so and be entered in the prize drawing.

Just like last time, this contest will also benefit the Food Bank of West Central Texas. The money pool which I will donate to them will start at $45, and then go down $3 for every weekly update that has gone by without someone guessing the pair of words. If the money pool would hit $0, I will instead withdraw the prize drawing. So even if you aren't interested in the prize drawing, your participation may help someone else solve the words faster and thus help charity! Last time, you smart people managed to solve the words with the money pool at $36, but I think I've picked a more difficult word pair this time!

To kick things off, I'll make three guesses for you, chosen from among the guesses that were made last time:

The set of words containing the letter A: NEITHER
The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: ONE
The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH

Good luck, and yappy guessing!

Wordy Wednesday 341: The Ominous Penthouse 2

WORDY WEDNESDAY #339
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 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:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Bryce Herdt **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #340
PENT WORDS 68 (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 #341
THE OMINOUS PENTHOUSE 2
Because if any puzzle needed a sequel, it was definitely this one.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* What's a 5-letter word for "Comedian Anderson who once hosted Family Feud"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 340: Pent Words 68

WORDY WEDNESDAY #338
PATHFINDER 19 (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:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
M. Sean Molley **
Mark Ballinger **
Jason Boomer **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Stephen Potter **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #339
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 10 (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 #340
PENT WORDS 68
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 Foot digit / Break, as a law
2 Item calling the kettle black, possibly / Nova Scotia's capital
3 Grow more mature / ____ horizon
4 "____, My God, to Thee" (Christian hymn) / Not naughty
5 Surf and ____ (seafood/steak combo) / Gentle breeze
6 2020 Presidential hopeful Buttigieg / Red-breasted birds
7 Wolfed down / Film producer Boll
8 Bookmaker's concern / Spiny sea creature
9 Interval that's an octave larger than a second / "Rudimentary" programming language
10 Greek mythological character who flew too close to the sun / MacLachlan of Twin Peaks
     
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Slender instrument used to explore a wound
* "____ and Nail" (Foreigner song)
* Aquafina alternative
* Certain sled dog
* Hilton of celebrity gossip
* Overturn
* Main character's name in The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
* ____ drab
* "All the News That's Fit to ____" (The New York Times slogan)
* Material for some gloves
* ____, Wind & Fire (pop music band)
* National Baseball Hall of Fame member Banks
* Addams family butler
* Shrink back in reaction to pain
* Like some hair dryers
* Libyan currency unit
* Using few words
* Worshipper of Shiva

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .
* A truly ominous sequel!

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

Contest: Let's Guess Two Words! (Week 4 update — FINAL UPDATE!)

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:
The set of all words starting with a letter in the word PRIME: NEITHER
The set of all words with a prime number of letters: ONE
The set of all words with a prime number of distinct letters: BOTH

Week 1:
[Bryce Herdt] The set of all words that use one or more of J, Q, X, and Z: NEITHER
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of length at most 10: BOTH
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words beginning with a letter on the home row of a QWERTY keyboard (ASDFGHJKL): ONE
[John Bulten] The set of all words ending with a letter alphabetically between Q and Z inclusive: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words containing at least one of the letters U, V, W, X, Y, or Z: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words where the number of letters in the word is at least two greater than the number of distinct letters: NEITHER
[Roger Strain] The set of all words in which all instances of A, E, I, O, and U appear in alphabetical order (examples: ANIMUS, FED, FEED, RHYTHM): BOTH
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 7 or more: NEITHER

Week 2:
[Bryce Herdt] The set of all words composed only of letters (with possible repeats) from ETAOIN SHRDLU: NEITHER
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words where are least three of the letters are A, E, I, O, or U: NEITHER
[Jason Boomer] The set of all words in which the second letter is A, E, I, O, or U: ONE
[John Bulten] The set of all words in which the second-to-last letter is A, E, I, O, or U: NEITHER
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word GHOST: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which both start and end with consonants (letters other than A, E, I, O, or U): ONE
[Roger Strain] The set of all words containing at least one of "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" or "E": BOTH
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, or U: ONE
[Stephen Potter] The set of all words that start with A, E, I, O, or U: NEITHER

Week 3:
[Bryce Herdt] The set of all words alphabetically after RANDOM: ONE
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words containing R or L: BOTH
[Jason Boomer] [private guess of a set of 9 words]: NEITHER
[John Bulten] The set of all words containing C or L: BOTH
[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word MISBEHAVING: ONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words beginning with a letter in the word DAFT: NEITHER
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length exactly 4: ONE

Week 4:
[Bryce Herdt] The set of all words composed of exactly two different letters: NEITHER
[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words containing Y: NEITHER
[Frank Stieg] The set of all words either containing no pentomino letters (FILNPTUVWXYZ) or composed entirely of pentomino letters: BOTH
[Izak & John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: BOTH
[Jason Boomer] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: BOTH
[Kenneth Wilson] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: BOTH
[Kevin Orfield] The set of words appearing in the Oxford 3000 (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/external/pdf/wordlists/oxford-3000-5000/The%20Oxford%203000.pdf ): ONE
[Michael Tang] [private guess of a set of 2 words]: BOTH
[Roger Strain] The set of words containing the letter A: ONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words in which two vowels (AEIOU) appear consecutively, including words with a doubled vowel: NEITHER

Since the pair of words has been guessed, $36 has been donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas!
Everyone now has one more week to guess the pair of words and get entered into the prize drawing!

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