Wordy Wednesday 398: Pathfinder 22 & Wordy Wednesday 399: Snake Crisscross 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #394
CODEWORDS 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:
Cindy Heisler **
Cole Kendall **
Karen Spencer **
Leo Termin **
Tyler Hinman **
Kevin Orfield **
Lee Glascock **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tamara Brenner *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #395
PENT WORDS 79 (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 **
Cole Kendall **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Kyle Nils **
Leo Termin **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Bo & Becky Green **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tamara Brenner *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #396
SECTION SIX 39 (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 #397
TOUCHWORD 19 (hint)

As of this writing, 17 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!

DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS ENTIRE FIRST QUARTER OF 2021!
WORDY WEDNESDAY #398
PATHFINDER 22
(click here for a PDF version)

In this puzzle, each answer starts in the correspondingly numbered square, goes in some direction, and makes one or more right-angled turns as it winds through the grid. 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, an 8-letter word.

1 Of a nostalgic style (5)

2 “Death Penalty Still Permissible For People Who Drive Slowly In The Left Lane, ____ Francis Clarifies” (headline from Christian satire news site The Babylon Bee) (4)

2 Spinach-eating cartoon sailor (6)

3 “SNL Fires Comedian Accused Of Telling ____ Joke” (Babylon Bee headline) (5)

3 Sweet fair treat (6 4)

4 “Activists Fight ____ By Driving All People Of Color Out Of Pop Culture” (Babylon Bee headline) (6)

5 Fate (6)

6 Reference (4)

7 Return, as Press Secretary Jen Psaki might promise to do to a question (6 4)

8 Word before “cell” or “sofa” (7)

9 Less lengthy (7)

10 Miniature racing vehicle (4)

11 “Christian Radio Station Expands ____ To Nine Different Songs” (Babylon Bee headline) (8)

12 Italian capital (4)

13 Cheap curios (4-1-4)

14 “Life Hack: If You're Voting Third-Party, Save On Postage By Throwing Your Ballot Directly In The ____” (Babylon Bee headline) (5)

15 Establishment with coin-operated games (6)

16 “Overbearing Friend Occasionally Wants To ____ Out, Talk, Text” (Babylon Bee headline) (4)

17 Leader of the pack (5)

18 “Biden Suggests Stopping Criminals By Making Them Slip On Banana ____” (Babylon Bee headline) (5)

19 Certain crustacean (4)

20 A region in Italy (6)

20 Kidnap (8)

21 It may be made of coral (4)

22 Fish that uses suction to cling to larger fish (6)

23 ____ acid (5)

24 Italian physicist Enrico (5)

25 “Shocking Investigation Reveals Pastor Bribed Congregants To Say ‘____’” (Babylon Bee headline) (4)

26 1/16 of a pound (5)

27 Say a word correctly (9)

27 Difficult situations (12)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #399
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 15
(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

Couple

Inventor Whitney

Significant time period

Standard

4 LETTERS

Stand-up comic Cook

Billionaire Michael of tech fame

Jazz great Fitzgerald

At any time

What you might do with wet laundry

Assist

“That hurt!”

____ Office

Comedian Foxx

Symbol on a music staff, perhaps

Strike with an open hand

Seattle ____ (Triple Crown winner)

“How Great ____ Art”

St. John’s ____

5 LETTERS

Lower in rank

Savory smell

Ed of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Fill with joy

Addressee of the epistle of 3 John in the Bible

Idle

Woodworking need

____ pollution

Academy-founding Greek

Like online ads that create their own windows: hyph.

Actress Sink of Stranger Things

Round where the final four compete, briefly

Have in common

Lawyer Ken who gained fame during the Clinton administration

Chart of multiplication results, say

6 LETTERS

Hamper

Lessee

City in Spain famed for its swords

Trademarked name of Sildenafil

Righteousness

7 LETTERS

Pittsburgh baseball team

8 LETTERS

Parachutist’s shout

20 LETTERS

2016 song, often abbreviated to four letters, about combining writing implements and fruits: 4 wds.

SNAKE WORDS

5 LETTERS

Goodbye

Furor

Tyler Perry’s ____ of Payne

Colorful gemstones

Imagos-to-be

Mattress company with numbered sheep in its advertising

“I ____ Not Be Moved”

____ Recall (1990 film)

Cow organ

6 LETTERS

Unconcerned with right or wrong behavior

Greek goddess of wisdom

Corroborate

Item with pips, perhaps

Injured spot on the body

Hobbled

The ____ Trap (1961 film remade in 1998)

Historic rider Paul

____ effect

Fixes one’s gaze

____ Trap (1984-1985 game show)

Gardener’s item

7 LETTERS

The most common bowling game

8 LETTERS

Drove back

9 LETTERS

Far from cheerful

11 LETTERS

Agreement where a defendant accepts a lesser charge: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Tim of Last Man Standing"?
* A pair of Foxgeryptics!
* What's an 8-letter word for "____ Lane (Desperate Housewives location)"?
* A Codewords!

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