Fit the words below the grid into the crisscross, reading left to right and top to bottom. The letters in the pink cells, in order from left to right starting with the top row, will spell a lyric from a song.
ACRYLIC DESCENT MESSIER SHELLAC
AMIABLE DESPAIR METHANE SIGHTED
AMONGST ENDGAME MINUTIA STENCHY
ANATASE GAROTTE ODYSSEY SURNAME
BRAMBLE LEARNED PANACHE THIOLIC
COPYCAT MANMADE PROMISE TRITONE
CUBICAL MANTRAS SCISSOR UGLIEST
CYCLOPS MEMENTO SCULPTS
Send your filled-in grid to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on July 25, 2021, to get two entries in the contest; identify the song before that time for another two entries (a maximum of four). Then an easier version of this puzzle will be posted with two words placed already as hints; solvers who submit their filled-in grids before 11:59 PM Central time on August 1, 2021 will get one entry, and solvers who identify the song before then will get one entry. A randomly-selected winner will win signed copies of the April 2018 and June 2018 issues of Games World of Puzzles (they were sitting around, and I think I intended to give them away long ago given their pristine condition) plus a surprise gift featuring a fox/badger character that veterans of this blog might remember. Additionally, for every entry in this contest, I will add $2 to a money pool, up to $50 of which will be donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas in my next contest (a word-guessing contest where the pool decreases every week the words remain unguessed, so any money above $50 will serve as a time buffer). Happy solving!
(Edited 2021/7/21 to change the black cells to an ink-saving grey.)
