Wordy Wednesday 505: Pent Words 101

WORDY WEDNESDAY #502
SNAKE CRISSCROSS 21 (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 **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Karen Spencer **
Michael Lebowitz **
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
Ezra Brauner **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #503
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 9 (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 #504
ANACROSSWORD 26 (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 #505
PENT WORDS 101
(click here for a PDF version)

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 Challenged / Block of gold
2 Anxiety / Late-night legend Jay
3 Skin design, briefly / Palpatine of the Star Wars movies, for one
4 Having a hardened exterior / “____ Me Your Comb”
5 Clock parts / An intermediate state
6 Change direction / Caravan creatures
7 Make accustomed to / Flower for which there was a “mania” in 17th-century Holland
8 Rely (on) / Feed the kitty
9 Venomous Egyptian snake / Exalt
10 Thrust of a pointed weapon / Bed Bath & ____
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Overturn
* “Gangnam ____” (hit song by South Korean rapper Psy)
* Bird in a Poe poem
* Animated title character voiced by Ming-Na Wen
* Sports stadium
* Concepts
* It may be cut up into rings and fried
* “____ the Sea” (song from The Little Mermaid)
* Bowler’s bane
* Painter’s stand
* Proofreading symbol
* ____ Bump (comic strip)
* A classical music form
* Downton ____ (British drama series)
* Australian canine
* Barbershop quartet member, perhaps
* ____ Rancher (2017 Monomi Park video game)
* Arizona city where Sun Devil Stadium is located

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "50 Cent album whose title is also 50 Cent’s real first name"?
* Patron Puzzle #102, which will be delivered on November 8, 2022, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Vocabulary Fun Pack.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!