Wordy Wednesday 598: Spicy German Sausage 6

WORDY WEDNESDAY #596
SECTION SIX 59 (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 **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #597
FRAMELINKS 23 (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 #598
SPICY GERMAN SAUSAGE 6
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Jeri Feaster. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

In a German Sausage, a type of puzzle originating from the National Puzzlers League, when you take the indicated pairs of answers to the clues from the first list, combine their letters, and anagram them, you get the answers to the clues from the second list. (For example, if the answers to clues 1 and 2 were ANAGRAM and SEGUES, then the answer to clue 1+2 could be GERMAN SAUSAGE.) However, in this variation, you must add an extra letter to each pair of answers to make the longer answer (for example, you might make GERMAN SAUSAGE from ANAGRAM and GUESS plus an extra E).

Rearrange the added letters in (parentheses) to make a 6-letter word, and rearrange the added letters in [square brackets] to make a 6-letter word. Write these words in the final set of blanks, and rearrange the letters in {curly braces} to make a 6-letter word, the final answer. (All three words are uncapitalized and Scrabble-legal.)

1. Moral infraction
2. Figure skater Lipinski
3. Charged particle
4. Lauren who created My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
5. ____ of conduct
6. Vehicle on a railway track
7. Serpentine curve on a race track
8. Frighten
9. Cancer stick
10. Yellow citrus fruit
11. Regret
12. ____ liquor

1+2+(__). Like some wells
2+3+[__]. Item to wear during a downpour
3+4+(__). Decorative water reservoirs
4+5+[__]. Made unclear
5+6+(__). Number representing latitude or longitude, for example
6+7+[__]. Series of successively triggered events: 2 wds.
7+8+(__). Be selective: 3 wds.
8+9+[__]. Bouncing toy sometimes used in extreme sports: 2 wds.
9+10+(__). Hospitable
10+11+[__]. The capital of Victoria, Australia
11+12+(__). Program that lets you play Nintendo 64 games on your computer, for example
12+1+[__]. Amulet

(Parentheses): {__} __ {__} __ {__} __
[Square brackets]: {__} __ {__} {__} __ __
{Curly braces}: __ __ __ __ __ __

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What Batman villain has the ability to control plant life?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7, Episode 4: Texas Fever

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7"): click here

Episode 1 (Five Easy Pieces): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 19 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 0 people solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 2 (Meteorological Mystery): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 18 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 0 people solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 3 (App-y Days Are Here Again): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

* 17 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece.

The total number of points scored is 2700. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $27.00. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank of West Central Texas will actually receive $108.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points, possibly with the aid of the hints.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 7, EPISODE 4:

TEXAS FEVER

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin made a diary recording his recent journey across The Lone Star State. Yeehaw!

“Of course I had to buy a ticket to watch the Texas Rangers play one of their home games in Globe Life Field in this city.”
“While in this coastal city, I paid a visit to an old WWII aircraft carrier which has been transformed into the USS Lexington Museum.”
“This city full of cattle ranchers was founded in 1849 as a military outpost, and was named after a major general in the US Army.”
“When NASA picked this city as the site for their Manned Spacecraft Center, it forever earned the nickname ‘Space City’.”
“The University of Texas of the Permian Basin Stonehenge, a replica of Stonehenge in this West Texas city, really ‘rocks’!”
“The residents here are obviously very proud of the Alamo, judging by its depiction on the city’s flag.”
“This quaint city on the Guadalupe River is way smaller than the Canadian city of the same name which serves as the capital of British Columbia.”
“No trip to this lovely city is complete without a visit to the Dr Pepper Museum.”

---

(This illustration by Tintinabar is not part of the puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

Submit your answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com for 50 points, and stay tuned next week for Episode 4's hint and Episode 5's puzzle. Good luck!

Outside the Fox Puzzles Sampler!

OUTSIDE THE FOX PUZZLES: YEAR 1

Outside the Fox Puzzles is a puzzle subscription service in the style of Joon Pahk's Outside the Box Puzzles (spelled with a B, not an F). I am in a long-standing professional relationship with Joon, who has published quite a few of my puzzles in Outside the Box Puzzles and thus helped me expand my audience. Joon forwarded me a subscriber's suggestion that I start a similar service for my invention Touchword, and Outside the Fox Puzzles is exactly that. It is also the world's only puzzle subscription service to guarantee that none of the puzzles have been eaten by a fox (very few people want to solve puzzles with fox bite marks or slobber on them).

Outside the Fox Puzzles uses a "pay what you want" model; the minimum price for one year of puzzles is US$10, but polling suggests that some folks are definitely willing to spend more than that, and I aim to please. Every Tuesday for 50 weeks (January 2 through December 10, 2024), at 8:00 AM Central Time, I will release three new puzzles:

* A Touchword. This is a crossword variation of my own invention, featuring words which touch instead of crossing. These alternate between 11x11 (mini) and 15x15 (standard) puzzles each week.
* A gridded logic puzzle. Any logic puzzle genre which is playable on puzz.link is fair game.
* A variety word puzzle. It could be a meaty 15x15 Pathfinder, it could be a brief one-liner like you'd hear Will Shortz give on NPR, it could be anywhere in between. The only guarantee is that your wordplay abilities will be tested, and hopefully rewarded to some extent.

You will get three PDF's each week: one for the puzzles, one for the hints, and one for the solutions. You will also get two PUZ files for each Touchword (one for the normal version and one for the easy version), plus PUZ files for any variety word puzzles which I can offer in that format. Becoming a subscriber to Outside the Fox Puzzles is a simple 4-step process:

Step 1: Add outsidethefoxpuzzles@gmail.com to your address book or whitelist to ensure smooth email delivery.

Step 2: Send me a payment of at least US$10. You may skip this step if you were a Patreon user at the $20/month Ultra Fan level at any point during 2023 or 2024. Otherwise, go to https://paypal.me/mathgrant. ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT: Mention “Outside the Fox Puzzles year 1” and the email address with which you want to subscribe!

Step 3: Request to join the Google group at https://groups.google.com/g/outside-the-fox-puzzles-year-1/. (This step is mostly optional, since I can usually invite you to the group or even add you directly if you gave me an email address with which to do so during step 2, but it does help. If you do this step, chances are the email address that Google will use is the Gmail address with which you were signed in; if that's different from the email address that you mentioned to me, then I will assume that the latter is the one you actually want.)
 

Step 4: Wait for me to manually vet your request and add you. You are now a member of the group and will receive a weekly dose of puzzle fun via email! If you joined after January 2, 2024, you may also dive into the archive of puzzles you missed while you wait for the next weekly email! Yappy solving! (Reach out to me via email at glmathgrant@gmail.com or outsidethefoxpuzzles@gmail.com if you have any issues.)

 

OUTSIDE THE FOX PUZZLES SAMPLER

Today marks my 37th birthday, and I have decided to give my readers a special present: a free sampler curated from the puzzles published thus far in Outside the Fox Puzzles! Click here for a PDF of all of the puzzles, click here for a PDF of all of the hints (the "hint document" referred to in the instructions of each puzzle), and click here for a PDF of all of the solutions.

YEAR 1, WEEK 13 (MARCH 26, 2024)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Seductress / One of the Great Lakes
2 State represented by Bernie Sanders / One of the Great Lakes
3 Pests / Ganders’ mates
4 Surname of the first host of Jeopardy! / Symbol for silence on a music staff
5 Thoroughfare associated with the British national press: 2 wds.
6 Brings back to an initial state / Seven Years in ____ (1997 movie starring Brad Pitt)
7 Word in the fine print of many beer ads
8 ____ of mass destruction / Like Larry’s songs in VeggieTales
9 “If the shoe fits, ____ it” / Phi’s predecessor
10 Rip to shreds: 2 wds. / Boca ____, Florida
11 Feminine hygiene item / 4:3, for example

YEAR 1, WEEK 20 (MAY 14, 2024)
TOUCHWORD

PUZ version | PUZ version (easier)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. If you want help, full answer enumerations are in this week’s hint document.

1 Relocate / Common allergen / Typeface ornamentation
2 The Spy Who ____ Me / Antics / Browse, as the Internet
3 Portrait’s counterpart / Remove doubt
4 A sedimentary rock / Charm
5 Ointment / Mass of lymphoid tissue in the throat / Oaf
6 Like a cloud’s figurative lining / 2015 animated film about Riley’s feelings: 2 wds.
7 Share, with “up” / Starr of the Beatles / ____ Note (2006-2007 anime)
8 Stop-motion series whose opening theme is an instrumental version of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”: 3 wds.
9 Captain ____ and the Teen Angels (1977-1980 Hanna-Barbera cartoon) / ____ saving time
10 Walking stick / Spotted Central American cat / The Hateful ____ (2015 film)
11 Balsamic ____ / Cheer / Composer Stravinsky
12 MasterCard alternative / Use mouthwash / One under a legal age
13 Have different opinions / Symposium
14 “Consider it ____!” / Arborist’s concerns / This Is ____ Tap (1984 rock mockumentary)
15 Impressionist Claude / Brand of chocolate mints / Danger

YEAR 1, WEEK 12 (MARCH 19, 2024)
MID-LOOP
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Draw a single loop composed of horizontal and vertical line segments connecting the centers of cells; the loop may not cross itself or branch off. Every dot must mark the midpoint of a horizontal or vertical line segment in the loop. If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document.

YEAR 1, WEEK 16 (APRIL 16, 2024)
CROSS THE STREAMS
Illustrated rules on puzz.link | Solve on puzz.link
Rules summary: Shade some cells black. Numbers to the left of a row or above a column represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in that row or column, in order. “?” represents a block of any length; “*” represents any number of blocks, including possibly none. No 2x2 area may be entirely shaded. All of the shaded cells must be connected through their edges. (The thick grid lines are a counting aid, but are otherwise meaningless.) If you want help, solving hints are in this week’s hint document.

YEAR 1, WEEK 10 (MARCH 5, 2024)
ANACROSSWORD
Solve the crossword using the clues provided. When the letters in the numbered squares are transferred to the same-numbered blanks, you will reveal a quote followed by its author. Work back and forth between the quote and the crossword to finish the puzzle. The clues are listed alphabetically by their answers; you must determine where each answer belongs. Additionally, spaces and punctuation are not provided for the quote. If you want help, the locations and full enumerations of the answers and the spacing and punctuation of the quote are in this week’s hint document.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 91 92 93 94 95 96
__
97
CLUES
• Sailor’s greeting
• “Praise the Lord and Pass the ____”
• Irritate
• PopCap puzzle game in which players match gems
• Start up, as a computer
• The capital of Wales
• Certain onion relative
• Snowman in an animated Christmas special
• The Rocky ____ Picture Show
• Johnson Space Center’s city
• Immediate
• Character portrayed as a brown bear in Disney’s Robin Hood: 2 wds.
• “Monster ____” (Bobby “Boris” Pickett song)
• Like a boxing event on HBO: hyph.
• Wrinkly Chinese dog breed: hyph.
• Stiffening agent used in laundering
• Classic puzzle game whose spin-offs include Arika’s Japan-only The Grand Master arcade games
• Plane, train, or automobile

YEAR 1, WEEK 18 (APRIL 30, 2024)
PATHFINDER
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. If you want help, full answer enumerations and starting directions of the answers are in this week’s hint document.

1 Street ____ (4)
1 Goblet (7)
2 The Phantom ____ (Norton Juster novel) (9)
3 Boston ____ (2004-2008 series) (5)
4 Gad about (9)
5 Famous Edvard Grieg work (26, 7 wds.)
6 Accounting concern (7)
7 Glutinous grain with a gluelike texture (10, 2 wds.)
8 Board game in which players claim railway routes with train cards (12, 3 wds.)
9 Pieces of furniture housing printed materials (9)
10 Citrusy name of an ocean predator (10, 2 wds.)
11 The first tsar of Russia (15, 3 wds.)
12 Wormwood- and anise-flavored liquor (8)
13 Former German chancellor Angela (6)
14 Knight’s spear (5)
15 Samples, as food (6)
16 Computer directory (6)
17 Onion relative (7)
18 Have an excessive preoccupation (6)
19 Rich cake (5)
20 Goatlike companion of Dionysus (5)
21 Truck company with a bulldog in the logo (4)
21 Brief written message (4)
22 The lead singer of U2 (4)
23 Like Arial, but not Times New Roman (9, hyph.)
24 Tennis great Arthur (4)
25 Certain seabird (4)
26 Trends (10)
27 A beachgoer might want to get one (6)
28 Pressing need? (4)
29 Certain cut of pork (6)
30 Crowded (5)
31 Recently formed (7)
32 Long-barreled firearm (5)
33 ____ of contents (5)
34 ____ of ceremonies (6)
34 Singer-songwriter Alanis (10)
35 Climb (6)
36 ____ verb (“be”, for example) (7)
37 Natural incline (8)
38 Cold sensations (6)
39 Karate teacher (6)
40 Towards the back of a ship (6)
41 Psycho (1960) villain Norman (5)
42 Toss, as dice (4)
43 Jeweler’s unit of weight (5)
44 Comedienne Burnett (5)
44 Cloudy area of the lens of the eye (8)

Wordy Wednesday 597: Framelinks 23

WORDY WEDNESDAY #595
PENT WORDS 119 (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 **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #596
SECTION SIX 59 (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 #597
FRAMELINKS 23
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by Jason Boomer. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

Fill in the empty squares in the diagram with the given letters to form words.

Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word.
A A A A A   B B   C C C C C C   D D   E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E   F F F   H H H   I I   L L L L
N N N N   O O O O O   P P P   R R R R R   S S S S   T T T T T T   Y Y

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What is the capital of Victoria, Australia?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7, Episode 3: App-y Days Are Here Again

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7"): click here

Episode 1 (Five Easy Pieces): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 19 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 0 people solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 2 (Meteorological Mystery): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

* 18 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece.

 

The total number of points scored is 1850. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $18.50. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank of West Central Texas will actually receive $74.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points, possibly with the aid of the hints.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 7, EPISODE 3:

APP-Y DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin is thinking of getting rid of his smartphone – these app notifications are so distracting!

---

(This illustration by Tintinabar is not part of the puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

Submit your answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com for 50 points, and stay tuned next week for Episode 3's hint and Episode 4's puzzle. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 596: Section Six 59

WORDY WEDNESDAY #594
ANACROSSWORD 38 (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 **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #595
PENT WORDS 119 (hint)

As of this writing, a number of 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 #596
SECTION SIX 59
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle’s grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise or counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outer ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, but their starting points and direction are for you to determine. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you place the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section’s outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Arrange the letters in the starred spaces to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 6-letter word.

Ring 1
1 One who’s in the red
2 Karate teacher
3 Genus of showy colorful flowers
4 Funeral song
5 Item in a pack
6 Thomas Edison’s middle name

Ring 2
• Minute amount
• Praise
• Key that toggles overtype mode
• Fresh and new
• Drive the getaway car, say

Ring 3
• Mattress topper with square indentations: 2 wds.
• Rodent with a long, flat tail
• “Make a joyful ____ unto the Lord. . .” (Psalm 100:1)
• Lowest point

Ring 4
• Rows ____ (word puzzle invented by Patrick Berry with Rows and Blooms clues)
• Metallic element with the symbol Fe
• Drink

Ring 5
• Songwriter Taupin
• Cloak and ____

Ring 6
• “The 59th Street ____ Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” (Simon and Garfunkel hit named after a span in Manhattan)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7, Episode 2: Meteorological Mystery

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7"): click here

Episode 1 (Five Easy Pieces): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

* 19 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece.

The total number of points scored is 950. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $9.50. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank of West Central Texas will actually receive $38.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzle for 25 points, possibly with the aid of the hint.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 7, EPISODE 2:

METEOROLOGICAL MYSTERY

(click here for a PDF version)

The weather has been uncharacteristically cold for the month of May, and judging by the forecast, it looks like Kevin will need to dress very warmly for the foreseeable future!

---

(This illustration by Tintinabar is not part of the puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

Submit your answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com for 50 points, and stay tuned next week for Episode 2's hint and Episode 3's puzzle. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 595: Pent Words 119

WORDY WEDNESDAY #593
TOUCHWORD 32 (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 **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tower **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #594
ANACROSSWORD 38 (hint)

As of this writing, a number of 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 #595
PENT WORDS 119
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Daren Crevan. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) 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 Ramble / Small child
2 Throw, as dice or a fishing line / Gadget for scraping a lemon rind
3 Texas city named after a son of Theodore Roosevelt, not a Muppet / Slice from the end of a loaf of bread
4 Flexible / Word following “snow” or “sweet”
5 Pull with a jerking motion / Metamorphic rock that splits into very thin plates
6 Set of DNA instructions in a cell / Jetty
7 Hazardous / Spinning woodworking tool
8 What R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells / The Joy of Painting host Bob
9 Pleasing smells / Prestigious boarding school in Berkshire, England
10 “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” singer Warwick / Cartman’s first name on South Park
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Sound made by a clock, perhaps
• Sounds made by a clock, perhaps
• Jet Set ____ Future (2002 Xbox game)
• Spasm
• Gives off
• Kris Jenner’s daughter
• Pass along
• Lock of hair
• Gin and ____
• “____ and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8)
• Dish of seasoned rice and meat
• Swimming weasel relative
• ____ numerals
• Renter’s contract
• Express scorn, perhaps
• Big name in car rentals
• ____ pollution
• Red Inside Out character

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "'The 59th Street ____ Song (Feelin’ Groovy)' (Simon and Garfunkel hit named after a span in Manhattan)"?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 7, Episode 1: Five Easy Pieces

INTRODUCTION

This series is inspired by the website Kevin's Puzzles, on which Kevin Orfield posts an instructionless puzzle-hunt-style puzzle every Monday. Kevin Orfield's puzzles usually lean towards the easy side of this genre in order to target a less experienced and/or younger audience. Kevin's Puzzles at Home is my knockoff of Kevin's Puzzles, so called because of the "we have X at home" meme:

The puzzles in Kevin's Puzzles at Home are intended to be easier than my Wordy Wednesday posts, and hopefully at least 80% as entertaining as the real Kevin's Puzzles. Kevin's Puzzles at Home will be presented by my "we have X at home" version of Kevin, a prodigious and colorful wolf named Kevin Edmund Kepler:

(This illustration by Tintinabar is not part of any puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

 

Every Monday during May and June 2024, a new episode will be posted at 12:01 AM (Central); as with the real Kevin's Puzzles, as is the standard with other puzzle hunts, the final answer will be a word or phrase. Email me (at glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com) the correct solution to this puzzle within the next week to score 50 points. Each puzzle will also have a hint posted for it one week later; solving the puzzle while the hint is up will be worth 25 points. Episode 8, which will be posted on June 24, is a meta puzzle which requires the answers to all of the previous puzzles in order to be solved; this puzzle will be worth triple (150 points before the hint, 75 points after). The highest possible score a solver can attain will thus be 500 points, by solving each puzzle during its first week. In an effort to aid people who don't have food at home, for every point scored by my readers by 11:59 PM (Central) on July 7, I will donate 1¢ to the Food Bank of West Central Texas, up to a maximum of $150. (Thus, each solver can contribute a maximum of $5 to this pool.) Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match my donation as well, making the maximum possible donation $600 (and thus the maximum contribution to this donation by a single solver $20). To date, the Kevin's Puzzles at Home series has raised $2,277.00 for various food banks! A huge thank you to the solvers and anonymous benefactors who have made this impact possible!

Unlike the real Kevin's Puzzles, which posts each puzzle's solution one week after its hint is posted, all puzzle solutions will be posted simultaneously on July 8, one week after the final hint is posted. This will make the meta slightly harder, since you can't just look up the solutions to the previous puzzles to start solving it, but will also permit latecomers to score more points (and thus raise more money) than otherwise possible.

Astute readers will notice that the words "Season 7" appear in the title. Links to the previous seasons follow:

Season 1 (May-June 2022): Puzzles and hints, solutions.

Season 2 (September-October 2022): Puzzles and hints, solutions

Season 3 (January-February 2023): Puzzles and hints, solutions

Season 4 (May-June 2023): Puzzles and hints, solutions

Season 5 (September-October 2023): Puzzles and hints, solutions

Season 6 (January-February 2024): Puzzles and hints, solutions

 

Have fun, and remember to check out the real Kevin's creations (which go up at noon Central time every Monday) if these fake ones are up your alley!

 

Special thanks to Jason Boomer, John Bulten, and Joseph DeVincentis for testing these puzzles!

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 7, EPISODE 1:

FIVE EASY PIECES

(click here for a PDF version)

These shapes are almost as colorful as Kevin is! It shouldn’t take much work to put them together.

---

(This illustration by Tintinabar is not part of the puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

Submit your answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com for 50 points, and stay tuned next week for Episode 1's hint and Episode 2's puzzle. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 594: Anacrossword 594

WORDY WEDNESDAY #592
CODEWORDS 28 (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 **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #593
TOUCHWORD 32 (hint)

As of this writing, 13 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 #594
ANACROSSWORD 38
(click here for a PDF version)
(click here for rules)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by CodArk2. Support me on Patreon at the Super Fan level ($5/month) and solve the monthly Patron Puzzle for a chance to suggest a seed word for a future puzzle, or at the Ultra Fan level ($20/month) to suggest one seed word every month!

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 91 92 93
• Defeat overwhelmingly
• Canine associated with Mack Trucks
• Steamy
• Instrument that is used to measure radiation: 2 wds.
• Small aquarium fish
• Amber of Justice League (2017)
• S’mores ingredient
• Utah senator Romney
• Website with an alien mascot named Snoo
• Change, as gears
• Generating, as young
• “A rising ____ lifts all boats”
• The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle novelist Smollett
• Characteristic
• Gearbox in a car
• Yearwood of country music

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Red Inside Out character"?
* Patron Puzzle #120, which will be delivered on May 8, 2024, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Fill-In Crossword.

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