Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8, Episode 5: Challenging Choices

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8"): click here

Episode 1 (Confection Conundrum): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 16 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 1 person solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 2 (Can "Ewe" Count?): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

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

Episode 3 (It's Not Rock-et Science): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

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

Episode 4 (Subterranean Stumper): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

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

The total number of points scored is 3225. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank for Larimer County is $32.25. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank for Larimer County will actually receive $129.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points each, possibly with the aid of the hint.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 8, EPISODE 5:

CHALLENGING CHOICES

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin and his friends have been playing the game “Would You Rather”. It can often be difficult to choose between two things when they are very similar!

Would you rather have wrath or peril?


Would you rather have a smelling organ or unpleasant, unwanted sounds?


Would you rather have a woman at a wedding or a horse’s headgear?


Would you rather have actor Pitt or a baked good like rye?


Would you rather have an event with discounted prices or the capital of Oregon?


Would you rather have a place to get your hair done or a fish related to the trout?


Would you rather have a small wheeled shopping vehicle or a unit of weight for precious stones?

---

(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 5's hint and Episode 6's puzzle. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 615: Pent Words 123

WORDY WEDNESDAY #613
FRAMELINKS 25 (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 #614
SUDOKUROSTIC 5 (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 #615
PENT WORDS 123
(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 Spaghetti or ravioli / River flowing through the Alps
2 Emulated Tim Tebow, perhaps / Small group of specially-trained personnel
3 Stable sound / Online provocateur
4 Song with the lyric, “It’s like rain on your wedding day” / Sham
5 Young deer / Bass’s counterpart
6 ____ and every / Showy autumn flowers
7 Porgy relative / Late night comedian Corden
8 Have possession of / Very wealthy
9 Coney ____ / Small opening in skin
10 What’s ____ Gilbert Grape (1993 film starring Johnny Depp) / Catholic Eucharistic service
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• “____ the rainbow” (Skittles slogan)
• Oppenheimer director Christopher
• Word following “control” or “solar”
• Noodles at a Japanese restaurant
• Samurai without a master
• Household task
• Lock of hair
• “God ____ America”
• The ____ Burnett Show (1967-1978 sketch comedy series)
• Loosen up
• Beginning
• Minty cocktail associated with the Kentucky Derby
• Winner of a tourney
• Number of pawns one player starts with in chess
• Mindful
• Sharpened
• “Nights in White ____”
• Dragon’s ____ (2012 role-playing video game)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Baseball great Mickey portrayed by Thomas Jane in the 2001 sports movie 61*"?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8, Episode 4: Subterranean Stumper

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8"): click here

Episode 1 (Confection Conundrum): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 16 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 1 person solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 2 (Can "Ewe" Count?): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

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

Episode 3 (It's Not Rock-et Science): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

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

The total number of points scored is 2525. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank for Larimer County is $25.25. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank for Larimer County will actually receive $101.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points each, possibly with the aid of the hints.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 8, EPISODE 4:

SUBTERRANEAN STUMPER

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin dreamed that he had to navigate a confusing system of underground corridors. If it weren’t for the torches scattered through the maze, Kevin would have been blind as a bat.

---

(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!

Wordy Wednesday 614: Sudokurostic 5

WORDY WEDNESDAY #612
LOGICROSSWORD 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:
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz *
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #613
FRAMELINKS 25 (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 #614
SUDOKUROSTIC 5
(click here for a PDF version)

Solve the clues by writing one letter per blank; the clues are alphabetized by the answers as a solving aid. Transfer the letters to the corresponding spaces and fill in the remaining spaces to form a valid sudoku, but with 9 different letters instead of numbers. (Each row, column, and box must contain those 9 letters in some order.) Treat the finished grid as a word search and look for a 6-letter word, which is this puzzle’s final answer.

Rand McNally books __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                   A7 G2 H9 B3 H8 B8 G4
Determine a sum or a quotient __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                              I3 G9 C8 F9 C3 I4 D2 F7 C1
Large French mansion __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                     A6 F8 C6 B1 G3 H4 H2
Wingless parasitic insect __ __ __ __ __
                          B2 C7 B6 D3 H7
Depose, as from a position of power __ __ __ __
                                    D1 G7 I2 A8

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Oppenheimer director Christopher"?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8, Episode 3: It’s Not Rock-et Science

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8"): click here

Episode 1 (Confection Conundrum): puzzle PDF, hint PDF

* 16 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 1 person solved it later for 25 points.

Episode 2 (Can "Ewe" Count?): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

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

The total number of points scored is 1675. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank for Larimer County is $16.75. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank for Larimer County will actually receive $67.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points each, possibly with the aid of the hints.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 8, EPISODE 3:

IT'S NOT ROCK-ET SCIENCE

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin stumbled upon a CD of his favorite rock songs that he burned a very long time ago. Unfortunately, the disc is too scratched up to play anymore, and Kevin had been in such a hurry to prepare the track listing that he left out the names of the artists!

“Tusk” – __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ (10:08)
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ (3:02)
“Jailhouse Rock” – __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (1:12)
“(Don't Fear) The Reaper” – __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ (11:10)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” – __ __ __ __ __ (2:04)
“Armageddon It” – __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (1:09)
“Let It Ride” – __ __ __ __ __ __ __ – __ __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (9:05)
“Walk This Way” – __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (6:02)
“Bungle in the Jungle” – __ __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ (5:10)
“Double Vision” – __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (4:08)

---

(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 613: Framelinks 25

WORDY WEDNESDAY #611
SUDOKUROSTIC 4 (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:
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #612
LOGICROSSWORD 10 (hint)

As of this writing, 4 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 #613
FRAMELINKS 25
(click here for a PDF version)

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 A A A A   C C C   D   E E E E E E E E   G   I I I   K   L L L L   M M M   N N N   O O O O O O
P P P   R R R R   S S S S S S S   T T T T T   Y Y Y    Z

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Large French mansion"?

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8, Episode 2: Can "Ewe" Count?

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8"): click here

Episode 1 (Confection Conundrum): puzzle PDF, hint PDF (new!)

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

The total number of points scored is 800. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank for Larimer County is $8.00. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank for Larimer County will actually receive $32.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzle for 25 points each, possibly with the aid of the hint.

KEVIN’S PUZZLES AT HOME

SEASON 8, EPISODE 2:

CAN "EWE" COUNT?

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin tried counting sheep to catch some Z’s, but on this particular night, he just couldn’t stop thinking about puzzles.

---

(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 612: Logicrossword 10

WORDY WEDNESDAY #610
PENT WORDS 122 (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 **
Cole Kendall **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tamara Brenner **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #611
SUDOKUROSTIC 4 (hint)

As of this writing, 9 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 #612
LOGICROSSWORD 10
(click here for a PDF version)

Blacken some cells in the grid and fill the rest with letters to form words. Hereafter, a “word” refers to any string of two or more consecutive letters reading from left to right or top to bottom, bounded on both sides by black cells or the edge of the grid. All words are Scrabble-legal and appear in the NASPA Word List 2023 Edition (NWL2023); except for some 2-letter words (listed at the bottom of the page) and some obscure words which are mentioned explicitly in the clues, all of the words in the solutions should be familiar. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution.

Arrange the letters in the shaded cells to get the final answer, a single Scrabble-legal word. (If any of the shaded cells are blackened, then the final answer will be less than 8 letters long.)

• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 3 contains the word IMMANE. Row 5 contains the word GAMBIA. Row 7 contains the word AL. Row 8 contains the word YO.
• Row 9 contains a 3-letter word and a 4-letter word; the two words end with the same letter.
• Column A contains exactly one instance of the letter S.
• Columns A and B contain the same number of black cells.
• Column C contains the words AA, AM, and END.
• Column E contains two instances of the same letter.
• Column G contains exactly one instance of the letter U.
• Column H contains a 7-letter word.
• The word AGA intersects the word AGAR.
• The word ARTAL intersects the word TEGUA.
• Two 9-letter words intersect at F1.
• A 4-letter word ending with D reads vertically.
• The word ID appears somewhere.
AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DA DE DO ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EW EX FA FE GI GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA KI LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OI OK OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO TA TE TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO ZA

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!
* Patron Puzzle #124, which will be delivered on September 8, 2024, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Logicrossword.

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

Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 8, Episode 1: Confection Conundrum

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 September and October 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 9, which will be posted on October 28, is a meta puzzle which requires the answers to all of the previous puzzles in order to be solved; this puzzle will be worth double (100 points before the hint, 50 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 October 10, I will donate 1¢ to the Food Bank for Larimer County, 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 $2,613.00 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 October 11, 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 8" 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

Season 7 (May-June 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 8, EPISODE 1:

CONFECTION CONUNDRUM

(click here for a PDF version)

Kevin is craving some candy, but he can’t decide which one he wants – there are just so many options!

• This candy with shredded coconut and chocolate was advertised alongside Mounds with the jingle, “Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”
• This candy with a rhyming name famously has jokes printed on the wrapper.
• These torus-shaped candies resemble something you can toss to rescue someone who fell off of a ship.
• This candy, once described as “The Freshmaker”, can cause an enormous eruption when dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke.
• If boxer Tyson were friends with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, they might share this fruity candy.
• This square fruit-flavored candy’s name suggests having some at the present time while saving some for the future.
• This gem-shaped sucker can be worn on your finger.
• The name of this bar of peanuts, nougat, caramel, and milk chocolate might elicit some “chuckles”.
• These candies shaped like children have a tart sugar coating.
• These chewy candies shaped like scaly swimmers can be eaten anywhere, not just in Stockholm.
• This chocolate-coated caramel and cookie bar comes packaged in pairs.

---

(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!