Wordy Wednesday 688: Mini Touchword 10

WORDY WEDNESDAY #686
SUDOKUROSTIC 11 (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 **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #687
ANADROPQUOTE 15 (hint)

As of this writing, 12 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 #688
MINI TOUCHWORD 10
(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and 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 more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 6-letter word.

1 Led, as a movement
2 Oration / Made less difficult
3 Sorcerer / Daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton
4 Underground molten rock / Drool
5 Punctuation marks indicating pauses / ____ and kicking
6 Cartoon strips / A trick in skateboarding or snowboarding
7 Copy / Defender in soccer
8 Part of a music production process / Fastener for a door, perhaps
9 Mason-____ Line / Minor bug
10 Manatee relative / Metric unit of volume
11 Australian possum: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* In what city is Florida A&M University?

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

Wordy Wednesday 687: Anadropquote 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #685
PENT WORDS 137 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Joshua Richman **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #686
SUDOKUROSTIC 11 (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 #687
ANADROPQUOTE 15
(click here for a PDF version)

[Formerly known as Divided Into Columns.]
Solve the provided clues, transferring the letters from the numbered blanks to the same-numbered squares in the grid at the top. As a solving aid, the clues are listed alphabetically by their answers, and the letters are also alphabetized within each column. Then place the letters into the empty squares in the same column, in the correct order, to form a clue to the final answer. Black squares (and nothing else) indicate the end of a word; a word can wrap from the right end of one line to the left end of the next. (Unlike in some dropquotes, all punctuation is given.) 

In hindsight: 3 wds.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
32 61 30 57 39 14 05 48 42 41 16 77
The capital of Northern Ireland
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
53 67 10 50 47 45 34
1993 game that pioneered the first-person shooter genre
__ __ __ __
63 11 75 71
Habitual skeptic: 2 wds.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
19 44 58 04 13 01 65 74 51 38 55 26 35 29
Notion
__ __ __ __
20 23 36 09
Outmoded
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
33 25 12 24 69 64 52 60
Character who slept through the American Revolution: 3 wds.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
76 02 28 07 15 62 03 68 37 21 70 54
Actress Sweeney of The Handmaid’s Tale
__ __ __ __ __ __
06 31 59 72 17 40
One’s personal lexicon
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
46 66 18 73 22 27 43 08 49 56

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 11-letter word for "Led, as a movement"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 686: Sudokurostic 11

WORDY WEDNESDAY #684
CODEWORDS 33 (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 **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Joshua Richman **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #685
PENT WORDS 137 (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 #686
SUDOKUROSTIC 11
(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.

Helper __ __ __ __
       F9 F7 H2 C9
On the whole: 3 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                     I3 I8 G1 B3 C2 H7 H4 A7
It shares a land border with Papua New Guinea __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                              A4 G6 D1 B1 D8 F2 C7 D6 B8
Took a nap __ __ __ __ __ __ __
           G3 I1 D3 A9 B6 G8 C4
In the near future __ __ __ __
                   A2 F4 I6 H9

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 4-letter word for "1993 game that pioneered the first-person shooter genre"?
* Patron Puzzle #141, which will be delivered on February 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Letravex.

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