Wordy Wednesday 717: Sudokurostic 12

WORDY WEDNESDAY #715
PENT WORDS 143 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Jason Boomer **
Joseph DeVincentis **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Marie desJardins **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Richard West **
Ryan Faley **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #716
MINI TOUCHWORD 17 (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 #717
SUDOKUROSTIC 12
(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. 

Break, as a cipher __ __ __ __ __ __
                   B4 E6 B7 F4 G6 H2
With “The”, “Light My Fire” band __ __ __ __ __
                                 E7 G7 C2 H4 D6
Contract one’s lips for a kiss: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                       E4 H7 E2 C3 G8 C6 B3 C8
Total grouch (like a cat who just ate a lemon?) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                                B2 H3 D8 B8 G2 C4 H8 E3
Hybrid eating utensil __ __ __ __ __
                      G4 H6 E8 F2 B6

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A puzzle about fine details!

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

Wordy Wednesday 716: Mini Touchword 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #714
MINI TOUCHWORD 16 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Joseph DeVincentis **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Marie desJardins **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #715
PENT WORDS 143 (hint)

As of this writing, 16 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 #716
MINI TOUCHWORD 17
(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 Wizard / Repeat
2 Jay relative / Dried plum
3 Ladder rung / Triton orbits it
4 Breastbone / High-strung
5 Two pints / Certain diacritical mark
6 Sci-fi series about Dr. Sam Beckett: 2 wds.
7 Recipient, as of a property title / Cut with a sickle
8 Genre fusing punk rock and heavy metal / Rigidly vertical
9 Resentment / Precise
10 Wades across / “You can trust your car to the man who wears the star” brand
11 Dense ecosystem of trees / Greek Muse of lyric poetry

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "With 'The', 'Light My Fire' band"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 715: Pent Words 143

WORDY WEDNESDAY #713
CODEWORDS 36 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Joseph DeVincentis **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Cathy Bowen **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Ryan Faley **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #714
MINI TOUCHWORD 16 (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 #715
PENT WORDS 143
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by tester Russ Kale. 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 Excerpt / Like a successful climber vis-à-vis a mountain
2 Lift up / “Neither cast ye your pearls before ____. . .” (Matthew 7:6)
3 Circle of light / On ____ of (representing)
4 ____ of concept / Cavalry sword
5 Star Trek: The ____ Generation / Enormous swarms
6 Williams of the San Francisco 49ers / Large farm
7 ____ acid / Drama set to music
8 Complain / Riding in an inflatable torus
9 Fuzzy ____ / Los Angeles mayor Bass
10 Rosalind’s lover in As You Like It / “If You Love Somebody ____ Them Free” (1985 hit for Sting)
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Ella of The Idea of You (2024)
• Pituitary ____
• Despise
• Came up
• Group of soldiers
• Less
• Baker’s garment
• Comic Silverman
• Humpback ____
• Fold in a skirt
• Adhere
• Something beyond what’s necessary
• Express a viewpoint
• Austrian economist Ludwig von ____
• ____ provocateur
• ____ as a daisy
• Frequently
• Parts of ears

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's an 11-letter, 2-word answer for "Sci-fi series about Dr. Sam Beckett"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 714: Mini Touchword 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #712
LETRAVEX 7 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Joseph DeVincentis **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Derek Allen **
M. Sean Molley **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Ryan Faley **
SquishmallowsUnited **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #713
CODEWORDS 36 (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 #714
MINI TOUCHWORD 16
(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 Large crowd / Have a taste test of
2 There are 32 in a Monopoly set / It may be measured in radians
3 Awaken / Tarry
4 Athlete like Alex Honnold: 2 wds.
5 ____ and pinion / Room
6 YouTuber who hosts the personal finance podcast Financial Audit: 2 wds.
7 Star / “What an annoyance!”
8 Central point of the circle in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man: 2 wds.
9 Hector / 1970 war drama starring George C. Scott
10 Ringlet, as in one’s hair / Splash with specks
11 Electrical wires / Spoil

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Ella of The Idea of You (2024)"?
* Patron Puzzle #148, which will be delivered on September 8, 2026, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Large Sudokurostic.

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