Wordy Wednesday 665: Pent Words 133

WORDY WEDNESDAY #663
TOUCHWORD 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:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #664
FRAMELINKS 28 (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 #665
PENT WORDS 133
(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 Place to sleep / Fastened with metal bolts
2 “Quite”, for example / “She’s a ____” (Tom Jones song)
3 ____ Pizza (1988 film starring Annabeth Gish and Julia Roberts) / Implements in a winter sport
4 Application / Stimulate, as one’s memory
5 Photo / Deviate
6 Popular song of yore / Cleanse with liquid
7 Behind ____ (in jail) / Harry Potter and the ____ of Fire
8 Helicopter parts / ____ Lake (Tchaikovsky ballet)
9 Certain marine snail / A Chinese tea
10 He was pardoned by Ford / Caesar ____
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• ____ bear
• ____ bear
• ____ bear
• ____ bear
• ____ bear
• Weary
• Begets
• “God ____ us, every one!”
• Ebbed
• Three-dimensional spiral
• San ____, California
• Small and glistening, as eyes
• Heron relative
• One-twentieth of a Benjamin
• Menial laborers
• Smiles from ear to ear
• Stanza
• Four-wheel ____

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* 😱😈

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

Wordy Wednesday 664: Framelinks 28

WORDY WEDNESDAY #662
LOGICROSSWORD 17 (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 **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #663
TOUCHWORD 33 (hint)

As of this writing, 15 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 #664
FRAMELINKS 28
(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 A A   B   C C C C   D   E E E E E E E E E E E   G G G G   H H   I I I I I I I I I
L L L L L   M M M   N N N   R R R R R   S S S   T T T T T T T T   U U U 

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "One-twentieth of a Benjamin"?
* Patron Puzzle #136, which will be delivered on September 8, 2025, exclusively to Patreon supporters at the Super Fan level and up ($5 or more per month), is a Framelinks.

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

Wordy Wednesday 663: Touchword 33

WORDY WEDNESDAY #661
MINI TOUCHWORD 8 (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 **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins *
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #662
LOGICROSSWORD 17 (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 #663
TOUCHWORD 33
(click here for a PDF version)

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 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.) 8-letter word.

1 Little Bo-Beep lost them / “Forever in Blue Jeans” singer Diamond / Mia Hamm’s sport
2 Large sea vessel / Risks / Happen
3 Very cheerful / Mythological creature who was trapped in a labyrinth
4 It’s just below the lower jaw / Pathogenic microorganism / Set up, as a new program
5 Alter / 1986-1991 sitcom starring Sherman Hemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye / Not large
6 Certain aquatic bird / Substance covering teeth / Digital message
7 The largest Nordic country / Saunter / Ancient Egyptian goddess of motherhood
8 Portland-based rock band whose hits include “Of Angels and Angles” and “Sixteen Military Wives”: 2 wds.
9 “____ goodness!” / Middle point / Take ____ account
10 Actor Tudyk / Acute / Canada’s largest city
11 Cry of woe / Lottery-like casino game / Diadem
12 Monster / Methuselah’s father / Something of value
13 Kidney ____ / Shark ____ (2004 animated film) / The frame of a car
14 Surround on both sides / Guinness who played Obi-Wan Kenobi / Suspects’ excuses
15 Run away / Leg joint / Diameter of a bullet

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Framelinks!

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

Wordy Wednesday 662: Logicrossword 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #660
PENT WORDS 132 (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 **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #661
MINI TOUCHWORD 8 (hint)

As of this writing, 15 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 #662
LOGICROSSWORD 17
(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). A list of all acceptable 2-letter words is provided as a solving aid; all of the words which are not on this list and not mentioned in the clues should be familiar to most solvers. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution.

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

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
• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 1 contains exactly one black cell.
• Row 3 contains a word whose first letter is W.
• Row 4 contains the words GI and WHOMSO, in that order from left to right; one of these words intersects DWARF.
• Row 5 contains a 6-letter word that contains the substring NF.
• Row 8 contains the word IN and a word that contains the substring HE.
• Row 9 contains a 5-letter word whose first letter is A and whose last letter is not E.
• Column D contains the letter S.
• Column E contains the word TO, which intersects the word OE.
• Column G contains the word IMID, which intersects the word MAC.
• Column H contains fewer black cells than column I.
• Cell C1 contains a letter.
• The words HYPOXIC, IT, NAIFS, and NARD appear somewhere in the grid.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's the largest Nordic country?

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

Wordy Wednesday 661: Mini Touchword 8

WORDY WEDNESDAY #659
SUDOKUROSTIC 9 (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 **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Pavel Curtis *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #660
PENT WORDS 132 (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 #661
MINI TOUCHWORD 8
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by StrangerCoug. 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 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 Trickle / Hell for ____
2 One with two identical siblings / ____ Might Be Giants (rock band)
3 Fats Navarro’s instrument / Not difficult
4 ____ change / Bosom
5 Item to sit in / Basketball great Kobe
6 One with psychic perception
7 Set in the ground, as seeds / Simultaneous discharge of many projectiles
8 One of sixteen at the start of a chess game / Vehicle in an ethical thought experiment
9 Young deer / Support for climbing vines
10 Tinker Bell, for one / John McEnroe’s sport
11 Place where butter is made / Surname of the family from ALF

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword!

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

Wordy Wednesday 660: Pent Words 132

WORDY WEDNESDAY #658
MINI TOUCHWORD 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:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield *
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #659
SUDOKUROSTIC 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 #660
PENT WORDS 132
(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 Sports official, briefly / 2001 PopCap game in which players turn lead into gold
2 Decorate / Conifer associated with Lebanon
3 The ____ and the Restless / Before and ____
4 Hip and trendy / Swimmer with whisker-like barbels
5 South Carolina representative Mace / Certain wading bird
6 Right-angle extension / Troublesome
7 Over there / Shesterkin of the New York Rangers
8 Blood-pumping organ / Plants-to-be
9 European capital formerly known as Christiania / Camel’s biome
10 Dog ____ dog / Tree related to the walnut
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Blunder
• “Let’s get ____ to rumble!”
• February 14 and March 17, for two
• One of the gifts of the magi in the New Testament
• Unaccompanied
• To ____ a Thief (1955 film)
• Mine finds
• Dense
• “Rock Me Amadeus” singer
• “Here’s the ____ of a man named Brady. . .”
• Bat from the Sonic the Hedgehog games
• Popular pub sport
• Book before Joel
• Common material for stockings
• Therefore
• Circular
• Wrinkle-removing implements
• Uncanny

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What is the surname of the family from ALF?
* Patron Puzzle #135, which will be delivered on August 8, 2025, 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!

Wordy Wednesday 659: Sudokurostic 9

WORDY WEDNESDAY #657
LOGICROSSWORD 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:
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz *
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #658
MINI TOUCHWORD 7 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #659
SUDOKUROSTIC 9
(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. 

Extraterrestrial being __ __ __ __ __
                       B3 F2 F7 H6 C8
Home ____ 2: Lost in New York (1992 film) __ __ __ __ __
                                          F6 H4 H8 B4 D4
Astrological sign represented by a goat __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                        F4 H2 B2 F8 B6 D7 D2 H3 G6
“Everything must go!” type of sale __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                   B8 D6 F3 C4 C6 D8 H7 C2 G8
Roaring animal in the MGM logo __ __ __ __
                               B7 G2 G4 D3

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Bat from the Sonic the Hedgehog games"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 658: Mini Touchword 7

WORDY WEDNESDAY #656
ANACROSSWORD 45 (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 **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #657
LOGICROSSWORD 16 (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 #658
MINI TOUCHWORD 7
(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 Carouses / Gold bar
2 Like a fair playing field / “A leopard ____ change its spots”
3 “It's the ____ I could do!” / Nick who played Devon Miles in Drumline (2002)
4 Celibate / Site of a dam in Egypt
5 Constitution / Persuasive influence
6 May 4, to sci-fi fans: 3 wds.
7 ____ poll / Footwear brand mentioned in a Run-D.M.C. hit
8 Layers, as of sedimentary rock / Has supper
9 Explorer in a Nick Jr. series / One receiving on-the-job education
10 Finished / Take care of, as livestock on the range
11 Extend, as a subscription / Unmarried

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 9-letter word for "Astrological sign represented by a goat"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 657: Logicrossword 16

WORDY WEDNESDAY #655
PENT WORDS 131 (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 **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
İnci Kıran **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #656
ANACROSSWORD 45 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #657
LOGICROSSWORD 16
(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). A list of all acceptable 2-letter words is provided as a solving aid; all of the words which are not on this list and not mentioned in the clues should be familiar to most solvers. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution.

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

• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 1 contains two 4-letter words; the first letter of the one on the left is the same as the last letter of the one on the right.
• Row 3 contains a word whose first letter is V.
• Row 4 contains the word IDENT.
• Row 5 contains a word whose first letter is S.
• Row 7 contains the word ODEON and exactly two black cells.
• Row 9 contains the word DE, which intersects two words with a combined total of 9 letters.
• Column A contains a 6-letter word.
• Column B contains the word IF.
• Column G contains the word MASHIE.
• The word SI reading across intersects the word OES reading down at cell H3.
• The word MISE reading across intersects the word MU reading down.
• The word OATH intersects the word TEASE.
• The words HO and OK appear somewhere in the grid.
• Two 8-letter words with the same last letter appear somewhere in the grid.
• Cells D2 and F1 contain the same letter, but that letter does not appear anywhere else in the grid.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What footwear brand is mentioned in a Run-D.M.C. hit?

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

Wordy Wednesday 656: Anacrossword 45

WORDY WEDNESDAY #654
SUDOKUROSTIC 8 (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 **
Elaine Harger **
İnci Kıran **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #655
PENT WORDS 131 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #656
ANACROSSWORD 45
(click here for a PDF version)
(click here for rules)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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
• Lumberjack’s power tool
• Several tones played simultaneously
• “Order in the ____!”
• Argument
• “It’s over Anakin, I have the high ____!” (quote from Star Wars: Episode III)
• Perceive a sound
• “____ Dog” (Elvis Presley hit)
• Excessive pride
• Stinging ocean creature
• History Channel reality series featuring off-the-grid survivalists: 2 wds.
• Ska punk band with lead vocalist Gwen Stefani: 2 wds.
• Toy that is spun by the wind
• State mentioned in “Take Me Home, Country Roads”: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword!

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

Wordy Wednesday 655: Pent Words 131

WORDY WEDNESDAY #653
MINI TOUCHWORD 6 (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 **
Elaine Harger *
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins *
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #654
SUDOKUROSTIC 8 (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 #655
PENT WORDS 131
(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 Japanese board game that resembles chess / Doom and ____
2 Pots and ____ / The Very ____ Caterpillar (Eric Carle book)
3 Tree that shares its name with a Colorado city / A dentist looks at them
4 Shift / Tally, as of population
5 Porridge made from ground hominy / A ship’s freight
6 Certain poker action / Organ that produces lymphocytes and filters blood
7 It covers the end of a lace / Proportion
8 Speedy / Amtrak vehicle
9 Actress Moriarty of The Boys / List of personnel
10 Finish / Early timepiece
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Traditional Inuit dwelling
• Traditional Navajo dwelling
• Circular
• Brian May’s band
• Weighing device
• Certain poker action
• Enormous
• Openly manifest
• Two strokes under par
• Involuntary muscle contraction
• Chris who played Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy
• Orange peels
• Sudden burst, as of electricity
• Former Indiana governor Mike
• False notions
• ____ by jury
• Adhere
• Shift

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What state is mentioned in “Take Me Home, Country Roads”?
* Patron Puzzle #134, which will be delivered on July 8, 2025, 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!

Wordy Wednesday 654: Sudokurostic 8

WORDY WEDNESDAY #652
NEW MATH (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 **
Christian H.P. **
Derek Allen **
James Haddad **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
CP80 **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **
Tower **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #653
MINI TOUCHWORD 6 (hint)

As of this writing, 14 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 #654
SUDOKUROSTIC 8
(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. 

Injury from a snake __ __ __ __
                    C2 B3 F8 D2
Pirates of the ____ (Disney movie franchise) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                             C3 E1 D3 F9 H7 B5 H5 I9 E8
Officially grant kingly power to __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                 I4 A1 G8 B4 H6 F7 E2 A6
Subject of Newton’s first law of motion __ __ __ __ __ __ __
                                        I5 F1 E9 A5 G7 D1 A4
“I Won’t Hold You Back” band __ __ __ __
                             I6 G6 C4 D9

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Chris who played Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 653: Mini Touchword 6

WORDY WEDNESDAY #651
ANACROSSWORD 44 (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 **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #652
NEW MATH (hint)

As of this writing, 15 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 #653
MINI TOUCHWORD 6
(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 Lack / 1/50 of a rapper?
2 Maltreatment / Mortar ingredient
3 Animal in “Hickory Dickory Dock” / Grieve
4 Tasty nugget / “. . . for ____ waves of grain. . .”
5 Measures of music / Pound mercilessly
6 According to May 2025 courtroom testimony, Sean “Diddy” Combs took ecstasy pills shaped like this politician’s face: 2 wds.
7 Lustrous fabric made on a jacquard loom / Confessions of a Teenage ____ Queen (2004 film starring Lindsay Lohan)
8 Death / Adorn, as with folds of cloth
9 Place to buy meats and sandwiches / Excessive bureaucracy: 2 wds.
10 Upset / Give back
11 Increased / Chaperon

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Subject of Newton’s first law of motion"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 652: New Math

WORDY WEDNESDAY #650
PENT WORDS 130 (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 **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #651
ANACROSSWORD 44 (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 #652
NEW MATH
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron 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!

Back in my day, we didn’t have Arabic numerals, you whippersnappers!

Comforter on a bed (5)
Employee at a British pharmacy (7)
Figure of speech using “like” or “as” (6)
Focus one’s gaze or attention (6)
Freight-carrying unit on a train (6)
Pertaining to the outer part of something (8)
Secret assembly of cardinals to elect a pope (8)
Shudder (7)
The buying and selling of goods (8)
Wideness or scope (7)
Wisconsin’s capital (7)

____________-1001=____________ (4)
____________-   5=____________ (2)
____________-1000=____________ (4)
____________-   9=____________ (3)
____________-2000=____________ (4)
____________-  90=____________ (3)
____________-  50=____________ (4)
____________- 500=____________ (5)
____________-   1=____________ (3)
____________- 501=____________ (4)
____________-  10=____________ (5)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What lustrous fabric is made on a jacquard loom?

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

Wordy Wednesday 651: Anacrossword 44

WORDY WEDNESDAY #649
LOGICROSSWORD 15 (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 **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #650
PENT WORDS 130 (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 #651
ANACROSSWORD 44
(click here for a PDF version)
(click here for rules)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Cathy Bowen. 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

• ____ of the curve
• Windbag
• “____ Ground” (Stevie Wonder song)
• A tax or levy
• Without any interruption
• She played Lady Lou in She Done Him Wrong (1933): 2 wds.
• Asian cat breed featured in the original animated Lady and the Tramp (but not in the remake)
• Go underwater without a breathing device: hyph.
• The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, collectively: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Can you do some math?
* Patron Puzzle #133, which will be delivered on June 8, 2025, 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!

Wordy Wednesday 650: Pent Words 130

WORDY WEDNESDAY #648
KEVIN'S UNFINISHED PUZZLES AT HOME (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 **
Christian H.P. **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Jason Boomer **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #649
LOGICROSSWORD 15 (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 #650
PENT WORDS 130
(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 Did some hair care / “To thine own ____ be true”
2 Shrek, for one / Cured air-dried sausage
3 ____ friends forever / Former late night host Johnny
4 Geometric oval / A Brit’s afternoon drink
5 A synthetic rubber / Bathroom item
6 One who alters garments / Feudal slave
7 Constricting snakes / Honolulu’s state
8 Pay it ____ / Lounge around, with “out”
9 Low step-in shoe / Festive party
10 ____ Champion (early NES fighting game) / Elbow or knee, for example
PENTOMINOES:
• HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
• Thin cracker
• Baker’s need
• Direct the course of
• Fast food order of a burger, fries, and a drink, for one
• Relinquish, as a right
• “Remember the ____”
• Stringed instrument in bluegrass music
• Broken piece of glass
• Jeweled headband
• Forbidden
• Name of the female protagonist in the Twilight books
• Frighten
• Glorify
• Loses traction, as on ice
• Geographical depression
• Ill-fated Ford model named after Henry Ford’s son
• ____ for the wear
• Meet and ____

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* Who played Lady Lou in She Done Him Wrong (1933)?

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

Wordy Wednesday 649: Logicrossword 15

WORDY WEDNESDAY #647
MINI TOUCHWORD 5 (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 **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #648
KEVIN'S UNFINISHED PUZZLES AT HOME (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 #649
LOGICROSSWORD 15
(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). A list of all acceptable 2-letter words is provided as a solving aid; all of the words which are not on this list and not mentioned in the clues should be familiar to most solvers. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution.

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

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

• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 1 contains a 9-letter word.
• Row 2 contains the word IODID. Besides IODID, exactly one other 5-letter word reads across.
• Row 4 contains exactly two black cells.
• Row 8 contains the word EDENTATES.
• Column C contains the word EGO.
• Column D contains a word that contains the substring EG.
• Column E contains a 5-letter word.
• Column F contains exactly one instance of the letter J.
• Column G contains the words BATTU (which intersects TEA) and ENG (which intersects IGLU).
• Column I contains a 5-letter word that contains the letter M, but not the letter H.
• The words EN and EW read across.
• The word NOLO reads down.
• The words AMIDO, EMO, and REES appear somewhere.
• A 4-letter word that starts with B and ends with one of the first 9 letters of the alphabet appears somewhere.
• A 4-letter word that contains the letters F and R appears somewhere.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Name of the female protagonist in the Twilight books"?

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

Wordy Wednesday 648: Kevin's Unfinished Puzzles at Home

WORDY WEDNESDAY #646
SECTION SIX 64 (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 **
Russ Kale **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #647
MINI TOUCHWORD 5 (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 #648
KEVIN'S UNFINISHED PUZZLES AT HOME
(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle contains a word suggested by patron Cathy Bowen. 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!

 

As you may already be aware, I like to present my blog’s readers with simple puzzles without instructions, using the colorful anthropomorphic wolf Kevin Edmund Kepler as a framing device. Go behind the scenes and take a look at some of my unfinished Kevin’s Puzzles at Home puzzle ideas!

Unfinished Puzzle #1
When Kevin looks up at the stars, he can’t help but sometimes feel like they’re trying to communicate a message to him!
[to do: The use of “feel” in the flavortext might be too subtle a hint for newer solvers as to what encoding is being used. But I “cannot see” a way to clue it that isn’t overly blunt.]

Unfinished Puzzle #2
Grab yourself a “Greece” pencil and help Kevin recall the details of his and his friends’ trips!
[to do: Extracting the answer will be straightforward enough, but some solvers may not be familiar with grid logic puzzles like this. I might translate the puzzle to Greek to make it harder, if only I knew someone who speaks Greek. Oh well.]
Kevin and three of his friends all took vacations to the beautiful nation of Greece. From the clues below, determine in what year and for how many nights each of them did so.

1. Concord either visited Greece in 2025 or stayed there for 7 nights, but not both.

2. Douglas stayed in Greece for exactly 2 nights longer than did the one who visited in 2024.

3. Buck’s trip to Greece was exactly 2 years after the 4-night stay.

Unfinished Puzzle #3
Kevin had a dream that a shadowy figure demanded of him, “State your name!”
[to do: Is this puzzle too America-centric? And will my solvers think to look vertically for the final answer?]
• Natural • Golden • Sunshine • Aloha • Hawkeye • Pine Tree • Bay •

Unfinished Puzzle #4
Can you help Kevin locate these duos of shaded cells?
[to do: Is it fair to expect novice solvers to know what a Norinori is? And if they manage that, will they figure out how the column numbers of the shaded cells affect the given letters? I might need to brainstorm some better hinting.]

Unfinished Puzzle #5
Kevin simply cannot understand abstract art. Can you help him?
[to do: Should I mention that the artist’s name is “Samuel Finley Breese”? A reference to Piet Mondrian could also tip solvers off to the solving method.]

Unfinished Puzzle #6
Kevin has rediscovered the party game Musical Chairs, in which players scramble to get seated and not be left behind.
[to do: Should I put the items in column B in the correct order? Some people are very bad at anagramming, and they might get frustrated with the added element of figuring out which answer goes where. But some solvers might find this order to be a good solving aid, too. We’ll have to see.]

COLUMN A
1. Frequent hangout, as for a ghost
2. One who reads omens
3. Striped mammal related to the horse
4. Take on legal custody, as of a child
5. Lip ____ (cosmetics item)
6. “Great minds think ____”
7. Large abyss
8. Garment covering one’s trunk
9. Hooded Indian snake
10. Cleanse with water
COLUMN B
• Folk musician Joan
• Sideways-walking crustacean
• Expert or spiritual guide
• Pipe problem
• A lumberjack’s felled tree trunks
• Prepare potatoes, perhaps
• A trigonometric function
• Mix, as ingredients in a bowl
• Warty amphibian
• Fishy mascot Charlie, for one

Unfinished Puzzle #7
Kevin has found that Disney songs keep getting stuck in his head, and in an effort to get them out of his head, he has started rating them on a numerical scale.
[to do: Hopefully my solvers will be smart enough to figure out what those numbers are actually for, and I won’t have to give blatant hints. Surely someone will get suspicious and count the number of letters in each Disney movie title. . . right?]
“The Second Star to the Right” - 6 out of 8
“Little April Shower” - 5 out of 5
“Surface Pressure” - 5 out of 7
“Baby Mine” - 5 out of 5
“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” - 1 out of 10
“Go the Distance” - 4 out of 8
“Oo-De-Lally” - 6 out of 9
“One Jump Ahead” - 6 out of 7

Unfinished Puzzle #8
Oh no! Kevin’s board game shelf collapsed, and now the components of some of his games got all mixed together! Can you sort them out?
[to do: Hopefully all of these board games are relatively familiar, but even if they aren’t, the fact that all of the words in their names are ordinary non-capitalized dictionary entries should help. Well, except for that very capitalized, but very well-known, Asian city in row 2.]

Unfinished Puzzle #9
Normally, Kevin enjoys a trip to the zoo to meet his fellow mammals, but the layout of this zoo was very confusing, and he had difficulty finding all 17 exhibits!
[to do: It’s a good thing that all of the mammals are 5 letters or longer, or else some solvers would get flashbacks to that viral “Find the Fox” word search book. As for the other solvers, hopefully they can figure out that the unused letters aren’t random.]

Unfinished Puzzle #10
Kevin has decided to enhance his enjoyment of sports by risking his money on sports betting. He's even placed bets on sports that most people wouldn't expect to be able to bet on!
[to do: This puzzle might have a bit too much math in it for some people’s tastes. I guess they should be grateful that it’s just arithmetic using numbers from 1 through 26 and not differential calculus. Once they’ve figured out the numbers and turned them into letters, finding the right order will be as easy as ABC. . . fingers crossed!]
All bets were in positive, whole dollar amounts. No two bets were of the same amount.
The largest bet was on golf, and the smallest bet was on baseball.
There was no $5 bet.
The bet on hockey was equal to the combined bets on archery and darts.
The bet on darts was equal to the combined bets on cricket and equestrian.
The bet on archery was 2 times the bet on baseball.
The bet on golf was 5 times the bet on cricket.
The bet on football was equal to half the combined total of the bets on darts and hockey.
The bets on golf and hockey were for a combined total of $35.

Unfinished Meta Puzzle
[to do: Well, crap, I have all of these unfinished puzzles that will never see the light of day. It’s a shame, really. All this effort put into writing puzzles that nobody will ever see. Unless. . . wait! One of my Patreon supporters suggested a really interesting word to me. I could use it as the answer for a meta-puzzle, and throw all of these unfinished puzzles together into a big unfinished mess, and. . . yes! Maybe the effort I put into writing these unfinished puzzles won’t go to waste after all! Just make sure the puzzles are presented in the right order to extract the answer; most anagram engines are going to be extremely unhelpful in solving this obscure word. But if my solvers fact-check me, they should indeed find a few sources which attest to its word-ness. It’s rather meatier than my usual Wordy Wednesday offerings, but maybe it won’t be too overwhelming if all of the parts are simple enough. Done!]

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword!

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