In this two-part contest, you'll get to solve a puzzle, learn how it was made, and try your hand at making your own puzzle!
Part I. Solve a Puzzle!
THE JOY OF PUZZLING: PENT WORDS
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 below, 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.
After solving, go to tinyurl.com/tjop-[answer], replacing [answer] with the answer (no space), to learn how this puzzle was constructed and get tips on constructing your own!
ACROSS (two answers per row):
1
A ____ Family Funeral (2019 film) / Say hello to
2 Foreign / Cut hair from
3 Reheat in a microwave / Spoon, for one
4 Number of people on a soccer team / Oolong and such
5 Word after "grand" or "little" in the card game bridge / Chicory relative
6 Terminate / Embraced
7 Wrestler Sammartino / Pulsate
8 Determine the value of something / Hellmann's offering, for short
9 Urge on / Shoe and clothing brand with a large cat as its mascot
10 Wanted poster detail / Microwave ____
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Charlie of
Two and a Half Men
* Mexican film actor Infante
* Put right
* Online game where players control gods
* Advice
*
The Adventures of ____ Billy (1989 video game)
* Concur
* Certain foot bones
* Contract between a landlord and a tenant, for example
* Lady Gaga and Madonna, for two
* Labyrinthine puzzles
* Expert
* Permian ____
* A
Wheel of Fortune category
* Former
Jeopardy! announcer Don
* Characters in certain ancient alphabets
* "Set Fire to the Rain" singer
* Out of whole ____
Send your answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com to enter Part I of the contest. After the deadline (May 25, 2019 at 11:59 PM), one random entrant with the correct answer will win
a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles, which includes a Snake Crisscross by me, and a copy of my board game TAILITS!
Part II. Make a Puzzle!
Now you get to write your own Pent Words puzzle! To learn how I made the above puzzle, go to tinyurl.com/tjop-[answer], replacing "[answer]" in the URL with the puzzle's final answer in lowercase letters and with no space. It is not, however, necessary to watch this video or even solve the above puzzle to enter this part of the contest. Your puzzle must obey all of these rules:
* The puzzle must obey Pent Words rules.
* The puzzle must be 10x10.
* All entries must be from 3 through 7 letters long.
* No entry may be repeated.
* There must be a final answer, a phrase consisting of two 5-letter words which appear as unclued pentominoes.
* The subdivision of the grid into pentominoes must be unique, even if you don't know the final answer.
Since test-solving is one of the most important parts of the puzzle-construction process, you are allowed to seek the assistance of one test-solver to make sure the puzzle you send me doesn't have any inaccurate clues or other bad things I won't like.
Send your completed puzzle, its answer, and the e-mail address of your test-solver (if you had one) to
devjoe@gmail.com [NOT TO ME!!!]. The puzzle and its answer should be in plaintext. After the deadline (May 25, 2019 at 11:59 PM), /dev/joe will then send the puzzles to me in random order and with no bylines. I will judge which puzzle I like best; its constructor and its test-solver (if any) will both win
a signed copy of the May 2019 issue of Games World of Puzzles, which includes a Snake Crisscross by me, and a copy of my board game TAILITS! The winning entry (and honorable mentions, at my discretion) will also be reproduced on my blog for my readers' enjoyment. The following things are likely to win me over:
* Fresh entries.
* Interesting overlaps.
* Interesting clues.
* PG-ratedness.
The following things will not win me over:
* Too many obscurities. (Don't use the Portugese word for "tablecloth" or the names of about half a dozen characters from manga comics that only about 100 people read.)
* R-rated things (I want to reproduce the winning entry on this highly PG-rated blog, so none of George Carlin's seven dirty words, for instance, should be in the clues or the answers).
* Etymological relatives, especially obvious ones like two compound words that share a root word in common, are frowned upon.
* Submitting the puzzle to me instead of to /dev/joe is an absolute no-no! No matter how good your puzzle is, if I know who wrote it, I cannot trust myself to judge the entries impartially. Seeing the entries without knowing who wrote them ensures that the prize goes to the puzzle I like the best, and not the person I like the best. So again,
DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR PUZZLES TO ME!!!
You may only submit one puzzle, but you can change it at any time before the deadline. You may be the test-solver for any number of other entrants.
Good luck, and happy constructing!
