A Cleverly-Titled Logic Puzzle Blog

Contest: Collaborative Fill-In Cryptic

Posted on Monday, November 30, 2020

(Background information: This puzzle was originally co-written with Ryan Faley, with outside test-solver Joseph DeVincentis making judgment calls when we both had clues for the same word and couldn't agree which one was better. Almost a year after it was rejected by Outside the Box, I have finally decided to run it as a contest so it can see the light of day. Enjoy.)

The clues in this cryptic crossword are sorted by answer length, but are otherwise in no particular order. The letters in the shaded squares, in numerical order, yield one more cryptic clue with an 11-letter word as the final answer.

3 LETTERS

* Andy Taylor's son lost his first bakery treat

* For starters, please eat any legume

* Period of time in therapy

* Swerve and gape endlessly

4 LETTERS

* Partially screwed up pitcher

* Same rocky flatland

5 LETTERS

* Buffs go back, beginning to undo foul-up

* Editor follows upended madhouse that leaked out

* Er, am I savory?

* Handle one in woe

* I've heard Richard the comedian before

* Legitimate major empire

* Outspoken Presidential hopeful Buttigieg is a baked entity

* Parrot, "An Apple computer, how cute!"

* Reportedly, that man slurps a spiral

* Six take a chair and chat

* Steals some face cards

* Strange biopic about a President scorched up without end

6 LETTERS

* Educate a swim team?

* Was Hasbro toy turned up without executive order in horror movie?

7 LETTERS

* Cracker canister in transaction

* Flowering plant won't start back pain

* Fruit ex juggled for institution

* Gauche hospital section after a week

* Junior I'd educated initially takes - oy! - a drive in a hot car

* Oddly, this debris test has choice morsels

* Places where alcohol is sold for drunk servant

* Start to chew cheese, spitting for ball game

* Try and pet Matt badly

* West Indies music plays freely in Colorado

9 LETTERS

* Grave Mr. Waits' voice quality has a bit of bass

* Nice summer in stormy Africa and lunchroom

* Spontaneous scamp caps an easy win over you in Marseille

* Tilt a lunatic surrounded in strong odor and do several things at once

10 LETTERS

* After Jewish festival, king of Israel goes in street to perform gymnastics

* Cover one amulet without an economic system

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

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

Send your final answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on December 13, 2020 to enter the contest. A randomly-selected first-place winner will win my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion), plus a $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, which can be used to purchase any of a number of fine logic puzzle e-books. A randomly-selected second-place winner will also receive a $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 367: Anacrossword 22

Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #365

PENT WORDS 73 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #366

SECTION SIX 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 #367

ANACROSSWORD 22

(click here for a PDF version)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

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 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112

Italian commune where St. Francis was born

Tannen played by Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future

“Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night” singer: 2 wds.

One receiving stolen goods, or a structure between neighboring yards

Like a dialogue involving people of different religions

Buzzy musical instrument

Jitterbug relative originating from Harlem, possibly named after a nickname of aviator Charles: 2 wds.

Derides

Finding ____ (2003 Pixar film)

Book publisher that merged with Penguin Group in 2013: 2 wds.

Children’s game where players try to separate the hands of players on the opposite team: 2 wds.

Former United States Attorney General Jeff

Seltzer: 2 wds.

Painting of inanimate objects: 2 wds.

Emphasizes, as a syllable

Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky, for one

Stuff that might be sampled for a drug test

In ____ (in a plant or animal’s living body)

The graphs of y=sin(x) and y=cos(x), for two

Newspaper comic created by Tom Wilson

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A puzzle with numbers instead of words? Huh?
* Patron Puzzles #78 and #79, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), are titled Some Mind-Boggling 3somes and Cryptic Crossword Plus. I made the executive decision to give my patrons two Patron Puzzles this month. Merry early Christmas!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Film Strip (RESULTS!)

Posted on Monday, November 23, 2020

About two weeks ago, I posted the Film Strip contest. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 366: Section Six 36

Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #364

CRYPTOGRAM FUN PACK 2 (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 **
Mark Ballinger *
Stephen Potter **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #365

PENT WORDS 73 (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 #366

SECTION SIX 36

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's grid has six rings and six sections. Each ring contains a series of words placed end to end, reading either clockwise or counterclockwise; all the words in a given ring will read in the same direction. Ring 1 (the outer ring) contains six answers that read clockwise; the starting spaces are numbered in the grid. Clues for the answers in the remaining rings are given in order, but their starting points and direction are for you to determine. The sections (separated by the heavy lines radiating from the center) will help you place the inner rings: in a given section, each ring segment contains all but one of the letters in the next segment outward. In other words, a section's outermost segment contains six letters; the next segment inward contains five of those six letters in some order; and so on, until only one of the original six letters remains.

Arrange the letters in the six starred spaces to form the final answer, a 6-letter word.

Ring 1

1 Move upward

2 Drug endorsed by Bob Dole and Pelé

3 Tortilla brand with a bell in the logo

4 Disobedient one

5 Non-expert in a field

6 Island in New York City

Ring 2

* One of twelve in the zodiac

* One straying from social norms

* Divisions of dollars

* L'Oréal subsidiary since 1996

* ____ cube (puzzle invented by Piet Hein)

Ring 3

* Slang term for a die or a domino

* Greek letter that's also an Overwatch character

* Like some exposure

* Lord ____ of Preston (namesake of the National Hockey League's trophy)

Ring 4

* Religious denomination

* Avengers: ____ (2019 film)

* Legume that's necessary in making tofu

Ring 5

* Finite portion of a line

* Ben Affleck's brother

Ring 6

* ____ of a Down (band whose album Steal This Album! includes a track titled "36")

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What newspaper comic was created by Tom Wilson?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 365: Pent Words 73

Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #363

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 13 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger *
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #364

CRYPTOGRAM FUN PACK 2 (hint)

As of this writing, 6 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 #365

PENT WORDS 73

(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 ____, Nelly! (Nelly Furtado's debut album) / Four pecks

2 Canal connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea / Voluptuous

3 Kind of protein that aids processes like digestion / Roman emperor often anachronistically depicted with a fiddle

4 Matured, as fruit / Toupee, slangily

5 Pretty Maids All in a ____ (1971 murder mystery film) / Playing card brand that probably isn't popular with foxes: hyph.

6 ____ of the Year (1993 sports comedy) / Swiss psychiatrist Carl

7 Olympic sport for men since 1964 and for women since 1992 / Stylish

8 Area with the Recycle Bin icon in Windows, for example / Eat Drink Man Woman director Lee

9 On fire / Swiss ____ knife

10 Convey, as knowledge / The snake in Billy Gilman's "The Snake Song" falls in love with one

PENTOMINOES:

* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

* Its blue variety is the state gemstone of Texas

* Gossipmonger

* Minecraft ____ (augmented reality Minecraft spin-off)

* ____ Line Is It Anyway? (improv comedy show)

* Type of airship associated with Goodyear advertising

* Mall sighting

* Modify, as a constitution

* Diamond in the ____

* Brimming with excitement, like a beehive

* ____ hippopotamus (small hippopotamus variety)

* "Just take those old records off the ____. . ." (Bob Seger lyric)

* Trial and ____

* ____ Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory spin-off)

* Country where the top 23 busiest train stations in the world are all located

* Roman province governed by Pontius Pilate

* Came up

* Pompeo of Grey's Anatomy

* Extract compressed computer files, say

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 7-letter word for "Tortilla brand with a bell in the logo"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Film Strip

Posted on Monday, November 09, 2020

(PDF of this puzzle to print out)
Each of the words and phrases below has had a film title stripped out of it. Add some letters to each of the strings to obtain the original word or phrase; the added letters will spell a film title. For example, if the string is HARLEATHGATGASSEEVTOR, then the original phrase is CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR (the stripped letters spelling CINDERELLA). Fit the film titles thus stripped into the crisscross grid and anagram the highlighted letters into a 5-letter word. This word can be formed by stripping another film title out of a longer word; send this longer word as your final answer.

BUBONIPAG (2 wds.)

CAPSKE

EHOVHSITNES (2 wds.)

EYHNISAWESME (3 wds.)

FTHEOEFISWEIT (6 wds.)

GIUEPVRI (2 wds.)

HACTEZ

IPLTAIN

IPWC

JABBEW

KFOD (2 wds.)

PRORTATIN

RCLDREN

RNUTHERKINGY (4 wds.)

SATSICLLYSIGIFANT (2 wds.)

SRESSG (2 wds.)

TSRESSIN

UDINGHT (2 wds.)

WESTNTABBE (2 wds.)

WYEGREKY (2 wds.)

Send your final answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on November 22, 2020 to enter the contest. A randomly-selected first-place winner will win my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion), plus a $15 gift card for the fine establishment whose name I've stripped from LONDONINTENATONALINANCIALUUESNDOPTIONSECHANGE (7 wds.). A randomly-selected second-place winner will receive a $10 gift card for the same fine establishment. Good luck!

Wordy Wednesday 364: Cryptogram Fun Pack 2

Posted on Wednesday, November 04, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #362

ANACROSSWORD 21 (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:
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Arkayde **
John Bulten *
Leo Termin **
Kevin Orfield **
Mary Maynard **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin *

WORDY WEDNESDAY #363

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 13 (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 #364

CRYPTOGRAM FUN PACK 2

(click here for a PDF version)

Solve these six cryptograms; each has its own code, and each has a six-letter word missing. Words that are always capitalized (such as proper names) are indicated with asterisks (*), and words that are capitalized because of their presence in a title are indicated by carats (^). For example, ^Sir *Isaac *Newton's favorite film is “^Gravity”. Fit the six missing words into the crisscross grid and anagram the highlighted letters into the final answer word.

1. *S UMYP NSBMEWO KMP RQA *HKEHKFSYH NKEDSOY ______. PQW NKMFOWE RLY FLHWO *UKW; QW OSOF'P RLFP TWKTXW OESFGSFB QSH.

2. ______, DVN DNWS TXW XWBUQGONY *IUMUQNCN LWGSGQURC, XWGBGQUDNC TWXS DVN EXWCD MXCCGPRN VUQY GQ U LUWY BUSN.

3. NBDX MYPQO, ZEYD OTTHDC JLT BDHNBJTF "^SBJO" JUBHPTU, EUBXTF JY UTNYWT HJO ZCPX SLBUBSJTUO MUYN JLTHU PYDC-JTUN "^______".

4. IZQ ^TNKLHHYC BKAGAL: BEC VQYR BEKCC TBLBCT MEVTC QLSCT IVKS YCWLY XYLRT LKC *NVYVKLFV, *BCDLT, LQF *______.

5. OHEQ LRBM IRPTER, QKNTSHEV OTW YBMCMKSIUV PREERB PRCMBR YURSEHCKU ^TSSMVHSD ^______ AHIRMW BRIRCHSRI “STARU”-DTLHSD.

6. BSEESNMWK DUEULMVSHJ DSWBEUKQUVMSW, HWIUHWVGI JZUDGLGW UISZVGI WGN *UZSEES LUJDSV, OGESYGI DSLMDJ OGUKEG *______.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "'Just take those old records off the ____. . .' (Bob Seger lyric)"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: 10 Mario Challenges (RESULTS!)

Posted on Monday, November 02, 2020

About two weeks ago, I posted the 10 Mario Challenges contest. Here are the results!

Wordy Wednesday 363: Snake Crisscross 13

Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #361

CRYPTICROSTIC 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:
Stephen Potter **
Tyler Hinman **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #362

ANACROSSWORD 21 (hint)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #363

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 13

(click here for a PDF version)

This puzzle's crisscross grid contains entries which read across and down as normal; these words are defined in alphabetical order by length under the heading “Crisscross Words.” The grid also contains a number of “snakes”: areas which follow a single clear path. Each of these snakes contains an entry which snakes from one end of the path to the other. These entries are defined under the heading “Snake Words”, and are also clued in alphabetical order by length. You must determine how the grid is divided into snakes; no two snakes overlap.

Arrange the letters in the highlighted cells to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

CRISSCROSS WORDS

3 LETTERS

Golfer Ernie with a winemaking business

Parking ____

Knightly title

Golfer’s peg

Overly

4 LETTERS

Reference line in a Cartesian plane, say

Richard of American Gigolo (1980)

Shoestring

Company based in Billund, Denmark

____ & Stitch (2002 film)

____ and easy

Dozes (off)

Delivered

Took to court

Certain arithmetic results

5 LETTERS

Part of a butcher’s uniform

Cartographical book

Items for holding up pants

Pyramid alternative

Greece’s largest island

Consumed

Precise

Odor

The Sixth ____ (1999 film)

Separator between words, often

“Every Rose Has Its ____” (Poison hit)

6 LETTERS

Certain marbles

Sharp, as an observer

The hound in The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Rubbed away, as a pencil mistake

Clinging mollusk

Cries loudly

7 LETTERS

Heavy weight placed to improve a ship’s control

9 LETTERS

Gadgetry

14 LETTERS

Professional user of essential oils

SNAKE WORDS

5 LETTERS

Benefactor

Identifying tag

Moderate shade of purple

Lesson of a fable

Gotten up

____ Magnolias (1989 film)

Nappy leather

They may be hailed

Member of a Rwandan ethnic group

6 LETTERS

Climb

Yellow jacket relative

Jamaican music genre

Title for a Japanese teacher

Straight man

Brand once associated with the slogan, “You can trust your car to the man who wears the star”

7 LETTERS

Location in Arthurian legend

Dutch Renaissance humanist

Frozen masses: 2 wds.

Incentive

Attack verbally: 2 wds.

16 LETTERS

1996 PlayStation game whose protagonist is a musically inclined anthropomorphic dog: 3 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A sequel nobody asked for!
* Patron Puzzles #76 and #77, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), are titled Busted Bits and Super Pent Words. I made the executive decision to give my patrons two Patron Puzzles this month.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Wordy Wednesday 362: Anacrossword 21

Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #360

PENT WORDS 72 (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:
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #361

CRYPTICROSTIC 9 (hint)

As of this writing, 7 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 #362

ANACROSSWORD 21

(click here for a PDF version)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
Prepared to shoot, say
What a songwriter might be concerned with
Chip of Whose Line Is It, Anyway?
Hold ____
____ of the Loom (underwear brand)
1984 film where little creatures terrorize Kingston Falls
1969-1997 country music variety show: 2 wds.
The ____ for Red October
Parasitic worm
Crazy
Computer programs that cause undesired behavior
Items on which to wipe your feet before entering a house
Its state bird is the greater roadrunner: 2 wds.
Part of a desert that may temporarily have a lake
Button on an audiocassette player
Instrument for jazz musician John Coltrane
The ____ Life of Pets
Charlie of Wall Street (1987)
Persnickety person
Layer
Rocker Turner
“Best of Intentions” singer Travis
“Flick of the ____” (Queen song)

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 6-letter word for "Brand once associated with the slogan, 'You can trust your car to the man who wears the star'"?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: 10 Mario Challenges

Posted on Monday, October 19, 2020

At“ten”tion Nin“ten”do fans! I have created some puzzles to commemorate this year marking the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Each of these ten Mario-themed mini-puzzles yields an individual answer. Together, the puzzles form a meta puzzle and yield a collective answer, as well. Those of you who have never played a Mario game should be glad to know that all Mario-related information required to solve these puzzles should be relatively easy to locate on various wikis.

Part I. Solve the Mini-Puzzles!

Solve the mini-puzzles and send your solutions to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. For each correct solution received (up to 10), you will get an entry in a prize drawing to win some cool Mario-themed merchandise!

Part II. Solve the Meta Puzzle!

Solve the meta puzzle and send your solution to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com, and you will get an entry in a prize drawing to win the grand prize of some cool Mario-themed merchandise and a copy of my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion)!

The deadline for both parts of the contest is 11:59 PM Central time on November 1, 2020. After this deadline, the winners will be selected (first for Part II, then for Part I from among those who didn't win Part II). Good luck!

(click here for a PDF of all the puzzles together)

(note: you can click some images in this blog post to enlarge them)

01. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t BABY BOWSER

02. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t BRIGHT CARD

03. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t CACTUS MINE

04. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t CANNON KAOS

How many Coins do you get for defeating a Paper Goomba in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam?

How many green Toads make up the group of "Fun Guys" in Paper Mario: Color Splash?

What is the sticker number of the Flashy Hopslipper sticker in Paper Mario: Sticker Star?

How many FP does a Lime Candy restore in Paper Mario?

What is the number of Spike Top's Catch Card in Super Paper Mario?

In what chapter of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door do you face Hooktail?

What number is in the full name of the boss in Paper Mario: The Origami King who is known as "Colored Pencils", and is also the number of colored pencils he normally has?

05. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t COOKIE LAND

06. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t CRANKY KONG

07. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t LIGHT BLOCK

08. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t POKEY MUMMY

09. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t WALRUS COVE

10. A Puzzle Whose Answer Isn’t WARIO WORLD

The Meta

As mentioned before, these ten puzzles yield a collective answer as a meta puzzle. You may obtain hints on how to solve the meta puzzle through the following means.

First Hint: Solve Any 7 Puzzles

Just email me any 7 puzzle answers, and I’ll send you the first hint. If you don’t want to wait on me to respond, I have set up the following process so you can obtain the hint more quickly:

Step 1: For each puzzle you’ve solved, go to https://sites.google.com/view/10mariochallenges-XXYYYYYYYYYY/home, replacing XX with the two digits preceding the puzzle’s title and YYYYYYYYYY with the puzzle’s answer. If done correctly, a website will appear with a 57-character string (2 digits, a hyphen, and 54 hexadecimal digits [regular digits plus letters a through f]). These are shares for Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme.

Step 2: When you have 7 such strings, go to http://point-at-infinity.org/ssss/demo.html. In the “Combine” field, set “Threshold” to 7 and enter the 7 strings you obtained. If done correctly, a 27-digit number will appear as the output.

Step 3: Go to https://sites.google.com/view/ATWENTYSEVENCHARACTERSTRING/home, replacing ATWENTYSEVENCHARACTERSTRING with the 27-digit number. The first hint should appear.

Second Hint: Solve All 10 Puzzles

Just email me all 10 puzzle answers, and I’ll send you the second hint. If you don’t want to wait on me to respond, I have set up the following process so you can obtain the hint more quickly:

Step 1: Go to https://www.md5hashgenerator.com/. Make a string out of all 10 puzzle answers, in puzzle order (01 through 10), in lowercase letters, separated by hyphens (for-example-it-might-look-like-this-string-right-here). If done correctly, the hash should begin with bc8a4.

Step 2: Go to https://sites.google.com/view/ATWENTYSEVENCHARACTERSTRING/home, replacing ATWENTYSEVENCHARACTERSTRING with the hash, minus the first five characters bc8a4. The second hint should appear.

Wordy Wednesday 361: Crypticrostic 9

Posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #358

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 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:
Mark Ballinger **
James McGowan **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #359

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 12 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
James McGowan **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #360

PENT WORDS 72 (hint)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #361

CRYPTICROSTIC 9

(click here for a PDF version)

The answer is two words enumerated (4 8).

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

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

Allow peculiar baleen __ __ __ __ __ __

46 41 24 01 06 30

Appealing crooner Crosby eats breakfast item __ __ __ __ __ __ __

36 52 29 42 33 25 45

Earlier, tennis player Arthur lost first of set, then gained advantage __ __ __ __ __

02 35 40 14 09

Pamela of "Kindergarten Cop" adopts a child — logical __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

37 51 08 05 19 28 13 04

Retiring social club member in Minnesota baseball team blinks __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

56 32 47 53 20 12 07 26

Scrap Chinese ship __ __ __ __

18 50 48 39

Shake piece of archery equipment __ __ __ __ __ __

49 44 55 15 21 31

Solitary person with unlimited explosive powder __ __ __ __ __ __

54 16 11 23 27 34

Spanish madam from chosen oracle __ __ __ __ __ __

17 10 03 38 22 43

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* In what 1984 film do little creatures terrorize Kingston Falls?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words! (RESULTS!)

Posted on Monday, October 12, 2020

It's time for the results of this contest!

Wordy Wednesday 360: Pent Words 72

Posted on Wednesday, October 07, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #357

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 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:
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #358

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 9 (hint)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #359

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 12 (hint)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #360

PENT WORDS 72

(click here for a PDF version)

ACROSS (two answers per row):
1 Ford SUV associated with O. J. Simpson / Become more lively, with "up"
2 Nitrous ____ (laughing gas) / Corporal Walter Eugene O'Reilly, familiarly
3 Japanese egg noodles / Song at a funeral
4 Jerk's offering / "Successful New Movie Ratings Website Just Gives Exact Opposite Score Of ____ Tomatoes" (headline from Christian satirical news site The Babylon Bee)
5 Low point / "Bruce ____ Suspected As Patient Zero In Gotham Coronavirus Outbreak" (The Babylon Bee headline)
6 Square / Commencements
7 "Super ____" (ABBA song) / Cacophanous noise
8 ____: A Machine for Pigs (2013 horror game) / "And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ____. . ."
9 Animal also known as a prairie wolf / Brunswick ____
10 The Big ____ (1985-2009 California lottery game show) / Williams of Neptune's Daughter (1949)

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Stereotypical name of a woman who wants to see your manager
* ____ cheer
* ____ of a Wimpy Kid (2010 film)
* "____ In My Own Tears" (Ray Charles song)
* Alcoholic apple beverage
* Express a viewpoint
* On the ____ (in a vulnerable position)
* Catlike animal with a spotted body and a ringed tail
* Strawberry ____ Clock (rock band)
* They may measure IQ
* Tendon
* French farewell
* Me and ____ Welles (2008 film)
* Anesthetic of yore
* Alter, as a constitution
* Word following "horse" or "soap"
* Stun gun trademark
* Tuesday offerings at a Mexican restaurant

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Crypticrostic!

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words! (Week 4 update — FINAL UPDATE!)

Posted on Monday, October 05, 2020

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:

The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NONE

The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): ONE

The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: TWO

The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): ALL

Week 1:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than 10: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BORROWER, counterexample: ROWER): ONE

[Jason Boomer] The set of words with length of 8 or more: ONE

[Jessica Timmerman] The set {BALLOON, BEEPED, BOOKING, BOOMING, BULLFROG, CHICKEN, FEED, FEELING, FOOD, GULL}: NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with second-to-last letter between L and S inclusive: ONE

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all words that appear as distinct words in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (as opposed to as substrings of words), according to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare (example: BRANCHLESS, counterexample: RANCH): NONE
[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words containing a double vowel (AA, EE, II, OO, UU, YY): NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 through 10: ALL

Week 2:

[Arkayde] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words in which either the first or the second letter appears in the string HE WEARS MANY HATS: NONE

[John and Izak Bulten] The set of all words containing a double letter between NN and ZZ inclusive: TWO

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7-letter words that contain the letter O at least once: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words ending with a double letter: NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a letter between J and P inclusive: NONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words with 3 or more consecutive consonants (consonants being defined as all letters except A, E, I, O, U, and Y): ONE

Week 3:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of words with at least 8 letters, of which at least 3 are (not necessarily distinct) vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y): ONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and appears in the string FAMILY REUNIONS: ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words which contain the letter R: ONE

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7- letter words that contain the letter R at least once: NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which contain three or more of the same letter: ONE

[Leo Termin] The set of all words ending in a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words with 2 or more non-overlapping double letters in them (examples: VOODOO, ZOOKEEPER; counterexamples: PEEP, ZZZ): NONE

Week 4:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words ending in S: ONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all 7- and 9-letter words in which exactly two of the letters appear in the phrase CHEMICAL X: ALL

[John Bulten] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: ALL

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7-letter words that contain the letter N at least once: NONE

[Kevin Orfield] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: ALL

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words ending with a letter between R and V inclusive: ONE

[Leo Termin] The set of all words that, when the last letter is removed, still form a valid word according to scrabble.merriam.com (examples: LATHER, SCAMPI, TOKEN): ONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all 6-letter words whose first four letters make a Scrabble-legal word: NONE

Since the trio of words has been guessed, $44 has been donated to the Food Bank of West Central Texas!

Everyone now has one more week to guess the trio of words and get entered into the prize drawing!

Wordy Wednesday 358: DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 9 & Wordy Wednesday 359: Snake Crisscross 12

Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #356

SECTION SIX 35 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
James Haddad **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
Izak Bulten *
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Leo Termin **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #357

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 8 (hint)

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH = DOUBLE WORDY WEDNESDAYS!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #358

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 9

(click here for a PDF version)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __,

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ *__ __ __ __ __ __

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

*__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ *__ __ __ __ __ *__ __ __ __ __ __.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

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 79 80 81 82 83 84

__ __ __ __ __ __

85 86 87 88 89 90

“Chef” of canned pasta fame, based on a real chef named Hector __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

05 32 12 66 52 50 36 87

____ dissonance __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

48 72 42 02 77 79 60 33 16

Anterior __ __ __ __ __

63 58 43 23 65

Last adjective in the Pledge of Allegiance __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

89 56 04 19 78 38 27 75 69 11 07

At arm’s ____ __ __ __ __ __ __

90 53 39 35 24 45

For every one hundred __ __ __ __ __ __ __

15 81 59 51 47 34 82

Namesake of the most populous city in Texas: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

21 01 31 74 62 85 14 68 84 09

Quietude __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

54 17 26 28 80 37 13 64 61

Giggle __ __ __ __ __ __

30 22 44 73 20 55

Online bot also called a spider: 2 wds. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

71 57 03 86 41 08 88 25 10 49

2006 video game featuring baseball, bowling, boxing, golf, __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

and tennis: 2 wds. 83 18 29 67 46 40 06 76 70

WORDY WEDNESDAY #359

SNAKE CRISSCROSS 12

(click here for a PDF version)

Arrange the letters in the highlighted cells to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

CRISSCROSS WORDS

3 LETTERS

Snooze

Stool pigeon

Moderately dry, as champagne

____ of a gun

4 LETTERS

Associate

Likewise

Sitcom starring Sherman Hemsley as a church deacon

Painter Warhol

Certain Egyptian symbol

Bottle toppers

Hair salon item

Pub projectile

Give off

Greek counterpart to Cupid

Emulate a pleased cat, say

Mineral used in making a powder

Separated a paper towel sheet, say

5 LETTERS

____ of the Titans (2010 movie)

1996 movie where Madonna portrays Juan Perón's wife

Evil organization in the Captain America comics

Senate Majority Leader McConnell

Certain Japanese noodles

Biblical mountain also known as Mount Horeb

A type of chord in music

6 LETTERS

GoDaddy offering

Wheel of Fortune category that formerly included proper names

Painter Warhol’s movement: 2 wds.

7 LETTERS

Londoner’s “goodbye!”

Basketball team that moved from Fort Wayne, IN to Detroit, MI in 1957

The Little ____ (1994 movie based on the Our Gang short films)

8 LETTERS

Expert on plant life

Be a tyrant

Hairstyle pulled together with a band

9 LETTERS

Medical device that really sucks

Netflix series inspired by the real-life story of British women who became radical Islamists

Items at the bottoms of sets of Groucho glasses

SNAKE WORDS

5 LETTERS

Absinthe-making need

Ratchet’s robotic partner

Small jazz band

Like a lice-infested scalp, perhaps

Grind finely into a paste

Sotomayor of the Supreme Court

Deck in a psychic reading

6 LETTERS

Item in the game Texas 42

Charlton who was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003

Like numbers generated by fair dice

Antonin of the Supreme Court

7 LETTERS

When something is broadcasted on radio or television

“The Girl from ____” (bossa nova classic)

French’s offering

Singer Frank who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan in 1985

Shapes of phonograph record grooves

Bullfight participants

To an indispensable extent

8 LETTERS

Role for Jason Robards in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967): 2 wds.

Measuring pair

They may be spotted on an African safari

10 LETTERS

Video game franchise from which the “Luigi wins by doing absolutely nothing” memes originated: 2 wds.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Stereotypical name of a woman who wants to see your manager"?
* Patron Puzzle #75, which will be delivered exclusively to Patreon supporters ($5 or more per month), is a pair of Codewords.

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, keep on living, and yappy solving!

Contest: Let's Guess THREE Words! (Week 3 update)

Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020

For full rules, see here.

Week 0:

The set of all words beginning with a letter between Q and Z inclusive: NONE

The set of all words whose letters have a combined point value of 15 or higher in English-language Scrabble (examples: JOKE, ZZZ): ONE

The set of all words where exactly two of the letters are A, E, I, O, U, or Y: TWO

The set of all words containing a double letter (examples: EGG, BOOT, LLAMA; counterexamples: FIFE, NANA): ALL

Week 1:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of all words of length greater than 10: NONE

[Jason Boomer] The set of words with length of 8 or more: ONE

[Jessica Timmerman] The set {BALLOON, BEEPED, BOOKING, BOOMING, BULLFROG, CHICKEN, FEED, FEELING, FOOD, GULL}: NONE

[John Bulten] The set of all words with second-to-last letter between L and S inclusive: ONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE
[Sam Levitin] The set of all words of length 6 through 10: ALL

Week 2:

[Arkayde] [private guess of a set of 3 words]: NONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words in which either the first or the second letter appears in the string HE WEARS MANY HATS: NONE

[John and Izak Bulten] The set of all words containing a double letter between NN and ZZ inclusive: TWO

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7-letter words that contain the letter O at least once: ONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words ending with a double letter: NONE

[Kyle Nils] The set of all words beginning with a letter between J and P inclusive: NONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words with 3 or more consecutive consonants (consonants being defined as all letters except A, E, I, O, U, and Y): ONE

Week 3:

[Daniel Levitin] The set of words with at least 8 letters, of which at least 3 are (not necessarily distinct) vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y): ONE

[Inge S. Kraft] The set of all words in which the fifth letter exists and appears in the string FAMILY REUNIONS: ALL

[John Bulten] The set of all words which contain the letter R: ONE

[Kenneth Wilson] The set of all 6- and 7- letter words that contain the letter R at least once: NONE

[Kevin Orfield] The set of all words which contain three or more of the same letter: ONE

[Leo Termin] The set of all words ending in a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, Y): NONE

[Sam Levitin] The set of all words with 2 or more non-overlapping double letters in them (examples: VOODOO, ZOOKEEPER; counterexamples: PEEP, ZZZ): NONE

The money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $44.

Submit more guesses!

Wordy Wednesday 357: DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 8

Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2020

WORDY WEDNESDAY #355

PENT WORDS 71 (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 **
Cindy Heisler **
Joe Bernard **
Mark Ballinger **
Stephen Potter **
John Bulten **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #356

SECTION SIX 35 (hint)

WORDY WEDNESDAY #357

DIV IDE DIN TOT RIP LES 8

(click here for a PDF version)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __, __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __-__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __,

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

__ __ __ __ __.