Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 19: Rejected Word Games

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten **
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
John Bulten **
Mark Tilford **
Michael Madsen **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **

A number of people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Now you don't have to figure out which clue goes where! Send your solutions 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!

Last week's Wordy Wednesday was made using software called Crossfire. The full version costs $50; I'm not yet confident enough in my ability to actually get a crossword published to justify getting it for professional purposes with my own money, which is why last week I suggested donating a copy. I do have some crossword theme ideas I'd like to try, including at least one meta, so you might see something interesting from me (here or elsewhere) if you do. Here's a PDF of another crossword I made using the demo of Crossfire, a simple 10x10 puzzle designed for use as part of a magic trick. I now offer this puzzle to my blog's readers as a bonus. Any amateur magicians (if any of those happen to be among my audience) who wish to use this puzzle for their own purposes should open the ODT file and change the name and date in 1-Across to their liking. Any professional magicians will need to note that the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License under which all of my puzzles on this blog are released precludes commercial use, and negotiate something with me. Even if you're not interested in performing cheesy card magic, though, I hope you will enjoy solving the puzzle. :)

A rejected submission for Will Shortz's Wordplay. Rearrange the letters in the 7 shaded squares to form the final answer word.

THREE DOUBLE LETTERS
1. 16th state: J2 B2 D1 J3 P4 N3 E3 X3 Q1
2. Accountant: P1 H2 W2 H3 G5 H1 G2 U4 Q2 U3
3. It grinds beans: R2 T5 U2 E1 C5 S4 L3 H5 N1 Q3
4. His daughter is named Moxie CrimeFighter: U4 R3 W1 I2 P2 M3 T1 N1 B3 A5 S2 V3
ALPHABETICAL INITIALS
1. Popular smartphone game: A1 I4 K3 U3 C2 P1 P3 G1 Q4 M2
2. One method to determine something's age: J1 G4 D4 W3 J4 W5 U1 C3 D3 V1 E2 L4
3. Shocking barrier: C5 O1 S1 B1 A4 G1 N4 X1 U2 D2 H4 R2 G3
4. Pituitary gland output: X5 D4 C1 L1 L5 A2 B5 J4 U3 L3 T2 W4 L2
FOLLOW DIRECTIONS
1. Like current news coverage: N2 U4 J2 H2 B4 A3 Q1 U5 K5 K4 M4 A5 K1
2. Original "Concentration" host: B5 N2 L4 F4 O4 V4 R4 I2 S3
3. Like a southpaw: M5 F3 E1 D5 V2 T3 I1 U1 C4 O5
4. Legal precedence for a motorist: U3 V1 K3 S5 E4 V4 U2 P5 T4 R5
FOUR+FOUR=ONE
1. WARM+SHOO: X2 E5 X4 Q5 D4 H2 T2 U5
2. HENS+SIGH: K2 M1 X5 R1 F2 F1 O3 I5
3. COOL+CRIB: O2 G1 C1 B1 X1 T5 F5 I3
4. COIF+TENT: J1 W2 W1 E1 N5 A4 J5 V5


Posted in Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 20: Pent Words 4

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Adam Weaver **
Bryce Herdt *
Cheryl Chan **
Christian H.P. **
Edderiofer He **
Giovanni Pagano **
Hannah, Izak, and Penni Bulten *
Jack Bross **
Jack Lance **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
John Bulten **
Mark Tilford **
Michael Madsen **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **

12 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's a marginally easier version. Send your solutions 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!

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 above, 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 Card game in which getting 10 bags carries a penalty / Mathematician Niels Henrik ____
2 Tessellation, for example / "Good ____" (Food Network show)
3 Certain naval rank / "Us and ____" (Pink Floyd song)
4 Make amends / Dodge
5 "The ____ King" / All episodes of "Friends", nowadays
6 Prepare dough, perhaps / ____ Mim (antagonist of Disney's "The Sword in the Stone")
7 Website where people post short videos / Make affectionate
8 It might interrupt a programme on the telly / Operatic solo
9 Dryer build-up / Hogwarts, for example
10 Aromatic resin / Farm tool
PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Bovine organ
* "America's Funniest Home Videos" surname
* Occurrence
* Bargain
* Permit
* Dip in Mexican restaurants
* Macaulay's "Home Alone" character
* "Unsafe at Any Speed" author Ralph
* Chew noisily
* "____ Been Kissed" (1999 romantic comedy)
* What Lancelot Ware and Roland Berrill founded
* Perform improv, for example: hyph.
* Ray in the ocean
* Not behind
* They might have buckles
* Sour cream partner
* Niamey is its capital
* Places to buy sandwiches


Posted in Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 21: Chew On This

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Cheryl Chan **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano *
Izak Bulten *
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
John Bulten **
Mark Tilford **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **

12 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. As per usual, this grid is partitioned for you, leaving you with the task of writing answers. Send your solutions 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!


This puzzle was written for solver Adam Weaver. It's 6 rows tall instead of the usual 10 for a reason. There's no reward for solving this one; enjoy it as a bonus puzzle. :)

I would like to thank Ginger Fikes for donating a copy of the Crossfire software which I used to make this crossword as well as Wordy Wednesday #18. This is a meta crossword, meaning there's more to do than just solve the crossword answers, but you have to figure out what (veterans of Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest will be intimately familiar with the concept). The Wordy Wednesday answer is a 10-letter proper noun.


Posted in Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 22: I'm Terrible With Names

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil 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:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten *
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
John Bulten **
Mark Tilford **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **

19 people have solved last week's puzzle. That's a huge number for this blog; I suspect a signal boost from meta crossword maven Matt Gaffney helped. Maybe this puzzle was just plain easier than my usual, as well. Haven't solved it yet? Here's a hint. Send your solutions 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!

I'm terrible with names. . . which is why this puzzle doesn't have one. The Wordy Wednesday answer is a two-word title to which the theme answers (two per 12-letter Across entry) all relate.


Posted in Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 23: Bonus Material

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the puzzle, or here for a hint. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Brian Michalowski **
Bryce Herdt **
Cheryl Chan **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten **
Jack Bross **
Jack Lance **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner *
Jerry Rosman **
John Bulten **
Marc Enyedy **
Mark Tilford **
Neville Fogarty **
Paul Melamud **
Randy Rogers *
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **
Walker Anderson *

12 have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's a hint. Send your solutions 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!

This week's puzzle is a contest! The winner of this contest will receive signed copies of the two issues (thus far) of Will Shortz's Wordplay in which I had the honor of being published. Unlike previous Wordy Wednesday offerings, there will not be a hint or an easy version of this puzzle next week; all solvers within the next two weeks will get two stars by their name on the solvers list. Next week's puzzle will also be a contest; a third prize drawing will be held for the people who appear on both solvers lists!
The Wordy Wednesday answer is a 5-letter word relevant to this puzzle's theme.


Posted in contests, Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 24: Zip Lines

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the puzzle, or here for a hint. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green *
Bryce Herdt *
Cheryl Chan *
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten **
Jack Bross *
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
John Bulten **
Marc Enyedy **
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **
Ryan Faley *
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **

11 people have solved last week's puzzle. I have received some incorrect answers, and anticipate receiving a few more. As promised, there will not be an easier version or a hint (a move I made to make the contest easier to manage). All I will say is that when you have the right answer, you'll know you have it. Remember, this puzzle is a contest! Send your solutions to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess, not to mention getting a chance to win signed issues of Will Shortz's Wordplay. Good luck, solvers!

Yeah, I know this is irrelevant to this post, but this blog's become irrelevant enough with its dearth of logic puzzles, so what harm would more irrelevance do?

I have no idea how many of my readers share my passing interest in card magic, but I made this post in January (back when my readership was at zero due to my lack of puzzles, but I didn't know where else to put it) proposing a variant of the classic "Bible Atlas Goose Thigh" card trick where instead of dealing the pairs of cards onto the pairs of letters one by one, the performer mixes up the cards so that the pairs of cards fall onto the pairs of letters when dealt in a natural order. First of all, some person in Russia has cited this blog post as a reference for his article on this very same trick; a link to it is in the comments on my post. I can't read Russian, but if you're interested in learning the Russian mnemonics for this trick, now you can. :)

Also, I recently stumbled upon this webpage while researching an unrelated card trick. In the section on Mutus Nomen Cocis Dedit, the author writes: "A fairly elaborate, but clever, variation can be found in J.N. Hilliard, Greater Magic (1938), pp. 120-128. In this version the pairs are not gathered up but simply scooped together and genuinely shuffled, then re-dealt to the table consecutively, not according to the familiar pattern. In spite of these two modifications the mind-reader succeeds in divining the thought-of pair or pairs in the usual way." Does this mean my idea has already been done? I've heard rumors that, before the Internet existed, budding magicians would bury themselves in magic books at their libraries; might this book exist at a local library?

This week's puzzle is a contest! The winner of this contest will receive signed copies of the two issues (thus far) of Will Shortz's Wordplay in which I had the honor of being published. Unlike previous Wordy Wednesday offerings, there will not be a hint or an easy version of this puzzle next week; all solvers within the next two weeks will get two stars by their name on the solvers list. Last week's puzzle was also a contest; a third prize drawing will be held for the people who appear on both solvers lists!



Posted in contests, Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday 25: Pent Words 5

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Carl Worth **
Cheryl Chan **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten **
Jack Bross **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
Joel Martin **
John Bulten **
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **
And the contest winner, who will receive a copy of the two Wordplay issues in which I've been published, is. . . INSERT WINNER HERE! Congratulations!

19 people have solved last week's puzzle. This includes every single person who solved Wordy Wednesday #23, meaning that this puzzle is strictly easier than that one (so I'm a bad judge of difficulty, eh?), and also that every single one of those people will be eligible for a third prize drawing available only to people who solved both puzzles. As promised, there will not be an easier version or a hint (a move I made to make the contest easier to manage). Remember, this puzzle is a contest! Send your solutions to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess, not to mention getting a chance to win signed issues of Will Shortz's Wordplay. Good luck, solvers!

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 above, 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 "Drawing Hands" artist / Relaxed
2 ____ machine / ____ Dice (game in which players attempt to eat brains)
3 Certain Honda / Cult
4 Joins, as oxen / Unit of currency in Hyrule
5 "____ is a balm in Gilead. . ." / ____ space
6 Surjective, as a function / Roof of the mouth
7 Annoying buggers / "He ____ to Paris" (Jimmy Buffett song)
8 Polio researcher Sabin / Like many valuable collectibles
9 Model / Made on a loom
10 It lacks a charge / "I don't ____ it"

PENTOMINOES:
* HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER
* Wolfed down
* Poet's concern
* Senator who represented Delaware until 2009
* Physicist Heinrich Rudolf ____
* Former "Family Feud" host Ray
* Naughty word
* Treasure ____
* Like some dialed telephone numbers
* Spew out lava
* Origami need
* Certain General Mills cereal
* Doctrine
* South Korea population center
* "May I take your ____?"
* Native of Alaska or Russia, perhaps
* It might have five paragraphs
* Rodney Dangerfield's surname by birth
* Mia Wasikowska's character in a 2010 remake


Posted in contests, Wordy Wednesday

Link to original post : Wordy Wednesday #26: Not Divided Into Words

It's been two weeks, so time to unveil the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Adam Weaver **
Bo Green **
Bryce Herdt **
Carl Worth **
Cheryl Chan **
Christian H.P. **
Giovanni Pagano **
Izak Bulten **
Jack Bross **
Jack Lance **
James McGowan **
Jeremy Conner **
Joel Martin **
John Bulten **
Marc Enyedy **
Mark Tilford **
Randy Rogers **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tim Harrod **
And the contest winner, who will receive a copy of the two Wordplay issues in which I've been published, is. . . INSERT NAME HERE!
But wait, that's not all! I promised a third prize drawing for those individuals who've solved Wordy Wednesday #23 and #24, and the winner of that drawing is. . . INSERT NAME HERE!!! Congratulations! random.org likes you!!

12 people have solved last week's puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your solutions 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!

The mark of a good puzzle writer is when other people write puzzles in your original styles, and I am happy to say that I am not the only Pent Words author in existence. Fan Ryan Faley recently sent me a Pent Words of his own, and despite the potential obscurity of some of the references, I was really honored by his creation, and found it amusing enough to share here. I hope Ryan continues to enjoy my creations, as well! :)

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

Causing harm or grief: 71 22 39 102 84 52 30
Tie with rope: 37 72 53 47
Sweatshirt that also covers your head: 60 45 09 42 107 20
One of four on a Monopoly board: 103 05 26 44 18 85 78 54
Give off bubbles and hiss: 38 106 15 64 10 98 58 19 34 80
It might be an acorn hoarder: 66 21 17 97 76 86 32 04
Trinket or bauble: 93 101 08 96 41 70
Game show “The ____ Link”: 63 99 75 57 90 88 48
Creature which sometimes elicits an "Eek!": 91 51 46 12 03
Noted role for Adam West: 65 43 59 100 104 24
Residents of Riyadh: 62 27 31 79 67 50
Child actress Hayley: 89 92 28 55 06
Hedburg who said, “Every book is a children's book if the kid can read!”: 87 61 95 108 02
Emulated an owl: 94 13 49 01 77 11
Decade of the inauguration of Ike: 105 56 14 25 82 69 33
Band with the album "Dreamboat Annie": 74 23 35 81 68
____ the dots: 29 16 36 83 40 73 07


Posted in contests, Wordy Wednesday