Thursday, October 8, 2026

CRYPTO CLUES CCLII

GAMES Magazine  
October, 1983 
Loni Hutchinson. (1-4)
GAMES/World of Puzzles
August, 2024
Bob Stigger (5-10) 
 
1. Foolishly presented her to someone else
 
2. Master's students get prose rewritten
 
3. Roughly, bear north for base
 
4. Place wagers without beginning to shuffle
 
5. A very hot spot in oven
 
6. Mooed a whole lot, so to speak
 
7. Dollar's extremes ought to be a concern to farmers
 
8. Unworkable ban on vile novel
 
9. Death is serious
 
10. Fees for using bongs 
 
HINTS:
1. Anagram
2. Anagram
3. Anagram
4. Definition/Beheadment
5. Anagram
6. Homophone
7. Letters + word
8. Anagram
9. Homograph
10. Homograph
 
Answers:
 
1. OTHER (her to)
2. PROTEGES (get prose)
3. ABHORRENT (bear north)
4. AMBLE (gamble)  
5. VENUS (in oven)
6. LOWED (load)
7. DROUGHT (D OUGHT R)
8. NONVIABLE (ban on vile)
9. GRAVE
10. TOLLS  
 

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

HOMOGRAPHS CXV

What single word satisfies both or all of the meanings?  

1. Small sea snail
    Pale, purple-blue color
    Plant with blue-violet flowers
 
2. Lower portion of an interior wall
    Middle section of a column or pedestal 
    Rectangular slot cut into a piece of wood 

3. Two-masted sailing ship
    Prison on a military ship or base 
 
4. Steal
    Tell on, rat out
 
5. A special design, color scheme, or uniform
    A place that will take care of horses for a fee
 
6. Wild donkey
    Ancient Roman catapult
 
7. A covering to protect clothing from stains
    Carefully mowed area surrounding a golf green 
 
Answers:
 
1. Periwinkle
2. Dado
3. Brig
4. Snitch
5. Livery
6. Onager
7. Apron  

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD CCCXII

Add the designated letter to each word and re-arrange the letters to get a new word.

1. CHEST + Y
2. IDEAL + N 
3. SABER + I
4. HEIST + S
5. RELIC + A
6. NERVE + E
7. ROUGE + S
8. BALMY + C 
9. NOMAD + I 
10. TRANCE + I  
 
HINTS;
First letters of the new words:
1. S
2. D
3. B
4. T
5. E
6. V
7. G
8. C
9. D
10. C
 
Answers:
 
1. SCYTHE
2. DENIAL
3. BRAISE
4. THESIS
5. ECLAIR
6. VENEER
7. GROUSE
8. CYMBAL
9. DOMAIN
10. CERTAIN 

FLEXERS CXLV 

Answer each clue by matching it with one of the choices below. Wordplay is fair play.

1. SAG
2. Sine field
3. Puts on a coat
4. Diamond sides 
5 They raise kids 
6. Last word, often
7. Hit close to home 
8. Cinnabon, Kool-Aid, Hi-C 
9. They get what's coming to them 
10. Statement that often contains lies
 
CHOICES:
a. Bunt
b. Trigonometry
c. Never-ending story
d. Epitaph
e. Nines
f. Booster seats
g. Heirs
h. Paints
i. Amen
j. Roll with the punches
 
Answers:
 
1. c - Never-ending story (SAGA)
2. b - Trigonometry
3. h - Paints
4. e - Nines (baseball)
5. f - Booster seats
6. i - Amen
7. a - Bunt (baseball)
8. j - Roll with the punches
9. g - Heirs
10. d - Epitaph ("Here lies .....")
 
Credits:
1: Sam Brody
2: Linda Gould
3: Mike Graczyk
4: Eva McCarthy
5: Jack Hatchett
6: Richard Lee Clark
7: Wendy L. Brandes
8: Rich Katz
9: Jared Cappel
10: Noelle Griskey.    
 

Saturday, September 19, 2026

NPR Weekend Edition Crossword
September 27, 2026
Will Shortz 
 
Each clue can be answered with a four-letter, two-syllable word in which both syllables are the same. 
Ex. Just OK
Ans. So-so
 
1. String toy
2. Good-bye 
3. Lunkhead
4. Ballet skirt 
5. Humdinger
6. It's forbidden 
7. Joke response 
8. Polynesian platter 
9.  La Boheme heroine 
10. Best Picture of 1958 
11 Very excited or foolish
12. Absurdist art movement 
 
Answers:
 
1. Yo-yo
2. Ta-ta
3. Dodo
4. Tutu
5. Lulu
6. No-no
7. Ha-ha
8. Pupu
9. Mimi
10. Gigi
11. Gaga
12. Dada  

 

Friday, September 18, 2026

SHUFFLE 'EM LXIX 

DOVETAILED WORDS
Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles
Volume 73
 
Two 7-letter words, with their letters in correct, but not consecutive order are combined in each row of letters below. To solve the puzzle, separate both words. There are no extra letters and each letter is used only once. The answer words are not related.
 
Ex. B O L U A T S N E K L E L T
Ans. B o L u A t s N e K l E l T
         BLANKET - outsell 
 
Note from JA: #1, 2, 3, and 4 contain suffixes.  #5 is tricky - with 5 E's. 
 
1. V O Y I Y E A G L E D R E D   
 
2.  S C E D A I N T I N O N E D
 
3. K E N A S E N T E S I T E R
 
4. D I R S O L I L A T L E D E  
 
5. P R E T R I E R E M P E T E 
 
Answers:
 
1. VOYAGER - yielded
2. SCANNED - edition
3. KEENEST - nastier
4. DRILLED - isolate
5. PREEMPT - retiree  

DOUBLE DUTY CCCVIII

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles
August 15, 2025
 
Fill the dashes with a 3-letter word to complete a word beginning on the left and begin a word ending on the right. 
 
1. AW _ _ _ NA 
2. TAM _ _ _ RT 
3. AC _ _ _ ICULE
4. PEAS _ _ _ HEM 
5. WAY _ _ _ ETTE
6. IGN _ _ _ GANO
7. BRIG _ _ _ IRON 
8. MAGN _ _ _ LIER 
9. HALI _ _ _ TRESS
10. PRODI _ _ _ LEON 
 
Answers:
 
1. awAREna
2. tamALErt
3. acRIDicule
4. peasANThem
5. wayLAYette
6. ignOREgano
7. brigANDiron
8. magnATElier
9. haliBUTress
10. prodiGALleon