Category: Solutions

Each of the clues references two words which when combined sound like another word, which is also clued.

• The mystical glow of fellows lit by a candelabra. MEN AURA = MENORAH
• Colony member runs off to get married to deer. ANT ELOPE = ANTELOPE
• A needlefish burrow with a flower bed. GAR DEN = GARDEN
• Peer group of hotels causes harm. INN JURY = INJURY
• Desert enchantress makes lunch, perhaps. SAND WITCH = SANDWICH
• Betrayal of an oak or maple child. TREE SON = TREASON
• Uncooked monarch moves back and forth. RAW KING = ROCKING
• Noah’s assistant in building boats and gaming centers. ARK AIDE = ARCADE
• Discuss transgressions or poisons. TALK SINS = TOXINS
• Consumable bovine in a Norse epic. EDDA BULL = EDIBLE
• What a pen makes when writing on a slope. INK LINE = INCLINE
• The sister throws this weapon. NUN CHUCKS = NUNCHUKS
• An airway Sorento on a platter. TRAY KIA = TRACHEA
• The full wrath of the treefolk. ENT IRE = ENTIRE
• A wanderer’s commercial for garden decorations. GNOME AD = NOMAD
• Part of a swimming pool that you can rely on. DEEP END = DEPEND
• What someone with a mouth phobia might say when they see gum being chewed. EEK LIPS = ECLIPSE
• Something found in the freezer of campus housing by animals. DORM ICE = DORMICE

Reading the first letters of the longer words gives the phrase MAGISTRATE INTENDED. This is a clue for JUDGE MEANT, which sounds like JUDGMENT, the answer.

This is a regular crossword, except that some of the clues give an answer that is twice as long as the number of squares given. These are all preceded by “50% OFF” indicators, and either the first or second half of the answer must be left off to form a crossword-legal entry to place in the grid. The completed grid looks like this:

Here are the longer answers to the 50% off clues, in case the grid doesn’t help with them: 1A) CHICKENS, 9A) WILLIAMS, 10A) CHLORIDE, 14A) FIBULA, 16A) NUCLEI, 17A) MACRON, 31A) TRUSTY, 32A) BO PEEP, 33A) HORNET, 35A) EXPONENT, 41A) COURTIER, 42A) FEMININE, 43A) ANYWHERE, 2D) ARCHIE, 3D) UPHILL, 4D) CLEFAIRY, 5D) ARTHUR, 6D) VIOLATIONS, 8D) DELICATE, 18D) ARIANA, 25D) STAIRS, 26D) REPEAT, 27D) FLASHY, 30D) LAST SUPPER, 32D) BETHSEDA, 34D) BARITONE, 36D) BEFORE, 38D) DIPPER, 39D) CAPONE, 40D) SEETHE

Clue 24A, “The answer, without a discount” can be determined from the crossing down clues to be MILITARIES. To solve the puzzle, take 50% off from this to get ARIES.

Each of the clues refers to a very long word, generally one specifically coined to be long. Indexing into these words by the numbers following their clues spells out shorter words. The long words and their shorter counterparts are as follows:

• otorhinolaryngological (INHALING)
• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (TINY)
• supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (PARTICLES)
• pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (MAY)
• floccinaucinihilipilification (INFLICT)
• honorificabilitudinitatibus (THIS)
• antidisestablishmentarianism (DISEASE)

Reading the shorter words in order gives the clue phrase INHALING TINY PARTICLES MAY INFLICT THIS DISEASE. Following the pattern established previously, this is a clue for PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS. Indexing into this word by the numbers at the bottom spells out the final answer, SILICON.

Each of the clues leads to an two or three-letter abbreviation. Solvers will quickly notice that the abbreviations on the left and right are reflections of each other. Connecting the pairs of reversed abbreviations gives this:

From top to bottom, the letters crossed by the lines spell out INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER. The abbreviation for this is ISP, which can be reversed to make the answer, PSI, short for Pounds per Square Inch.

It would not be unreasonable for somebody to think the answer could be ISP, Pounds per Square Inch, or even Internet Service Provider. Fortunately, there is no penalty for guessing a couple options. Were the answer checker more sophisticated, I would have had it respond with confirm all three of those options as close.

Each of the given fictional characters famously betrays one or more other characters The names of these characters fit in the given blanks. The betrayer/betrayed pairs are:

• Stinky Pete – WOODY (Toy Story 2)
• Iago – OTHELLO – (Othello)
• Peter Pettigrew – JAMES & LILY POTTER (Harry Potter)
• Brutus – JULIUS CAESAR (Julius Caesar)
• Lando Calrissian – HAN SOLO (Star Wars)
• Hans – ANNA (Frozen)
• Ernesto – HÉCTOR (Coco)

A few of the characters betray larger groups, but the principal target of their betrayal is the one given. The boxed letters from the answers spell out DELILAH. In the Bible, in the book of Judges, Delilah betrays SAMSON to the Philistines.

This word search contains the names of thirty Pokémon from the first generation of games. The completed grid looks like this:

The leftover letters spell out the phrase FULLY-EVOLVED FORM OF MISSING THREE-STAGE EVOLUTION IN GEN ONE. In the first generation of Pokémon games, there are sixteen three-stage evolutionary lines, ranging from Bulbasaur-Ivysaur-Venusaur to Dratini-Dragonair-Dragonite. Each of the names hidden in the puzzle comes from one of these lines, and in fact, the thirty Pokémon consist of two Pokémon from each of fifteen of the sixteen evolutionary lines.

The one missing line which does not appear in the word search is Weedle-Kakuna-Beedrill. The fully-evolved Pokémon in this set is BEEDRILL.

This puzzle consists of five lines of characters from comic strips which must be identified. Many can be identified through a reverse image search, while others require searching for descriptions or text in the picture. The characters and the strips they come from are:

• Wanda (Baby Blues)
• Elizabeth (For Better or For Worse)
• Bucky (Get Fuzzy)
• Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
• Opal (Pickles)

• Monty (Monty)
• Ignatz Mouse (Krazy Kat)
• Cathy (Cathy)
• Asterix (Asterix)
• Nate (Big Nate)

• Snoopy (Peanuts)
• Wiley (B.C.)
• Eek (Eek & Meek)
• Roger (FoxTrot)
• Marcy (Jump Start)

• Irma (Nancy)
• Nancy (Luann)
• Uriah Pert (Gasoline Alley)
• Sergeant Snorkel (Beetle Bailey)
• Attila (Mother Goose and Grimm)

• Nermal (Garfield)
• Snert (Hagar the Horrible)
• Wally (Dilbert)
• Earl (MUTTS)
• Rat (Pearls Before Swine)

The first letters of these characters taken in order spell out the phrase WEBCOMIC ANSWER MINUS ANSWER. This references the webcomic Garfield Minus Garfield. The answer is GARFIELD.

This sort of puzzle, where solvers are tested on their ability to follow incomplete or otherwise complicated constructions, is often referred to as a Conundrum or Konundrum. In this case, solvers are given all the information, and this puzzle is just a test of their comprehension and ability to follow directions. This is easiest to do with a physical copy of the board game, but a wordy walkthrough is provided here.

The theming of the puzzle suggests the board game Clue (or Cluedo in the UK – the differences between the versions are immaterial for this puzzle). The first three paragraphs serve to set the scene and explain the rules of the puzzle. At this point MR. GREEN, MRS. WHITE, and the KNIFE are in the STUDY, PROFESSOR PLUM and the ROPE are in the HALL, COLONEL MUSTARD, MRS. PEACOCK, and MISS SCARLET are in the KITCHEN, the LEAD PIPE and REVOLVER are in the BALLROOM, the WRENCH is in the LOUNGE, and the CANDLESTICK is in the CONSERVATORY.

In the next turn, COLONEL MUSTARD moves to the STUDY, and MR. GREEN goes to the KITCHEN. MRS. WHITE arms herself with the KNIFE and moves to the HALL. MISS SCARLET and MRS. PEACOCK have no weapons to pick up, but both move to the BALLROOM.

Since MRS. WHITE is now holding the KNIFE in the same room as an unarmed PROFESSOR PLUM, she knocks him unconscious, and the KNIFE and PROFESSOR PLUM are removed from play. Write the letter F in the HALL.

In the next turn, MRS. WHITE picks up the ROPE. MRS. PEACOCK gets the LEAD PIPE and MISS SCARLET takes the REVOLVER. COLONEL MUSTARD moves to the CONSERVATORY and claims the CANDLESTICK, and MR. GREEN moves to the LOUNGE and gets the WRENCH. Everybody is armed, so no crimes are committed this turn.

Next, COLONEL MUSTARD with the CANDLESTICK moves to the LOUNGE, and MR. GREEN with the WRENCH goes to the CONSERVATORY.

There is only one pair of suspects in the same room, so at the end of the turn MRS. PEACOCK has the REVOLVER in the LIBRARY, and MISS SCARLET has the LEAD PIPE in the LIBRARY. The letter I is written in the LIBRARY.

The next clue references the KITCHEN, since it, the BALLROOM, and the DINING ROOM are empty. MR. GREEN with the WRENCH goes to the KITCHEN. COLONEL MUSTARD with the CANDLESTICK also reaches the KITCHEN. MRS. PEACOCK with the REVOLVER moves to the CONSERVATORY, MISS SCARLET with the LEAD PIPE goes to the BALLROOM, and MRS. WHITE with the ROPE ends up in the DINING ROOM. Since two armed suspects meet in the KITCHEN, write a T there.

MRS. PEACOCK leaves the REVOLVER in the CONSERVATORY and moves to the BILLIARD ROOM. MRS. WHITE drops the ROPE in the DINING ROOM and moves to the BALLROOM. There, an unarmed MRS. WHITE is knocked unconscious by MISS SCARLET with the LEAD PIPE. MRS. WHITE and the LEAD PIPE are removed from the game, and an I is written in the BALL ROOM.

COLONEL MUSTARD takes the CANDLESTICK to the BALLROOM, MRS. PEACOCK moves to the LIBRARY, and MISS SCARLET goes to the CONSERVATORY and then to the LOUNGE. At the end of the turn, no two suspects are in the same room, so an E is written in the LOUNGE.

There are unconscious bodies in the BALLROOM and the HALL, so MR. GREEN and the WRENCH move to the DINING ROOM, COLONEL MUSTARD takes the CANDLESTICK to the CONSERVATORY, MRS. PEACOCK goes to the BILLIARD ROOM, and MISS SCARLET enters the DINING ROOM. At the end of turn, MR. GREEN uses the WRENCH to knock MISS SCARLET unconscious in the DINING ROOM. MISS SCARLET and the WRENCH are removed from the game, and the DINING ROOM gets a C.

MR. GREEN is in the DINING ROOM along with the rope, so he remains unarmed and moves to the KITCHEN. COLONEL MUSTARD is in the CONSERVATORY with an unclaimed REVOLVER, so he keeps his CANDLESTICK and goes to the BILLIARD ROOM. MRS. PEACOCK is already in the BILLIARD ROOM, unarmed, so she gets knocked out by COLONEL MUSTARD with the CANDLESTICK. the CANDLESTICK and MRS. PEACOCK are removed from the game. An N is written in the BILLIARD ROOM.

By the penultimate turn, the only two rooms without weapons are the CONSERVATORY and the STUDY. Since the REVOLVER is in the CONSERVATORY, both remaining suspects rush toward that room. In one step, COLONEL MUSTARD reaches the CONSERVATORY and arms himself with the REVOLVER. MR. GREEN gets to the BALLROOM, but finds no weapon there with which to arm himself. (The one remaining weapon is the ROPE, currently in the DINING ROOM.) Write the letter O in the CONSERVATORY.

Since the STUDY is now the only room without a letter, MR. GREEN rushes there, where COLONEL MUSTARD knocks him unconscious with the REVOLVER. MR. GREEN and the REVOLVER are removed from the game, and the letter N is written in the STUDY.

Colonel Mustard may have knocked all the other guests out, but the puzzle asks what caused the death of Mr. Boddy. Reading the letters in the rooms clockwise starting in the library, spells out the answer, INFECTION. There was no murder done today.