As usual, I will be hosting Sunday puzzle blogging, with a series of puzzles designed to tease, challenge and test. I will also include several photos, all of which can be clicked on to get larger versions of the photo. These are all light drawings, images of manipulated light captured over time.
The standard rules apply: please do not post solutions in subject headers. Instead, use such subjects as "hint for puzzle #3" or "solution for acrostic 1-3-5."
A couple instructions:
ACROSTICS
The rules for an acrostic are simple: for each row, the answer is of increasing length, such as a five-letter word, a six-letter word and a seven-letter word. Each next size word is formed by adding a letter to the previous answer and scrambling.
In the box in-between each answer, put the extra letter. I.e., if your answers were:
ITEMS, MISTER and RED MIST
You'd place an "R" in the box between ITEMS and MISTER and a "D" between MISTER and RED MIST.
When you solve the whole puzzle, you will get two related words in the down columns.
From now on, I won't be including the acrostic grid in the puzzles, but just to describe the structure. I.e., if I were to include the following acrostic:
I will reference it as 9 x 4-5-6. For the two related words, I may sometimes do a trick on the down words (such as reversing the order of one, or switching the first names; in another puzzle I used JOHN ROMNEY and MITT MCCAIN as the answers, or I may even possibly use anagrams).
CELEBRITY DISGUISES
For "celebrity disguises," you have three clues as to the answer, which will always be someone well-known, either fictional or real:
Your clues can be any of the following, with examples for the name JOHN EDWARDS in brackets:
- an anagram; [HARD SNOW, JED];
- the same structure of consonants and vowels; [FINDING ARTS];
- the same number of letters in each word; [DARK CHARIOT];
- the same initial letters of each word; [JANE EYRE];
You will have to sort out which type of clue each answer is. Y's count as vowels and punctuation can be ignored.
Puzzle #1: an acrostic, 15 x 5-6-7:
- Resolved
- With a crystal?
- Dissolved with a vengeance
- Lure
- Black mark
- Like the Statue of Liberty or the Staten Island Ferry
- Like Stewart, Cobert, and Conan, for example
- Paltry
- Crystalized Starch
- Very quickly
- Belief, in a sense
- What some of these clues have hopefully done
- Like Maine or Quebec
- Like shoplifting or gossip
- Polearm, when thrown
- Achilles heel?
- Dramatic change
- North star
- Change
- Bunny's forte
- Gangster's weapon
- Once more
- Mordred's sibling
- Trunk
- Chad's neighbor
- Reverse rotation
- Bringing down
- Audited with luxury?
- Persian Dulcimer
- Damage
- Node
- Leave hanging
- Out in front
- #46, when you return.
- Like Santana, to his guitar
- Garnish
- Ties
- Comfort
- A kind of sugar
- The next in line?
- Tremble
- Wither
- Fashion
- Soft
- Used a common key
Puzzle #2: a Sudoku
The goal is to complete the grid so that every digit (1-9) appears an equal number of times, and so that no digits appear twice in the same row, column, or subdivided box.
Puzzle #3: a crossword puzzle:
The vertical and horizontal lines suggest continuation. I.e., 15-across and 5-down are both four letters long, to be treated no differently than 9-across.
This is a cryptic crossword, which means that the clues not only contain clues as to the word, but puns and other wordplay indicating the answer.
ACROSS
- Confused superior vegetable.
- Monkeyed without potassium, leading to wealth.
- All good ends of life, die first in history.
- In his speed, or his short shorts.
- An urge in early southern emergency room!
- Dig in Rub, or else be tedious.
DOWN
- Twisted oak tree.
- Get lost, and glare with northern fisherman
- Glee without good shelter
- #3 returns a slender fish.
- Mess up Ms. America
- Yes, Dad lost in terrible battle.
- Back in Dekalb, up to a bar.
- Arrogance got me going.
- More headless metals.
Puzzle #4: Celebrity Disguise:
SOBER WHEN WEAK ARE WE,
BUT HELP OUR
SHAKEN CARIBOU SAMBA.
Finally, one more light drawing: