Welcome to Sunday Puzzle, a weekly party for people who enjoy solving puzzles and for people who enjoy watching people solve puzzles.
On tap tonight:
* a 21-clue JulieCrostic, suitable for group solving;
* a bonus 15-clue JulieCrostic, also suitable for group solving;
* two unsolved Catch Phrase puzzles from last week, suitable for individual solving;
* a re-post of the World's Shortest Crypto-Gremlin (with solution in a comment); and
* a brand-new Crypto-Gremlin.
What you won't find is the solution to Hal Humbug's Horrible Headache. I'm running late again, and want to do a good job when I write up the solution, so am postponing that for 2 more weeks -- to November 25. (That will also give me time to post the puzzle in the puzzle section over at JREF later this week to see if anyone there can solve it.)
You can find tonight's puzzles right below the orange squiggle...
First, here's tonight's JulieCrostic. As usual I've arbitrarily bunched the clues into tidy groups of three without regard to how many answers are actually in each row.
If you're not familiar with JulieCrostics and how they work, you can find a complete explanation (along with an introductory puzzle, and an example of a solved puzzle) in our companion series Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up.
1. alternative spelling for romney
2. sharon
3. inveighed
4. calls again
5. cuban
6. last name of tiffany (who was married to supermodel cindy and then to actress carey)
7. revolution or party
8. classifications
9. spanish nobleman
10. got back
11. agrees
12. points of intersection
13. senior members, or leaders
14. craving for pop
15. ambiguous answer
16. common bills
17. salamanders
18. twists together
19. craven lookalike
20. where obama hangs out
21. point follower
..................................................................................................................
Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party /
SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE /
BONUS PUZZLE
Since tonight's feature puzzle is a little short, here's a second JulieCrostic which folks can play with (either tonight, or during the week). I posted a sneak preview of this puzzle last night in Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up, so folks who were there (Hi, Susan!) may already know the answer. Here the clues are:
1. deputy communications director
2. title-holder
3. breadth
4. out of control
5. room decoration
6. group of related rooms
7. having protection for the eyes
8. find out
9. unmarried women
10. small chicks
11. showing respect
12. singers
13. friend
14. wined and dined
15. leader
And here are two of the hints I provided when I posted the puzzle last night:
HINT: I had no idea what the answer to # 5 meant, or that it even was a word, until I looked it up for this clue.
Additional HINT: There's no Rush Limbaugh clue in this puzzle; but I very nearly included one. It wouldn't have been a clue giving a synonym for Rush; it would have been one giving Rush's definition of one of the answers. The clue would have been
quality of being a woman?
I won't tell you which clue it was -- that would be too much of a giveaway -- but I will tell you the clue is in the first row.
(There's an even bigger hint to be found in that diary, but I'll let any of you who feel you need it find it for yourselves.)
..................................................................................................................
Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party /
SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE /
UNSOLVED PUZZLES, part I: Catch Phrase puzzles
Last week I contributed six Catch Phrase puzzles to the potluck. Three of these were solved correctly; one of these was solved incorrectly; and the remaining two went unsolved.
Here are the ones which were solved:
L
emoc
As science correctly posted, this is Lover Come Back.
BALL
TH
Science solved this one as well: Thunderball
W
T
confused penguin
Teamwork between pucklady and science enabled them to correctly deduce that this is wonton soup.
Next we come to:
LAW
THE
Science and pucklady came up with under the law for the answer to this one, but I don't think that works. The word LAW appears above the word THE, not under it. The intended answer to this puzzle is: Above The Law. (ABOVE the word THE you can see the word LAW.)
That leaves two unsolved Catch Phrase puzzles:
UNSOLVED CATCH PHRASE # 1:
|\ Al's 52nd element /|
STER
UNSOLVED CATCH PHRASE # 2:
HE
N
E, frequently
HINT: There are 2 words in the answer to the first unsolved Catch Phrase puzzle, and 4 words in the answer to the second unsolved Catch Phrase puzzle.
HINT: Guesses of Jon Tester and beta tester were made last week for UNSOLVED CATCH PHRASE PUZZLE # 1. Neither of these guesses is correct. (The word Tester is not part of the solution.)
..................................................................................................................
Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party /
SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE /
UNSOLVED PUZZLES, part II: Crypto-Gremlin
Two weeks ago I posted the world's shortest Crypto-Gremlin puzzle. No one solved it. If you'd like another chance to solve it, here it is again.
Anomurin drewbr, esim proverbs!
Crypto-Gremlins are cryptograms designed to be uncrackable by online cryptogram solvers. If you've never worked Crypto-Gremlins before you can find complete rules and instructions
here.
Because this Crypto-Gremlin is so short -- only 4 words! -- it looks like it should be almost impossible to solve. Actually it's fair easy to solve -- but to do so, you need a crucial clue which can be found in the diary where this puzzle first appeared.
If you can't find the clue and can't figure out the answer, but want to know what the answer is, don't despair. I'll post the answer in the comments section, right below the tip jar.
..................................................................................................................
Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party /
SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE / Puzzle Party / SUNDAY PUZZLE /
And to close out tonight's diary, here's a new Crypto-Gremlin:
Masks kan islndofsro tnetbn hsdn beeporce wedg youn feetndskoerz. Kanz’dn beeporce wedg ferunrugus. Kanz’dn beeporce wedg fellers unrun. Masks kan Islndofsro tnetbn hsdn beeporce wedg youn feetndskoerz. Kanz’dn beeporce wedg ferunrugus. Kanz’dn beeporce wedg fellers unrun.
Have fun, and I'll see you in comments!