Games World of Puzzles September 2019

September can be a bittersweet month: Its arrival signals both the end of summer and the start of the new school year. School-age kids are understandably bummed, while parents feel—let’s be honest—a little bit of relief. It’s precisely times like these that require something you can depend on, like another issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES. Our back-to-school issue is top-heavy with puzzles—precisely the sort of thing to limber up the brain after a summer of rest and relaxation. If you like logic puzzles, we have plenty. “Rainbow Logic” (page 41), a variation on Mastermind, is sure to get you thinking. Then there’s “The Deadwood Gang Calls It Quits” (page 36), an illustrated tale of the Old West by Joe Dean. You’ll have to hang up your six-shooter and pick up…

Each answer word in this crossword variation has two clues leading to it, using different meanings of the word. The clues are separated into Across and Down, but are otherwise ordered randomly. When you find two Across clues or two Down clues that seem to have the same answer, add up their clue numbers to determine the place in the grid at which the answer should be entered. For example, if the clue for 1-Across were “Metallic element” and the clue for 17-Across read “Starring role,” the answer would be “lead,” which would go in 18-Across (1 + 17). Note: Tags such as “Hyph.” and “2 wds.” have been omitted. ACROSS 1 Cape Canaveral event 2 San Francisco Giants pitcher Bumgarner 3 Not far from 4 George S. Patton, for one 5 Started, as a grill 6 Lower…

There is one place for each letter of the alphabet in the 26 empty squares of each blank column in the diagram below. Fill in each letter so that a word of at least five letters is formed reading across only. Not all of the letters to the left and right of the empty box are used; it’s up to you to determine which ones are needed to complete familiar words. Some letters may fit in more than one of the empty squares to complete words, but we only came up with one arrangement that would complete a word in each row. Maybe you’ll find a better solution. Proper names are not allowed. ANSWER 52-SKIDDOO…

ACROSS 1 “Break ___!” (“Good luck!”): 2 wds. 5 Come up 10 Enroll as a member of 14 Captain Kirk’s navigator 15 Displayed 16 ___ Major (Great Bear constellation) 17 Wrestling maneuver 18 O’Brien of late-night television 19 ___ liquor (Colt 45, e.g.) 20 Performs somersaults 22 Doesn’t enunciate 24 Twilight, to a poet 25 Rehearsed sales pitch 26 Lack of an inclination to emote 30 To the point 34 Little Joe’s older bro 35 Former coin of France 36 Fiery crimes 37 Mythical beast 38 Fall to pieces 40 “Certainly!” 41 Native Nebraskans 43 ___ canto (singing style) 44 FDR’s dog 45 Blood component 46 With buoyant delight 48 Ancient capital on the Nile 50 On the ___ (fleeing Feds) 51 Acts klutzy 54 Sounds of distant thunder 58 Milky gem 59 Very, in music 61 Really adore 62 Memo 63 Glittering headdress 64 Musician Clapton 65 Picnic crashers 66 After: Fr. 67 River-mouth sediment DOWN 1 Helper: Abbr. 2 Humdinger 3 Oater actor Jack 4 Broadcasting brothers Greg and Bryant 5 Stair or…

Crank up the volume on your stereo, or, if you’d rather not disturb the neighbors, give this quiz a try. The answer to each of the 14 clues below is a name, title, or phrase containing the word ROCK. For example, “Fred and Wilma Flintstone’s hometown” would be BEDROCK, while “disturbing the status quo” is ROCKING THE BOAT. Good luck and rock on! 1. Seafood specialty, or a B-52s dance hit 2. “Italian Stallion” who outboxed Apollo Creed 3. Educational cartoon featuring “Conjunction Junction” 4. Comedian who plays the candidate in Head of State 5. “Explosive” candy seen in the flick Urban Legend 6. Bob Seger song heard in Chevy truck commercials 7. Fictional lady whose signature is on a Bisquick box 8. Tommy or Jesus Christ Superstar, for example 9. Where you are if you’re stuck in a…

CRITTER-CROSS It’s a real zoo in here! Can you help us get the animals back where they belong? Just place the critter names below into the grid so that they interlock as in a crossword puzzle. When you’re done, each animal will have been used exactly once. One word has been filled in to start you off. 3 LETTERS CAT COW DOG RAT 4 LETTERS DEER GOAT LION 5 LETTERS CAMEL CHIMP HIPPO HORSE KOALA OTTER RHINO STEER TIGER WHALE 6 LETTERS COUGAR DONKEY GOPHER WALRUS 7 LETTERS GORILLA PANTHER WILDCAT 8 LETTERS ANTEATER ANTELOPE ELEPHANT KANGAROO REINDEER SQUIRREL ANSWER KID STUFF: CRITTER-CROSS…