Six of the pieces shown below can be rearranged to make an American flag. Which piece is not needed? Click to enlarge the image.

I’ve taken seven phrases, each with two five-letter words, and replaced each word with a rhyme. (For instance, GRAPE JELLY might become CAPE BELLY.) I’ve also given you clues to each of the answer phrases. The rhymes and the clues are not presented in the same order. Can you rhyme your way to all the right answers?

ACHE BANDS
BOWLER HOUR
POST HARD
RICH HACK
SPEECH FOUL
WORST MASS
TOOT LUNCH

1. Branch of the military with a lot of boats
2. Cherry or grape drink
3. Complete darkness
4. Elite section of a passenger airplane
5. Energy from the sun
6. Seal an agreement, perhaps
7. You lay on it, on the sand

Answer

Across
1. Sheep sound
4. Picked up
7. Hole-punching tools
9. “___ you a man or a mouse?”
10. Actor Johnny
11. Body of water
12. Huge African vegetarians
14. Little scruff of a beard
16. Round thing
17. Biblical garden
20. Compass point opposite NNW
21. Hardly great
22. On fire
23. Carry with difficulty

Down
1. Naughty
2. Astonish
3. Nursery school lesson
4. It’s next to the brake (2 words)
5. Round cookie
6. Hot drinks
8. Fast-paced card game
13. Prepare to eat, as a fruit
14. “Oh my!”
15. Approximately (2 words)
18. Large Australian bird
19. Opposite of pos.

For easier solving, you can download this puzzle here.

Answer

Wordle is a fun site that lets you turn words into art. Naturally, I couldn’t resist using it for puzzling purposes. I’ve taken the plot descriptions of five movies, and plugged them into Wordle. (I made all the words lowercase, even when they were names. It’s trickier that way.) Wordle took most (but not all) of these words and turned them into the pictures you see below. Can you figure out each movie title? Click on each image to enlarge it.

Answer

I made a bit of a mess at the grocery store, spilling a number of products together. Each puzzle below consists of two competing food brands. Both brand names read from left to right, but the letters have been intertwined. Can you separate the products and clean up this mess?

1. PCOEKPSEI
2. SPEKITPEPPRPAYN
3. HENRSESHTELYES
4. CDOALNONMOBON
5. PCROAGMRPEBSELSLOS
6. TMIRONPUTIECMAAINDA

Answer

Beginning at the star marked 1, trace a path through the grid, moving only up, down, left, and right, until you reach star number 10. Your path must go through every space in the grid, hitting the stars in their numbered order, and your path cannot cross itself.

Click the image to enlarge and print out.

Answer

How many five-pointed stars are in this image? All the stars are the same size, though some have been rotated.

Answer

All of the clues below lead to answers with the consecutive letters S-T-A-R. The number in parentheses after each clue tells you how many letters are in each answer.

1. Look at without blinking (5)

2. Get going (5)

3. Go hungry (6)

4. Soup thickener or laundry additive (6)

5. Creamy dessert (7)

6. Spicy hot dog topping (7)

7. Make jumpy (7)

8. Place to stretch your legs during long drives (4, 4)

9. Latin American country (5, 4)

Answer

Try not to spend all day on this one… What word might come next in the following sequence?

ALMOND
STATUE
NEWLYWED
ENTHUSED
AFRICA
SATIN

Answer

Which domino should replace the question marks?

(Click to enlarge.)

Answer