Nine Letters 003

Plunge into this nine-letter word challenge but be warned: it'll keep you awake at night!

TRY OTHER GRIDLESS PUZZLES FOR CHALLENGES WITH A TWIST.

Gridless 018

WINTER BLUES

A puzzle's a good way to pass a bleak Winter's day but unfortunately, this month's Gridless is itself quite bleak! Seasoned puzzlers who press on through the gloom to discover the answerline, a vertical word or phrase, will prove themselves made of a different mettle!

1. Dreads becoming more melancholy! (6)
2. Spies storm cloud and he expects the worst. (9)
3. Clash preceding wind and rain. (3)
4. Even cold, I'd accompany man out. (3)
5. Practically 7 days without power! (4)
6. A sign that subzero temperatures follow? The lowest in America? (5)
7. Broken down with a peasouper encroaching, consigned to oblivion. (9)
8. Monotonous first rains interrupt sound of spring. (6)
9. A dam men constructed! (7)
10. Grab a determined hold like Winter weather. (3)
11. A downfall of hail sure doesn't require workplace safety characters! (7)
12. Fall a teeny bit overdue. (4)
13. Start off mild with headwind, turning violent and tempestuous. (4)
14. Throws cold water on guards so ice formed. (11)
15. Meagre zero degrees in Puerto Rico. (4)
16. Veteran lost extremities from Winter illnesses. (3)
17. Starting employment in the Nevada Centre of Meteorology not for love or money. (5)
18. Studies about Noah's flood response [as sky] gets more threatening! (7)

This GRIDLESS rated: HIGH PRESSURE!

© Gridless 2009.

HAVE YOU TRIED OUR OTHER PUZZLES? FOR A CHEEKY CHALLENGE, TRY OUR PUNCHLINE PUZZLES IN THE "ODDS AND ENDS" SECTION.

Odds and Ends 006

PUNCHLINE 2

What did Snow White say while she waited at the camera store for her roll of film to be developed?

To discover the punchline, write out the following stockpile of letters in order exactly as they appear in blue, then carefully follow the instructions. The solution will be revealed at step 11.

SNOWWHITEATACAMERASTORE

1. Delete the letter H and the outermost Ts.

2. Find a 3-letter word meaning, "a naturally occurring mineral" somewhere in the stockpile. Move this word to the start of the stockpile.

3. Insert the letters IC so that the name of a country is formed reading left to right somewhere in the stockpile.

4. Change any double letters into single letters.

5. Letters 13, 14, 15, 16 are a verb in the past tense. Move this word to the rightmost position, then change it into its present tense form.

6. Insert the letters WEL so that an expression of cordial greeting is formed reading left to right somewhere in the stockpile.

7. Place a letter Y between the letters E and A. Place another letter Y between the letters A and R. Place a letter N between the letters I and C. And place a letter C between the I and E.

8. Find two words in the stockpile that mean, "frozen water". Delete them.

9. Change the letter T into a letter D. Change the letter to the immediate right of this D into a letter M.

10. Change the leftmost letter R into an N, delete the leftmost letter C, and change the second letter E into an I.

11. Reverse the order of letters 4, 5, and 6. Put a P between the letters Y and R, and change the second A into a letter T. Double the letter L.

© Gridless 2008.

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