SNAKE CRISSCROSS 28 (answer)
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers *
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Tower **
FRAMELINKS 22 (hint)
TOUCHWORD 31
(click here for a PDF version)
In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent. (If you want more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word.
1 Honest / Jazz singer Fitzgerald / Weighing device
2 Brief / Devious
3 ____ and go / Tunnel for transporting waste / Postpone
4 Something difficult / Punster’s specialty
5 Heisman Trophy winner Flutie / Strategy board game in which the goal is to surround the opponent’s queen bee / Station for guarding against surprise attacks
6 Bird associated with peace / Place of refuge / Extreme
7 Comforter / “Electric ____” (Eddy Grant song) / Be dejected
8 Go beyond usual limits: 3 wds.
9 Elegant and stylish / Gloss / A plush knitted fabric
10 Gloss / Pennsylvania city that borders a lake of the same name / Powder made from ground-up grains
11 Common hot dog condiment / “Good ____!” (Charlie Brown’s catchphrase) / Part of a cowboy’s getup
12 Memento of a bygone era / Self-obsessed person / Cooking skewer
13 In short supply / Lift / Give off
14 Frightening / Wild dog of India / Arizona State University’s city
15 ____ Crush Saga (smartphone game) / “The Farmer in the ____” / ____ from Tarkov (2017 video game)
Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!