Sunday Puzzle is a regular weekly series. The puzzle party begins Sunday mornings at 9:30 am Eastern time / 6:30 am Pacific time, and you're invited.
But the puzzles in the Sunday Puzzle series can sometimes be a little intimidating to newcomers. So now there's also Sunday Puzzle for beginners to give new people an introductory version of the types of puzzles you'll find in the regular series. Sunday Puzzle for beginners posts Saturday evenings at 8:30 pm Eastern time / 6:30 pm Pacific time.
The feature puzzle in Sunday Puzzle is usually a JulieCrostic, so that's also what these Sunday Puzzle for beginners diaries generally feature. Here are the clues for today's puzzle. There are 20 clues: 4 rows, with 5 answers each.
If you've never done a JulieCrostic before, don't worry. Complete instructions (plus a completed puzzle as an example) can be found right below the fold. If you have done JulieCrostics before, jump right in!
1. Venerable
2. What some people go for
3. Cottage
4. Cut down trees
5. Flabbergasted
6. Obtain
7. Something to go through
8. Negotiator
9. Nullify
10. A joy to behold
11. Perish
12. Urgent
13. Fundraiser
14. Amuse
15. Captivated
16. Carved in stone
17. Trickle
18. Group of lions
19. Matched up
20. Dreamed of becoming
Here are the rules for JulieCrostics:
Read the clues provided below, then fill in words to match the clues in the appropriately numbered spaces in the diagram.
Each word in a row has all the letters of the previous word in that row, plus one new letter. Write the new letter in the space between the answers. For example, if the answers in a row were TREE, METER, and REMOTE you'd place an "M" in the box between TREE and METER and an "O" between METER and REMOTE.
When you have filled in all the spaces correctly, the columns formed by the added letters should spell out related words. It might be a person's name, such as CHARLES DICKENS (spelled out in two columns). It might be the title of a book or movie, such as GONEW ITHTH EWIND (spelled out in three columns). It might be almost anything. Your challenge is to figure out what the verticals say and what they mean.
As an example, here are the clues for the JulieCrostic in last week's diary ("Sunday Puzzle for beginners: good stuff!") and the completed answer grid:
1. Maxim
2. Entices
3. Brilliance
4. End product
5. Carries out
6. People convinced by Glenn Beck's reasoning
7. Dipped in liquid
8. In disagreement with
9. Sources of frustration
10. Sources of illumination
11. Sources of sugar
12. Sources of medicine
13. Nap
14. Gets sleepy
15. Mockery
16. Morgan, Kidd, and Bonny
ANSWERS:
1. rule S 2. lures T 3. luster S 4. results
5. does P 6. dopes P 7. sopped O 8. opposed
9. spam L 10. lamps E 11. maples U 12. ampules
13. rest I 14. tires A 15. satire P 16. pirates
The verticals read SPLI TPEA SOUP -- which, when put together and spaced out properly, give you SPLIT PEA SOUP. Good stuff indeed, especially when made with potatoes, onions, carrots, a little salt, a little pepper, and a generous dollop of oil.