“Doth villainy fill any sinister void?”; Divinity “Fuge”?; “Drop a pair... then party there!”; Nesting duds within duds; A schoolmaster may hate the classroom!; “Take a 5-second power nap... then solve!”; Cloudbursts and Loud Blasts; History & Whodunit mystery: “Gambitten” by the “Chess bug”; Halve a letter in a name, an adjective you’ll have!; Diamonds, both ballpark & sparkling; “If I were a rich man (with a halo) I would march in, but don’t squeeze my chin! (I guess my arm’s ok”)

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Cloudbursts and Loud Blasts

A multisyllabic barrier shields you from small objects falling precipitously from the sky.

Swap the second and second-last letters of that barrier and insert a space to spell the yell that an airborne explosive-weapons-dropper might make, warning those below of a larger much-more-lethal object falling from the sky.

This “explosive-weapons-dropper” might also be described as an “_-____ ______.”

What are this multisyllabic barrier, small objects, weapon-dropper’s yell, large sky-falling object, and other name for the weapon dropper?

Hint: the barrier, yell and large object are anagrams of one another.  

Appetizer Menu

Terrifically Jefferific Riffery:

“Doth villainy fill any sinister void?”; Divinity “Fuge”?; “Drop a pair... then party there!”; “Take a 5-second power nap... then solve!”; A schoolmaster may hate the classroom! Nesting duds within duds;

“Doth villainy fill any sinister void?”

1. 🎥Take a four-letter adjective for something unpleasant. 

Rearrange its letters to get the last name of a movie villain. Take the villain’s full name and drop one letter to get two other evil characters. 

What is the word and who are the characters.

Divinity “Fuge”?

2. 👼Take a term for a place where one might find refuge. 

Drop a letter and rearrange to get someone you might find there. 

“Drop a pair... then party there!”

3. 🗺Take the two-word name of a famous place. 

Drop the three-letter initialism of a college sports organization.  Rearrange the result to get something celebrated at the famous place. Name this place and celebration.

Note: In the accompanying illustration, captions for the images emerge after the initial letter of each word in the city is deleted.

“Take a 5-second power nap... then solve!”

4. 🗓September 25, 2025 marked an unusual event, one that won’t happen again in this century. What was the event, and when will it next occur?

A schoolmaster may hate the classroom!

5. 📚A word and its anagram can be used to fill in the two blanks in the sentence below. 

What are they?

There is nothing a _________ hates more than a _________.

Nesting duds within duds 

6. Insert a three-letter garment into a five-letter garment to get a homophone for something a parent dressing a two-year-old needs. Name these two garments and what this parent needs.

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“Compeerative” Hors D’Oeuvre:

Halve a letter in a name & an adjective you’ll have!

Chop a letter in a fictional character’s surname in half to form two new letters. 

Replace another letter with a letter that rhymes with it. 

The result is an adjective that describes this
character, compared to his peers.

What are this surname and adjective?

Bobby Fischer-King “Chess Nuts Toasting...”Slice:

History & Whodunit mystery: “Gambitten” by the “Chess bug”

Anagram the combined letters of four chess pieces. 

You will spell four words that describe “A Brief History of Time,” and where it may have been
published. 

What are these four chess pieces?

What two words describe “A Brief History of Time”?

What two words denote where it may have been published?

Riffing Off Shortz Squeeze-Playfully Entrees:

“If I were a rich man (with a halo) I would march in, but don’t squeeze my chin! (I guess my arm’s ok”)

Will Shortz’s November 1st NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:

Think of a three-letter par
t of the human body. Insert it into a four-letter part of the body to get a brand name you might see at the supermarket. What names are these?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Name a ten-letter puzzlemaster who is a conundrum-creating ____. For him, designing an ingeniously wordplayful puzzle is as effortless as taking a leisurely _____ in the park!

Fill in the first blank with letters #1, #6, #2 & #10.

Fill in the second blank with letters #5, #9, #8, #7, #4 & #3.

What words belong in the two blanks?

Who is this Puzzlemaster?

(Note: Entrees #2-through-#7 are the fruits of the riffmaking genius of our friend Nodd.)

ENTREE #2

Think of two four-letter body parts (one is plural). 

Change an A to a C. Rearrange to spell a brand name you might see in the candy section of the supermarket. 

What are the body parts and the brand name?

ENTREE #3

Think of a four-letter body part and a five-letter part of some people’s bodies. Change an E to an A. Rearrange to spell a two-word brand name you might see in the cereal aisle at the supermarket. What are the body parts and the brand name?

ENTREE #4

Think of two body parts of four letters each. Delete one letter and rearrange to spell a brand name you might see in the coffee and tea section of the supermarket. 

What are the body parts and the brand name?

ENTREE #5

Think of a three-letter body part and something in four letters you might get on parts of your body. 

Change an A to an H. Rearrange to spell a brand name you might see in the candy section of the supermarket. 

What are the body part, what you might get, and the brand name?

ENTREE #6

Think of body parts in three and four letters (one body part is plural). 

Change a G to an A. Rearrange to spell a two-word brand name you might see in the baked goods section of the supermarket. 

What are the body parts and the brand name?

ENTREE #7

Think of a famous unkept promise by a successful presidential candidate, in six words. The second and third words refer to certain of his body parts. Rearrange their letters to get a brand name you might see in the refrigerated beverage section of the supermarket. What are the promise and the brand?

(Note: Entrees #8 & #9 were composed by our gifted and talented friend Plantsmith.)

ENTREE #8

Put a three-letter body part inside a four-letter body part.

Drop the last letter to get a brand name of
something you might see at Best Buy.

Name this body part and brand name.

ENTREE #9

Take a five-letter body part and replace the last letter with a vacation destination. 

“Pluralize” the result to get a cereal.

What are this cereal and destination?

Dessert Menu

Society Page Dessert:

Diamonds... both ballpark & sparkling 

Former major league star Rick may marry a famous movie star whose surname is a synonym of “fuse”... Indeed, such nuptials are still possible! 

Were this slim possibility to become a full-blown reality, a headline in newspapers’
society pages might read like an entry in an appointment booklet consisting of words of 6, 7 & 3 letters.

Name these stars and possible society-page headline.

Hint: The third word in the headline is the surname of these star-crossed stars... but only after you apply to it what what sounds like a synonym of Christmas.

Every Thursday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one piping fresh puzzle every Thursday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Thank you.