Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Christmas Puzzle 2014 - Power of TEN

Our annual Christmas puzzle "Power of TEN" is available now. Every answer is a word containing the letters TEN. For example, if the clue were "These keep your hands warm when playing in the snow", the answer would be mittens.

As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by using the first letter of each word. As a hint, the password could be used to describe an occasion such as the new year.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others). We are always looking for new ideas for next year's Christmas puzzle, so submit those too.

14 comments:

  1. Very nice, Blaine. Love the Radetzky March, too. All the best!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. I am sure you all know that the above is "No(e)L".

      Delete
  3. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ... and thank you for keeping this playground open for another year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, Blaine, for the puzzle (It was a 10!), the family video and for all you do for us. I heartily second jan's sentiments. You look like a really fun family. All my best wishes and prayers to you and your loved ones during this sacred season.

    LeBoDerek

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blaine, that was fun! Best to you and yours, especially the Z cats. And, yes, thanks for keeping Blainesville open, updated, and ever interesting. Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Blaine, you are indeed an anchor in my life, ensuring order in an oftentimes unpredictable, chaotic world. I wish all the best to you and your beautiful family this Christmas and throughout 2015. And may the new year bring us even more opportunities to keep exercising our brains.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for the offer, Blaine, and thank you for keeping up this blog year-round.

    Unfortunately, I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I tried printing out the puzzle about six times, even in desperation the completed answer, but every time it shows up on my computer screen quite nicely except that the information in the "clue" slots is all just smears of black blobs. It's a problem I have never seen before, and apparently no one else had it, so I can't imagine what's going on!

    Merry Christmas!

    Bob K.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob K., maybe you are a little too TENse. . .

      Happy Solstice Sunday also!

      Delete
    2. Which program are you using to open the PDF? I'm wondering if that is a factor.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for your reply, Blaine. Unfortunately, I can't answer your question, because I lack the technical knowledge.

      I am working on an iMac (Mac OS X, Version 10.6.8). I just click on the link for the puzzle, and it downloads just like all the other crosswords and occasional other stuff I print off the web. But working in Preview, I think, when I ask it to print, the Preview screen shows everything nice and clear, except for the clues, which are all smeared, square, black and white blobs of varied gray shades. Sorry I can't be more technical!

      Delete
  9. great puzzle and video! all the best to baine!

    - snipper

    ReplyDelete
  10. oops - all the best to blaine (and family)!!

    - snipper

    ReplyDelete

For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.