GeekDad Puzzle of the Week Solution – 99 Word Grid

Last week’s puzzle, as previously posted:

As discussed in last summer’s GeekDad Puzzle of the Week – Meaning of Life Word Grid, MATH is indeed the true meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

That is, if we translate its letters into their ordinal position within the alphabet (i.e., A=1, B=2, C=3, … Z=26), we get M=13 + A=1 + T=20 + H=8, and 13 + 1 + 20 + 8 = 42.

Another fun / useful / interesting number is 99: it is the atomic number of Einsteinium, the only number retired league-wide in the NHL (Gretzky), the number of 80’s LuftBalons, the sum of the cubes of three consecutive integers (2³+3³+4³), and Barbara Feldon’s character in the original Get Smart TV series.

So, with 99 being so geeky a number, what words sum to 99 if we translate their letters to their positions within the alphabet?

Below is what looks like a standard word grid puzzle. Instead of simply listing the words, however, I have given a set of clues for each word, as well as its length in letters.

The kicker? Each word in the puzzle sums to 99!

Example: 7 letters, “Game of hammers and wickets” is CROQUET
C=3 + R=18 + O=15 + Q=17 +U=21 + E=5 + T=20 and 3+18+15+17+21+5+20=99!

5 Letters Maple juice 6 Letters Nike symbol Pixies 7 Letters Jeopardy questions Painful urination Literally obtained by digging Include Mel at Y2K Bohr’s field More fuzzy or soft A rough sponge or brillo Siriusly illuminated A mullion supporting the tympanum With great devotion 8 Letters YouTube’s Orange Hesperis matronalis Shiny and brilliant Dragon’s counterpart Branch of mineralogy Sphingidae In a deranged or crazy manner hawaiian opah != or Jumping to attack Slang for $10 Bill USD Disdain or contemping (gerund) Peat moss Fig-mulberry A low prime Ravenwood’s mage Maggot racing video game Those with big boats

9 Letters Benzenes and arenes Evil fiendish shapechanger lupines Yelling or roaring Jamie, Tory, Grant, and Adam SPARS AAD mastering One who denies Shot via needle Club outsider They have 4 feet, 3 toes, and 2 horns Short fat-headed pin Car manslaughter (use 2x) 10 Letters Mott’s To a tolerably worthy extent Young people in China and India Ford Prefect, for one Extremely useful or indispensable A rockfall or earthflow Watkins Glen and Churchill Downs Deployed lachrymator Clairvoyant Fickle or undependable 11 Letters Daedalic Entertainment’s 2014 game Hospital emitting patients He wired your house Water? You shall not pass… Minor indescretions ISBN 978-1422142691 12 Letters Capable of being reunited To dedicate once again Alpha level in statistics 13 Letters A hot body emitting light

Congratulations to Aaron Echols for correctly solving the puzzle! His entry, drawn at random from among the correct (or reasonably correct) submissions, just won him a $50 Gift Certificate from our friends at ThinkGeek!

The puzzle solution and set of “clues” are listed below.

Thanks again to everyone that entered a submission. Happy puzzling!

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