New Word Sudoku (Did you hear?) Puzzles for Sunday, 9/20/2026

Did you hear about the new frog movie? It's simply ribbiting.

A Did you hear? joke is really a bad Dad joke in disguise. The badder, the better! Every other Sunday in 2026, I'll challenge you to groan even louder.

EXHORT
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle contains these letters exactly once

MUSLIN
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

BAWD
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid

Did you hear about …

OWLISH
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle contains these letters exactly once

TURN
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

ABED
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

(All puzzles and text contained in this blog are copyright © 2008-2026, David H. Thompson. All rights reserved.
Please tell your puzzle-loving friends to follow this blog. Thank you!)

 

Solutions to the Saturday Paraprosdokian Sudoku Puzzles

Yesterday’s Qudoku puzzle sets spelled out wordplay known as a paraprosdokian.

The Sunday Challenge in a few hours.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/19/2026: FUMET

Today's keyword is FUMET.
Drop "F" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "Y" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words may be less familiar; your Sudoku skills will reveal them!

-F

FUMET

+Y

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: PYOID
4x4 (PYOID - I): DOPY
6x6 (PYOID + L): PLOIDY

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku (Paraprosdokian Sudoku!) Puzzles for Saturday, 9/19/2026

Sea captains … don’t like crew cuts.

A paraprosdokian is wordplay where the latter part of a statement forces you to reinterpret the first part. The phrase intentionally leads you in one direction—misleads you into thinking one way—and then abruptly changes direction, ending with the unexpected twist. The origin of the word is Greek, meaning "against expectation."

Most of the statements in these weekly blog posts are actual paraprosdokians; you might possibly dispute a few. But since they’re still fun plays on words, I’m sharing them anyway.

Because paraprosdokians come in two parts, I present each part as a separate quote, each revealed by solving its own set of word Sudoku puzzles.

TOWERS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

HANGUP
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

FACTOR
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

EIGHTS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to Friday's Word Sudoku Puzzles

Yesterday's 5x5 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in DEN + IX (NIXED) and the 7x7 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in COTE + SIX (EXOTICS).

The Saturday paraprosdokian in a bit.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/18/2026: PYOID

Today's keyword is PYOID.
Drop "I" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "L" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words may be less familiar; your Sudoku skills will reveal them!

-I

PYOID

+L

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: FROND
4x4 (FROND - N): FORD
6x6 (FROND + E): FONDER

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku Puzzles for Friday, 9/18/2026

DEN + IX
5x5 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and enclosed shape contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells out in the shaded cells

COTE + SIX
7x7 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and enclosed shape contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells out in the shaded cells

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solution to Thursday's Word Sudoku Puzzle

Yesterday's 10x10 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in PAY HOME + SIX (HYPOXEMIAS).

New puzzles in a bit.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/17/2026: FROND

Today's keyword is FROND.
Drop "N" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "E" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words should be familiar to most players.

-N

FROND

+E

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: FOLEY
4x4 (FOLEY - O): FLEY
6x6 (FOLEY + N): FELONY

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku Puzzle for Thursday, 9/17/2026

PAY HOME + SIX
10x10 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 2x5 rectangle contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells down the diagonal

Solution first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solution to Wednesday's Word Sudoku Puzzle

Yesterday's 8x8 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in OLDY N + SIX (INDOXYLS).

A new puzzle in a few hours.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/16/2026: FOLEY

Today's keyword is FOLEY.
Drop "O" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "N" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

One of today’s hidden words may not be familiar; your Sudoku skills will reveal it. (Look it up!)

-O

FOLEY

+N

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: FLAWY
4x4 (FLAWY - F): YAWL
6x6 (FLAWY + S): SAWFLY

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku Puzzle for Wednesday, 9/16/2026

OLDY N + SIX
8x8 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 2x4 rectangle contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells down the diagonal

Solution tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solution to Tuesday's Word Sudoku Puzzle

Yesterday's 9x9 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in PARENT + SIX (EXPIRANTS).

A new puzzle in a few hours.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/15/2026: FLAWY

Today's keyword is FLAWY.
Drop "F" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "S" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words should be familiar to most players.

-F

FLAWY

+S

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: AWOKE
4x4 (AWOKE - O): WEAK
6x6 (AWOKE + N): AWOKEN

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku Puzzle for Tuesday, 9/15/2026

PARENT + SIX
9x9 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 3x3 square contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells down the diagonal

Solution first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

(A reminder that weekday puzzles in 2026 are based on words or phrases containing at least two of the letters in SIX, a puzzle form I call Missing Letter, Hidden Word Sudoku. Please see my amazon puzzle page www.bit.ly/WordSudokuBooks for a series of nine puzzle collections of this form that span the entire alphabet.)