And this week the Wandering Wordsman subtly criticizes the Academy Awards by offering a puzzle about a movie that should have won Best Picture but didn’t:

Two men try and fail to break up a holiday gathering at their workplace, and then they get in trouble with their boss for working to finish a matter that was supposed to have been taken care of already.  A fugitive known only by a fake name helps solve a mystery without lifting a finger.

Last week’s puzzle:

A former singer deals in fashion and misinformation until leaving town to take care of some unfinished business.  A man who works in the communications industry is arrested for acquiring valuable information, but then a man who once stole his most treasured possession gives him the greatest gift of his life.

And the answer is . . . ▼

Continuing the tradition from last year, this week the Wandering Wordsman honors the Academy Awards by offering a puzzle for a Best Picture winner:

A former singer deals in fashion and misinformation until leaving town to take care of some unfinished business.  A man who works in the communications industry is arrested for acquiring valuable information, but then a man who once stole his most treasured possession gives him the greatest gift of his life.

Last week’s puzzle:

A former employee of an insurance firm gets into trouble because he can’t let go of his old job.  A trip to the tropics improves his mood but leaves him with some big problems to deal with when he gets home.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

A former employee of an insurance firm gets into trouble because he can’t let go of his old job. A trip to the tropics improves his mood but leaves him with some big problems to deal with when he gets home.

Last week’s puzzle:

A rich man about to be married is distressed when he learns about another wedding, and he is even more upset when a divorced man comes to his engagement party. Two days later he sees his fiancée with another man, so he rounds up eight women he’s never met before and takes them out of the country with him.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

A rich man about to be married is distressed when he learns about another wedding, and he is even more upset when a divorced man comes to his engagement party. Two days later he sees his fiancée with another man, so he rounds up eight women he’s never met before and takes them out of the country with him.

Last week’s puzzle:

Two entertainers go on a journey and find themselves under attack by people who want to kill them to prevent them from talking. When a group of their fans go to see them at a show, the situation rapidly gets out of hand, but one person’s sacrifice allows them to get away alive.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

Two entertainers go on a journey and find themselves under attack by people who want to kill them to prevent them from talking. When a group of their fans go to see them at a show, the situation rapidly gets out of hand, but one person’s sacrifice allows them to get away alive.

Last week’s puzzle:

A merchant who sets himself apart from others by telling the truth loses a bet because of an amateur artisan’s fortitude. After realizing that vocabulary issues have been holding him back, he writes his name, reads a letter, crosses a line, and goes to the beach.

And the answer is . . . ▼

Last week’s bonus puzzle:

A man requests help from someone he would not normally ask and has the police called to arrest him. He does it a second time and gets punched in the face. When he does it a third time, he gets back something he lost because of the second time he asked.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

A merchant who sets himself apart from others by telling the truth loses a bet because of an amateur artisan’s fortitude. After realizing that vocabulary issues have been holding him back, he writes his name, reads a letter, crosses a line, and goes to the beach.

Puzzle from two weeks ago:

A gamer tries to help a friend deal with disappointments in his career, emotional troubles, and a boss who doesn’t care if he lives or dies. When he grows concerned that he might lose his friend, he tries to secure the relationship by making an important delivery, but in the end it only gets in the way.

And the answer is . . . ▼

Because of last week’s outage, I have decided to present, as a special treat, a Movie Three-Liner in addition to the usual movie puzzle for this week. The spirit of the puzzle is the same; this one simply happens to consist of three sentences instead of two:

A man requests help from someone he would not normally ask and has the police called to arrest him. He does it a second time and gets punched in the face. When he does it a third time, he gets back something he lost because of the second time he asked.

This week’s puzzle:

A gamer tries to help a friend deal with disappointments in his career, emotional troubles, and a boss who doesn’t care if he lives or dies. When he grows concerned that he might lose his friend, he tries to secure the relationship by making an important delivery, but in the end it only gets in the way.

Last week’s puzzle:

A man gets a new job as a result of assaulting his boss. He teams up with a man who lost his position when he was assaulted by a child, and together they work to thwart the ambitions of a man who makes it a point to hire employees of a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

A man gets a new job as a result of assaulting his boss. He teams up with a man who lost his position when he was assaulted by a child, and together they work to thwart the ambitions of a man who makes it a point to hire employees of a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds.

Last week’s puzzle:

Two men who lost their jobs for doing something foolish try to make their way home. Meanwhile, two revisionist historians and two merchants guide a woman with famous relatives on a journey so that she can kill a feeble old man.

And the answer is . . . ▼

This week’s puzzle:

Two men who lost their jobs for doing something foolish try to make their way home.  Meanwhile, two revisionist historians and two merchants guide a woman with famous relatives on a journey so that she can kill a feeble old man.

Last week’s puzzle:

Two young men get into fights with their peers, one because of his mother and the other because of his father. Later on, one of them tells the other that the only way to save the day is for them to fight each other.

And the answer is . . . ▼