Show Hints (added 2006-08-09)
It might help to know that the 12 puzzle answers are in alphabetical order. If you're still stuck, here are some patterns (in no particular order):
Show Answers (added 2006-08-09)
answer here
Addendum (2006-08-04): Were I to do this again, I might consider having it pass the "Morning Coffee" test: don't use any words in a word puzzle that people might not be happy thinking about when drinking their morning coffee. Then again, if you can't use perfectly legitimate words on the Internet, where can you use them?
Addendum (2006-08-09): Some readers discovered "Nasty Pasty" as an alternate answer for the second one. I wish I'd thought of that!
Addendum (2006-08-14): Oops! A copy-and-paste problem resulted in the answer to the fifth puzzle disappearing (from both the hints and the answers). Thanks for the vigilant readers who pointed this out!