Category: Solutions

Each of these clues has had a transformation applied to each word. The same transformation must be applied to the answer:

• FIRST NAME OF A FAST FOOD CLOWN MASCOT (delete third letter) = RONALD (ROALD)
• AFRICAN NATION TO THE WEST OF SUDAN (reverse word; replace final letter with L) = CHAD (DAHL)
• IN GOOD BURGER HE ACTED AS ED (replace first letter with three-letter abbreviation for the month of the year in the same position as that letter – A=JAN, B=FEB, etc.) = KEL (NOVEL)
• LARGEST MEMBER OF THE BRASS FAMILY (insert O after second letter; reverse word) = TUBA (ABOUT)
• TYPE OF PLANE OR SCHOOL (insert AC in middle of word, keeping larger section in front if necessary) = CHARTER (CHARACTER)
• BLANK NOW BROWN COW (Last letter of word to front) = HOW (WHO)
• WITH ANYTHING A COLE PORTER MUSICAL (Add IV after first letter; delete second letter) = GOES (GIVES)
• SOAK OR MAKE SOPPING WET (Last two letters to beginning, followed by IL) = DRENCH (CHILDREN)
• DEITY SUCH AS THOR OR OSIRIS (Double vowels) = GOD (GOOD)
• SETS OF FIVE HUNDRED SHEETS OF PAPER (Add D to beginning of word) = REAMS (DREAMS)

The modified answers to the clues may be read as the phrase ROALD DAHL NOVEL ABOUT CHARACTER WHO GIVES CHILDREN GOOD DREAMS. The character who fits this description is THE BFG.

In this puzzle, each of the items has a cost equal to the sum of the costs of its letters. Thus, the challenge is to find a value for each letter. There are a few different ways to calculate this; one path is as follows:

• PEA=$13 and PEAR=$14. Thus R=$1
• GRAPE=$21 and PEAR=$14, so G=$7
• CAR is $10, so CA=$9. Since CAT=$14, T=$5
• CARROT is $18 and CARRT adds up to $16, leaving O=$2
• TACOS is $18, and TACO adds up to $16, so S=$2
• Now that we know G and S, GAS being $13 means A=$4
• With CA=$9 and A=$4, C=$5
• Since we now know all its letters but P, PASTA=$18 gives P=$3
• Knowing P allows any of PEA/PEAR/GRAPE to give E=$6
• From TIRES, I=$6
• From TRAILER, L=$8
• From BREAD, BD=$3, which means one must be $1 and the other must be $2
• From BANANA=$25, BNN=$13, so B must be odd, thus B=$1, D=$2, and N=$6
• In CAT FOOD, F=$6
• HOT DOGS gives H=$9
• BOWL gives W=$3
• PANCAKES gives K=$7
• From HAM=$18 we get M=5
• Then JAM gives J=$7
• Now all the letters from APPLE JUICE are known except for U=$8
• Finally, KUMQUAT give Q=$3

The “Other Expenses” section references saving enough for every $6 letter. The six-dollar letters are E, F, I, and N. The only rearrangement of these which forms a common word – which is also something that might be an unexpected expense – is FINE.

Each line in the diagrams is an anagram of the line above, minus one letter. Clues for the missing words are given in alphabetical order. The answers to the clues are:

• AFRO
• AS
• CARS
• CLEAREST
• DISCOUNT
• ETHICS
• FAROE
• FEMORAL
• FOR
• HEIST
• HIS
• HYSTERIC
• IS
• IT
• LEAFWORM
• LOAFER
• OF
• REACTS
• RICHEST
• SAC
• SCARE
• SCARLET
• SUCTION
• SUIT
• THIS
• TIS
• TUNICS
• UNITS

Once completed, the grids will look like this:

From top to bottom, the highlighted letters spell out the answer SIFT. This puzzle format reminded me of a sifter, as the letters one by one fall out to leave the answer.

Each of the clues describes a made-up holiday which differs in one letter from a real holiday. The holidays are:

• ALL FAINTS’ DAY (All Saint’s Day)
• PALE SUNDAY (Palm Sunday)
• GOAD FRIDAY (Good Friday)
• MLS DAY (MLK Day)
• NEW TEAR’S DAY (New Year’s Day)
• ARMOR DAY (Arbor Day)
• EASIER (Easter)
• FLAN DAY (Flag Day)
• GROUNDHUG DAY (Groundhog Day)
• SHANKSGIVING (Thanksgiving)
• YAM KIPPUR (Yom Kippur)

Reading the letter that have been changed to make the new holidays in page order gives the clue FEAST MINUS A. Removing the letter A from FEAST gives the answer FEST.

Solvers can transfer the letters from the answers they figure out to the same-number boxes into the grid, and work back and forth to complete the puzzle. The completed puzzle looks like this:

The words in the grid read WORD THAT IS REPEATED FOUR TIMES IN THE TITLE OF A DR. SEUSS BOOK. The answer is FISH, from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Each of these matchups is from the game RPS-101, an overly-complicated variant of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The easiest way to determine this is by identifying the pictures, then searching for a website that includes all the words. This page is the easiest way to look up the outcomes of every matchup.

The given matchups resolve like this:

• Robot FRIGHTENS Queen
• Monkey IRRITATES Vampire
• Scissors GUT Fish
• Community HUNTS Dragon
• Duck TIPS OVER Bowl
  
  The first letters of the outcomes of each battle, starting with FRIGHTENS, spell out the answer, FIGHT.

The four instructions below the image can each be applied independently to select certain squares.

The selected squares form letters which spell out the answer, BITS.

In this nonogram puzzle, many of the clues have been obscured. However, since each clue must be at least one and surrounded by white clues, the puzzle is still solvable:

The pattern of blocks within the 2×3 glitchy regions can be read as Braille letters, spelling out the answer CORRUPT.

Each of the dots in the puzzle has a clue with an answer that either is or sounds like an English letter, a Greek letter, or a number. Of those three sets, only the English letters is complete. Connecting each letter from A to Z gives the following:

At a diagonal from upper-left to lower-right, the line forms the answer LETTERS, written in cursive.