Category: Solutions

In each pair of clues, the solution to the clue on the right sounds like the solution to the clue on the left with a syllable added. In each case, this syllable sounds like the name of a letter. (The clue in the flavor text is M + TEA = EMPTY):

• C + SON = SEASON
• O + ZONE = OZONE
• L + SEE = ELSIE
• O = MITT = OMIT
• R + GONE = ARGON
• L + DUST = ELDEST
• E + STIR = EASTER
• S + TEAM = ESTEEM
• S + CAPE = ESCAPE
• B + LINE = BEELINE
• I + PATCH = EYE PATCH
• L + BOW = ELBOW
• L + FIN = ELFIN
• I + RATE = IRATE
• A + GENT = AGENT
• R + GOLLY = ARGALI
• D + SIDE = DECIDE
• S + CHOIR = ESQUIRE
• O + PULL = OPAL
• R + CANE = ARCANE
• B + WEAR = BEWARE

The added letters spell out the phrase COLORLESS BILLIARDS ORB, which is a CUE BALL, which of course sounds like Q + BALL.

In these three arithmetic problems, there are ten letters, which can be assumed to each replace a different digit from zero to nine. There are several ways to work through this puzzle, but one logical path is below:

• In the division problem, A – H = 0, and H – Y = 0. Since no two letters can represent the same digit, A must be one more than H, which is one more than Y.
• Again using the division problem, AR – HT = Y. However, since A is one more than H, and R = 0, this means that 10 – T = Y.
• Replacing R with 0 give H00 – YNE = HU. This gives the new information that 10 – E = U and 9 – N = H. Since YTE – YNE = H0, T – N = H as well. Therefore T is 9. Since 10 – T = Y, Y is 1. Based on what we know from the first step, H is 2 and A is 3. With T being 9 and H being 2, 9 – N = 2, so N is 7.
• Also in the division problem, E – E = R. Since this occurs in the ones column, R must be equal to 0. In the tens column of the addition problem, this means that C + 0 = C. Since this is true, nothing has been borrowed, and E + E = S. The only possible values for E are 1-4. Since 1, 2, and 3 are already taken, E is 4 and S is 8.
• Only C and U are left to identify, and there are many places to do so. The division problem shows that HT x U = YNE, or U = 174 / 29. U is 6, leaving C as 5.

The final translated math facts are 90654 + 5304 = 95958, 539 x 247 = 133133, and 309401 / 29 = 10669.

The question marks from one to seven are replacing the digits 3, 5, 9, 1, 3, 0, and 1. Translated to letters, these spell out the answer ACTUARY.

Each of the clues references two words which when combined sound like another word, which is also clued.

• The mystical glow of fellows lit by a candelabra. MEN AURA = MENORAH
• Colony member runs off to get married to deer. ANT ELOPE = ANTELOPE
• A needlefish burrow with a flower bed. GAR DEN = GARDEN
• Peer group of hotels causes harm. INN JURY = INJURY
• Desert enchantress makes lunch, perhaps. SAND WITCH = SANDWICH
• Betrayal of an oak or maple child. TREE SON = TREASON
• Uncooked monarch moves back and forth. RAW KING = ROCKING
• Noah’s assistant in building boats and gaming centers. ARK AIDE = ARCADE
• Discuss transgressions or poisons. TALK SINS = TOXINS
• Consumable bovine in a Norse epic. EDDA BULL = EDIBLE
• What a pen makes when writing on a slope. INK LINE = INCLINE
• The sister throws this weapon. NUN CHUCKS = NUNCHUKS
• An airway Sorento on a platter. TRAY KIA = TRACHEA
• The full wrath of the treefolk. ENT IRE = ENTIRE
• A wanderer’s commercial for garden decorations. GNOME AD = NOMAD
• Part of a swimming pool that you can rely on. DEEP END = DEPEND
• What someone with a mouth phobia might say when they see gum being chewed. EEK LIPS = ECLIPSE
• Something found in the freezer of campus housing by animals. DORM ICE = DORMICE

Reading the first letters of the longer words gives the phrase MAGISTRATE INTENDED. This is a clue for JUDGE MEANT, which sounds like JUDGMENT, the answer.

This is a regular crossword, except that some of the clues give an answer that is twice as long as the number of squares given. These are all preceded by “50% OFF” indicators, and either the first or second half of the answer must be left off to form a crossword-legal entry to place in the grid. The completed grid looks like this:

Here are the longer answers to the 50% off clues, in case the grid doesn’t help with them: 1A) CHICKENS, 9A) WILLIAMS, 10A) CHLORIDE, 14A) FIBULA, 16A) NUCLEI, 17A) MACRON, 31A) TRUSTY, 32A) BO PEEP, 33A) HORNET, 35A) EXPONENT, 41A) COURTIER, 42A) FEMININE, 43A) ANYWHERE, 2D) ARCHIE, 3D) UPHILL, 4D) CLEFAIRY, 5D) ARTHUR, 6D) VIOLATIONS, 8D) DELICATE, 18D) ARIANA, 25D) STAIRS, 26D) REPEAT, 27D) FLASHY, 30D) LAST SUPPER, 32D) BETHSEDA, 34D) BARITONE, 36D) BEFORE, 38D) DIPPER, 39D) CAPONE, 40D) SEETHE

Clue 24A, “The answer, without a discount” can be determined from the crossing down clues to be MILITARIES. To solve the puzzle, take 50% off from this to get ARIES.

Each of the clues refers to a very long word, generally one specifically coined to be long. Indexing into these words by the numbers following their clues spells out shorter words. The long words and their shorter counterparts are as follows:

• otorhinolaryngological (INHALING)
• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (TINY)
• supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (PARTICLES)
• pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (MAY)
• floccinaucinihilipilification (INFLICT)
• honorificabilitudinitatibus (THIS)
• antidisestablishmentarianism (DISEASE)

Reading the shorter words in order gives the clue phrase INHALING TINY PARTICLES MAY INFLICT THIS DISEASE. Following the pattern established previously, this is a clue for PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS. Indexing into this word by the numbers at the bottom spells out the final answer, SILICON.

Each of the clues leads to an two or three-letter abbreviation. Solvers will quickly notice that the abbreviations on the left and right are reflections of each other. Connecting the pairs of reversed abbreviations gives this:

From top to bottom, the letters crossed by the lines spell out INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER. The abbreviation for this is ISP, which can be reversed to make the answer, PSI, short for Pounds per Square Inch.

It would not be unreasonable for somebody to think the answer could be ISP, Pounds per Square Inch, or even Internet Service Provider. Fortunately, there is no penalty for guessing a couple options. Were the answer checker more sophisticated, I would have had it respond with confirm all three of those options as close.

Each of the given fictional characters famously betrays one or more other characters The names of these characters fit in the given blanks. The betrayer/betrayed pairs are:

• Stinky Pete – WOODY (Toy Story 2)
• Iago – OTHELLO – (Othello)
• Peter Pettigrew – JAMES & LILY POTTER (Harry Potter)
• Brutus – JULIUS CAESAR (Julius Caesar)
• Lando Calrissian – HAN SOLO (Star Wars)
• Hans – ANNA (Frozen)
• Ernesto – HÉCTOR (Coco)

A few of the characters betray larger groups, but the principal target of their betrayal is the one given. The boxed letters from the answers spell out DELILAH. In the Bible, in the book of Judges, Delilah betrays SAMSON to the Philistines.

This word search contains the names of thirty Pokémon from the first generation of games. The completed grid looks like this:

The leftover letters spell out the phrase FULLY-EVOLVED FORM OF MISSING THREE-STAGE EVOLUTION IN GEN ONE. In the first generation of Pokémon games, there are sixteen three-stage evolutionary lines, ranging from Bulbasaur-Ivysaur-Venusaur to Dratini-Dragonair-Dragonite. Each of the names hidden in the puzzle comes from one of these lines, and in fact, the thirty Pokémon consist of two Pokémon from each of fifteen of the sixteen evolutionary lines.

The one missing line which does not appear in the word search is Weedle-Kakuna-Beedrill. The fully-evolved Pokémon in this set is BEEDRILL.

This puzzle consists of five lines of characters from comic strips which must be identified. Many can be identified through a reverse image search, while others require searching for descriptions or text in the picture. The characters and the strips they come from are:

• Wanda (Baby Blues)
• Elizabeth (For Better or For Worse)
• Bucky (Get Fuzzy)
• Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
• Opal (Pickles)

• Monty (Monty)
• Ignatz Mouse (Krazy Kat)
• Cathy (Cathy)
• Asterix (Asterix)
• Nate (Big Nate)

• Snoopy (Peanuts)
• Wiley (B.C.)
• Eek (Eek & Meek)
• Roger (FoxTrot)
• Marcy (Jump Start)

• Irma (Nancy)
• Nancy (Luann)
• Uriah Pert (Gasoline Alley)
• Sergeant Snorkel (Beetle Bailey)
• Attila (Mother Goose and Grimm)

• Nermal (Garfield)
• Snert (Hagar the Horrible)
• Wally (Dilbert)
• Earl (MUTTS)
• Rat (Pearls Before Swine)

The first letters of these characters taken in order spell out the phrase WEBCOMIC ANSWER MINUS ANSWER. This references the webcomic Garfield Minus Garfield. The answer is GARFIELD.