Category: Solution

One solution to this variant Tents puzzle is as follows:

The fourth column cannot have any tents, and the only way for the sixth row to contain five tents is for them to be in the first, third, eighth, and tenth columns. There are only three trees in the first two rows, so they must all be matched to tents in the first row, in the second, tenth, and either the fifth or seventh columns. Eliminating all spaces orthogonally adjacent to a tent, or not orthogonally adjacent to a tree gives the following:

The tree in row seven, column seven only has one possible location for a tent, to its left. This forces the one remaining tent in row six to be in column five. The two trees in column five and the tree in column six are the only trees which can still have tents in column five, which forces a tent in row one, column five, which in turn forces a tent in row four, column five. This leaves only two valid locations for tents in row two, yielding the following grid:

There are now only two legal tent locations in row three, and the tent in row four, column two is forced, completing that row. The first two columns have enough tents, and the third column has just enough space for its three. Likewise, columns eight and ten are complete, and column nine gets tents in all remaining spots:

At this point, the final three tents are easily placed, starting with the tree in row eight, then the one in row ten, and finally the tree in row nine, giving the final grid:

The cells with the tents spell out the phrase IT’S A HOMOPHONE FOR IN TENTS. The answer is INTENSE. Inspiration for this clue phrase comes from the old one-liner “Camping is in tents”.

The answer to each of the clues contains a single silent letter. In order, the answers are:

• ISLAND
• WRONG
• BREAD
• HYMN
• VISCOUNT
• PTEROSAUR (or PTERANODON)
• SCORE
• INDICT
• FRUIT
• GLOVES
• DEBRIS
• LEOPARD
• FEBRUARY (The R may be pronounced, but that is the secondary pronunciation according to several dictionaries)
• DOSSIER
• IMAGINE
• MNEMONIC
• YOUNG
• TSUNAMI
• GIVE
• THUMB
• BUILD
• BUFFET
• LISTEN
• JEOPARDY
• COLUMN

The silent letters, in order, spell out SWAN SPECIES OR REMOTE BUTTON. The solution is MUTE.

Each of the stick figures at the bottom of the puzzle appears once in the image. If the lines along the edges are extended into a grid, each of the stick figures’ heads appears entirely in one of those boxes.

In given order, the coordinates are (8,7), (10,11), (11,9), (4,9), (1,0), (6,8), (11,3), (4,10), and (1,3). These can be converted to letters by adding the two coordinates together and converting to letters. For example, 8+7=15, and the fifteenth letter of the alphabet is O, so that is the first letter. Doing this for all nine figures gives the answer, OUTMANNED.

Each trip in the story clues a location and a souvenir that is a scramble of the location with an additional letter:

The extra letters, taken in order, spell out ANSWER MEMENTO. The answer is MEMENTO.

Solvers are given a number of transformations that can be applied to words to make new words. In given order, which is alphabetical by starting word, these are:

• BEAD -> BEARD (Add an R after the third letter)
• HAND -> H (Delete AND)
• HEART -> EARTH (Move the first letter to the end)
• JET <-> GIANT (Replace the singular form of an NFL team with the other NFL team from the same city)
• LIONESS <-> LION (Change the gender of the word)
• METAPOD -> CATERPIE (Revert the Pokemon to its unevolved form, or go back one in the pokedex)
• PIG -> HAY (Caesar shift the word back eight letters)
• TIMER -> TIGER (Replace M with a G)
• WHO <-> OHM (Rotate the word 180 degrees)

Each of these transformations corresponds to an arrow with a specific symbol, which are used in the pathway through the center of the page to transform CHAMELEON to the final answer, as shown below:

• CHAMELEON -> CHARMELEON (Add an R after the third letter)
• CHARMELEON -> CHARMANDER (Revert the Pokemon to its unevolved form, or go back one in the pokedex)
• CHARMANDER -> CHARMER (Delete AND)
• CHARMER -> CHARGER (Replace M with a G)
• CHARGER -> RAM (Replace the singular form of an NFL team with the other NFL team from the same city)
• RAM -> EWE (Change the gender of the word)
• EWE -> WOW (Caesar shift the word back eight letters)
• WOW -> MOM (Rotate the word 180 degrees)
• MOM -> DAD (Change the gender of the word)
• DAD -> ADD (Move the first letter to the end)

The answer to the puzzle is ADD.

This puzzle features a number of fictional birds from a variety of sources. Ignoring the two birds who are holding the scroll, both of whom are named Kevin (From Disney’s UP, and 3-2-1 Penguins!), each of the birds in the picture matches up with one of the types on the list:

In list order, the first letter of the birds’ names spell out PIGEON SOUND. The sound of a pigeon is a COO, which is the answer to the puzzle.

The characters are playing the icebreaker game, Two Truths and a Lie. As such, each gives two true statements and one lie. Given that restriction, Ari’s first statement must be the lie, so the nine people are all standing in a straight line. Solving the puzzle requires putting them in order. One logical path is shown here:

Here are the participants in line order:

The final step requires noticing that each of the people in the puzzle has a three-letter name. The final answer comes from reading either the first, second, or third letter of each name based on which statement was a lie. For example, Ari’s first statement was the lie, so the first letter of the answer is the first letter of Ari, A. Continuing this process through the line gives the answer AUTHENTIC.

Each of the characters is associated with a specific sidekick:

• Fred Flintstone – Barney Rubble
• Dr. Frankenstein – Igor
• Kim Possible – Ron Stoppable
• Shrek – Donkey
• Asterix – Obelix
• Robinson Crusoe – Friday
• Finn the Human – Jake the Dog
• Conan O’Brien – Andy Richter
• Prince Hal – Falstaff
• Maxwell Smart – Agent 99
• Batman – Robin

The first letters of the sidekicks spell out Bird of Jafar. Jafar’s bird sidekick in the Aladdin movies is IAGO.

This puzzle can be solved like a normal crossword, except that four across clues (11, 12, 30, and 35) do not fit in the grid properly. Those entries, which are CARETAKER, HALF DOLLAR, BANGLADESH, and POUND CAKE, each contain the name of a symbol from the top row of a keyboard. Replacing the names of the symbols with the symbols themselves gives ^AKER, HALF$, !LADESH, and #CAKE. These shorter strings fit into the grid.

Since the symbols only exist as part of the across entries, they each conflict with a letter from a down entry. Reading those letters from top to bottom gives the answer RING.