Meta-puzzle for Round 5
by Susan Glass
Monday the boss had a business dinner. The maitre d' seems to remember him. "Oh yes," he tells you, "He was here that night. Seemed to enjoy his food.
"I remember he had a table for two. He was talking talking with a business associate of some sort--a shady character, I can tell you. And he kept taking notes--well, we thought they were notes, but he left them behind and they turned out to be these puzzles. Also, on the back of the check, he wrote this..."
| O | C | Z | C | | Y | O | Z | X |
| Z | H | L | K | | Q | N | P | J |
| B | S | M | J | | N | R | G | N |
| T | J | N | J | | N | W | P | L |
| G | I | W | X | | K | O | C | W |
| Q | Z | C | T | | M | F | R | K |
The answers are:
- GASHLYCRUMB
- BOYS
- HAWAIIAN
- CONSONANTS
- FLEA
- RHYMES
- INITIAL
- DOT
This breaks down into phrases which clue a set of letters:
- Gashlycrumb
boys: B D E G H J L N Q T V X Y
- Hawaiian consonants: H K L M N P W
- Flea rhymes: B C D E G P T V Z
- Initial dot (Morse code): A E F H I J L P R S U V W
When the letters are shaded in on the grid (clued by "shady
character") they form, in order: AN, TA, CI, DS. The answer is
ANTACIDS.