Training Puzzle: Subtraction

by Jennifer Cunningham

This is a reality TV puzzle using the full names of participants on CBS-TV's reality shows: Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race. This is clued by the flavortext "reality" and "eye" (for CBS). The trivia questions all concern sports, politics and entertainment--the essential elements of reality TV.

The first set of trivia questions clues first names. You take the first name of your answer. The first set will also give you the order (i.e., don't reorder them).

The second set clues the last names. You take the last name of these answers and match them up with the first names, retaining the order from the first set. (Several answers, given in bold, are left over when you do this).

Winner of the 2000 silver medal in the 76kg class Olympic freestyle wrestlingBRANDON Slay
Norwegian beauty who made competitive figure skating a popular spectator sportSONJA Henie
Elizabeth Berkley's character on "Saved By the Bell"JESSIE Spano
Cairo, Georgia native who is the most decorated basketball player in Olympic historyTERESA Edwards
Man who named his band after his grandmother's jellyEDDIE Vedder
New York city councilwoman from Manhattan district 2 who is the city's first openly lesbian Puerto Rican councilorMARGARITA Lopez
Musician who fronted the PacemakersGERRY Marsden
Winner of the Holt medallion in 1995 and 1999JENNA McKnight
Incumbent who dropped out of the 2002 NJ Senate race due to ethics violationsROBERT Torricelli
Musician who defined the 1960's Chicago sound in hits like "Gypsy Woman."CURTIS Mayfield
New York Power forward who moved over from defense midway through the 2002 seasonTAMMY Pearman
"Mod Squad" babe whose daughter is a "Boston Public" starPEGGY Lipton
Republican who unseated an incumbent to take the 1998 Illinois Senate racePETER Fitzgerald
Actress whose character on Dawson's Creek fell off a dock and drownedMONICA Keena
Athlete who testified against 3 men charged with stabbing him in a nightclubPAUL Pierce
Champion high jumper who appeared on the cover of Vogue in the spring of 2000AMY Acuff
Widow appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat won by her posthumously elected husbandJEAN Carnahan
Driver of car #24 on NASCAR's racing circuitJEFF Gordon
South Carolinian Desert Storm veteran elected to the House during the 1994 Gingrich revolutionLINDSEY Graham
Character actor whose identical twin brother appeared on "90210"MITCHELL Laurence
Man who has represented the Bremerton/Tacoma area in Congress since 1976NORM Dicks
Boxing champ most famous for chomping Holyfield's ear during a 1997 matchMIKE Tyson
Pitcher who went to the Florida Marlins as the #2 overall selection in the 1999 draftJOSH Beckett
Beloved children's book character played by Sarah Polley in the PBS seriesRAMONA Quimby
Third-party candidate in the 1980 Presidential electionJOHN Anderson
Woman who sued Bill Cosby, claiming to be his illegitimate daughterAUTUMN Jackson
Real-life son of TV's Jason Seaver and singer Gloria LoringBRENNAN Thicke
NHL veteran Right Wing nicknamed the "Little Ball of Hate"PAT Verbeek
Democrat who represents Contra Costa and Solano counties in the U.S. HouseGEORGE Miller
NFL QB who won the 1996 Heisman trophyDANNY Wuerffel
Candidate whose presidential campaign imploded after the Monkey Business

GARY Hart

14th President of the United StatesFranklin PIERCE
315 lb. Guard currently playing his 5th NFL season in TennesseeBenji OLSON
1970s politician who resigned his cabinet post to protest the handling of the Iranian hostage crisisCyrus VANCE
Actor who earned an Oscar nomination for Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"Gary COOPER
Actress selected for the title character in Adrian Lyne's Lolita after a nationwide casting searchDominique SWAIN
Athlete featured as "Catch-22" in recent Visa commercialEmmitt SMITH
Bucksport Republican representing District 113 in the Maine state legislatureRichard ROSEN
Children's author and illustrator whose works include Caldecott Honor Books "Truck" and "Freight Train"Donald CREWS
Classic soul singer whose singles include "You Left the Water Running", "Tear Stained Face", and "One Woman Man"Don VARNER
Current Colorado Rockies relief pitcher traded from St. Louis after an outstanding rookie season in 1999Jose JIMENEZ
Democrat from Riverdale, Georgia elected to serve District SH 093 in the State House of RepresentativesFrank BAILEY Jr.
Documentary producer and cinematographer whose feature directorial debut was 2001's "My Sister's Wedding"David W. LEITNER
Former Chicago Cub named NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year in 1990Mike HARKEY
Former Conan sidekick who now controls the universeAndy RICHTER
Franklin Roosevelt appointee to the Supreme Court who served in the U.S. Senate from 1927-1937Hugo BLACK
Head coach for Switzerland's national soccer teamJakob KUHN
Illinois Representative who has co-authored 3 books with his famous fatherJesse JACKSON Jr.
Inconsistent yet powerful golfer who took a surprising victory at the 1991 PGA ChampionshipJohn DALY
Inline street skater who won a gold medal in the 1997 X Games--on his sixteenth birthdayAaron FEINBERG
Jazz trumpeter whose releases include "Vice & Virtue", "Hissy Fit", and "This Against That"Ralph ALESSI
Late British character actor who appeared as a waiter in "A Hard Day's Night"Eddie MALIN
Louisiana gospel singer whose 2001 album wasLike the SeagullBeryl QUINTON
Malaysian badminton star who, in 1998, became the first non-Indonesian winner of the Indonesian Open title in 10 yearsYong Hock KIN
Man sworn in as the 63rd Secretary of State on January 20, 1993Warren CHRISTOPHER
Man who appeared as "Grampa Beefstake" in the 2000 feature "Red Lipstick"Chris DECANIO
Man who represents the 8th Senate District in the Kentucky LegislatureDavid BOSWELL
Miami Heat Forward who played for the Fighting IrishLaPhonso ELLIS
Musician from The Call who appeared as John the Apostle in the Last Temptation of ChristMike BEEN
Phillies pitcher who became the 3rd player in team history to have back-to-back 30-save seasonsJose MESA
Player who, having been with the L.A. Clippers and in the CBA, signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent in 2002Troy HUDSON
Republican representing District 80 in the Louisiana House of RepresentativesCharles LANCASTER
Republican representing the 80th Assembly District in WisconsinMike POWERS
Singer whose eponymous band released the albumShine in 2000Pat MCGEE
State legislator and career farmer representing Pennsylvania's 13th district since 1982Art HERSHEY
Super Bowl XXXII's Most Valuable PlayerTerrell DAVIS
Texan who was the first black woman from the Deep South to be elected to the House of RepresentativesBarbara JORDON
The first African-American woman to star in her own weekly TV seriesDiahann CARROLL
Track and field superstar who won his 4th Olympic long jump in 1996Carl LEWIS
TV comedian whose grandson is actor Jason PatricJackie GLEASON
Woman who played J.R. Ewing's long-suffering wifeLinda GRAY
World Boxing Council lightweight champion from 1985-1987Hector "Macho" CAMACHO
Yale Divinity School honorary degree recipient 1997 and a former lieutenant governorEunice GROARK

"Eliminate" and "ultimate fate" tell you what to do with the names you get: take the nth letter of each name where n is the position each was eliminated. Matching them up and taking letters gives:

FirstLastShowElimination orderLetter
BrandonQuintonS39U
SonjaChristopherS11S
JessieCamachoS32E
TeresaCooperS312R
EddieMcgeeBB110E
MargaritaMesaAR110M
GerryLancasterBB37A
JennaLewisS19I
RobertDecanioS511N
CurtisKinBB18I
TammyLeitnerS410N
PeggyKuhnAR23G
PeterHarkeyS41P
MonicaBaileyBB210L
PaulAlessiAR15A
AmyCrewsBB33Y
JeanJordanBB12E
JeffVarnerS27R
LindseyRichterS36S
MitchellOlsonS24C
NormDavisAR22O
MikeMalinBB25M
JoshFeinbergBB35F
RamonaGrayS14O
JohnCarrollS48R
AutumnDalyBB23T
BrennanSwainAR111I
PatPierceAR13T
GeorgeBoswellBB16E
DannyJimenezAR28M
GaryRosenAR27S

or, "USE REMAINING PLAYERS' COMFORT ITEMS". Matching the remaining players and their "comfort items" (what they brought with them or what they said they'd miss most, taken from their CBS bios), you then take letters in the exact same way:

VANCES52bRushR
SMITHAR12bEdE
BLACKS37arMy camouflage paintsM
JACKSONS42lOcket of Arabian's tailO
ELLISS43naVy wings from grandfatherV
BEENS15BiblEE
HUDSONAR15cd plAyer A
POWERSS311string neckLace L
HERSHEYS23liPstickP
GLEASONS22sHaving kitH
GROARKAR14totAl bathroom facilityA

and the answer is REMOVE ALPHA.