10 Clues Puzzle

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

OK, once you get the answer to number 9, you have completed the easy part of this puzzle. :slight_smile:

I will refer you to the following statement from the OP:

The ten clues above conveniently include a sandwiched pair of secondary clues on how to get started with “part two” of the puzzle.

I’ll be checking in to guide you along, as I know this is a pretty tough challenge. Great work so far, though!

22

Is this correct?

  1. TICTACTOE
  2. PENSACOLA
  3. REBELYELL
  4. GERALDINE
  5. THREESONS
  6. GILLESPIE
  7. MICROCHIP
  8. FOURHCLUB
    9. SOUTHPARK
  9. TOUCHTONE
23

yes

24

Let’s try “Turnernet” (as in Ted Turner) for # 9. It doesn’t fit tricksters fomular but anyway the ten answer words will then end in these complete words…

net one club hip pie dine yell cola sons toe

The ten answers begin with these complete words…

tic pen rebel gerald three gill micro four turn touch

After removing these words from the twenty word list the letters
tac sa e es h er are left over which anagrammatises as
“a rats cheese” or “she et Caesar”. Now if we can make a story using the twenty words…

Oh drat… I’m using the “D” in “Geraldine” twice.

I’m giving up. I’m going to bed.

25

brilliant, milum.

But wrong. :slight_smile:

26

Okay, LifeIllustrator – you don’t really put us out of our misery as to whether the repeating letter thing is relevant or not. Leaving aside whether it’s the pairs, or the positions, or what – are the repeated letters part of what we need to be thinking about now, or do we need to figure out the secondar clue before using the repeated letters, or are the repeated letters a red herring? (They can’t be completely coincidental – not with an unbroken set of nine.)

27

Well, my previous post was an allusion to getting “CALL SECRET” from the repeated letters. Is this the right track?

28

Oops. That’ll teach me to post without reading.:smack:

29

I don’t get it.

30

The repeated letters are key to solving the puzzle.

First though, you will have to figure out what to do with the 10 words you have. The ‘sandwich’ clue refers to the bread of a sandwich. Or, if you note a similarity in two of the answers above. Once you got that, you have to play with those 10 words.

Read below for a big boost:

<spoiler>
The sandwich clue is the first and last words: tic tac toe and touchtone. This should lead you into arranging the words into some type of grid. Once you have the correct grid, you will need to deal with the similar letters.
</spoiler>

31


The sandwich clue is the first and last words: tic tac toe and touchtone. This should lead you into arranging the words into some type of grid. Once you have the correct grid, you will need to deal with the similar letters.

32

CALL SECRET is not on the right track.

I messed up the spoiler tags above, but let me add a really big push towards the solution here since I might not be able to check in until Sunday late afternoon.

The words are all 9 letters, which , divided by 3 = 3, or if you will, can be cut up into a tic tac toe board column. If you arrange the words into the proper grid, and then notice WHICH letters are similar, then single the first one OUT, you will be left with the answer. If at that point you are stuck, keep reading.
It might help to look at your grid from a little distance, or…

change the remaining letters to all X’s and look at it

Sorry for being so vague. It is hard to tell how close you are and how much I should reveal.

For the record, where I first saw this posted it took a group of about a dozen almost 2 full days to come up with the solution.

33

Reveal nothing. We’re up to the task…

34

Damn, and I was about to ask if the phrasing of the clues was relevant. I can’t let MonkeyMensch be more of a mensch than I am, though.

35

All right, I gave it my best shot, and I got about four E’s, some O’s and some other crap. Needless to say, there was no solution involved. Somebody solve this, would you?

Also, the 8th, 9th, and 10th clues have three letters in common: O, U, and H. Do we use 'em all, or do we have to pick two, or what? Ahh, screw it. I think I’ll go solve some of the Hidden Pictures in Highlights magazine instead.

36

Mmmmm. Highlights.

I feel like I’m about to get my teeth cleaned.

37

Damn you!

I was going to ignore this thread, but it’s been gnawing away at my brain all weekend…

So, following your clues, I’m left with:

  1. xxx / xAC / xxx
  2. xEx / xAC / xLx
  3. xEx / xLx / xLx
  4. xER / xLx / xNx
  5. xxR / xES / xNx
  6. xIx / xES / xIx
  7. xIx / RxC / xIx
  8. xOU / RHC/ xxx
  9. xOU / xHx / xxx
  10. xOU / xHx / xxx

Or, ignoring lines 1 and 10 (which you said gave us the “grid”) :

  1. xEx / xxx / xLx
  2. xEx / xLx / xLx
  3. xER / xLx / xNx
  4. xxR / xES / xNx
  5. xIx / xES / xIx
  6. xIx / RxC / xIx
  7. xOU / RHC/ xxx
  8. xOU / xHx / xxx

Or, ELELLERLNRESNIESIIRCIOURHCOUH

Simple.

(Ahem.)

38

Pierre, you are very close.

  1. You broke the words up into 3 parts. Good.

  2. You have arranged them into a grid. Good.

  3. Your particular grid is not good. Try something vertical as oppossed to your horizontal.

tic pen
tac sac
toe ola

  1. You are singling out the letters that repeat. Good.

And actually take them right out of the puzzle so they are blank spaces.

  1. Do not single out the last occurance of each repeating set though.

  2. You have eliminated the first and last clue…just eliminate the last.

So eventually, the first word should end up looking just like this:

XXX
X
XXX

39

Okay, now that we’ve got some hints and suggestions, I’ll start working on this again – but not until this evening. Right now, I’ve got to do the puzzle stuff I’m paid for…

40

What?? You’re going to leave it like this? No more clues? No hints at the solution??

We’re dying here…!

:smiley: