Solution: Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other
Answer: PACKET FILTER
Written by wolf
Solvers are presented with two lists of crossword-style clues, the second list much more obtuse than the first. After confirming several of the clues in the first list and using the title as aid, solvers should realize that the first list is in alphabetical order, and every single answer is six letters long.
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Former students | ALUMNI |
| H.P. Lovecraft setting | ARKHAM |
| Political protection | ASYLUM |
| Trick-taking card game | BRIDGE |
| Author McCullers | CARSON |
| Fight | COMBAT |
| Country singer Corbin | EASTON |
| Surname of Mama Cass | ELLIOT |
| Former girlfriend of Scott Pilgrim | KNIVES |
| Span | LENGTH |
| ______ algebra | LINEAR |
| Footballer Messi | LIONEL |
| Rich heiress on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody | LONDON |
| Artist Duchamp | MARCEL |
| Legislative proposal | MOTION |
| It includes Word and Excel | OFFICE |
| Father of quantum theory | PLANCK |
| Chemist that discovered the law of definite proportions | PROUST |
| One of the friends on Friends | RACHEL |
| Aprile of The Sopranos | RICHIE |
| Group of fish | SCHOOL |
| “Pleasant Valley ______” | SUNDAY |
The next step is to realize that the bottom ordered list has half the number of clues in the first half—and the clues from the top list can pair up to form (6, 6) phrases that fit the clues on the bottom list.
The final clues are given in order for extraction:
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Church activity | SUNDAY SCHOOL |
| French author | MARCEL PROUST |
| Setting of several video games | ARKHAM ASYLUM |
| Physics 101 topic | LINEAR MOTION |
| Nursery rhyme subject | LONDON BRIDGE |
| Minuscule unit | PLANCK LENGTH |
| They might ask for donations | ALUMNI OFFICE |
| Environmentalist | RACHEL CARSON |
| Possibly thrown objects | COMBAT KNIVES |
| Left-handed guitarist | ELLIOT EASTON |
| Singer | LIONEL RICHIE |
Reading the first letter of the words (both the left and right parts of each phrase) gives us two more clues to solve: SMALL PARCEL, which clues PACKET, and SPAM BLOCKER, which clues FILTER. Combining them produces one last (6, 6) phrase: PACKET FILTER, which is the answer.