Ronette Aida Metapuzzle
Kevin Wald
This seven members of this Witness group have names that, when anagrammed, give the kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species names for one particular species: the Greater Prairie Chicken. As further cluing, the email address of each suspect contains (ignoring punctation) the appropriate level in the taxonomy:
| Name | Anagrams To | Email Address | Puzzle Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maia Lian | Animalia | thelianKING@DOMainofpain.com | PROTECTIVE TARIFF |
| Rhoda Cat | Chordata | rcat@murPHYLUMber.com | APPOINTMENT CALENDAR |
| Eva S. | Aves | scapelli@CLASSico.it | MUDSKIPPER |
| Elmo Fargils | Galliformes | elmo@bORDERs.com | EAST BERLIN |
| Ronette Aida | Tetraonidae | aidarF@AMIL.Yale.edu | THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD |
| Uncas Humpty | Tympanuchus | eggman@powerGEN.US | FREQUENCY |
| Di Puco | cupido | dionysuSP@ECI.ES | MADISON, NEW HAMPSHIRE |
The phrase GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN consists of three seven-letter words. Using the usual A=1, B=2 code, these provide indexes into the seven solution phrases (taken in kingdom-to-species order):
G -> 7 in PROTEC(T)IVE TARIFF
R -> 18 in APPOINTMENT CALEND(A)R
E -> 5 in MUDS(K)IPPER
A -> 1 in (E)AST BERLIN
T -> 20 in THE UNDERGROUND RAILR(O)AD
E -> 5 in FREQ(U)ENCY
R -> 18 in MADISON, NEW HAMPSHI(R)E
P -> 16 in PROTECTIVE TARIF(F)
R -> 18 in APPOINTMENT CALEND(A)R
A -> 1 in (M)UDSKIPPER
I -> 9 in EAST BERL(I)N
R -> 18 in THE UNDERGROUND RAI(L)ROAD
I -> 9 in FREQUENC(Y)
E -> 5 in MADI(S)ON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
C -> 3 in PR(O)TECTIVE TARIFF
H -> 8 in APPOINT(M)ENT CALENDAR
I -> 9 in MUDSKIPP(E)R
C -> 3 in EA(S)T BERLIN
K -> 11 in THE UNDERGR(O)UND RAILROAD
E -> 5 in FREQ(U)ENCY
N -> 14 in MADISON, NEW HAM(P)SHIRE
We thus get the solution phrase TAKE OUR FAMILY SOME SOUP. The "family" indicates that the witness is Ronette Aida.
Having contacted Ronette Aida with this phrase, teams would get the following email message:
To: TEAM NAME
From: Ronette Aida
Re: Take our family some soup
It's cold and wintry, and all of us are hungry. Bring enough soup to serve 4 hungry people to HQ. Call first to make an appointment, and be sure the soup is HOT! Vichyssoise has no place in New England in January.
If a team brought us soup as specified, they would receive a "thank you" email from Ronette, and the next dossier would be made available to them.