100% Reliable
by Mark Halpin
ANSWER: SHADING
Among the text of the comic book page are 24 words in boldface, exactly two each of every length from 5 to 16 letters long. The words in each pair have exactly one letter in the same position. Those individual letters, taken from shortest word pair to longest, spell the clue SEE WALLY WOOD.
| Word pair | Letter |
|---|---|
| AGNES, NAILS | S |
| NUTTER, PROVED | E |
| CROWLEY, WITCHES | E |
| WARLOCKS, WICKEDLY | W |
| CREMATION, WARRANTED | A |
| AZIRAPHALE, GENTLEFOLK | L |
| APOCALYPTIC, UNFAILINGLY | L |
| CLAIRVOYANCE, GOBBLEDYGOOK | Y |
| FOREKNOWLEDGE, UNTRUSTWORTHY | W |
| GOODFELLOWSHIP, UNQUESTIONABLY | O |
| ACRIMONIOUSNESS, PROGNOSTICATION | O |
| MUDDLEHEADEDNESS, UNDERAPPRECIATED | D |
This phrase refers to Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work. Note that the puzzle title refers to these panels as well as to Agnes Nutter's infallible prophecies.
Each panel in the puzzle comic is an exemplar of one of the panels shown by Wood.
The puzzle uses, in order, the 19th, 8th, 1st, 4th, 9th, 14th, and 7th panels. Converting alphanumerically yields the answer SHADING.