The Zyzzlvarian Holovid Institute

by Mike Sylvia, with image and programming help from Mark Halpin, Joseph DeVincentis, and Corey Plover

ANSWER: CINEMA TYCOON

 

As clued by the multiple words in the flavortext starting with "afi-", the given letters A, F, and I in the marquee sub-puzzle, the mention of a 100th anniversary in the flavortext, the Scrabble play of "cENTURY" in the games sub-puzzle, and the hints in the ID3 tag of the audio file, this puzzle is based on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... series of lists.

Each of the twelve sub-puzzles corresponds to one of the first twelve lists in the series, and clues in some way a series of entries in that list. Reading the positions of these entries alphanumerically gives a clue to one final entry in that list; its position can be read as a letter corresponding to that list. Reading off these letters in the order the lists were originally unveiled gives the answer phrase CINEMA TYCOON.

YearSub-puzzleLetter
1998MarqueeC
1999ConstellationsI
2000JokeN
2001ShockE
2002TreeM
2003Goofus and GallantA
2004Audio FileT
2005Drop QuoteY
2005GamesC
2006BookshelfO
2006To-Do ListO
2007Stock TickerN

Audio File

The audio file is made up of three-word snippets of songs from 2004's 100 Songs list. In order:

  • Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born) (#16, P)
  • Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (#12, L)
  • Over the Rainbow (#1, A)
  • Singin' in the Rain (#3, C)
  • White Christmas (#5, E)
  • Mrs. Robinson (#6, F)
  • Cheek to Cheek (#15, O)
  • Cabaret (#18, R)
  • Jailhouse Rock (#21, U)
  • Some Day My Prince Will Come (#19, S)

PLACE FOR US is another three-word snippet from a song on the list, Somewhere (#20, T).

Bookshelf

The fake Chicken Soup for the Soul books clue films from 2006's 100 Cheers list. In order:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird (#2, B)
  • Apollo 13 (#12, L)
  • Miracle on 34th Street (#9, I)
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai (#14, N)
  • Rocky (#4, D)
  • Philadelphia (#20, T)
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (#5, E)
  • It's a Wonderful Life (#1, A)
  • Schindler's List (#3, C)
  • Breaking Away (#8, H)

BLIND TEACH = The Miracle Worker (#15, O).

Constellations

If you label each 5x5 grid of stars A-Y, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, each of these "constellations" is the result of tracing out a movie star's name and filling in any fully-enclosed areas. The movie stars are all from 1999's 100 Stars list, and strictly alternate between the separate male and female lists. Reading across the rows:

  • LAURENCE OLIVIER (#14, N)
  • SOPHIA LOREN (#21, U)
  • JAMES DEAN (#18, R)
  • GRETA GARBO (#5, E)
  • JOHN WAYNE (#13, M)
  • BETTE DAVIS (#2, B)
  • FRED ASTAIRE (#5, E)
  • SHIRLEY TEMPLE (#18, R)
  • CLARK GABLE (#7, G)
  • INGRID BERGMAN (#4, D)
  • BUSTER KEATON (#21, U)
  • MAE WEST (#15, O)

This spells NUREMBERG DUO. The film Judgement at Nuremberg features several of the stars on both lists, but the only pair that have the same rank and thus produce a single letter are Spencer Tracy and Marlene Dietrich (#9, I).

Drop Quote

The solution to the drop quote consists of three-to-six-word excerpts from entries from 2005's 100 Movie Quotes list:

"I COULDA HAD CLASS A NICE CHIANTI AN 
OFFER HE CAN'T REFUSE FRANKLY MY DEAR 
YOU TALKIN' TO ME TOP OF THE WORLD I'M
 MAD AS HELL NAPALM IN THE MORNING FAS
TEN YOUR SEATBELTS STUFF THAT DREAMS A
RE MADE OF HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU KID"

In order, these are from #3, #21, #2, #1, #10, #18, #19, #12, #9, #14, and #5, spelling CUBA JR.'S LINE. This is "Show me the money!" (#25, Y).

Games

The most intuitive thing to do after identifying the games being played is to work out the player's score (or other associated number); this should cause solvers to realize that this is the sub-puzzle corresponding to 2005's 100 Years of Movie Scores. The scores are all two-digit numbers; by taking these as the last two digits of film release years and the initials as the first initials of composers of entries in the list, solvers can uniquely identify ten entries:

  • NASCAR championship racing - 43rd place is worth 34 points. Five bonus points are awarded to any driver who leads at least one lap. 34+5=39. (Gone with the Wind, 1939, Max Steiner, #2, B)
  • Go - Given the half-point difference, komi must be in effect. As of 2002, the standard Japanese komi is 6.5. Japan uses territory scoring, where the territory and prisoners are simply added to give the score. 51+5+6.5-.5=62. (How the West Was Won, 1962, Alfred Newman, #25, Y)
  • Football - Field goals are three, touchdowns are six, and the bonuses are what you'd expect from the names. 3+7+7+8+8=33. (King Kong, 1933, Max Steiner, #13, M)
  • Darts - The first two shots score 50 and 25 respectively. The third shot lands in double 1, for two points. 50+25+2=77. (Star Wars, 1977, John Williams, #1, A)
  • Chutes and Ladders - The spins that get M.'s opponent to #100 help to confirm that this is being played on the classic Milton Bradley board. When his opponent wins the game, M. is on square #59. (Ben-Hur, 1959, Miklós Rózsa, #21, U)
  • Scrabble - A lowercase letter denotes a blank tile that does not score, so the base score is 0+1+1+1+1+1+4. The play is doubled because it hits h8, and 50 points are added for using all seven letters. 9*2+50=68. (Planet of the Apes, 1968, Jerry Goldsmith, #18, R)
  • Bowling - A turkey is three consecutive strikes. Strikes score a bonus equal to the number of pins knocked over in the next two rolls, so the first frame scores 10+10+10, the second scores 10+10+4, the third scores 10+4+1, and the fourth scores 4+1. 30+24+15+5=74. (Chinatown, 1974, Jerry Goldsmith, #9, I)
  • Golf - Eagles are two under par, birdies one under par, and bogeys one over par. 72-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1+1=62. (Lawrence of Arabia, 1962, Maurice Jarre, #3, C)
  • Mornington Crescent - Through logic, deduction, deep tree searching, and blood sacrifice, one can determine that this situation can only occur under the Custard Manor variant, and that the final winning move must have been the 72nd. (Or players could note that there's only one composer on the list with a first initial N... but that would of course be cheating.) (The Godfather, 1972, Nino Rota, #5, E)
  • Hearts - Taking the queen of spades gives 13 points. Depending on the variant, shooting the moon can either give 26 points to all other players or allow the shooter to subtract 26 from his own score; since the shot affected the score of the player to D's left, the former must be the case. 13+13+26=52. (High Noon, 1952, Dimitri Tiomkin, #10, J)

The only score on the list that's BY MAURICE J. is that of Lawrence of Arabia (#3, C).

Goofus and Gallant

These are all actions taken by the villains (in Goofus's case) and heroes (in Gallant's case) from 2003's 100 Heroes and Villains list. In order:

  • HAL 9000 (#13, M) and Clarice Starling (#6, F)
  • Amon Goth (#15, O) and Atticus Finch (#1, A)
  • Darth Vader (#3, C) and Superman (#26, Z)
  • Michael Corleone (#11, K) and Will Kane (#5, E)
  • Captain Bligh (#19, S) and Tom Joad (#12, L)
  • Man (#20, T) and Lou Gehrig (#25, Y)
  • Hannibal Lecter (#1, A) and Han Solo (#14, N)
  • The Shark (#18, R) and James Bond (#3, C)
  • Alex DeLarge (#12, L) and Ellen Ripley (#8, H)
  • Regan MacNeil (#9, I) and Oskar Schindler (#13, M)
  • The Alien (#14, N) and Norma Rae Webster (#15, O)
  • Alex Forrest (#7, G) and Indiana Jones (#2, B)

Reading down all the villains gives MOCK STARLING, and reading down all the heroes gives FAZE LYNCH MOB. These are actions taken by Hannibal Lecter and Atticus Finch, respectively (both #1, A).

Joke

This follows the basic format of the infamous freeform joke "The Aristocrats", but with situations from the entries of 2000's 100 Laughs list. In order, the referenced entries are:

  • It Happened One Night (#8, H)
  • Some Like It Hot (#1, A)
  • When Harry Met Sally... (#23, W)
  • The Producers (#11, K)
  • His Girl Friday (#19, S)
  • Tootsie (#2, B)
  • The Graduate (#9, I)
  • M*A*S*H (#7, G)
  • Blazing Saddles (#6, F)
  • A Night at the Opera (#12, L)
  • The Philadelphia Story (#15, O)
  • Singin' in the Rain (#16, P)

HAWKS' BIG FLOP refers to the poor box office performance of Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby (#14, N).

Marquee

This corresponds to 1998's 100 Movies list. Each set of blanks can be filled by exactly one list entry:

  • ALL ABOUT EVE (#16, P)
  • THE GRAPES OF WRATH (#21, U)
  • DR. STRANGELOVE (#26, Z)
  • STAR WARS (#15, O)
  • CHINATOWN (#19, S)
  • ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (#20, T)
  • CITIZEN KANE (#1, A)
  • SUNSET BOULEVARD (#12, L)
  • LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (#15, E)

PUZO'S TALE = The Godfather (#3, C).

Shock

The frames are taken from entries in 2001's 100 Thrills list. In order:

  • The Exorcist (#3, C)
  • Vertigo (#18, R)
  • Psycho (#1, A)
  • The Maltese Falcon (#26, Z)
  • Titanic (#25, Y)
  • The French Connection (#8, H)
  • Deliverance (#15, O)
  • Chinatown (#16, P)
  • The Godfather (#11, K)
  • Rosemary's Baby (#9, I)
  • Rear Window (#14, N)
  • The Great Escape (#19, S)

CRAZY HOPKINS = The Silence of the Lambs (#5, E).

Stock Ticker

The symbols are the initials of films on 2007's 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list, along with their change in ranking compared to the original 1998 list. In order:

  • SB -4.0 = Sunset Boulevard (#12->#16, P)
  • C -1.0 = Casablanca (#2->#3, C)
  • TS +84.0 = The Searchers (#96->#12, L)
  • V +52.0 = Vertigo (#61->#9, I)
  • SW +2.0 = Star Wars (#15->#13, M)
  • TG +1.0 = The Godfather (#3->#2, B)
  • OTW -11.0 = On the Waterfront (#8->#19, S)
  • GWTW -2.0 = Gone with the Wind (#4->#6, F)
  • TTAOASO +7.0 = 2001: A Space Odyssey (#22->#15, O)
  • C -2.0 = Chinatown (#19->#21, U)
  • TG +(infinity) = The General (not on list -> #18, R)

P CLIMBS FOUR is a similarly obfuscated list entry, Psycho (#18->#14, N).

To-Do List

Each of the entries in the stage manager's to-do list is actually hinting at the title of one of the entries in 2006's Greatest Movie Musicals list. In order:

  • Funny Girl (#16, P)
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (#21, U)
  • Grease (#20, T)
  • Top Hat (#15, O)
  • All That Jazz (#14, N)
  • West Side Story (#2, B)
  • Moulin Rouge! (#25, Y)
  • Mary Poppins (#6, F)
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy (#18, R)
  • Cabaret (#5, E)
  • The Sound of Music (#4, D)

PUT ON BY FRED = Top Hat (#15, O)

Tree

Each set of initials carved in the tree belong to the lovers in one of the entries in 2002's 100 Passions list. In order:

  • Joe Bradley and "Anya Smith", Roman Holiday (#4, D)
  • Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner, The Way We Were (#6, F)
  • George Bailey and Mary Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life (#8, H)
  • Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady (#12, L)
  • Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights (#15, O)
  • Ethel Thayer and Norman Thayer, On Golden Pond (#22, V)
  • Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay, An Affair to Remember (#5, E)
  • Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen, Ghost (#19, S)
  • Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, Annie Hall (#11, K)
  • Scarlett O'Hara and Ashley Wilkes, Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy, Ashley Wilkes again, and Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind (#2, B)

DFH LOVES KB is one final set of initials to identify; they're Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen from Out of Africa (#13, M).