Solution - Sleeping Beauty

by Nathan Fung and Mark Halpin

Answer: Click here to reveal

Each answer in this rounds contains either a single or double Z. The answers can be entered into the grid starting at each rose, one letter per square, except that double Zs share a square.

Three important things are clued by the flavor text.

First, the term "Evil Influence" is the English translation of the Japanese puzzle style Masyu.

Second, the word "quiet" is white and the word "loud" is black. This clues how to interpret the single and double Z squares, respectively.

Third, "all other guideposts have been rendered invisible" indicates the method for extraction. The locations of all possible circles along the Masyu solution path not indicated by Zs should be used to extract the answer phrase.

Reading these letters off clockwise beginning from the K in the top row gives the answer: KISS AURORA WITH GUSTO.