The key discoveries needed to solve this puzzle are that this listicle actually represents a list of “icals,” and that these aren’t just any lolcats . . . they’re Jellicle Lolcats. Each of the singing cat captions suggests an adjective ending in “ICAL” (or in one case, because Andrew Lloyd Webber hates consistency, a two-word phrase ending in “ACLE”):
Caption | Descriptor |
---|---|
2 B OR NOT 2 B / DATZ DA QUESHTUN | DRAMATICAL |
BWAHAHAHAHAHA / I CANT EEVIN | HYSTERICAL |
CGI IS OVERR8ED / ALL MAI SPESHL FX R 4 REEL | PRACTICAL |
DEY CALL ME PYTHIA / I KNOWS DA FUTUR | DELPHIC ORACLE |
HOW I LUV LE POISSON / TEH DISTRO NOT DA FISHEE | STATISTICAL |
I DONT UZE “AS” OR “LAIK” / SIMILEEZ R 4 DUM DOGZ | METAPHORICAL |
I BIN REEDIN CHARLS SANDRS PEIRCE / HE MAKEZ HIS IDEAZ CLEER | PRAGMATICAL |
I CAN HAZ PRESIDENCY? / MAI PARTEE IZ DEMEOWCRAT | POLITICAL |
I GIVZ A SPEACH BOUT MICE / I STUDEED PUBLIK SQUEAKIN | ORATORICAL |
I HAD IDEALS B4 DEY NOOTERED ME / NOW I R JADED | CYNICAL |
I HAZ MAGIC POWERZ / I GIVS THE PAGE 2 ACHENAR | MYSTICAL |
I R HOLY WARRIORRR! / BUT NO SHARP EDGES PLZ | CLERICAL |
I ROTE U A REVYU / UR MOVIE SUX | CRITICAL |
IM IN UR BODY / EATIN UP UR LIFE FORZ | PARASITICAL |
O HAI QT / I BROT U ROZES | ROMANTICAL |
O RLY? / I DONT THINK DATS TROO | SKEPTICAL |
OMG OMG OMG OMG / UR MAI ALLTIME FAVE!!!1! | FANATICAL |
OOOOOOOG / I 8 WAY 2 MUCH | DYSPEPTICAL |
TODAI U R A MAN / MOUSEL TOV | RABBINICAL |
U SHUD DRINK LESS / OOH MILK! GLUG GLUG GLUG | HYPOCRITICAL |
UR SENTINZ ENDS IN A PREPOZISHN / FIX IT PLZ KTHX | PEDANTICAL |
Each of these descriptors appears before “cats” in the last verse of “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats,” the opening number from the musical Cats. The verse lists 22 descriptors, 21 of which are hinted in the puzzle, and the remaining word (corresponding to the cast member who hasn’t shown up yet) is ALLEGORICAL, the solution to this puzzle. (Some of the captions can almost certainly clue alternate “-ical” words... the solver is intended to identify enough answers to discover the relevant verse, and then use the verse to narrow down the rest.)