The flavortext for this puzzle takes the form of a haiku, and the segments in the three columns can be used to build seventeen more haiku. To form each haiku, the right trio of segments (one from each column) must be ‘crosscut’ and reassembled. In other words, the first line of the haiku consists of the first parts of these three segments, the second line the second parts, and the third line the last parts. Deciding which segments go together and where to break them up is the meat of the puzzle. When the haiku are assembled, each one refers to a film with a nine-letter title.
Segment 1 | Segment 2 | Segment 3 | Haiku Line 1 | Haiku Line 2 | Haiku Line 3 | Film Title |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bullies circus fear our big | Demand folks fake | Food aren’t warriors bird | Bullies demand food | Circus folks aren’t warriors | Fear our big fake bird | A Bug’s Life |
Fear you know some coke | The lobster nothing of my and | Squad work a sneeze | Fear the lobster squad | You know nothing of my work | Some coke and a sneeze | Annie Hall |
Dancers mysterious stop | Want dual back stabbing | Role scratches yourself | Dancers want dual role | Mysterious back scratches | Stop stabbing yourself | Black Swan |
Don’t open your dad | That panic room killed | Crate has roaches by voodoo | Don’t open that crate | Your panic room has roaches | Dad killed by voodoo | Creep Show |
Girl during blackouts thanks | Built by pair for the | Recluse conspires chopper | Girl built by recluse | During blackouts pair conspires | Thanks for the chopper | Ex Machina |
Lab shrinking love | Bat makes you care my toxic | Has issues for trees love | Lab bat has issues | Shrinking makes you care for trees | Love my toxic love | Ferngully |
Loan lucrative he got | Shark pitched insurance his coat | A script scam back | Loan shark pitched a script | Lucrative insurance scam | He got his coat back | Get Shorty |
Oregon skinhead dead | Punk boss looks like girl bodes | Show Picard poorly | Oregon punk show | Skinhead boss looks like Picard | Dead girl bodes poorly | Green Room |
She have some wig | Just wants racist bomb scheme | To dance brainwashing goes wrong | She just wants to dance | Have some racist brainwashing | Wig bomb scheme goes wrong | Hairspray |
Someone gangster says to paint | Missed their keep the cans hurt | Flight change your face | Someone missed their flight | Gangster says to keep the change | Paint cans hurt your face | Home Alone |
We are escaping the top | In your limbo keeps | Head is hard spinning | We are in your head | Escaping limbo is hard | The top keeps spinning | Inception |
Voices that Ingrid’s | Say poet’s not just on | To fight the Dauphin fire | Voices say to fight | That poet’s not the Dauphin | Ingrid’s just on fire | Joan of Arc |
Baby this clock one | Bro’s goes up door’s certain | Kidnapped to thirteen death | Baby bro’s kidnapped | This clock goes up to thirteen | One door’s certain death | Labyrinth |
Your sanctuary is I’m | Crystal’s a thirty-one | Flashing myth now | Your crystal’s flashing | Sanctuary is a myth | I’m thirty-one now | Logan’s Run |
Damon how will these guys | Leaves Brad win on get on | Oakland the cheap base | Damon leaves Oakland | How will Brad win on the cheap | These guys get on base | Moneyball |
Space nerve avoid | Shuttle’s gas will kill that dude’s | Been swiped everyone teeth | Space shuttle’s been swiped | Nerve gas will kill everyone | Avoid that dude’s teeth | Moonraker |
Her dad’s wine let’s | A tastes like make Claude | Nazi uranium taller | Her dad’s a Nazi | Wine tastes like uranium | Let’s make Claude taller | Notorious |
Since the movie titles are each nine-letters long, and the entries in the crisscross grid are nine letters long, it’s natural to try to fit the titles in the grid, but they won’t fit. That’s because, like the haiku, they need to be crosscut; so, for example, ABUGSLIFE must be cut into ABU/GSL/IFE and reassembled into the string AGIBSFULE. (You can think of this as crosscutting or un-crosscutting, since the process is its own inverse.) The crosscut versions of the titles do fit into the grid as shown:
The highlighted letters, in order from top to bottom, spell JKUABECAR. When this string is crosscut, it forms the answer to the puzzle, JACK BAUER.