A Boy and His Dog
by Jan Chong, Jesse Morris, Yar Woo
Answer: SMURF TURF
This puzzle has 54 images, 18 arranged in a column on the left and an additional 36 images in a 3x12 grid on the right. Taken together, the images can be grouped into 18 sets of 3 images that clue a rhyming phrase (like "blue's clues").
Although the precise names of each image are not actually necessary for the clue, the images on the right are in alphabetical order to make life a little easier for solvers. They are:
BALD | CARS | COMMUNIST |
CURACAO | DOCTOR WHO | DOODLE |
EDDIE MURPHY | EGG | FLAMING HOOP |
GENIE | HORSE | HOWARD HUGHES |
INK | JACK OF SPADES | KATHY NAJIMY |
LIME | LOWER BACK | MAILBOX |
MEAL | MOON LANDING | MULAN |
ORLANDO MAGIC | PARIS HILTON | POKER CHIP |
POOP | POTATO | RUDYARD KIPLING |
SARAH JESSICA PARKER | SCALE | SOFIA COPPOLA |
SOS | STAMP | TARDIS |
TRASHCAN | WOOD | YURI GAGARIN |
The images on the left identify to (again, precise names are not necessary):
AIRPLANE |
NEEDLE |
SPUTNIK |
PANCAKES |
ICE |
BEAR |
PILL |
DOG |
WALL |
ACE OF HEARTS |
MAYPOLE |
MOTORCYCLE |
BASKETBALL |
EMMA WATSON |
BETTE MIDLER |
RUM |
ENVELOPE |
HOUR GLASS |
These images can be assembled into the following groups to clue rhyming phrases. Adding up the number of blue paw prints in each group of images and using that total to index into the rhyming phrase produces the final message:
Image Grouping | Rhyming Phrase | # Paw Prints | Indexed Letter |
---|---|---|---|
AIRPLANE, HOWARD HUGHES, WOOD | spruce goose | 7 | g |
NEEDLE, LOWER BACK, INK | tramp stamp | 2 | r |
SPUTNIK, MOON LANDING, YURI GAGARIN | space race | 3 | a |
PANCAKES, EDDIE MURPHY, MULAN | mushu | 3 | s |
ICE, MEAL, SCALE | lean cuisine | 8 | s |
BEAR, BALD, RUDYARD KIPLING | fuzzy wuzzy | 1 | f |
PILL, DOODLE, POTATO | roly poly | 2 | o |
DOG, POOP, TRASHCAN | pooper scooper | 2 | o |
WALL, EGG, HORSE | humpty dumpty | 5 | t |
ACE OF HEARTS, JACK OF SPADES, POKER CHIP | blackjack | 1 | b |
MAYPOLE, COMMUNIST, SOS | mayday | 2 | a |
MOTORCYCLE, CARS, FLAMING HOOP | evel knievel | 4 | l |
BASKETBALL, GENIE, ORLANDO MAGIC | shaquille o'neal | 7 | l |
EMMA WATSON, PARIS HILTON, SOFIA COPPOLA | bling ring | 1 | b |
BETTE MIDLER, KATHY NAJIMY, SARAH JESSICA PARKER | hocus pocus | 2 | o |
RUM, CURACAO, LIME | mai tai | 3 | i |
ENVELOPE, MAILBOX, STAMP | snail mail | 1 | s |
HOUR GLASS, DOCTOR WHO, TARDIS | timey wimey | 4 | e |
Reading out the extracted message, gives another set of three (GRASS, FOOTBALL, BOISE), which clues our final rhyming phrase: SMURF TURF, the nickname for the Boise State University football stadium.