Hyena
by Yar Woo, Todd Etter
Answers: ACM, RTS
This puzzle has two answers.
THX 1138
Each of the scrambled phrases is an amalgamation of 1–3 actors in the 1971 George Lucas film THX 1138. All characters in the movie have three-letter names (e.g., THX, CAM). Similarly, the actors' names have been broken into three chunks; each chunk represents the letter in their fictional name to display.
For example, the first message is CLAUDSENCEESSINGETTEBDONALDPLEA. This mashes up actors Claudette Bessing and Donald Pleasence, who played the characters ELC and SEN, respectively.
CLAUD (the first third of Claudette Bessing, so take the first letter of her character name): E
SENCE (the last third of Donald Pleasence, so take the last letter of his character name): N
ESSING: C
ETTEB: L
DONAL: S
DPLEA: E
We now have the letters ENCLSE. The next step is to match with one of the state nicknames of the license plates (in this case, Georgia, the Claustrophobic State), find the missing letter (ENCLOSE), and sort by statehood order.
Original | Actor(s) | Word | Nickname | State |
---|---|---|---|---|
GARYFEMARSHIANSENCEDONALALANWOLDPLEA | Gary Alan Marsh (CAM), Donald Pleasence (SEN), Ian Wolfe (PTO) | COMPENSATE | The Fair Payment State | Delaware |
JOHNSEAEDROCTONDONPOLLEY | Don Pedro Colley (SRT), John Seaton (OUE) | DOUREST | The Grumpiest State | Pennsylvania |
ROBERTDUTONJOHNSEAVALL | Robert Duvall (THX), John Seaton (OUE) | THEROUX | The "Friend"-ly Ex State | New Jersey |
CLAUDSENCEESSINGETTEBDONALDPLEA | Claudette Bessing (ELC), Donald Pleasence (SEN) | ENCLOSE | The Claustrophobic State | Georgia |
MAGGIEMCSENCEOMIEDPLEADONAL | Maggie McOmie (LUH), Donald Pleasence (SEN) | LUNCHES | The Midday State | Connecticut |
GARYMARSHALAN | Gary Alan Marsh (CAM) | COMA | The Sleepy State | Massachusetts |
ESSINGCLAUDETTEB | Claudette Bessing (ELC) | CELL | The Prison State | Maryland |
DPLEASENCEDONAL | Donald Pleasence (SEN) | LENS | The Eyeglass State | South Carolina |
OMIEIEMCDONPOLLEYMAGGEDROC | Don Pedro Colley (SRT), Maggie McOmie (LUH) | HUSTLER | The Con Artist State | New Hampshire |
WOLIANFE | Ian Wolfe (PTO) | TYPO | The Mistake State | Virginia |
LSHKWAJOHNSEAJACTON | Jack Walsh (TRG), John Seaton (OUE) | GROUTED | The Bathroom State | New York |
OLLEYDPLEASENCEDONPEDROCDONAL | Don Pedro Colley (SRT), Donald Pleasence (SEN) | TENSORS | The Math State | North Carolina |
HALLEFRONSENCEDPLEADONALMARS | Marshall Efron (TWA), Donald Pleasence (SEN) | WANNEST | The Palest State | Rhode Island |
JOHDONPOLLEYNSEAEDROCTON | John Seaton (OUE), Don Pedro Colley (SRT) | POSTURE | The Ergonomic State | Vermont |
The end message is EDRO COLLEY DONP. Performing the same transformation with Don Pedro Colley's character (SRT) yields RTS.
Robert Duvall
The license plates all clue various movies that Robert Duvall has starred in (including the aforementioned THX 1138, which is redacted). Indexing in by the month to the movie and sorting again by statehood order gives the answer phrase.
License Plate | Month | Movie |
---|---|---|
HRSEHED | 8 | THE GODFATHER |
HILJMPR | 3 | BULLITT |
KIDNPPM | 5 | THE EAGLE HAS LANDED |
XRA XRA | 1 | NEWSIES |
CARSTLR | 1 | GONE IN 60 SECONDS |
PRECHIT | 4 | THE APOSTLE |
MADASHL | 6 | NETWORK |
NPLMLVR | 7 | APOCALYPSE NOW |
BIGCOMT | 6 | DEEP IMPACT |
BAD DAD | 10 | THE GREAT SANTINI |
WNDRBY | 8 | THE NATURAL |
LDYTHVS | 6 | WIDOWS |
500RACR | 8 | DAYS OF THUNDER |
The end message is ALAN GARY MARSH. Peforming the THX transformation on Gary Alan Marsh's THX character (CAM) yields ACM.