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MITMH2022
Public Access

Solution to My Son, The Science Fiction Fan

Sci-Ficisco

Answer: AQUAVIT
by Kevin Wald

This puzzle is based on the songs of Allan Sherman, as hinted at in various places, notably:

Specifically:

(Note that both "Oh Boy" and "Good Advice" appear, appropriately capitalized, in the puzzle text.)

Here is the complete set:

IndividualMentioned in OB asOB orderClued GA line endGA verse #GA rhyming line #
Belinsky, Robert "Bo"Bo Belinsky12streak32
Capote, TrumanTruman Capote17fly54
Cody, William "Buffalo Bill"Buffalo Bill Cody16dreams82
Conan Doyle, ArthurSir Arthur Conan and Doyle7streak32
Dubinsky, DavidDavid Dubinsky13fly54
Glenn, JohnColonel Glenn9pen34
Goldwater, BarryBarry Goldwarter4streak32
Khrushchev, NikitaKhrushchev the bald Communist8washing machine52
Loren, SophiaSophia Loren1dreams82
MacLane, BartonBarton MacLane6Chevrolet42
Millay, Edna St. VincentEdna St. Vincent Millay5pen34
Minow, Newton N.Newton B. Minow18gravity24
Minsky, [see note]Minsky14pride11
Porter, SylviaSylvia Porter3tree23
Rockne, KnuteKnute Rockne19hole72
San Juan, OlgaOlga San Juan20red21
Stravinsky, IgorIgor Stravinsky11tube again33
Taylor, ElizabethElizabeth Taylor10Myer92
von Braun, WernherWernher von Braun15soul71
Warren, EarlChief Justice Warren2electricity64
Note: It is impossible to tell which Minsky brother is actually being referred to here, but it doesn't matter.

As suggested in the song, we treat the keys of the keyboard as arranged in columns, and put them in correspondence with the verses of "Good Advice." (The song confirms that the first verse of "Good Advice," which is about Mr. Otis, corresponds to "one.")

Which of the four rhyming lines is used then indicates which of the four keys in that column is selected.

We can thus get one alphanumeric character from each line end; determining these, and arranging in "Oh Boy" order, we get:

OB orderClued GA line endGA verse #GA rhyming line #Keyboard letter
1dreams82I
2electricity64N
3tree23S
4streak32E
5pen34C
6Chevrolet42R
7streak32E
8washing machine52T
9pen34C
10Myer92O
11tube again33D
12streak32E
13fly54B
14pride111
15soul717
16dreams82I
17fly54B
18gravity24X
19hole72U
20red212

This spells out IN SECRET CODE B17IBXU2. Deciphering using the cipher from Allan Sherman's song "Secret Code" gives the answer AQUAVIT, which is "Some strange substance that would complement my diet," even if you don't happen to know about the Allan Sherman song "The Drinking Man's Diet."