This puzzle is based on the songs of Allan Sherman, as hinted at in various places, notably:
- the title (Allan Sherman's first three albums had titles of the form "My Son, The [foo]"),
- the flavortext ("Allan S" and "Eight Foot, Two Solid Blue," the latter being an Allan Sherman song about a Martian), and
- the fact that the entire puzzle is a pastiche of Allan Sherman's biggest hit, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah."
Specifically:
- The "authors" referred to are most of the individuals mentioned in the song "Oh Boy," in alphabetical order.
(The only ones missing are Mitch (Miller) and Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith, mentioned in terms of their show and company, respectively.) - Each "title" clues the end of a rhyming line from "Good Advice" (with the enumeration given).
(Note that both "Oh Boy" and "Good Advice" appear, appropriately capitalized, in the puzzle text.)
Here is the complete set:
Individual | Mentioned in OB as | OB order | Clued GA line end | GA verse # | GA rhyming line # |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belinsky, Robert "Bo" | Bo Belinsky | 12 | streak | 3 | 2 |
Capote, Truman | Truman Capote | 17 | fly | 5 | 4 |
Cody, William "Buffalo Bill" | Buffalo Bill Cody | 16 | dreams | 8 | 2 |
Conan Doyle, Arthur | Sir Arthur Conan and Doyle | 7 | streak | 3 | 2 |
Dubinsky, David | David Dubinsky | 13 | fly | 5 | 4 |
Glenn, John | Colonel Glenn | 9 | pen | 3 | 4 |
Goldwater, Barry | Barry Goldwarter | 4 | streak | 3 | 2 |
Khrushchev, Nikita | Khrushchev the bald Communist | 8 | washing machine | 5 | 2 |
Loren, Sophia | Sophia Loren | 1 | dreams | 8 | 2 |
MacLane, Barton | Barton MacLane | 6 | Chevrolet | 4 | 2 |
Millay, Edna St. Vincent | Edna St. Vincent Millay | 5 | pen | 3 | 4 |
Minow, Newton N. | Newton B. Minow | 18 | gravity | 2 | 4 |
Minsky, [see note] | Minsky | 14 | pride | 1 | 1 |
Porter, Sylvia | Sylvia Porter | 3 | tree | 2 | 3 |
Rockne, Knute | Knute Rockne | 19 | hole | 7 | 2 |
San Juan, Olga | Olga San Juan | 20 | red | 2 | 1 |
Stravinsky, Igor | Igor Stravinsky | 11 | tube again | 3 | 3 |
Taylor, Elizabeth | Elizabeth Taylor | 10 | Myer | 9 | 2 |
von Braun, Wernher | Wernher von Braun | 15 | soul | 7 | 1 |
Warren, Earl | Chief Justice Warren | 2 | electricity | 6 | 4 |
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 order | Clued GA line end | GA verse # | GA rhyming line # | Keyboard letter |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | dreams | 8 | 2 | I |
2 | electricity | 6 | 4 | N |
3 | tree | 2 | 3 | S |
4 | streak | 3 | 2 | E |
5 | pen | 3 | 4 | C |
6 | Chevrolet | 4 | 2 | R |
7 | streak | 3 | 2 | E |
8 | washing machine | 5 | 2 | T |
9 | pen | 3 | 4 | C |
10 | Myer | 9 | 2 | O |
11 | tube again | 3 | 3 | D |
12 | streak | 3 | 2 | E |
13 | fly | 5 | 4 | B |
14 | pride | 1 | 1 | 1 |
15 | soul | 7 | 1 | 7 |
16 | dreams | 8 | 2 | I |
17 | fly | 5 | 4 | B |
18 | gravity | 2 | 4 | X |
19 | hole | 7 | 2 | U |
20 | red | 2 | 1 | 2 |
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."