We are presented with seven pages of recipes. In each recipe, the number of ingredients is equal to the number of redactions in the recipe steps. This implies that each redaction should be filled in with a different ingredient. After filling each redaction with the correct ingredient, each recipe can be read as a word transformation in the style of a cryptic crossword clue. Most ingredients can also be matched semantically by the clue, which can help with confirmation. The KALE and NAAN recipes are some of the easier recipes for the break-in, as they only have one ingredient.
On the first six pages of recipes, the last recipe's ingredients are also redacted. The number of ingredients redacted are equal to the number of non-redacted-ingredient recipes on each page. Thus, we infer that each non-redacted-ingredient recipe contributes one ingredient for the final recipe on each page. In turn, each of these final recipes contributes one ingredient to the final seventh-page recipe. Solving the final recipe yields the answer STARVED.
Below is a full list of recipe solutions:
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Take LARD, PECTIN, and RICE out of their bags. | Take center letters of lARd, peCTin, and rICe. | ARCTIC |
2. Garnish with CHARD. | Add CHARD. | ARCTIC CHARD |
3. Sift out the DUCK HEAD. | Remove the first letter of Duck. | ARCTIC CHAR |
1. The HASH should be hot; wait for it to cool. | The H(hot) of HASH becomes C(cold). | CASH |
2. Simmer off the MEDIUM-BODIED WINE; flip. | Remove the middle letters of WinE to get WE. Reverse the letters. | CASHEW |
1. Pick a LEEK, say. | LEEK homophone. | LEAK |
2. Mix well. | Anagram. | KALE |
1. Harvest the CAROB seeds. | Take the center letters of cAROb. | ARO |
2. Bake in a TURNOVER. | Flip the letters. | ORA |
3. Fortify with POTASSIUM. | Add K in the middle. | OKRA |
1. Take a half-full glass of PINA COLADA. | Take half of PINAColada. | PINAC |
2. SANDWICH in the ends of a SANDWICH. | Put the above inside SandwicH’s first and last letters. | SPINACH |
1. Remove the burnt part of ARCTIC CHAR. | Remove CHAR. | ARCTIC |
2. Add the leaves of SPINACH, OKRA and KALE. | Add the first and last letters of SpinacH, OkrA, and KalE. | ARCTICSHOAKE |
3. Remove half of the ground CASHEW. | Remove half the letters of CAShew. | ARTICHOKE |
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Drain out the IODINE from the OIL. | Remove the I from the OIL. | OL |
2. Don’t forget the ENDIVE! | End in IVE. | OLIVE |
1. Use almost all of the RICOTTA you have. | Remove the last letter of RICOTTa. | RICOTT |
2. After using 100 pieces of ROMANO CHEESE, wait a second? | After the C (100 in Roman numerals), add an S (second). | RICSOTT |
3. Remove the HEAD CHEESE. | Remove the first letter of Cheese. | RISOTT |
4. Finish with some ORANGE ZEST. | Add the first letter of Orange. | RISOTTO |
1. Begin with an OLIVE. Set aside. | Add OLIVE. | OLIVE |
2. Allow the RISOTTO to drain out completely. | Remove all middle letters of RisottO. | OLIVERO |
3. Filter out two ounces without sleeping. | Remove Oz twice (ounce without z’s). | LIVER |
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Combine BEEF with CRABS. | Add them together. | BEEFCRABS |
2. Replace the IMITATION CRAB with REAL CRAB!?! | Replace FCRABS (false crabs) with TCRABS (true crabs). | BEETCRABS |
3. Remove all SHELLFISH allergens. | Remove the CRABS. | BEET |
1. Mince the MEAT GLUE with the TUBER root. | Anagram MEAT GLUE with the last letter of tubeR. | MEATGRUEL |
2. Trim the tops of MACARON, EDAMAME, ARUGULA, and TARRAGON. | Remove the first letters of the four foods, MEAT. | GRUEL |
1. Dehydrate the WATERMELON. | Remove water. | MELON |
2. Add SPLENDA and BITTERMELON. | Remove bitter, add another MELON. | MELON MELON |
3. Let thaw with the WINTERMELON. | Remove winter, add another MELON. | MELON MELON MELON |
4. Blend the ingredients together – note this makes three portions. | Anagram and divide by three. | LEMON |
1. Mix together BEET food coloring and LEMON food coloring. | Mix red food coloring with yellow food coloring to make ORANGE food coloring. | ORANGE |
2. Stripe the GRUEL. | Alternate letters of gRuEl. | RE |
3. Frost with two drops of food coloring. | Add the first letter of Orange twice. | OREO |
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Grind the NABEMONO. | Anagram NABEMONO. | BEANMOON |
2. Remove a halved MOONCAKE. | Remove MOONcake. | BEAN |
3. Garnish with the essence of MSG. | Add the middle letter of mSg. | BEANS |
1. Blend TOFFEE and ORGANS well; pull out and set aside the sour cream with meat you produced. | Anagram TOFFEE and ORGANS, split into STROGANOFF and the rest. | STROGANOFF EE |
2. Stuff the remainder into a BAY LEAF casing. | Put the EE into the first and last letters of Bay leaF. | STROGANOFF BEEF |
3. Turning your attention to the meat and sour cream, garnish with an ANCHOVY head. | Add the first letter of Anchovy to STROGANOFF. | ASTROGANOFF BEEF |
4. Filter off striped GRAINS. Then stir twice counterclockwise. Make sure to eat this part first! | Remove OFF and alternating letters of GrAiNs from ASTROGANOFF to get ASTRO. Then rotate ASTRO twice. | ROAST BEEF |
1. Use the pits of RAISIN and COFFEE. | Take the middle letters of raISin and coFFee. | ISFF |
2. Infuse with the essence of GUACAMOLE | Insert the middle letter of guacAmole in the middle. | ISAFF |
3. Add IRON | Add the word IRON. | ISAFFIRON |
4. Remove the EYES. | Remove all I’s. | SAFFRON |
1. Replace the top of the MUFFIN with the meat of the OYSTER. | Replace the first letter of mUFFIN with the middle letters of oySTer. | STUFFIN |
2. Ice with FROSTING. | Add FROSTING. | STUFFINFROSTING |
3. Warm to room temperature | Remove FROST. | STUFFINING |
4. Remove the RIND with the RIND removed. | Remove the middle letters of rINd. | STUFFING |
1. Sever the feet of ROAST BEEF. | Remove the last letters of ROASt BEEf | ROASBEE |
2. Pull out the STUFFING. | Remove the middle letter of ROAsBEE | ROABEE |
3. Garnish with SAFFRON petals. | Append the first and last letters of SaffroN | ROABEESN |
4. Squeeze out the mashed BEANS. | Remove the letters of BEANS. | ROE |
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Take out unsalted BARNACLES. | Remove NACL from BARnaclES. | BARES |
2. Add a DATE. | Add DATE. | BARESDATE |
3. Sift out the loose TEAS. | Remove letters of TEAS. | BARED |
4. Stir and enjoy. | Anagram. | BREAD |
1. Place COCONUT and SOYA MILK on the counter. | Add COCONUT and SOYA MILK. | COCONUTSOYAMILK |
2. Remove all common allergens from the kitchen area. Enjoy! | Remove NUT, SOY, and MILK. | COCOA |
1. Cut off burnt tips of BACON positioned in the shape of an H. (See Francis’s recipe.) | Encode H in the Bacon’s Cipher as AABBB. Remove all B’s as the first letter of Burnt. | AA |
2. Wrap around a sprig of DILL. | Put the first letter of Dill inside. | ADA |
3. Top off with some scrambled LICHEN. | Add anagramed LICHEN. | ENCHILADA |
1. Mix in a tip of LEMONGRASS into the FONDUE. | Anagram the first letter of Lemongrass with FONDUE | FLOUNDE |
2. Add in a pinch of ROSEMARY. | Add the first letter of Rosemary. | FLOUNDER |
1. Take some MICE | Add MICE | MICE |
2. Free all but one. | Make MICE singular. | MOUSE |
3. Add a dash of SUGAR. | Insert the first letter of Sugar. | MOUSSE |
1. Halve the MOUSSE | Take half of mouSSE | SSE |
2. Rotate it 22.5 degrees clockwise? | Turn SSE to S as per compass directions. | S |
3. Add the wrapping of the ENCHILADA, and the head of a FLOUNDER | Add the first and last letters of EnchiladA and the first letter of Flounder. | SEAF |
4. Add more stuff! – even COCOA should work. | Add the even letters of cOcOa. | SEAFOO |
5. Lastly, add a heel of BREAD. | Add the last letter of breaD. | SEAFOOD |
Step | Extraction | String |
1. Allow the ORANGE JUICE SHORTENER to rise. | Shorten ORANGE JUICE to OJ and flip. | JO |
2. Fold in a stemless BELL PEPPER. | Insert all but the first letter of bELLPEPPER. | JELLPEPPERO |
3. Remove seasoning to taste. | Remove PEPPER. | JELLO |
1. Peel a BANANA. | Remove both ends of bANANa. | ANAN |
2. Mash. | Anagram. | NAAN |
1. Dress the PECAN with 4 spoonfuls of CAESAR; you should find it tastes quite exotic? | Caesar shift PECAN by 4. | TIGER |
2. Peel stripes. | Remove every other letter of TiGeR. | TGR |
3. Add a third of an AUBERGINE. | Add the last third of aubergINE. | TGRINE |
4. Open up the top and stuff a PEANUT removed from its thick pod. | Insert the middle letters of peANut after the first letter of TGRINE. | TANGRINE |
5. Pipe CRÈME finally into the center | Insert the last letter of crèmE in the middle. | TANGERINE |
1. Procure the stem of a TANGERINE. | Take the first letter of Tangerine. | T |
2. Place it on top of low-sodium NAAN. | Add naAN. | TAN |
3. Finish with some JELLO, say. | Add a homophone of JELLO. | TANGELO |
Step | Explanation | String |
1. Take the ARTICHOKE, two heads, LIVER, heart. | Take the first two letters of ARtichoke and the middle letter of liVer. | ARV |
2. Add the ROE with the top removed. | Add all but the first letter of rOE. | ARVOE |
3. Encase with the peel of TANGELO. | Put inside the first and last letters of TangelO. | TARVOEO |
4. Remove the OREO wafers. | Remove the first and last letters of OreO. | TARVE |
5. Stuff into the SEAFOOD shell. | Put inside the first and last letters of SeafooD. | STARVED |