This puzzle consists of quotes from Even Stevphen, a recurring segment from The Daily Show from the early 2000s which featured Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert debating various topics.
Each group of five quotes comes from the same Even Stevphen segment, presented in the same order they appear in that segment.
Each quote mentions either “Steve” or “Stephen”, but in some quotes, the wrong name is given.
We can read each group as a letter in five-bit binary by treating correct quotes as a 1 and incorrect quotes as a 0 to spell the final answer TINFOIL.
| Debate Topic | Extracted Binary | Letter |
|---|
| Blast-Off Buddies | 10100 | T |
| Elian Gonzalez | 01001 | I |
| Negative Campaigning | 01110 | N |
| Reality TV | 00110 | F |
| Secrets | 01111 | O |
| Should Medical Marijuana Be Legalized? | 01001 | I |
| World’s Policeman or Fireman? | 01100 | L |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “Sorry Steve, you can't blame this one on America.” | 1 |
| “Communication is what I'm talking about, Stephen.” | 0 |
| “Stephen, you can't make tea in space.” | 1 |
| “But we can't help ourselves, Stephen, because humans are naturally inquisitive.” | 0 |
| “Stephen, I think it's time you turned a telescope on your own home life.” | 0 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “Stephen, Cuba's the last vestige of an evil empire.” | 0 |
| “Well isn't it obvious, Stephen?” | 1 |
| “Suck it up, Stephen!” | 0 |
| “No, this is not about me, Steve, this is about a lonely little boy.” | 0 |
| “I love you, Steve.” | 1 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “Let's face it Steve, politics have become a bore.” | 0 |
| “Steve, stooping to the lowest common denominator isn't the answer.” | 1 |
| “You're just proving my point, Steve.” | 1 |
| “Look, this is nothing new: Stephen Douglas once referred to Abraham Lincoln as a fussy scoundrel.” | 1 |
| “Just because it ended in 1898 is too easy an answer, Stephen.” | 0 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “That's as maybe some-evers, Stephen, but if freshness is your only requirement why not point the camera at a newly-minted turd?” | 0 |
| “Call me old fashioned, Steve, but I am a people person.” | 0 |
| “The point is, Steve, the point is, not everything is worth watching.” | 1 |
| “Steve! What are you doing?” | 1 |
| “Stephen, I think we can both agree that what constitutes entertainment is in the eye of the beholder.” | 0 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “Stephen, let's not have this disintegrate into yet another series of personal attacks, okay fatty?” | 0 |
| “Steve, we've exhausted this topic.” | 1 |
| “Steve, all I can tell you is that it is terrible, it is horrible, it is imminent, and it only involves you.” | 1 |
| “Steve, the point is, in situations like this, the facts are just gonna terrify the public.” | 1 |
| “Steve, I was just giving an example.” | 1 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “But I suppose there are a few sick individuals out there who get off on other people's suffering, Steve.” | 0 |
| “Far out, Steve, groovy point man.” | 1 |
| “Let me in on the dirty little secret, Stephen.” | 0 |
| “Stephen, you're not listening to my argument.” | 0 |
| “Clear as crystal, Steve, but let me see if I can just recap your really twisted argument.” | 1 |
| Quote | Correct (1) or Incorrect (0) |
|---|
| “Steve, with great power comes great responsibility.” | 0 |
| “Steve, that's a stupid thing to say and you're a stupid person for saying it.” | 1 |
| “Well I'm not surprised that you would want to entangle the US in that quagmire Mr. Steven Carellenbergowitzteinishskiberg.” | 1 |
| “Finally, Stephen, should we change the way we talk?” | 0 |
| “Granted, but I'm afraid we can't just do that Stephen.” | 0 |
Author’s Notes
I hope that watching Even Stevphen was a pleasant interlude between other more intense puzzles.