6.9 Side by Side by Side
by Mark Halpin and Dave Shukan
ANSWER: TONYS
The story is, not surprisingly, a logic puzzle. It has the following solution (two variations containing detailed derivations of this solution may be found here and here):
| HOUSE 1 | HOUSE 2 | HOUSE 3 | HOUSE 4 | HOUSE 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COLOR | orange | white | BLUE | yellow | pink |
| VEHICLE | unicycle | balloon | motorcycle | LIMOUSINE | penny-farthing |
| PET | fish | potbellied pig | monkey | GUIDE DOG | tiger |
| DRINK | milk shake | Perrier | iced tea | espresso | COCKTAIL |
| JEWELRY | white tiara | pink bracelet | yellow earrings | ORNG BROOCH | blue necklace |
| FOOD | pizza | grm crackers | SOUFFLE | pot roast | coq au vin |
| HEALTH CLUB | kickboxing | Jazzercise | Pilates | swimming | YOGA |
| BOOK | RELIG TOME | comic book | encyclopedia | romance novel | Farmer's Almanac |
| LAWN | pink flamingos | yellow roses | orange pumpkins | blue gaze globe | WHITE FENCE |
| TOOL | band saw | drill press | WRENCH | lathe | crowbar |
As hinted by the flavor text ("five little housewives", "flower-bedecked lane", etc), and the parentheticals in the question (which are too specific to be meaningless), each question relates to the plot of a particular Desperate Housewives episode. Indexing the associated house number (from the logic problem) into the title of the episode yields the phrase PLAY TITLES:
| Episode | House | Letter |
|---|---|---|
| COME PLAY WIZ ME | 5 | P |
| HELLO LITTLE GIRL | 4 | L |
| THANK YOU SO MUCH | 3 | A |
| EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH | 5 | Y |
| SOMETHING'S COMING | 5 | T |
| LIAISONS | 4 | I |
| DON'T WALK ON THE GRASS | 4 | T |
| COLOR AND LIGHT | 3 | L |
| THE MIRACLE SONG | 3 | E |
| SUNDAY | 1 | S |
As is true with most titles of Desperate Housewives episodes, each title is a lyric from a Stephen Sondheim song. Indexing the house numbers into the titles of the plays that those lyrics appeared in gives the new phrase NO, IT'S TONYS -- and thus the answer is TONYS.
| Episode | House | Letter |
|---|---|---|
| ANYONE CAN WHISTLE | 5 | N |
| INTO THE WOODS | 4 | O |
| DO I HEAR A WALTZ | 3 | I |
| A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC | 5 | T |
| WEST SIDE STORY | 5 | S |
| A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC | 4 | T |
| ANYONE CAN WHISTLE | 4 | O |
| SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE | 3 | N |
| ANYONE CAN WHISTLE | 3 | Y |
| SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE | 1 | S |