• Danny Ocean
  • Rusty Ryan
  • Saul Bloom
  • Stratosphere (Solution)

    by Reuben Aronson, Sean Lip, John Wiesemann and Halimeda Glickman-Hoch

    The puzzle has a list of things that sound like newspaper headlines. All of them reference a real event and a place unrelated to that event. First, find the date of that event and the location that is out of place. If you put them all on a Google map, you will probably notice that they are all coastal cities, mostly in the Atlantic, and some of them are pretty obscure. Furthermore, all of the dates are in late summer to late fall. These facts, together with the flavortext, suggest that we're looking at hurricanes. Indeed, each day and location clue a hurricane that made landfall there on that date. Take the first letter of the hurricanes down in order to get four names: STEPHEN, WILLIAM, DANIEL, and ALEC. These are the four Baldwin brothers, so the answer to the puzzle is BALDWIN.

    Details

    Part 1

    Clue Date Location Hurricane
    Cardinals defeat 49ers 31-14 in Punta Hualaxtoc, Mexico in first regular-season game outside the United States 10/2/2005 Punta Hualaxtoc, Mexico Stan
    Hudson Austin forms new Sinaloan military government 10/19/1983 Sinaloa, Mexico Tico
    HMS Mercury is decommisioned in formal ceremony in Cape Hatteras, NC 8/31/1993 Cape Hatteras, NC Emily
    Four days after the election, votes still being counted for Franken-Coleman race in the Cayman Islands 11/8/2008 Cayman Islands Paloma
    "God Bless America" composer dies at 101 in his home at Isle of Palms Sept 22, 1989 Isle of Palms, SC Hugo
    Christchurch, Nova Scotia struck by 7.1 magnitude earthquake; no deaths were reported 9/4/2010 Western Head, Nova Scotia Earl
    Golden Girls share Emmys with Cagney & Lacey at Cabo San Lucas award ceremony 9/22/1986 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Newton

    Part 2

    Clue Date Location Hurricane
    National civil rights activist Parks dies peacefully in Cape Romano, FL at the age of 92 10/24/2005 Cape Romano, FL Wilma
    Dodgers win World Series after 9-3 win over White Sox in Pensacola, FL 10/8/1959 Pensacola, FL Irene
    Tom Powers scores six touchdowns in historic Everglades game 10/21/1950 Big Bend region of FL Love
    A&M anual bonfire collapses, killing 12 in St. Martin 11/18/1999 St. Martin Lenny
    Gulf Shores, AL becomes the fifth jurisdiction in Canada to legalize same-sex marriage Sept 16, 2004 Gulf Shores, AL Ivan
    Pedestal of the historic Outer Banks Statue of Liberty monument reopens to visitors after three years 8/3/2004 Outer Banks, NC Alex
    Student kills two in tragic shooting at Rocori High School, Puerto Penasco Sept 24, 2003 Puerto Penasco, Sonora Marty

    Part 3

    Clue Date Location Hurricane
    Four suicide bombers kill 52 and injure more than 700 on the Cuban public transport system. 7/7/2005 Cuba Dennis
    Four professors killed by mechanical engineering professor Fabrikant in Homestead, Florida university shooting 8/24/1992 Homestead, Florida Andrew
    Balloon lands in Mazatlan, ending its record-breaking 2,515 mile journey from Costa Mesa 10/12/1981 Mazatlan, Mexico Norma
    National Geographic magazine announces Archaeoraptor fossil discovery at Cape Sable press conference 10/15/1999 Cape Sable, FL Irene
    National Defense of Education Act signed in Santiago de Cuba Sept 2, 1958 Santiago de Cuba Ella
    Viamala tunnel crash claims nine Sinaloans in bus/car collision Sept 16, 2006 Sinaloa Lane

    Part 4

    Clue Date Location Hurricane
    First Bose-Einstein condensate produced at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Alligator Point, FL 6/5/1995 Alligator Point, FL Allison
    Deadliest toll yet: Beltway Sniper kills five people in Intracoastal City, LA 10/3/2002 Intracoastal City, LA Lili
    Prisoners riot and seize control of Attica Correctional Facility in Cabo Gracias a Dio, Nicaragua Sept 9, 1971 Cabo Gracias a Dio, Nicaragua Edith
    The Who plays at the Woodstock Music Festival in New Orleans 8/17/1969 Mouth of the Mississippi Camille