RITE AWAITS MYTH

Greg Pliska, Chris Morse

 

Each clue indicates a specific person, real or fictional. The title refers phonetically to the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. Feste, in the clue text, is The Fool. The other 21 cards are associated with the answers to the 21 clues.

 

Ordering the answer people by associated card number (using the Rider-Waite-Smith numbering) and taking the Nth letter of the clue (where N = the card number) gives the phrase ANSWER IS SPIRIT WRITING.

 

SPIRIT WRITING is the answer to this puzzle.

 

 

letter

number

card

person

Clue

A

1

magician

Penn Gillette

Actor who played a T.V. announcer in Toy Story

N

2

high priestess

Rosalyn Tureck

An Introduction to the Performance of Bach author

S

3

empress

Catherine the Great

Russian woman known for her libido and secret marriage to Potemkin

W

4

emperor

Emperor Norton

His writ of July 16, 1860, dissolved the United States of America

E

5

hierophant

Celeus

While searching for her daughter, Demeter was welcomed by this King and his wife Metanaira

R

6

lovers

Bonnie and Clyde

This criminal pair was gunned down on May 23, 1934

I

7

chariot

Judah Ben-Hur

After his friend Messala betrayed him, he became a slave

S

8

strength

Hercules

Alcmene's child who is plagued constantly by his stepmother

S

9

hermit

Septimus Hodge

Stoppard's play Arcadia includes this character as a tutor

P

10

wheel of fortune

Pat Sajak

He was a staple of daytime television long before he had a late-night talk show for 18 months on CBS

I

11

justice

John Ashcroft

He lost his Missouri senate race to a dead man in 2000

R

12

hanged man

Billy Bailey

Killer of Clara and Gilbert Lambertson

I

13

death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian

"Patients" of this doctor included Thomas Youk and Janet Adkins

T

14

temperance

Carrie Nation

She used hatchets and hymns to do divine work

W

15

devil

Evel Knievel

The quarter-mile-wide Snake River Canyon was his Rubicon in September of 1974

R

16

tower

Gustave Eiffel

The Statue of Liberty's armature was designed by this French engineer

I

17

star

Pamela Anderson

This Baywatch and V.I.P. actress released her first novel in 2004

T

18

moon

Neil Armstrong

He's the second oldest member of the Apollo 11 crew

I

19

sun

George Hamilton

His son Ashley had a brief marriage to Shannen Doherty

N

20

judgement

King Solomon

King of Israel and second son of David and Bathsheba

G

21

world

Phileas Fogg

Character played by Coogan and Niven in the movies