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Solution to Disemvoweled

Author: James Clark

Each of the strings can be used to construct the name of a thing, by removing one consonant and filling in the missing vowels (including Y in some cases). For instance, FRTNDSHP becomes FRIENDSHIP and T.

These things can be grouped into seven categories:

  • Knots
  • Fortune 500 Companies
  • Arcade games
  • Sports
  • Music festivals
  • Cocktails
  • Solitaire card games

Here are the results, grouped into categories and ordered alphabetically within the categories:

Knots
bwlbnbowlineB
tdmnddiamondT
frtndshpfriendshipT
grnrngrannyR
psqrsquareP
fstvdrstevedoreF
wndsrlwindsorL
Fortune 500 Companies
chvcrnchevronC
ccctlcoca-colaT
fcbrkfacebookR
mcprsftmicrosoftP
lffcdptoffice depotL
sxtplsstaplesX
trglttargetL
wrstrnnnwestern unionR
Arcade games
strdscasteroidsC
dftndrdefenderT
gnntltgauntletN
mrbtrsmario brosT
pcmpnpacmanP
drmpgrampageD
Sports
bscbllbaseballC
bthrlnbiathlonR
bxncgboxingC
ftncngfencingT
tnnkstennisK
tltmtultimateT
Music festivals
llflplzlollapaloozaF
zzfrstozzfestR
ptcfhfrkpitchforkF
brcklhmrocklahomaB
wdsltckwoodstockL
Cocktails
bldmrgbloody maryG
csmrpltncosmopolitanR
hrsrcnhurricaneS
ksmkzkamikazeS
mnhthtnmanhattanH
pmrgrtmargaritaP
mnptjlpmint julepP
mdtsldmudslideT
wrhtrssnwhite russianR
Solitaire card games
ccrdnlaccordionL
lstrntnalternationS
cnflcdcanfieldC
klrndkklondikeR
prmdppyramidP
ynknyukonN

With the things grouped by category and alphabetically sorted within, the extra letters create seven more strings of consonants. Apply the same technique to them (form names of things by removing a letter and filling in vowels), to get seven more things. Each thing thus created is also a member of the category. For instance, the knots set produces "butterfly", which is also a type of knot. Ordering those alphabetically:

bttrpflbutterflyP
ctrplxlrcaterpillarX
ctntpdcentipedeT
crctktcricketT
frfblfireflyB
grsshpptrgrasshopperT
lscrpnscorpionL

In addition to being in their source sets, these new words form a new category: bugs. The extra letters (after removing X) can be used to spell the name of another bug, the POTATO BEETLE.