The title of this puzzle refers to the fact that all of these images are created using Snapchat filters and add-ons. A snap story is just a series of images someone can post on their own personal Snapchat. Clearly, this is a “cute boys” puzzle.
The images are alphabetized by the last name of the boy pictured. There are sixteen different and distinct filters applied to the images. Each filter is used between three and seven times. Each filter group forms a set of men who were all on the same TV series, in the same movie (series), or in the same musical group, without overlaps. Each group also has a member that doesn't belong, and one of its members can be found in another group. These missing members form a 16-group loop. Using the size of the group as an index into the surname of the member in the wrong set spells out a message.
Set | Group Size | Member in Wrong Set |
---|---|---|
Beverly Hills 90210 | 4 | Brian (Austin) GREEN |
One Direction | 4 | Liam PAYNE |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series | 5 | Nicholas BRENDON |
School Ties | 6 | Chris O'DONNELL |
Magic Mike films | 4 | Adam RODRIGUEZ |
Gossip Girl | 4 | Chace CRAWFORD |
The Vampire Diaries TV series | 5 | Michael TREVINO |
Harry Potter films | 4 | Sean BIGGERSTAFF |
The Wanted | 3 | Jay MCGUINESS |
Teen Wolf TV series | 4 | Dylan O'BRIEN |
X-Men films (reboot) | 7 | Michael FASSBENDER |
True Blood TV series | 3 | Ryan KWANTEN |
The Hunger Games films | 4 | Josh HUTCHERSON |
Backstreet Boys | 4 | Nick CARTER |
Dawson’s Creek | 6 | Joshua JACKSON |
Westlife | 3 | Nicky BYRNE |
Since the filter group-mismatched members form a chain, you have to find the starting point (Beverly Hills 90210). Reading the letters in order gives ENDER WIGGIN ACTOR, which yields a final answer of ASA BUTTERFIELD.
Shown below are all of the actors in order, with their set and a description of the filter or add-on that was used. An asterisk (*) at the end indicates that this was the person that was placed in the wrong group Snapchat add-on.
Penn Badgley | Gossip Girl | Sing Your Best |
Randall Batinkoff | School Ties | Flower Garland |
Sean Biggerstaff | Harry Potter | A Few Bubbles* |
Marc Blucas | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Holly and Snow |
Matt Bomer | Magic Mike | Snow and Eyes |
David Boreanaz | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Holly and Snow |
Nicholas Brendon | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Flower Garland* |
Nicky Byrne | Westlife | Yellow Butterflies* |
Nick Carter | Backstreet Boys | Reindeer* |
Sam Claflin | The Hunger Games | Speed |
Chace Crawford | Gossip Girl | Puppy Dog Ears* |
Matt Damon | School Ties | Flower Garland |
Howie Dorough | Backstreet Boys | Geometric Shapes |
Michael Fassbender | X-Men | Snow and Stars* |
Tom Felton | Harry Potter | Davis Square Boston |
Shane Filan | Westlife | Altitude |
Brendan Fraser | School Ties | Flower Garland |
Brian Green | Beverly Hills 90210 | Falling Feathers* |
Seth Green | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Holly and Snow |
Ben Hardy | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Cole Hauser | School Ties | Flower Garland |
Colton Haynes | Teen Wolf | Temperature |
Liam Hemsworth | The Hunger Games | Speed |
Niall Horan | One Direction | Falling Feathers |
Nicholas Hoult | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Josh Hutcherson | The Hunger Games | Geometric Shapes* |
Joshua Jackson | Dawson’s Creek | Altitude* |
Siva Kaneswaran | The Wanted | A Few Bubbles |
Ryan Kwanten | True Blood | Speed* |
Tom Lenk | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Holly and Snow |
Matthew Lewis | Harry Potter | Davis Square Boston |
Brian Littrell | Backstreet Boys | Geometric Shapes |
Alexander Ludwig | The Hunger Games | Speed |
Mark Matkevich | Dawson’s Creek | Reindeer |
James McAvoy | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Brian McFadden | Westlife | Altitude |
Jay McGuiness | The Wanted | Temperature* |
Steven McQueen | The Vampire Diaries | Puppy Dog Ears |
Dylan Neal | Dawson’s Creek | Reindeer |
Dylan O'Brien | Teen Wolf | B+W and Sunglasses* |
Chris O'Donnell | School Ties | Snow and Eyes* |
Connor Paolo | Gossip Girl | Sing Your Best |
Liam Payne | One Direction | Holly and Snow* |
Luke Perry | Beverly Hills 90210 | Yellow Butterflies |
Evan Peters | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Alex Pettyfer | Magic Mike | Snow and Eyes |
Michael Pitt | Dawson’s Creek | Reindeer |
Tyler Posey | Teen Wolf | Temperature |
Jason Priestley | Beverly Hills 90210 | Yellow Butterflies |
Daniel Radcliffe | Harry Potter | Davis Square Boston |
Anthony Rapp | School Ties | Flower Garland |
Kevin Richardson | Backstreet Boys | Geometric Shapes |
Adam Rodriguez | Magic Mike | Sing Your Best* |
Zach Roerig | The Vampire Diaries | Puppy Dog Ears |
Alexander Skarsgård | True Blood | Snow and Stars |
Kerr Smith | Dawson’s Creek | Reindeer |
Kodi Smit-McPhee | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Ian Somerhalder | The Vampire Diaries | Puppy Dog Ears |
Dylan Sprayberry | Teen Wolf | Temperature |
Harry Styles | One Direction | Falling Feathers |
Nathan Sykes | The Wanted | A Few Bubbles |
Channing Tatum | Magic Mike | Snow and Eyes |
Lucas Till | X-Men | B+W and Sunglasses |
Louis Tomlinson | One Direction | Falling Feathers |
Sam Trammell | True Blood | Snow and Stars |
Michael Trevino | The Vampire Diaries | Davis Square Boston* |
James Van Der Beek | Dawson’s Creek | Reindeer |
Paul Wesley | The Vampire Diaries | Puppy Dog Ears |
Ed Westwick | Gossip Girl | Sing Your Best |
Ian Ziering | Beverly Hills 90210 | Yellow Butterflies |