Each of the answers in this metapuzzle has a different length and can be associated with a number.
- NIL (3) = 0
- ZOEY (4) = 101
- LUGIA (5) = 249
- CESIUM (6) = 55
- JACK BAUER (9) = 24
- RIGHT ANGLE (10) = 90
- USS ATHERTON (11) = 169
- PLAYING CARDS (12) = 52
- JOHN STALLWORTH (14) = 82
- STATIONS OF THE CROSS (18) = 14
The numbers in the arithmetic expressions are all answer lengths, and they should be replaced by the number clued by the answer.
The flavortext refers to “six identical-looking residents” of Pi Day Town; these residents are the six consecutive nines that appear surprisingly early (within the first 1000 digits) in the decimal representation of pi. For each of the arithmetic results, if you count that many digits past the six nines, the next two digits you encounter can be read as a number from 01 to 26. Reading these two-digit numbers as alphanumerics reveals the answer, WOODY'S ROUNDUP. (Woody is presumably the appropriately named mayor of Arbor Day Town, and by rounding up pi he hopes to resolve the problem of having infinitely many digits to contend with.)
14 − 9
82 − 24 = 58
“23” = W
11 − 18
169 − 14 = 155
“15” = O
5 + 18
249 + 14 = 263
“15” = O
10 − 14
90 − 82 = 8
“04” = D
3 + 6
0 + 55 = 55
“25” = Y
12 + 9
52 + 24 = 76
“19” = S
14 − 12
82 − 52 = 30
“18” = R
5 + 14
249 + 82 = 331
“15” = O
11 + 9
169 + 24 = 193
“21” = U
4 + 18
101 + 14 = 115
“14” = N
10 + 12
90 + 52 = 142
“04” = D
6 + 11
55 + 169 = 224
“21” = U
3 + 9
0 + 24 = 24
“16” = P
