Insider Trading
by Trip Payne
Each essay contains the members of a complete set that is suggested by the first sentence of the essay. Those set members are hidden, one per sentence, anagrammed among consecutive letters.
However, each essay replaces one of its set members with a member from a different set. Beginning with the essay that is shown to go first:
1. The Seven Sisters colleges (missing MOUNT HOLYOKE, taking in VIOLET)
- There are radical differences in the funding for girls’ schools in this area: RADCLIFFE
- Whether you’re more into brains or brawn, my school tries to offer things for both: BRYN MAWR
- [I love its diversity, but boy could it use more support: VIOLET]
- My school tries to be smart with its money, but we all have to pitch in: SMITH
- Fortunately, we sell candy bars to help fund our orchestra: WELLESLEY
- We’ve also sold raffle tickets for a brand-new refrigerator: BARNARD
- This year’s savior has really been the PTA bake sales, though: VASSAR
2. The Willy Wonka kids (missing VIOLET, taking in JESSICA)
- I really do not like my job working in this candy factory: MIKE
- I have to carve up these stupid blocks of chocolate, day in and day out: VERUCA
- I sit on this really uncomfortable steel chair: CHARLIE
- [The packing cases jiggle dangerously when we employees try to pull them off the shelves: JESSICA]
- Worst of all, the bosses are always staring at us, usually trying to intimidate us: AUGUSTUS
3. Mambo No. 5 women (missing JESSICA, taking in PHOENIX)
- Latin music is the main concern in my life right now: MONICA
- I like pop and R&B too, but electronica really bores me: ERICA
- A rap sample and a sick beat do nothing for me: PAMELA
- But bring on the flamenco guitars: RITA
- I’ve loved samba for years and years: SANDRA
- I also listen to music from Russia, England, Turkey, you name it: ANGELA
- [Last week, at a local danceathon, I exploded with energy: PHOENIX]
- I waved my arms and shook my booty all night long: MARY
- It was as if I were in a trance: TINA
4. Last words of Harry Potter book titles (missing PHOENIX, taking in DUBHE)
- Honestly, why do I find it so hard to finish a book, even one for kids: STONE
- Stick-to-it-iveness certainly isn’t my strong suit: SECRETS
- [Maybe I need to use the buddy system to force me to keep reading: DUBHE]
- Surely I have a friend who can help me out: FIRE
- I live in constant fear that I’ll meet people who’ll ask me what I’ve been reading: HALLOWS
- They’re being nice, probably, but I never know what to say: PRINCE
- Maybe I’ll have better luck with these paperbacks I just bought at this Burbank bazaar: AZKABAN
5. Stars in the Big Dipper (missing DUBHE, taking in GUATEMALA)
- I’m moving from Arizona to follow my dream of becoming an astronomer: MIZAR
- It feels unreal a kid like me could make it happen already: ALKAID
- My cheap days are over once I finally get a job at an observatory: PHECDA
- I’ll harm geezers there who try to stand in my way: MEGREZ
- [That sweet, sweet astronomy cash will give me that swanky Met Gala aura: GUATEMALA]
- Yes, I’ll be a Goliath in this field, like Carl Sagan: ALIOTH
- Make room for me, world—things are looking up in a major way: MERAK
6. Central American countries (missing GUATEMALA, taking in FROINES)
- [I’ve taken road trips to waterfalls, beach bonfires, even foreign countries: FROINES]
- I’m ready to jump in my car again, unless I’m going overseas of course: NICARAGUA
- Give me a map and I’ll be on my way: PANAMA
- I realize being a big driving fan has its downsides, of course: BELIZE
- My Honda sure does have a lot of miles on it by now: HONDURAS
- And that car’s coating is getting a bit rusty and scratched, for sure: COSTA RICA
- That’s okay, though, as overall, driving is worth paying for a bit of upkeep: EL SALVADOR
7. The Chicago Seven (missing FROINES, taking in APOCALYPSE)
- I renewed my interest in political action over the last few years: WEINER
- I think it started when talking with friends at Burning Man: RUBIN
- [I heard this maniac say people are too complacent these days: APOCALYPSE]
- It’s amazing how a random, offhand remark can sometimes change your life: HOFFMAN
- Now I want to be an avid spokesperson for radical change: DAVIS
- I’ve been calling elder statesmen in the party, trying to get their attention: DELLINGER
- Even if you’re not a bigshot, you have to find a way to play the hand you’ve got: HAYDEN
8. American Horror Story seasons (missing APOCALYPSE, taking in LIZARD)
- I saw a great spooky film on TV once: COVEN
- It was set in this grisly mausoleum: ASYLUM
- It took nearly two hours to get through it: ROANOKE
- It was scary, but it also used humor really interestingly: MURDER HOUSE
- [This killer wanted to get rid of “horrid, lazy kids”: LIZARD]
- At one point, this cool black hawk foreshadowed what was coming: FREAK SHOW
- I have a feeling some of the best bits were left out of the final cut, though: CULT
- The older a scary movie or TV show is, the more I like it: HOTEL
9. Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock (missing LIZARD, taking in DEXTERITY)
- I miss the old days, when games had a simpler appeal: PAPER
- [Everybody tried extra-hard to win, but no one really cared if they lost: DEXTERITY]
- Give us a piece of rope or a hickory stick and we’d amuse ourselves for hours: ROCK
- I’d pick “cops and robbers” over these multiplayer online things any day: SPOCK
- And figuring out what 8–Across is sounds a lot more appealing than trying to crush candies or whatever: SCISSORS
10. Dungeons & Dragons statistics (missing DEXTERITY, taking in FAMILY)
- Of all my great characteristics, my looks are what will likely cause you to instinctively fan yourself: CONSTITUTION
- I’m real telegenic, in fact—the camera just loves me: INTELLIGENCE
- Of course I lift weights, entrancing all the onlookers at the gym: STRENGTH
- And before you ask, yes, I am charming as well: CHARISMA
- [My failings are practically nonexistent, really: FAMILY]
- I don’t want to brag, but being around me is likely to bring your pessimism down: WISDOM
11. Taxonomic ranks (missing FAMILY, taking in PHILADELPHIA)
- I prefer redoing things that aren’t exactly organized: ORDER
- I don’t want to deal with anything that’s wrinkled, lumpy, haphazard, or sloppy: PHYLUM
- [No, I’m not a pillhead, hippie, or weirdo: PHILADELPHIA]
- Smoking dope is definitely not for me, and I’m as normal as they come: KINGDOM
- I just like finding uses for things, and putting them in their right places: GENUS
- Honestly, I find things like tangled strings and broken pencils scary, to a degree: CLASS
- I especially like following recipes, sorting laundry, and reading maps: SPECIES
12. Seven churches of Revelation (missing PHILADELPHIA, taking in HOLLANDAISE)
- For me, nothing is as dramatic as art based on the New Testament: SARDIS
- [Haloes and light are standard in paintings of angels: HOLLANDAISE]
- You can often see both worry and love in Mary’s face: SMYRNA
- The hair that you see on Jesus is shown in many different ways: THYATIRA
- In depictions of fields, I think sheep suggest a certain innocence: EPHESUS
- The biblical idea of “grace” is a commonly seen theme: LAODICEA
- I’d love to spend my summer gaping in awe at art: PERGAMUM
13. Mother sauces (missing HOLLANDAISE, taking in MOUNT HOLYOKE)
- I’m pretty well-known around town for my abilities with sauces, vegetables, and meat, too: TOMATE
- People love tuna casserole so I’m happy to make it for them: VELOUTE
- And everyone keeps asking for the secret to my lamb, cheese, and onion empanadas: BECHAMEL
- [Why, I was praised for weeks after I took lemony hummus to the church potluck: MOUNT HOLYOKE]
- But please, no garlic in anything you want me to make for you—yuck: ESPAGNOLE
For each added word, take the letter that matches the word’s position in the paragraph. For example, in the first essay, VIOLET is in the third sentence, so take its third letter, O.
This leads to OSX BEFORE LION, which is a clue for the solution, SNOW LEOPARD.