by Julia Tenney and Sami Casanova

As the first part of the puzzle’s story indicates, solvers need to identify the names of the various tarot decks presented.

The Happy Squirrel indicates that these are all decks with that unusual arcana, a new tarot card introduced by The Simpsons. There are various sites and articles that list decks that feature this card. The decks used should be visually distinct enough to identify the deck in use, even if the specific card is not as easily found.

Indexing the arcana number into the deck name reveals the instruction USE SEASON NUMBERS.

CardArcanaTarot DeckLetter
123: The Happy SquirrelTarot of the Midnight MasqueradeU
26: The LoversAnimism TarotS
313: DeathSherlock Holmes TarotE
410: Wheel of FortuneAll Hallows TarotS
510: Wheel of FortuneTouchstone TarotE
61: The MagicianAll Hallows TarotA
712: The Hanged ManLes Adorables TarotS
816: The TowerInternational Icon TarotO
92: The High PriestessAnimism TarotN
106: The LoversInternational Icon TarotN
113: The EmpressTouchstone TarotU
121: The MagicianMibramig Magical TarotM
133: The EmpressMibramig Magical TarotB
142: The High PriestessLes Adorables TarotE
155: The HierophantInternational Icon TarotR
161: The MagicianSherlock Holmes TarotS

The second realisation solvers should have is that each uniquely named visitor has guest starred in exactly one episode of The Simpsons.

PlayerSurnameAppeared inEpisode
BrendanFraserSeason 9King of the Hill
GillianAndersonSeason 8The Springfield Files
MickeyRooneySeason 7Radioactive Man
NichelleNicholsSeason 15Simple Simpson
PennyMarshallSeason 1Some Enchanted Evening
TraceyUllmanSeason 2Bart’s Dog Gets an F
WadeBoggsSeason 3Homer at the Bat
WinonaRyderSeason 6Lisa’s Rival

After solving the logic puzzle, index into the deck name by the guest’s season number instead of arcana number. This will provide the phrase ANSWER IS MOCKTAIL.

OrderPlayerSimpsons SeasonTarot DeckLetter
1Penny MarshallSeason 1Animism TarotA
2Winona RyderSeason 6International Icon TarotN
3Wade BoggsSeason 3Les Adorables TarotS
4Brendan FraserSeason 9All Hallows TarotW
5Wade BoggsSeason 3Sherlock Holmes TarotE
6Mickey RooneySeason 7Les Adorables TarotR
7Nichelle NicholsSeason 15Tarot of the Midnight MasqueradeI
8Winona RyderSeason 6Animism TarotS
9Brendan FraserSeason 9Mibramig Magical TarotM
10Gillian AndersonSeason 8Touchstone TarotO
11Nichelle NicholsSeason 15International Icon TarotC
12Gillian AndersonSeason 8Sherlock Holmes TarotK
13Penny MarshallSeason 1Touchstone TarotT
14Mickey RooneySeason 7International Icon TarotA
15Tracey UllmanSeason 2Mibramig Magical TarotI
16Tracey UllmanSeason 2All Hallows TarotL

The full solution to the logic puzzle is as follows:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step one: Penny’s first move sets the Happy Squirrel aside and places the Lovers.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step two: Wade’s first move sets Wheel of Fortune aside to place the Gallows below Penny’s first card.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step three: Brendan’s first move sets the High Priestess aside to place The (Elephant) Magician in a line.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step four: Penny’s second move swaps the set-aside Wheel of Fortune with the Empress.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step five: Mickey’s first move slides the Hierophant left into the place of the High Priestess, who is set aside.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step six: Tracey’s first move takes the set-aside Empress into the space created by the Hierophant’s move.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step seven: Tracey’s second move sets aside the Great Detective and places the other Wheel of Fortune in its place.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step eight: Gillian’s first move takes the Great Detective and places it above the previously-placed Wheel of Fortune card.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step nine: Winona’s first move takes the High Priestess that was set aside and swaps it for the Tower.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step ten: Brendan’s second move takes the other Magician (satisfying the shared number constraint) and places it in the top-right most corner.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step eleven: Wade’s second move slides the Hanged Man up one space.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step twelve: Winona’s second move slides the Lovers up two spaces.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step thirteen: Mickey’s second move takes the set-aside High Priestess and places it below the recently-moved Lovers.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step fourteen: Gillian’s second move slides the Empress one space to the left.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step fifteen: Nichelle’s first move places the set-aside Tower and places it in the lower of the two remaining spaces.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step sixteen: Nichelle’s second move places the set-aside Happy Squirrel and places it in the only remaining space.