Department Store
David Dickerson
The sixteen puzzles on this page are of a familiar type seen in puzzle magazines (usually as 5x5) where you have to take one letter or letter pair from each column in order to spell a word, repeating this to use each block once while spelling words in some category. The categories go in the spaces on top, where the initial letters are given (and the resulting categories are in alphabetical order). There are two tricks:
- Some of the grids are rotated, so you have to use rows instead of columns sometimes, and sometimes you must start from the last row or column. The heavy bar on one edge of each grid indicates the side that is supposed to be the top of that grid.
- One box in each grid is not used, and correspondingly one answer skips that row or column.
In addition, some of the words are rather obscure, but the uncommon letters and letter patterns ensure that you cannot make any alternate, sensible set. The solutions are:
| Armor: CUIRASS, GORGET, JAMBEAU, TUILLE (extra AM) | Boots: BUSKIN, FINNESKO, KAMIK, LARRIGAN (C) | Carriages: BROUGHAM, CALASH, LANDAU, TILBURY (R) | Chairs: CURULE, FAUTEUIL, RECLINER, SEDAN (I) |
| Crocks: CALDRON, KETTLE, OLLA, PIPKIN (I) | Furniture: BAHUT, CABRIOLE, ETAGERE, WARDROBE (O) | Hats: FEDORA, HOMBURG, PORKPIE, TRILBY (F) | Jars: AMPHORA, CANNIKIN, CRUSE, KRATER (B) |
| Jewelry: AMULET, ANKLET, BROOCH, PENDANT (A) | Musical Instruments: BANDORA, REBEC, SACKBUT, SHAWM (VO) | Rugs: DHURRIE, HEREZ, KILIM, OUSHAK (ED) | Scientific Instruments: ARMIL, HOROLOGE, ORRERY, QUADRANT (R) |
| Shirts: CAMISE, CHITON, JERSEY, KURTA (OL) | Shoes: BROGAN, CHOPINE, OXFORD, SABOT (A) | Swords: BILBOA, GLAIVE, PARANG, YATAGHAN (ER) | Whips: KNOUT, PIZZLE, QUIRT, SJAMBOK (EM) |
When the grids are rotated back to their proper orientations, each of the 16 positions within a grid is a leftover box once. If you collect all the extra boxes, forming a 4x4 grid with each box in the same position in its grid that it was originally (after fixing the orientations) then these letters can be read straight across, row by row, to spell FOLIVORA MEMBER OR ACEDIA which clues SLOTH, which is the answer.