by Avram Gottschlich and Matto Mildenberger
Answer: THE WOLF'S HOUR
Problem: Christmas Town/​Halloween Town

Solvers are presented with four James Bond-related minipuzzles. Each puzzle solves to a different word.


Numbers at the Top of the Pops

Solvers receive four audio clips. Each of these is a James Bond theme song that did well on the UK charts, clued by the UK programme “Top of the Pops”. Specifically, they peaked at the following places:

Song Artist Peak position
“Writing’s on the Wall” Sam Smith 1
“Live and Let Die” Wings 9
“For Your Eyes Only” Sheena Easton 8
“Another Way to Die” Jack White and Alicia Keys 9

Answer: 1989


These Flights Take Eons to Land

Each color of lines is the route taken over the course of an EON Bond movie. The number of each movie (in the EON chronology) gives you a letter. Taking the routes in ROYGBIV order:

Color Movie Number Letter
R Octopussy 13 M
O The Man with the Golden Gun 9 I
Y Goldfinger 3 C
G Live and Let Die 8 H
B Dr. No 1 A
I You Only Live Twice 5 E
V For Your Eyes Only 12 L

Answer: MICHAEL


Random Tasks

Each clue is the set-up for a pun that can be constructed by adding a single letter to a James Bond movie title. In order, the answers are:

Clue Pun Added letter
Leave a cold enemy land; make sure to keep your hands warm! From Russia with Glove G
Reminisce about my faithful pet who can never have puppies. The Spay Who Loved Me A
Tell Buffy she is fired. Never Slay Never Again L
Throw some metal around like you mean it! Goldflinger L
The sinks are clogged. You will receive supplies to fix this. Drano A
Finish these doughnuts. Start eating better tomorrow. Diet Another Day T
Design a new wheel without having a buyer prearranged. Spec Tire I
List your favorite celestial bodies. Moonranker N

Answer: GALLATIN


Incognito

Solvers are presented with a series of images. All the images are actors from Bond films who have better-known roles outside of James Bond. Take the indicated letter from their Bond role. We have:

Actor Depicted character Bond character Index Letter
Christopher Walken Nick Chevotarevich Max Zorin 8 N
Chaim Topol Tevye Milos Columbo 4 O
Robbie Coltrane Hagrid Valentin Zukovsky 1 V
Rowan Atkinson Mr. Bean Nigel Small-Fawcett 4 E
Orson Welles Charles Foster Kane Le Chiffre 1 L

Answer: NOVEL


Putting it all together

Putting the sub-answers together, we get 1989 MICHAEL GALLATIN NOVEL, which is THE WOLF'S HOUR. Appropriately for a Halloween/James Bond puzzle, this book is about a werewolf spy.