The Castle
by Ian Tullis
Answer: OILMEN
Each input answer for this meta has two words.
The words "pan" and "handle" are a nudge towards Texas' panhandle. The second word in each feeder is the name of a county in Texas' panhandle. There are 26 such counties (in perhaps the most popular definition of the panhandle); this puzzle uses them as letters. If you look at a map, those counties are laid out in rows. Read them left-to-right for an order.
The word "flagstones" is a nudge towards "Six Flags over Texas", that is, the six nations whose flags have flown over Texas. The first word in each feeder has a first letter that's also the first letter of one of those flag-nations. This tells you how to order the letters, based on the order of flags from the Austin capitol facade.
SIX-WHEELER | Spain | O |
FIREBALL ROBERTS | France | I |
MISTER POTTER | Mexico | L |
RACHEL CARSON | Republic of Texas | M |
CRISPIN LIPSCOMB | Confederate States | E |
UNCERTAIN GRAY | USA | N |