Goldilocks
by Mark Gottlieb
Answer: ALL FOR ONE
This puzzle is about binomial pairs: idiomatic phrases typically in the form “FOO and BAR.” Examples include “trial and error” or “high and dry.”
The answers to the first list of clues can appear as the first word of a binomial pair. The answers in the second list (presented in alphabetical order) can appear as the second word of a binomial pair. And they can be matched such that the missing words that complete the pairs are the same. For example, you can match ALIVE from the first list with KICKING (“alive and kicking”), and then match KICKING with SCREAMING from the second list (“kicking and screaming”).
Many of the words can appear in multiple binomial pairs (ALIVE also pairs with WELL for “alive and well”), so you must use the matching feature to determine the missing middle words.
When all the matches are complete, the first clue list provides the correct order for the missing middle words, and the second clue list tells you which letters to take from those words. That spells PARTNER OF ONE FOR ALL. The answer (which completes the phrase “all for one and one for all”) is ALL FOR ONE.
- Children’s card game that’s too deterministic WAR
- Two-word phrase shouted at someone who’s taking too much time HURRY UP
- What a glutton eats too much of FOOD
- Swig that’s too small to get you inebriated NIP
- Baby ___ (doll that’s too realistic) ALIVE
- Tanner’s material (huh, this clue/answer pair is a bit too redundant…) HIDE
- Movie or play that’s too crowded due to its popularity HIT
- Word said by someone who’s too eager to give you something HERE
- ___ beer (beverage whose alcohol content is too low to actually be beer) NEAR
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt high school noir with a plot that’s too convoluted BRICK
- Beverage that might be described as too fruity or too bold WINE
- Type of documentary or animated film whose awards make the Oscar telecast run too long SHORT
- Like a puzzle that takes too many hours to solve HARD
- Feathers that are too soft DOWN
- Stone fruits that are too fuzzy PEACHES
- Prison sentence that’s too long to get out of LIFE
- What your foot is after stepping into a puddle that’s too deep WET
- Fill in too many details, with “out” FLESH
- All ___ Eve (movie featuring a character who’s too ambitious) ABOUT
- Like a ball game played in surroundings that are too unfamiliar AWAY
- Mark that’s too long to be a hyphen DASH
- Defeat by way too many points, figuratively speaking DESTROY
- Attribute of someone who’s too compulsive DRIVE
- Attribute of someone who’s too daring GUTS
- Tanner’s material (huh, this clue/answer pair is a bit too redundant…) HIDE
- Like a screw that’s too wobbly LOOSE
- Type of strategic marketing analysis that examines six macro-environmental factors (which may be too many, considering that a simpler version examines just four) PESTLE
- A paranoid character might note that a blatant lack of danger is this… a little too this QUIET
- Dinner accompaniment that has too many carbs for someone on Atkins ROLL
- What you might be doing in a haunted house that’s too scary SCREAMING
- What you can’t do through glasses that are too dirty SEE
- Become too disenchanted with, with “on” SOUR
- Ingredient in desserts that are too unhealthy SUGAR
- Puts too much of a burden on TAXES
- Word you might find in a list of instructions with too many steps THEN
- Like mammoths that are too shaggy WOOLLY
Bonus logological tidbit: The two chains that include “hide” can be strung together to make a 5-part chain: Hit & run & hide & seek & destroy