Mine Carts
by Will Blatt
Answer: REBA
Attributions: A big thank you to Roger Barker, who was vital in assisting with this puzzle both in discovering & gathering data and in refining the puzzle’s overall flow!
Solvers are presented with two sets of mine carts (14 on the left track, 12 on the right track), each with two clues. The enumerations for the answers of the left and right clues are given as the first two numbers of the serial number on each cart.
Left Track Answers | |||
| Animal namesake of a Florida county | MANATEE | Canadian province whose flag contains 4 fleurs-de-lis | QUEBEC |
| Best Picture nominee about gangster Henry Hill | GOODFELLAS | Country whose name means "land of the Swazis" | ESWATINI |
| C++ type sized to a minimum of 1 byte | CHAR | Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who wrote and sang "Rock & Roll" | REED |
| Catholic saint who was the mother of Augustine | MONICA | Company whose services included CandyGrams and Perfume-by-Wire | WESTERN UNION |
| Childhood nickname of Ronald Reagan | DUTCH | Nobel Laureate in Physics for breakthrough involving Cooper pairs | SCHRIEFFER |
| Constellation whose name means dove | COLUMBA | Home of Galeão International Airport | RIO DE JANEIRO |
| FIFA Mens' World Cup champions of 2014 | GERMANY | Band member Noodle, Murdoc, 2-D, or Russel, perhaps | GORILLA |
| Fortune 500 insurance provider with a whale logo | PACIFIC LIFE | Highest-tier trim level of the Jeep Wrangler with a 2-door option | RUBICON |
| Most recent American Nobel Laureate in Literature | DYLAN | Manifestation of a Hindu god | AVATAR |
| Namesake of Marshall, TX art museum | MICHELSON | U.S. state whose three most populous cities begin with the same letter | OHIO |
| NATO alphabet word used in Eagles and Wilco album titles | HOTEL | Male name derived from Hebrew for "God is my strength" | GABRIEL |
| River worshipped in 2015 Pushkaram festival | GODAVARI | Mythological creature described as a multi-headed serpent | HYDRA |
| Southernmost Olympic host city | MELBOURNE | Language with Arabic lettering used on Chinese currency | UYGHUR |
| U.S. President who delivered the first State of the Union address | WASHINGTON | Fish of the family Lutjanidae | SNAPPER |
Right Track Answers | |||
| A conductor through which current enters or leaves a system | ELECTRODE | Film in which Eric Clapton played a cult leader | TOMMY |
| Actress/singer who starred in the series Ghost Whisperer | HEWITT | Ukrainian musical instrument resembling a hammer dulcimer | TSYMBALY |
| Baseball Hall of Famer Cap | ANSON | Kings Dominion roller coaster designed to resemble a bobsled run | AVALANCHE |
| Daily newspaper of Greenfield, Massachusetts | RECORDER | Super Bowl halftime performer who rode a mechanical lion | PERRY |
| NCAA Division I basketball team currently coached by Tubby Smith | HIGH POINT | Final Pokémon evolution of Squirtle | BLASTOISE |
| Paper type commonly used for file folders | MANILA | Most-produced British aircraft of all time | SPITFIRE |
| Poet who wrote the novel The Egoist | MEREDITH | Romantic composer known as the "Schubert of North Germany" | LOEWE |
| Pony whose cutie mark consists of three stars and a thunderbolt | LIGHTNING DUST | Intersection of Interstate Highways 64 and 65 | LOUISVILLE |
| Posthumous 1997 release included in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums" | LIFE AFTER DEATH | "The tenth Muse," according to Plato | SAPPHO |
| Seinfeld character voted TV.com's #1 most annoying neighbor | NEWMAN | World capital referenced in the USMC's "Marines' Hymn" | TRIPOLI |
| Sports team formerly located in Philadelphia and Kansas City | ATHLETICS | Oscar winner for acting who later portrayed Joan Crawford | DUNAWAY |
| Youngest of the Aristocats | BERLIOZ | Wimbledon champion who won 7 of 8 consecutive mens' finals | SAMPRAS |
After figuring out enough of the clues, solvers may begin to notice that some pairs of answers between carts fall into the same categories. As a solving aid, this category is explicitly referenced in the clue for one of the two answers in each pair. By correctly pairing answers, solvers can make a connected loop of all of the carts for each track.
Left Track connections | ||
| <DYLAN | AVATAR> | Best Picture nominees | <GOODFELLAS | ESWATINI> |
| <GOODFELLAS | ESWATINI> | Countries | <GERMANY | GORILLA> |
| <GERMANY | GORILLA> | Animals | <MANATEE | QUEBEC> |
| <MANATEE | QUEBEC> | NATO alphabet | <HOTEL | GABRIEL> |
| <HOTEL | GABRIEL> | Catholic saints | <MONICA | WESTERN UNION> |
| <MONICA | WESTERN UNION> | Fortune 500 companies | <PACIFIC LIFE | RUBICON> |
| <PACIFIC LIFE | RUBICON> | Rivers | <GODAVARI | HYDRA> |
| <GODAVARI | HYDRA> | Constellations | <COLUMBA | RIO DE JANEIRO> |
| <COLUMBA | RIO DE JANEIRO> | Olympic host cities | <MELBOURNE | UYGHUR> |
| <MELBOURNE | UYGHUR> | Languages | <DUTCH | SCHRIEFFER> |
| <DUTCH | SCHRIEFFER> | Nobel Laureates in Physics | <MICHELSON | OHIO> |
| <MICHELSON | OHIO> | U.S. States | <WASHINGTON | SNAPPER> |
| <WASHINGTON | SNAPPER> | Fish | <CHAR | REED> |
| <CHAR | REED> | Rock and Roll Hall of Famers | <DYLAN | AVATAR> |
Right Track connections | ||
| <MEREDITH | LOEWE> | Romantic composers | <BERLIOZ | SAMPRAS> |
| <BERLIOZ | SAMPRAS> | Wimbledon champions | <HEWITT | TSYMBALY> |
| <HEWITT | TSYMBALY> | Musical instruments | <RECORDER | PERRY> |
| <RECORDER | PERRY> | Baseball Hall of Famers | <ANSON | AVALANCHE> |
| <ANSON | AVALANCHE> | Sports teams | <ATHLETICS | DUNAWAY> |
| <ATHLETICS | DUNAWAY> | Oscar Best Actor/Actress winners | <NEWMAN | TRIPOLI> |
| <NEWMAN | TRIPOLI> | World capitals | <MANILA | SPITFIRE> |
| <MANILA | SPITFIRE> | My Little Pony characters | <LIGHTNING DUST | LOUISVILLE> |
| <LIGHTNING DUST | LOUISVILLE> | NCAA D-I Universities | <HIGH POINT | BLASTOISE> |
| <HIGH POINT | BLASTOISE> | Pokémon | <ELECTRODE | TOMMY> |
| <ELECTRODE | TOMMY> | Rolling Stone “500 Greatest Albums” | <LIFE AFTER DEATH | SAPPHO> |
| <LIFE AFTER DEATH | SAPPHO> | Poets | <MEREDITH | LOEWE> |
The final step is for solvers to figure out that they need to use these paired answers to generate a third answer that also fits each category. These answers can be found by looking at the middle of each pair of answers as a single concatenated string. We can then use the third number on each cart as an extraction (taking the answer generated on the cart’s right side) to reveal our final pairing.
Left Track hidden answers | ||||
| Answers | Category | Hidden Answer | # | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVATAR GOODFELLAS | Best Picture nominees | ARGO | 3 | G |
| ESWATINI GERMANY | Countries | NIGER | 5 | R |
| GORILLA MANATEE | Animals | LLAMA | 5 | A |
| QUEBEC HOTEL | NATO alphabet | ECHO | 2 | C |
| GABRIEL MONICA | Catholic saints | ELMO | 1 | E |
| WESTERN UNION PACIFIC LIFE | Fortune 500 companies | UNION PACIFIC | 1 | U |
| RUBICON GODAVARI | Rivers | CONGO | 3 | N |
| HYDRA COLUMBA | Constellations | DRACO | 1 | D |
| RIO DE JANEIRO MELBOURNE | Olympic host cities | ROME | 4 | E |
| UYGHUR DUTCH | Languages | URDU | 2 | R |
| SCHRIEFFER MICHELSON | Nobel Laureates in Physics | FERMI | 1 | F |
| OHIO WASHINGTON | U.S. States | IOWA | 1 | I |
| SNAPPER CHAR | Fish | PERCH | 3 | R |
| REED DYLAN | Rock and Roll Hall of Famers | EDDY | 1 | E |
Right Track hidden answers | ||||
| Answers | Category | Hidden Answer | # | |
| LOEWE BERLIOZ | Romantic composers | WEBER | 3 | B |
| SAMPRAS HEWITT | Wimbledon champions | ASHE | 1 | A |
| TSYMBALY RECORDER | Musical instruments | LYRE | 3 | R |
| PERRY ANSON | Baseball Hall of Famers | RYAN | 4 | N |
| AVALANCHE ATHLETICS | Sports teams | HEAT | 2 | E |
| DUNAWAY NEWMAN | Oscar Best Actor/Actress winners | WAYNE | 3 | Y |
| TRIPOLI MANILA | World capitals | LIMA | 3 | M |
| SPITFIRE LIGHTNING DUST | My Little Pony characters | FIRELIGHT | 6 | I |
| LOUISVILLE HIGH POINT | NCAA D-I Universities | LEHIGH | 1 | L |
| BLASTOISE ELECTRODE | Pokémon | SEEL | 4 | L |
| TOMMY LIFE AFTER DEATH | Rolling Stone “500 Greatest Albums” | MY LIFE | 6 | E |
| SAPPHO MEREDITH | Poets | HOMER | 5 | R |
Completing the extractions for the two tracks reveals the partial answers GRACE UNDER FIRE and BARNEY MILLER, two well-known television sitcoms. Following the same method as before, we can put the two answers together and discover another hidden sitcom, REBA, which is the final answer.