Mystery Hunt 2012 Recast: COMPLETE!!!

[LordKinbote]

[gftt*]

[gftt*]

[LordKinbote]

[gftt*]

#3 is solved. Starting on #4...

Flavortext leads me to believe that the two stars we need to extract per puzzle are the two that have the same number. In that case #3's extraction is Row 2 Col 7 (N) and Row 7 Col 6 (A).

[Suspence]

You might be on your own on this one.
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[Return of the Quickies]

Removed...thx LK.
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[LordKinbote]

I think you meant to post that in the Quickies thread, Suspence...

[novice]

I've started on #2.

[gftt*]

#4 is done. Row 6 col 7 and Row 8 Col 1 for F and M.

[gftt*]

#1 is done. Unfortunately my proposed extraction method yields O (from R4 C9) and Q (R8 C3), which isn't promising. Perhaps we are instead supposed to find the squares which have 2 stars over the 4 puzzles...

[novice]

I would extract the letter in the row/column with two stars, and add the duplicate star number (shift alphabetically). That only yields four letters though.

[novice]

Or use your extraction method but shift the letters by the duplicated star number. Shifting two letters by the same amount seems slightly inelegant, though.

[gftt*]

[LordKinbote]

[novice]

First thing that leaps to mind here is text encodings. Just thought I'd share the association.

[gftt*]

What's with all the traffic-related meta answers?

Anyhow, we have 4 12-letter strings and 4 grids of 6x7, 6x10, 6x12, 6x14. Braille would fill the 6x12. Encoding each letter in binary would require 5 bits for each so that could fill the 6x10.

However, 6x7 isn't divisible by 12 so that would maybe require some 7-bit way to encode two-letter strings? No clue on what that would be, nor on how to fill a 6x14 with an encoding of 12 letters.

[novice]

I tried encoding with Nato's phonetic alphabet, but none of the strings fit in any of the grids.

[gftt]

Writing PCAPASVXLXLE in Braille (across then down) in the 6x12 gives a dot pattern that looks like GSC.

[gftt]

VGRQUQRBRYVW encoded in morse in the 6x7, with dots as stars and dashes as blanks:

[LordKinbote]

Yup.

Next:

Google Bodyslam by by Daniel Cohen and Matt Garber

[Suspence]

I've solved some of the clues, nothing quite stands out yet from the blue letters. I probably don't have enough of the answers yet.

I figure that we'll need to identify the images to the left of each group of 3 clues. Doing the best I can from my recollection:

? - Big Boss Man
Ravishing Rick Rude - Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
Mr. Perfect - Andre the Giant
? - ?
? - ?
Brutus The Barber Beefcake - The Million Dollar Man
Rando Macho Man Savage - Bam Bam Bigelow
? - Sid Vicious
Honky Tonk Man - Sting
? - ?
Doink the Clown - Razor Ramon
Yokozuna - ?
Diesel - Road Warrior Hawk

Some of the above may be wrong, the pictures aren't the greatest.
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[gftt*]

Would the guy above the clown be Sergeant Slaughter?

(and that about exhausts my knowledge of this subject...)

[Suspence]

Yep, dunno how I missed that. I found that some of the images are from WWF King of the Ring for NES. I found the image below, unfortunately the characters don't have the names listed.



Could the bottom one be The Undertaker? Looks more like a cowboy-type, but maybe it's just a bad picture. EDIT - the below confirms:


This confirms Mr. Perfect, which I wasn't sure on.


And this gives us Lex Luger:


There's also WCW Wrestling for NES, revealing Michael Hayes, who I've never heard of:


Never heard of these guys either:

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[Suspence]

Kevin Sullivan - Big Boss Man
Ravishing Rick Rude - Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
Mr. Perfect - Andre the Giant
Dustin Rhodes - Lex Luger
Mike Rotunda - Undertaker
Brutus The Barber Beefcake - The Million Dollar Man
Rando Macho Man Savage - Bam Bam Bigelow
Dr. Death Steve Williams - Sid Vicious
Honky Tonk Man - Sting
Sergeant Slaughter - Michael Hayes
Doink the Clown - Razor Ramon
Yokozuna - Johnny B. Badd
Diesel - Road Warrior Hawk

KEVIN SULLIVAN
SONS - 39A. Dustin and Cody, to the American Dream
JIMMIES - 57A. Hart, Snuka, Valiant, and Uso
LAWYER - 71D. Clarence Mason, for one

RAVISHING RICK RUDE
MANSERVANT? - 23D. Virgil’s WWF gimmick (10)
MODERN - 38D. The ‘85-’96 era, per the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
21D. Taxable dividends, perhaps issued to owners of WWE stock (6)

MR PERFECT CURT HENNIG
DRYLY - 11A. Laconically, like Gordon Solie’s commentary
CHIMERICAL? - 2D. A way of describing the matches staged here (10)
DIAMOND - 65A. Johnny Swinger’s ECW partner Simon

DUSTIN RHODES
CAVERNS - 2A. Broda’s abodes (7)
18D. Filming location of this (8)
GOTHIC - 51A. Like Gangrel, perhaps (6)

MIKE ROTUNDA
WALK - 27A. Make one’s way through the crowd to the ring
49A. Played the Miz to one’s Riley (8)
JERSEY - 7A. State that 2008 film The Wrestler was primarily filmed in, for short

BRUTUS THE BARBER BEEFCAKE
17D. “The Genius” Lanny Poffo, for one (7)
FUNK - 64D. Hardcore Hall of Famer Terry
REORDER - 8A. To watch WrestleMania on Pay-Per-View again

RANDY MACHO MAN SAVAGE
FAREWELL - 45A. HBK bid this in 2010
ADMIRAL - 32A. Lord Mountevans of rulebook fame
QUEEN - 19D. Sherri, to the Macho King

DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS
72A. Sigh of relief after escaping a pinfall (4)
TITLE - 46A. Storm’s Saskatchewan Hardcore International ___
HEARTACHE - 25A. Pro Wrestling Blitz’s “Night of ___” series

HONKY TONK MAN
RADII - 61D. They parallel the ulnae (and could get broken by the kimura)
62D. Nikki Bella can’t digest this (5)
28D. Where C.M. Punk might entertain his guests, if feeling uncharacteristically classy (6)

SERGEANT SLAUGHTER
ACTRESS - 56D. Stacy Keibler’s non-wrestling occupation
BILLS - 3A. Regal and Perry, casually
MEANIE - 13D. bWo leader The Blue ___

DOINK THE CLOWN
MEGA - 33D. Powers or Bucks, at SummerSlam 1988
CASKET - 4D. Dinero wound up in one during Final Resolution 2010
HARDCORE - 50D. WWE championship established 11/2/98

YOKOZUNA
NOVA - 59A. Chris Chetti’s longtime tag partner
43D. Alberto Del Rio’s estate, quizás (8)
CELLPHONE - 10A. You’d put your Zack Ryder ringtone on this

DIESEL
44D. Demand as a right (like a Money in the Bank title shot) (5)
FALSE? - 24D. What Edge’s statements about Toronto might be, regarding retirement
ANODE - 37D. To cathode what Goldberg was to Hogan in WCW (5)

BIG BOSS MAN
SEVEN - 66A. Short-lived WCW gimmick seen here
60A. Expressed derision, as though reacting to Vickie Guerrero (6)
GRAB - 55D. Junkyard Dog’s “___ them Cakes”

RICKY THE DRAGON STEAMBOAT
68A. Like the crowd in this (7)
67D. Heels’ innate behaviors (10)
CHINO - 40A. Former JAPW champion ___ Martinez

ANDRE THE GIANT
58A. What the Hulkster says people want, cold, in this (5)
34D. Yokota, familiarly (3)
VIOLENT J? - 54D. Owner of Juggalo Championship Wrestling

LEX LUGER
53D. Of no further use - like a certain barber shop window (6)
15A. Godwinns’ chitlins ingredient (5)
SUNDAY - 20A. WWE’s Cyber ___

UNDERTAKER
IRISH - 29D. Like Sheamus or Prince Devitt
STEAMBOAT - 48A. Savage’s Wrestlemania III foe
HUNG - 14D. Suspended, like a ladder match belt

THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN TED DIBIASE
69D. Bradshaw carried it on his bullrope (7)
30A. Holiday side dish (perhaps served alongside the Gobbledy Gooker?) ( 7)
GUARDIAN - 55A. ___ Angel (short-lived WCW gimmick)

BAM BAM BIGELOW
BARRIO? - 36A. Where Giant Silva may have grown up, if his family were poor migrants. (6)
ABHORRED - 5D. The crowd didn’t just hate this, they ___ it (8)
INVEST - 41D. JBL now provides advice on how to do this

SID VICIOUS
SHATTER - 35A. Gunner’s former ring name
73A. Guzzles, like James Storm’s beer (6)
1D. Hebner, Alfonso et al. (4)

STING
DRUNK - 74A. Jake Roberts, perhaps, at Heroes of Wrestling (5)
31A. Easily escapable, like a Hornswoggle sleeper hold (9)
75A. One who does business with this FWA wrestler (6)

MICHAEL PS HAYES
VEST - 6D. Stone Cold’s leather garment
CHILE - 52D. Birthplace of Mr. Chile (5)
12A. Decommissions nuclear waste, or what the Undertaker does to his victims (7)

RAZOR RAMON
THIN 22A. Threadbare, like Cactus Jack’s flannel shirt
GLANDS - 70A. The Big Show’s acromegaly affects these
LATERAL - 47D. ___ press (more familiarly, the basic pin)

JOHNNY B. BADD
CHARLATAN - 9D. Dr. Quack, if he actually tried to write prescriptions (9)
WELCOMED - 27D. Greeted guests, as though to Piper’s Pit
ACNE - 16A. Pimples, perhaps as steroid side effect

ROAD WARRIOR HAWK
63D. Like a Sabu vs. Funk match? (4)
42A. Incongruity, like that of the WWE’s anti-bullying campaign (5)
26A. Like the Million Dollar Man (7)
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[gftt*]

Do the blue letters spell out anything when they're in the grid? I can't see any pattern to them down below, but maybe we're only supposed to pick one out of each group of three? Is there some way to assign 1, 2, or 3 to each wrestler pictured to know which one?

[Suspence]

Not that I know of. It's interesting to note that not all words have a blue letter, so some wrestlers only have two blue letters (see Johnny B. Badd). Don't know what to make of that.
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[gftt*]

Hmm, hadn't noticed that. That's certainly odd.

The other random thought I had was that maybe the title "Google Bodyslam" was meant to be taken literally - as in, type "Bodyslam" into Google. But I don't see anything there that's all that promising, unless there's something on the wikipedia page on wrestling throws.

[Suspence]

I'm at a bit of an impasse. The letters in the crossword aren't heavily checked.

gftt, as a side note, are you not a registered member at all? You always post as a guest.
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[gftt*]

I am, and I've used it when I think I might edit stuff, but it's just easier to type an asterisk than it is to log in.

I'll see if I have time to look up some of the missing words. Do you have a partially complete grid you can put up?

[Suspence]

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[gftt]

49A. MENTORED?
60A. JEERED?
12A. ENTOMBS
58A. SODAS
43D. RANCHERA
23D. MANSERVANT
75A. TENANT
36A. FAVELA
34D. JAG?
44D. CLAIM?
38D. MODERN
35A. SHATTER
28D. PARLOR????
18D. SHORELINE????
17D. EGGHEAD??
31A. AVOIDABLE???
42A. IRONY

[gftt]

Is there a way to order the 26 pictured wrestlers (eg, by who held the belt)? If someone was champ multiple times maybe you take the first letter the first time, the 2nd letter the next time, etc?

[Suspence]

Don't think so.

43D - HACIENDA?

Somehow it feels like some of the clues will need to be solved by knowing the blue letters, as if we should have figured out what they are by now.
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[Suspence]

My most recent thought was to developed a cipher alphabet from the blue letters and the wrestlers real initials, but that doesn't seem to work.

Macho Man = Randall Mario Poffo. Blue letters are WRU, so R=W, M=R, P=U.

Rick Rude = Richard Erwin Rood. Blue letters are AN?, so R=A, N=E.

R ties out to different blue letters for each guy, so my idea falls apart. (Further confirmation, Yokunuza is Rodney and the first blue letter is V)
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

My most recent thought was to developed a cipher alphabet from the blue letters and the wrestlers real initials, but that doesn't seem to work.

Macho Man = Randall Mario Poffo. Blue letters are WRU, so R=W, M=R, P=U.

Rick Rude = Richard Erwin Rood. Blue letters are AN?, so R=A, N=E.

R ties out to different blue letters for each guy, so my idea falls apart. (Further confirmation, Yokunuza is Rodney and the first blue letter is V)
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

Would sorting by wrestler name be of any use? There isn't any order to the wrestlers as currently listed, is there?

[LordKinbote]

If you want to speed this one up, a minor hint: Someone should go read Suspence's last post carefully.

[Suspence]

One other thing related to my last post...In trying to tie out blue letters to initials, I noted that Johnny B. Badd was Marcus Merowitz, but couldn't find a middle name in any resources. Previously, I had mentioned that Johnny B. Badd's clues only had 2 blue letters.

That combined with LK's small hint could mean initials are the right track somehow.

EDIT: Sergeant Slaughter is Robert Remus, but I can't find a middle name. Only 2 blue letters. Seems promising.
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[Suspence]

KEVIN SULLIVAN - Kevin Francis Sullivan - OJW
RAVISHING RICK RUDE - Richard Erwin Rood - AN?
MR PERFECT CURT HENNIG - Curtis Michael Hennig - YID
DUSTIN RHODES - Dustin Patrick Runnels - S?G
MIKE ROTUNDA - Lawrence Michael Rotunda - K?J
BRUTUS THE BARBER BEEFCAKE - Edward Harrison Leslie - ?KO
RANDY MACHO MAN SAVAGE - Randall Mario Poffo - WRU
DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS - Steven Williams (2 blue letters) - ?-A
HONKY TONK MAN - Roy Wayne Ferris - D??
SERGEANT SLAUGHTER - Robert Remus (2 blue letters) - S-A
DOINK THE CLOWN - Matthew Wade Osborne (among others) - AKC
YOKOZUNA - Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻi - V?E
DIESEL - Kevin Scott Nash - ?SO
BIG BOSS MAN - Ray Walter Traylor - E?G
RICKY THE DRAGON STEAMBOAT - Richard Henry Blood - ??C
ANDRE THE GIANT - André René Roussimoff - ??J
LEX LUGER - Lawrence Wendell Pfohl - ??Y
UNDERTAKER - Mark William Calaway - RBH
THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN TED DIBIASE - Theodore Marvin DiBiase - ??G
BAM BAM BIGELOW - Scott Charles Bigelow - RON
SID VICIOUS - Sidney Raymond Eudy - T??
STING - Steven James Borden - K??
MICHAEL PS HAYES - Michael Seitz (only 2 blue letters) - V-?
RAZOR RAMON - Scott Oliver Hall - TSL
JOHNNY B. BADD - Marcus Merowitz - T-N
ROAD WARRIOR HAWK - Michael James Hegstrand - ???

Each time there are only 2 blue letters, the middle clue is the word without a blue letter. This must signify the lack of a middle name.

Initials are definitely the key, but as I mentioned before I don't see any consistency between the initials and the blue letters.
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