2011 Microsoft Puzzle Hunt

[Suspence]

I could use a laugh, so sure.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Zag]

Ok.

1. You're right that RECTAL is just coincidence.
2. Two of the words you have found are actually just one word with a little something in between..
3. LAMAR FLOWNET isn't anything. However, drop the NET, read it backwards, and extend it and it becomes your last word.

[Suspence]

So, WOLFRAM ALPHA - hadn't heard of it til now

Maybe SYNDROME'S REMOTE. I've never seen the movie, but it appears he controlled an Omnidroid by remote.

Something to read:
Old - THE BIBLE
New - WITCH AND WIZARD
Borrowed - STEAL THIS BOOK
Blue - KELLEY (as in Kelley Blue Book)

Something that moves:
Old - MODEL T
New - TESLA ROADSTER
Borrowed - ENTERPRISE
Blue - MIRTHMOBILE

Something animated:
Old - CARL FREDRICKSEN
New - BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
Blue - JAMES P SULLIVAN
Borrowed - SYNDROME'S REMOTE?

Something to surf:
Old - GEOCITIES
New - WOLFRAM ALPHA
Borrowed - PIRATE BAY
Blue - FACEBOOK

Something to play:
Old - ADVENTURE
New - DRAGON AGE ORIGINS
Borrowed - GAMEFLY
Blue - SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Something to listen to:
Old - TIME ROCK AND ROLL
New - YORK STATE OF MIND
Borrowed - HEAVEN (album by The Corrs)
Blue - SUEDE SHOES
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jesternl]

Something to surf:
Old - GEOCITIES
New - WOLFRAM ALPHA (it's a new type of search engine)
Borrowed - PIRATE BAY
Blue - FACEBOOK

[jesternl]

Alright, now we sit back and wait for someone to swoop in with that last leap to the solution...

[Suspence]

No solution yet, but at least worth a look. I've gathered all the letters that overlap in the puzzle.

So far I have ENSKRYELTFRAMRSEAS.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Zag]

[Suspence]

Am I wasting my time staring at these extracted letters from where words intersected? Or was that a step in the right direction?

FWIW, the overlapping letters anagram to "Transfers Yarmelkes". Must have been a Jewish wedding

In case it helps:

_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Zag]

I see you have "Sonic the Hedgehog" going one letter too far.

[Suspence]

Now that I look again, I see "You've done excellent work but yourT not through now. Take the following letters and create a ten by ten grid. Find something to watch and something to play.

Assuming the six-letter rule is gone

[jesternl]

Missing one word, and the remaining letters spell:
SOUNDLIKEFIVEBYFISVEKMAUDTRNLREBIYAELMBOAEWNIWAACL

"sound like fiveby fiSve"
The only word I can make with that S is bras

After "sound like fiveby fiSve" are 31 letters, which indicates 6, plus the 1st S, belong to a word so the remainder is 25 letters.

[jesternl]

OK, the diagonal letters form sarblne
makes no sense to me, even considdrering a typo

[Suspence]

Apparently CAYLUS is a board game - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18602/caylus

SOUNDLIKEFIVEBYFIVE

[jesternl]

NM

[Zag]

[Suspence]

Should be MATRIMONIAL. I see BLEW (blue), KNEW (new), BARD (borrowed), which basically leaves MATRIMONIAL with a few extra letters. The other must be AWLED (old) though I didn't recognize that as a word.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jesternl]

To awl, is to make small holes, like in a belt.

Nice work

[Zag]

Nice! That's it!

Next is a Whistle Stop puzzle in Portland, OR, but I don't have those.

After that is a new group of puzzles titled

Los Angeles, CA

The first is Color Me Crazy

I didn't work on this, nor did I look at the answer, yet, so I'll be participating.

[jesternl]

Like Suspence, my biggest problem is usually figuring out what to do in the first place.

[Zag]

Ha ha! I did look at the puzzle itself this afternoon for a bit, so I get a head start.

I see colors hidden in the lines.

1. Brown
2. Indigo
3. Green

4. Teal
5. Eggplant
6. Copper
7. Hot Pink, or just Pink
8. Olive
9. Lemon
10. Orchid
11. Gray
12. Yellow

First letters spell out BIG TECHOLOGY

I really did only look at it for 5 minutes earlier.

[jesternl]

You forgot 7A, Navy

[Zag]

Yeah, I realized that, but my wife called me away before I could finish editing.

[Zag]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that there was a picture that went along with this one:

[Suspence]

Looks like Braille again?

STLXEIMSIKT

Anagrams to Skittles Mix
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jesternl]

Taste the rainbow

[Suspence]

Too busy to work on this today, was hoping to check in and find the puzzle nearly done and ready for some swooping...
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Zag]

Crap! I got tired of making no progress so I looked at the answer. I'm glad I didn't spend longer on it, because it isn't possible to solve. Here is the solution.

[Suspence]

Phew! I had no idea what could be next. At least I got to MIX SKITTLES.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

R- Idiot Pscho Pie VI - What Came Before - AMERICAN - C
Y - The Most Interesting Man VII: Quite A Blank - (9) -
G - Those Who Can: The Finale - DO - D
Y - Up II: What Always Happens Next - DOWN - O
O - Accelerations and Masses: The Products - FORCES -F
Y - The Past III: S#!t We Wrote Down - HISTORY - S
O - The Limper IV: The Diagnoser - HOUSE - S
O - Darkness IV: The Lack Thereof - LIGHT - H
R - Captain and Leiutanant Colonel IV: Caught In Between - MAJOR - O
Y - Little Piggy III: Where The First Went - MARKET - R
O - Pitcher III: The Third Strike - OUT - T
R - Eternaboy - Peter's Surname - PAN - P
R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four - (5)
Y - The Hours II: Their Passing - TIME - I
R - Dribbles V: Not Enough - TRAVEL? - E?
Y - Greenhouse Emissions III: What Happened Next - WARMING? - R?
Y - Murder: The Man Who Saw - WITNESS - W
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four - (5) - STAND - T

[Scurra]

I imagine it's a coincidence that quite a lot of answers can be paired up:

O - Darkness IV: The Lack Thereof - LIGHT - H 
O - The Limper IV: The Diagnoser - HOUSE - S 

Y - Little Piggy III: Where The First Went - MARKET - R 
O - Accelerations and Masses: The Products - FORCES -F 

Y - The Hours II: Their Passing - TIME - I 
R - Dribbles V: Not Enough - TRAVEL? - E? 

R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four – (5) STAND - D
O - Pitcher III: The Third Strike - OUT - T 

Y - Greenhouse Emissions III: What Happened Next - WARMING? - R? 
R - Eternaboy - Peter's Surname - PAN - P 

Especially since there are an odd number of answers, so one would be left over (unless that's the intended answer?)
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

Can't be a coincidence, can it? Also, I was thinking WITNESS STAND instead of STAND OUT

Y - The Hours II: Their Passing - TIME - I
R - Dribbles V: Not Enough - TRAVEL - E

O - Darkness IV: The Lack Thereof - LIGHT - H
O - The Limper IV: The Diagnoser - HOUSE - S

R- Idiot Pscho Pie VI - What Came Before - AMERICAN - C
Y - The Past III: S#!t We Wrote Down - HISTORY - S

Y - Little Piggy III: Where The First Went - MARKET - R
O - Accelerations and Masses: The Products - FORCES -F

Y - Murder: The Man Who Saw - WITNESS - W
R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four - STAND - T

Y - Greenhouse Emissions III: What Happened Next - WARMING - R
R - Eternaboy - Peter's Surname - PAN - P

O - Pitcher III: The Third Strike - OUT - T
G - Those Who Can: The Finale - DO - D

Y - Up II: What Always Happens Next - DOWN - O
Y - The Most Interesting Man VII: Quite A Blank - (9) -
R - Captain and Leiutanant Colonel IV: Caught In Between - MAJOR - O

The odd number would make sense if we need to order them as so:

Y - Murder: The Man Who Saw - WITNESS - W
R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four - STAND - T
Y - Up II: What Always Happens Next - DOWN - O
Y - Little Piggy III: Where The First Went - MARKET - R
O - Accelerations and Masses: The Products - FORCES -F
O - Pitcher III: The Third Strike - OUT - T
G - Those Who Can: The Finale - DO - D
Y - The Hours II: Their Passing - TIME - I
R - Dribbles V: Not Enough - TRAVEL - E
O - Darkness IV: The Lack Thereof - LIGHT - H
O - The Limper IV: The Diagnoser - HOUSE - S
Y - Greenhouse Emissions III: What Happened Next - WARMING - R
R - Eternaboy - Peter's Surname - PAN - P
R- Idiot Pscho Pie VI - What Came Before - AMERICAN - C
Y - The Past III: S#!t We Wrote Down - HISTORY - S
R - Captain and Leiutanant Colonel IV: Caught In Between - MAJOR - O

Where does "Y - The Most Interesting Man VII: Quite A Blank - (9) - " fit?
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Quailman]

Since there's an odd number, maybe you string them together. Warming Pan American History Major etc.

[Quailman]

Bah! I hate it when I post something only to find the previous post has been updated so I look like I'm just repeating what was just said.

[Suspence]

Hah! You shouldn't have said anything, people might just think I stole your idea and then did the legwork in my post.

Does anyone have any ideas on: Y - The Most Interesting Man VII: Quite A Blank - (9) - ?

I'd though ADVERTISMENT or COMMERCIAL, but neither fit.

Any ideas on the different color Dots?
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Quailman]

It's for Dos Equis beer (cerveza). XX.

There's Eye Witness or Expert Witness or Hostile Witness (Mona Lisa Vito), but I can't get to those.

What's with the (9) in that clue?

[Suspence]

Number of letters that should be in the answer according to the spaces on the actual puzzle.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Scurra]

Well the puzzle itself does clearly say that OUT should be first and FORCES should be last, which makes the loop idea more obvious (I should have noticed that myself.)

I have no idea what you are talking about in relation to the puzzle clues though. Are these references to US commercials or something?
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

Yeah, I just remembered that, and I'm reworking. Think I figured out the last clue, and it fits where I had an empty spot.

O - Pitcher III: The Third Strike - OUT - T
G - Those Who Can: The Finale - DO - D
Y - The Hours II: Their Passing - TIME - I
R - Dribbles V: Not Enough - TRAVEL - E
O - Darkness IV: The Lack Thereof - LIGHT - H
O - The Limper IV: The Diagnoser - HOUSE - S
Y - Greenhouse Emissions III: What Happened Next - WARMING - R
R - Eternaboy - Peter's Surname - PAN - P
R- Idiot Pscho Pie VI - What Came Before - AMERICAN - C
Y - The Past III: S#!t We Wrote Down - HISTORY - S
R - Captain and Leiutanant Colonel IV: Caught In Between - MAJOR - O
Y - The Most Interesting Man VII: Quite A Blank - CHARACTER - T
Y - Murder: The Man Who Saw - WITNESS - W
R - Under The Lemonade Keg II: Finishing All Four - STAND - T
Y - Up II: What Always Happens Next - DOWN - O
Y - Little Piggy III: Where The First Went - MARKET - R
O - Accelerations and Masses: The Products - FORCES - F
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Quailman]

Character Witness? Do they really exist? I couldn't find any when I needed one.