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PUZZLE POTLUCK 3

Solution – Space
ANSWER – DEFLATEDBALL
by Rajeev Nayak

Warning: This solution contains spoilers for the answer to Hawkeye.

As clued by Hawkeye's BIRDSMITH ability, each of these 12 sentences is a Printer's Devilry clue for one of the 12 birds that Hawkeye can sense. The given sentences don't make much sense, but they can be fixed by inserting the name of a bird and modifying word breaks, punctuation, and capitalization. As an additional twist, an extra letter also needs to be inserted either before or after the bird's name, clued by "a bit of extra camouflage" in Hawkeye's ability description.

The context given in each sentence can help verify that the modification is correct. For example, in the first sentence, "journalist" confirms "Dan Rather" and the fact that he was not happy confirms "scowl".

Looking down with a scowl, Dan Rather, a journalist, was not happy with what he had written.
OWLD
The president could switch to a vest or keep wearing a two-piece suit.
STORKE
Bob Ross, considering options for his afro, binge-watched all of Hair in one sitting.
ROBINF
Without emojis it is hard to express my self in chats.
FINCHL
After the snowfall, I saw the whole area gleam in the sunlight.
EAGLEA
The imbalanced robot waddled back and forth, awkward in its movement.
HAWKT
If JJ Abrams was still directing Star Trek, he would probably have a shot of Picard in a lens flare.
CARDINALE
I finally got my old modem upgraded for a faster speed.
EMUD
The finalist could forfeit and finish in second or battle to win first.
CONDORB
Joe Namath rushed after the defense backed off to guard the receivers.
THRUSHA
The cold oven needed time to warm up before cooking the pizza.
DOVEL
Instead of the dollar, knuts, sickles and galleons are used by wizards.
LARKL

Reading the extra letters spells the answer, DEFLATED BALL.

Author's Notes

  • I had enjoyed solving Printer’s Devilry puzzles in hunts over the past few years, so I was thinking of writing one myself. I thought this was a great opportunity since it seemed to fit thematically as a “snapped” puzzle with missing information.
  • I also thought this mechanic was a good fit for “Space” because it involves the spaces between words.
  • This was the first “snapped” puzzle to be written, so BIRDSMITH was the very first Avenger ability. In retrospect after coming up with the rest of the abilities, I wish we could have made all 6 abilities just an answer with no extra description, but we decided to keep BIRDSMITH and FLATTERY because we didn’t want to have to rewrite Space and Mind (which would have also caused rewrites of Secret Places and Musings of the Departed).
  • My favorite bird insertion is probably “Picard in a lens flare”. Hope everyone enjoyed that one!
  • Best Wrong Answers:
    Wrong AnswerSubmitted by:
    NEWLYWEDHELLhoME AT last
    BULLETEDBILLScramble Junction
    BENNYTHEBULL

    (as a massive Chicago Bulls fan, I wish we could have given credit for this)
    		Duck Gizzards
    WEIGHTEDBALL11 teams
    DESIGNERBABYLivingCOVIDALoca
    BALLDEFLATEDDory1022

Stats

  • 332 solves
  • 632 incorrect guesses
  • Most common incorrect guess: DEFEATEDBILL (guessed 25 times)
  • First solve: Aviation Laws in 2 hours, 42 minutes, and 21 seconds

PUZZLE POTLUCK 3