Solution: MATH 15 Category Theory
Answer: SESAME CHICKEN
Written by
Justin Melvin
This puzzle refers to the excellent British quiz show Only Connect. Only Connect consists of four rounds:
- Connections (find the category that connects 4 clues)
- Sequences (given a sequence of three items, find the fourth in the sequence)
- Connecting Wall (given 16 items, sort them into four categories of four items and identify the categories)
- Missing Vowels (given a category and a member of that category with vowels removed, identify that member, e.g. NLY CNNCT->ONLY CONNECT)
The first step is to partition the interactive walls into groups of four (which are confirmed when they are found) and identify the categories:
| ACE | KING | QUEEN | BOOK (of bible) |
|---|
| Ventura | Babar | Flash Gordon | Job |
| Attorney | Julien | Jazz | Judges |
| Bandage | Louie | Innuendo | Ruth |
| Hardware | Mufasa | The Works | Numbers |
| SIZE | AGE | OPINION | Characters from titles that are QUESTIONS |
|---|
| Ariana | Bronze | Majority | Carmen Sandiego |
| Cavalieri Ser | Stone | Second | Baby Jane |
| Martin | Ice | Popular | Dr. Vink |
| Fores | Golden | Dissenting | Colin Mochrie |
| EYE | TOE (one little piggie.... nursery rhyme) | ____ WOOL | SECRET ___ |
|---|
| Providence | Market | Fleece | Squirrel |
| Sauron | Home | Britch | Agent |
| Needle | Roast beef | Bellies | Weapon |
| Hurricane | None | Locks | Santa |
| WASHINGTON towns | famous ADAMS | JEFFERSON airplane members | HOUSE (actors last names) |
|---|
| Index | West | Slick | Cameron |
| Startup | Driver | Balin | Cuddy |
| Forks | Savage | Spence | Wilson |
| Black Diamond | Smith | Casady | Foreman |
| EYE OF HORUS | WATER ___ | HORNED VIPER | CRAVEN |
|---|
| Theosodia book cover | Closet | Uktena | Scream |
| Spelunky item | Buffalo | Cerastes | Swamp Thing |
| Pyramids of Mars | Ski | Hornsman | Cursed |
| The Alan Parsons Project album | Gate | Sidewinder | Shocker |
| Raiders | (Shirley) Temple | Last _ | Scared |
|---|
| Stabler | Ginger Ale | Ditch | Sacred |
| Moss | Cherry | Straw | Cedars |
| Branch | Grenadine | Supper | Cadres |
| Casper | Lime | Resort | E-cards |
| TWO | THREE (Musketeers + D'artangan) | ___ FIVE | SPINELESS |
|---|
| Brace | Dart | High | Patrick Star |
| Twin | Aram | Jackson | Lowly Worm |
| Pair | Port | Take | Spiral-bound notebook |
| Couple | Atho | Slaughterhouse | Turbo |
| (around) THE WORLD | JUDGEMENT | _ THE SUN | YELLOW |
|---|
| Daft Punk | Doom | Blister In | Taxi |
| Jules Verne | Verdict | Here Comes | Canary |
| Yo-yo | Sentence | Staring At | Banana |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | Finding | Brighter Than | Lemon |
The key insight is that three of the categories themselves in each wall form a sequence (this is the 'Round 2' column) and the extras form two 'Round 1' instances. These can be uniquely placed in the blanks.
| First in sequence | Second in sequence | Third in sequence | Fourth in sequence | Index | Set | Round 1 extra | Round 2 extraction |
|---|
| ACE | QUEEN | KING | JACK | 3 | Playing cards | BOOK | C |
| OPINION | SIZE | AGE | SHAPE | 2 | Adjective order | QUESTION | H |
| EYE | TOE | WOOL | TONGUE | 3 | Macbeth | SECRET | N |
| WASHINGTON | ADAMS | JEFFERSON | MADISON | 5 | Presidents | HOUSE | S |
| RAIDERS | TEMPLE | LAST | KINGDOM | 5 | Indiana Jones | SCARED | D |
| TWO | THREE | FIVE | SEVEN | 1 | Prime numbers | SPINELESS | S |
| THE WORLD | JUDGEMENT | THE SUN | THE MOON | 2 | Tarot | YELLOW | H |
| EYE OF HORUS | WATER | HORNED VIPER | TWISTED FLAX | 4 | Only Connect hieroglyphs | CRAVEN | S |
The 'Round 2' extraction is CHNSDSHS, which is a 'Round 4' missing vowels phrase.
The 'Round 1' sets are BOOK / QUESTION / SECRET / HOUSE (can be preceeded by 'Open') and SCARED / SPINELESS / YELLOW / CRAVEN (synonyms for each other).
The 'Round 2' answer can be re-vowelated to CHINESE DISHES, the category for the final answer.
The 'Round 1' ones, "can be preceeded by 'open' " + "synonym for scared" can be answered by SESAME CHICKEN
Credit
Credit goes to Terry Child for the Connecting Wall code.