Solution: The Music of Taylor Swift
Answer: BRUT IMPERIAL
Written by Kenny Young
First, use blocks (length 3 except for perhaps the last block) to assemble Taylor Swift lyrics:
- BABY, I’M JUST GONNA SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE
- BABY LET THE GAMES BEGIN LET THE GAMES BEGIN LET THE GAMES BEGIN
- BUT I’VE GOT A BLANK SPACE BABY AND I’LL WRITE YOUR NAME
- CAUSE BABY, NOW WE GOT BAD BLOOD
- SHE’S CHEER CAPTAIN AND I’M ON THE BLEACHERS
- YOU’LL BE THE PRINCE AND I’LL BE THE PRINCESS
Doing this leaves some blocks left over, whose combined lengths exactly match the remaining blanks:
AL | CO | EL | IC | IR | LY | OM | PR | SS | TI | UR | Y |
AL | CR | EN | IN | LY | NL | ON | QU | TE | TI | VE | Y |
CL | EA | ES | IP | LY | NS | OU | SL | TE | UN | WI | Y |
The fact that at least three of the remaining words end in Y, plus the pattern of the clues above, suggests that you need to complete “Taylor Swifty” puns based on the lyrics. Each set of blanks has a unique length, which allows the “Swifties” to be put in their proper places:
“CAUSE BABY, NOW WE GOT BAD BLOOD” [8], | Taylor sang | UNIRONICALLY. | [4] |
“YOU’LL BE THE PRINCE AND I’LL BE THE PRINCESS” [3], | Taylor sang | COURTEOUSLY. | [5] |
“BABY LET THE GAMES BEGIN LET THE GAMES BEGIN LET THE GAMES BEGIN” [19], | Taylor sang | WINSOMELY. | [6] |
“SHE’S CHEER CAPTAIN AND I’M ON THE BLEACHERS” [12], | Taylor sang | CLEANLY. | [3] |
“BUT I’VE GOT A BLANK SPACE BABY AND I’LL WRITE YOUR NAME” [32], | Taylor sang | PRESCRIPTIVELY. | [7] |
“BABY, I’M JUST GONNA SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE” [18], | Taylor sang | QUINTESSENTIALLY. | [14] |
The indexed letters (indexed into the lyric on the left, and into the adverb on the right), spell the answer BRUT IMPERIAL.