Grizzly Ale

Erin Rhode

SOLUTION:

This puzzle centers around word morphs (changing one letter at a time to get a different word), as clued by the title (beAr> ⇒ beEr) and the flavortext ("morph a novel into a chess piece" == Book ⇒ Rook). Each clue leads to a four letter word, and each set of five clues can be reordered to form a string of word morphs, as follows. Taking the letter that changes from the first four words spells another four letter word. (The reverse order of words is a legitimate morph, but does not spell a word.)

liVe -- Not taped
lIne -- Fishing or clothes
loNe -- Singelton
losE -- What dieters want to do
lost -- Like Atlantis
VINE

tiLe -- It may be found in a ceiling or floor
tIre -- Wear out the thread
taRe -- Subtract to find net weight
tApe -- Found at the end of a race
type -- Classification
LIRA

waVe -- Stadium Cheer
wAne -- As the moon winds down
wiNe -- White ⇒ fish, Red ⇒ Meat
wilE -- Favorite Female Charm
wild -- Jack London's favorite sports team? (Minnesota Wild)
VANE

rinD -- Peel
rIng -- One to bind them all
Rang -- Pealed
sAng -- Was in choir
song -- Birds have one
DIRA

siDe -- Hypoteneuse eg
sIne -- Trigonometric ratio
saNe -- Of sound mind
salE -- It might be final
salt -- Old sailor
DINE

paiD -- Remitted fee
paIn -- Comes with gain
pawN -- Front of the King
pAws -- Hands and Feet
pews -- Seating for the masses
DINA

Lead -- Home of the HomeStake
meAd -- Elixir of the Gods
meNd -- Repair a neighbor's fence
mEld -- Pinochle score
mold -- Unwanted wall hanging
LANE

List -- Lean to the side
mIst -- San Francisco morning dew maker
maSt -- Crow's nest support
mAlt -- Dried barley
melt -- Winter into Spring
LISA

ripE -- Ready for market
rIps -- Gathers music for storage
Raps -- What Eminem does
tAps -- Bugle lullabye
tops -- Stubbs and Fakir
EIRA

Taking these four words, one can make another string of morphs. Taking the letter changed out of the first eight words gives the answer.

Lane
vAne
Vine
dinE
diNa
Dira
Eira
liRa
lisa

Answer: LAVENDER