Holding Pattern

 

 

The small 4x4 puzzle grid on the top of the clue sheet is a KenKen puzzle. Even with only the results of the operations given as the clues, the puzzle has a unique solution in which all of the clue numbers can be arrived at by applying an operation to the two digits in each rectangle.

Using the sentence clues given, there is a single way to arrange the sixteen four-letter words in a four-by-four grid formation so that all of the sentence clues are true.

If each digit in the KenKen solution is used to index into the word in the same position in the word grid, the message ALL CLUES ARE FALSE is spelled out

Using the sentence clues given, there is a single way to arrange the sixteen four-letter words in a four-by-four grid formation so that all of the sentence clues are false.

At this point, the puzzle re-solving is not actually complete, as the KenKen also contains clues. (If each digit in the original KenKen solution is used to index into the word in the same position in the re-solved word grid, the message AND ON TOP is spelled out in the first eight letters, and the remaining eight letters don't spell anything.)

For the Kenken, there are number of way to re-solve so that all of the clues can be false, but only one way to re-solve it so that all of the clues must be false - that is, so that none of them can be true.

If each digit in the all-clues-false KenKen solution is used to index into the word in the same position in the all-clues-false word grid, the message ANSWER REDEPLOYED is spelled out.