Towers (solution)

by Scott Handelman

Solving the clues reveals 15 pairs of 5-letter anagrams. The left column provides the correct order, and the alphabetized right column needs to be reordered.

A bad joke teller might receive this
Move the tiniest iota
Like mosh pit dancers
Kwame’s superpower
Travels from World 1 to World 4
A Boolean value
Without potty language or innuendo
Gives two thumbs up, perhaps
Time-bending video game from 2008
Get up
Don’t agree to disagree
Makes a sweater
You might smear a shmear on one
Deserve (as a reward)
Turning point?
GROAN→ORGAN
BUDGE→DEBUG
ROWDY→WORDY
EARTH→HEART
WARPS→WRAPS
FALSE→FLEAS
CLEAN→LANCE
RATES→STARE
BRAID→RABID
ARISE→RAISE
ARGUE→AUGER
KNITS→STINK
BAGEL→GABLE
MERIT→REMIT
HINGE→NEIGH
A donation that can’t be returned
Get the code running
In need of an editor
Word with “break” or “attack”
Disguises a box’s contents
A dog’s worst enemies
Renaissance fair weapon
Give the evil eye
Fanatic
Negotiation bargaining chip
You might need it if you’re boring
Evidence of needing a diaper change
Actor who played a Butler
Don’t punish
It’s straight from the horse’s mouth?

The title image of the puzzle has strong resemblance to a Tower of Hanoi puzzle (which is also clued by the title of the puzzle itself). Solvers should notice that in the image, letters are stacked in alphabetical order, and as soon as that becomes impossible, they begin again on the next stack.

Every solution word in the puzzle can be written in a similar way (for example, GROAN can be written as GR/O/AN and ORGAN can be written as OR/G/AN). There is never any ambiguity; every word fits in one way and uses all three pegs.

Using the Tower of Hanoi rules, solvers must figure out the fewest number of steps to move letters until the first word becomes the second. The number of moves is always between 1 and 26, which should lead solvers to an alphanumeric substitution.

GROAN→ORGAN =
BUDGE→DEBUG =
ROWDY→WORDY =
EARTH→HEART =
WARPS→WRAPS =
FALSE→FLEAS =
CLEAN→LANCE =
RATES→STARE =
BRAID→RABID =
ARISE→RAISE =
ARGUE→AUGER =
KNITS→STINK =
BAGEL→GABLE =
MERIT→REMIT =
HINGE→NEIGH =
7 =
21 =
12 =
26 =
1 =
18 =
15 =
19 =
3 =
1 =
18 =
19 =
15 =
14 =
7 =
G
U
L
Z
A
R
O
S
C
A
R
S
O
N
G

The final clue reads GULZAR OSCAR SONG. Gulzar is the pen name of the lyricist of the 2008 Academy Award winning “Jai Ho” (Slumdog Millionaire). Therefore JAI HO is the solution (and is also a five-letter string that fits the Tower of Hanoi rule).