Now I Know My ABCs (solution)
by Kai Huang and Jennifer Louie with assistance from Edward Huang and Melissa Shi
The title hints at the alphabet song, which provides a mapping from letters to notes: A↔Do, B↔Do, C↔Sol, D↔Sol, E↔La, F↔La, G↔Sol, H↔Fa, I↔Fa, J↔Mi, K↔Mi, etc.
The way each clue works is as follows. The word clue portion usually contains two separate clues for two words, with a “+” symbol to denote concatenation of the two answers. When the word clue(s) are solved correctly, the total number of letters in the concatenated answers exactly fits the number of notes in the associated image. The circle in each musical note is to be filled in with a letter. (Note that the musical notes requiring filled-in black circles have been shaded light gray instead, so that it’s clear you can still write a letter inside those circles.) Furthermore, the correct letters, when played/hummed using the alphabet song’s letter-to-note mapping and using the given note/rest lengths, produce a possibly-transposed version of a recognizable tune. Finally, the number in parentheses in large font at the end of each clue is an index into the name of the tune for extracting a letter.
Here are the correct answers for the clues:
Clue(s) | Answer(s) | Tune | Tune name | Index | Letter |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stick out + Al Bundy’s son | JUT + BUD | Mi Mi Mi Do Mi Sol | Super Mario Bros. | 1 | S |
Endure | ABIDE | Do Do Fa Sol La | Home on the Range | 6 | N |
A stooge + Group -C2H5 | MOE + ETHYL | Re Re La La Mi Fa Mi Re | Scarborough Fair | 3 | A |
Yugoslav president + Branded icon | TITO + LOGO | Mi Fa Mi Re Re Re Sol Re | Think of Me | 5 | K |
Pimple + What’s holding up your head | ZIT + NECK | Re Fa Mi Re La Sol Mi | Harry Potter (or Hedwig’s Theme) | 10 | E |
Butt + Mustard type | ASS + DIJON | Do Fa Fa Sol Fa Mi Re Re | We Wish You a Merry Christmas | 5 | S |
Cardboard container + Buzz | BOX + HUM | Do Re Fa Fa Mi Re | She Loves You | 5 | O |
Redden + Teapot opening | BLUSH + SPOUT | Do Re Mi Fa Fa Fa Do Re Mi Mi | This Land is Your Land | 13 | U |
Polish currency + Dismay | ZLOTY + APPALL | Re Re Re Mi Mi Do Do Do Do Re Re | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego | 7 | N |
Spinning toy + Mongrel | TOP + MUTT | Mi Re Do Re Mi Mi Mi | Mary Had a Little Lamb | 7 | D |
Forbid + Deep hole | BAN + PIT | Do Do Re Do Fa Mi | Happy Birthday to You | 3 | P |
Trousers + Hawaiian dance | PANTS + HULA | Do Do Re Mi Fa Fa Mi Re Do | Lean On Me | 1 | L |
Gal’s fella + Lion’s home | GUY + DEN | Sol Mi Mi Sol La Re | Hey Jude | 5 | U |
Professionals’ charges | FEES | La La La Fa | Symphony No. 5 | 1 | S |
Adult film rating + Oxygen deficiency | XXX + HYPOXIA | Fa Fa Fa Fa Mi Do Re Fa Fa Do | Puff, the Magic Dragon | 10 | G |
Boat + Organized criminal group | SHIP + MOB | Fa Fa Fa Do Re Re Do | Old MacDonald Had a Farm | 19 | R |
Hack + Nearest star | PRANK + SUN | Do Sol Do Re Mi Fa Mi Re | Can’t Help Falling in Love | 19 | O |
Flying mammal + Shirt type | BAT + POLO | Do Do Mi Do Re Re Re | It’s a Small World | 10 | W |
Containing no water + Covered in frozen water | DRY + ICY | Sol Sol Mi Fa Sol Mi | Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead | 12 | W |
Version control system + Island near Sicily | GIT + MALTA | Sol Fa Mi Re Do Re Mi Do | Deck the Halls | 2 | E |
Russian arcade game | TETRIS | Mi La Mi Sol Fa Fa | The Phantom of the Opera | 6 | A |
Creepy + A Great Lake | EERIE + ERIE | La La Sol Fa La La Sol Fa La | Oh, Pretty Woman | 4 | R |
Followers of Shaka + Prepare | ZULUS + PLAN | Re Mi Re Mi Fa Do Re Do Re | Climb Ev’ry Mountain | 9 | Y |
The extracted final clue is SNAKE SOUND PLUS GROW WEARY, which you must solve in the same way as the initial clues, except without the help of given note/rest lengths. The correct solution in this case is HISS + TIRE. It produces the tune “Fa Fa Fa Fa Mi Fa Sol La” from the song I DREAMED A DREAM, which is the answer to this puzzle.