M Puzzle: Dictionary

by Bridget Copley and Lance Nathan

Adding a tetragram to each word turns it into a phrase for which the given definition is actually a useful definition. They are:

What a definition can do bE A GLoss EAGL
What the Fonz does in his garden hoE COOlly ECOO
Show enthusiasm for Toledo and its surroundings cheer NE OHio NEOH
What a Katmandu fan might shout gO NEPal ONEP
Pulling a nickel from behind someone's ear, e.g. cOIN Trick OINT
Ranting about a stereo system hiFI VEnting FIVE
One who harvests Pekingese doG REAper GREA
What they did to fill the role of Columbo casT FALk TFAL
Rings up Laura Petrie, briefly calLS MTm LSMT
"The suit turned out to be polyester, not wool," say? moTH IRony THIR
Where your strong point runs out forTE ENd TEEN
Give new hope to McCartney and his band hearTEN Wings TENW
The fleet from Peru limA SHIps ASHI
The Big Book of Glue pastiNG TOme NGTO
German IT executive boNN CTo NNCT
Scripture for a Jewish standing stone menHIR Torah HIRT
An attempt to lurch carEEN Try EENT
Moishe Kaplan coming in jeW ENTering WENT
Heir to a cooking oil fortune? boY WESson YWES
Feature of five octopi forTY ARms TYAR
Field trip to see crops farM OUTing MOUT
What a plate sleeps on disH MATtress HMAT
"Kareem, meet the King" leW, ELVis WELV
Where a marathon branches racE FORk EFOR
The sphere you must attend to duTY ORb TYOR
Poach a great cat? boIL LIon ILLI
Mother of a Canadian province mA ONTario AONT
The Koran, sent via computer? suFI FTp FIFT
Bed for actor Martin shEEN Sack EENS
Annoy an anti-slavery insurrection leader peEVE Nat EVEN
"No, really, it was a fun evening...really." parTY LIe TYLI
Root vegetable on the network tV ONIon VONI
What O.J. wanted to do to the judge whAM ITo AMIT
Evening for a real estate charge liEN NIght ENNI
Walking stick, candy, or sugar caNE TYpe NETY
Boston suburb in the rain weT ALLston TALL
Result of a hurried Kazan film eliA HASte AHAS
Promiscuous newt looSE EFt SEEF
Standing in the doorway haLF OUt LFOU
Like an electric mermaid paRT EEl RTEE
I hate this flute! damN FIFe NFIF
A final Middle English letter lasT YOGh TYOG
Hint to finding minerals loDE NUdge DENU
Where to find twos pasT ONEs TONE
"Someone's at the door, dear" response whO HONey OHON
January time for seizing unpaid-for cars rEPO Iap EPOI
Get rid of Nolte puNT NIck NTNI
Increase the financial penalty fiNE MOre NEMO
Aspiration's stand-in for dangerous words stUNT Aitch UNTA
Blushing (only prettier) goING Rose INGR
Better than Calliope abOVE Muse OVEM
Drop your pants at Ireland mOON Eire OONE
Those like Winnie poOHS Ilk OHSI
Eisenhower, fielding for Montreal eXPO Ike XPOI
Resist gelling doNT FIrm NTFI
Active exhaust point liVE VEnt VEVE
Redwine's lawn deaN TURf NTUR
Place for coffee and polka music tubA CAFe ACAF
What to do when your trolley gets dirty scOUR Tram OURT
What they celebrate St. Patrick's day with in San Francisco grEEN Fog EENF
What they'll do if New Haven ends up underwater shIFT Yale IFTY

The tetragrams spell out:

EAGLE, CO: ONE OH ONE POINT FIVE
GREAT FALLS, MT: THIRTEEN TEN
WASHINGTON, NC: THIRTEEN TWENTY
WEST YARMOUTH, MA: TWELVE FORTY
ORILLIA, ONT: FIFTEEN SEVENTY
LIVONIA, MI: TEN NINETY
TALLAHASSEE, FL: FOURTEEN FIFTY
OGDEN, UT: ONE OH ONE POINT NINE
MOUNTAIN GROVE, MO: ONE OH SIX POINT FIVE
VENTURA, CA: FOURTEEN FIFTY

These stations are, in order, KTUN, KEIN, WTOW, WBUR, CFOR, WCAR, WTAL, KKAT, KELE, KVEN. Skipping the first letters, these spell out "Tune in to WBUR for Car Talk at eleven."

Unfortunately, we were somewhat limited in what we could convince the Car Talk producers to let Click and Clack say. They did, however, refer to their "three-quarter-length hooded, car talk zippered sweatshirts," so the word referred to in the flavortext is "hooded." And, as the flavortext suggests, the past tense must be changed to third-person singular present. The answer is HOODS.

Training:

The reference to the boss's idiosyncratic speech at the end of the flavortext suggests that "Dialects" is the training needed. Hoods' 1999 album was ALONE, which is the answer.