M Puzzle: Set Match

by Francis Heaney and Lance Nathan

Each set of lines contains two clues with their letters scrambled vertically and rotated horizontally. Those clues indicate two members of a set (as clued by "one bourbon, one scotch [and one beer]" and "paper, scissors [and rock]").

The clues are ordered by rotation: the ones that start in the first column come first, the ones that start in the second column come second, and so forth. Additionally, one pair of columns has been switched in each clue; taking the letters found in those positions in the third member of the set for each pair of clues gives a final clue pair.

In the order in which they appear, the answers are...

8
SPIRALBOUNDMADONNABOOKWITHMETALCOVER
TALKINGHEADSSONGDONEBYTHISMORTALCOIL
Sex, Drugs
Rock and Roll (3, 8)
CR

6
RUDESTWORDPERDOUGLASADAMS
LASTSONGONTHEALBUMNOREINS
Belgium, The Netherlands
Luxembourg (6, 9)
BR

13
ENGLISHTITLEOFBOLIZHICHENG
IBSENPLAYWITHENGSTRANDINIT
City of Glass, Ghosts
The Locked Door (5, 10)
OD

15
LEONIOFTHERESNOFISHFOODINHEAVEN
WINDOWSOSTHATSOUNDSLIKEATVAWARD
Tea, ME
Coffee (1, 4)
CF

23
CEREALMIKEYLIKEDINCOMMERCIALS
ROCKBANDWITHLEADSINGERMOEBERG
Life, The Pursuit of Happiness
Liberty (6, 7)
TY

4
BLADEINTRAININGISONEEPISODEOFIT
YAWRITERCYNTHIAVOIGTSDEBUTNOVEL
The Hunted, Homecoming
The Haunted (3, 7)
EN

18
FONEBONEHASABIGCRUSHONHER
MERSEYSSONGCOVEREDBYBOWIE
Thorn, Sorrow
Memory (2, 3)
EM

21
SONGAFTEROCEANONDEADCANDANCESDEBUT
INDANDDITMAYBEHILLSTONEFIREORSTORM
East of Eden, Giant
Rebel Without a Cause (3, 13)
BA

10
SEVENTIESREMAKEOFLESALAIREDELAPEUR
GOLDCHAINCARRIEDBYBRUSTSVLADTALTOS
Sorcerer, Spellbreaker
Enchanter (1, 4)
EH

14
WHATTODOTOMORROWINAJONAMIELFILM
FANZINECREATEDBYALLANMCNAUGHTON
Tune in, Drop out
Turn on (5, 6)
ON

17
COLLEGEWHOSERADIOCALLLETTERSAREWERS
LASTNAMEOFSTARLYNNBRACKENLOOKEDLIKE
Emerson, Lake
Palmer (3, 4)
LM

5
GROUPINLOVEINAJACKSONBROWNESINGLE
RELEASEFROMEITHERPINKFLOYDORKMFDM
Lawyers, Money
Guns (3, 4)
NS

9
MAGAZINEBYTHEUSUALGANGOFIDIOTS
KINDOFSEEDSWHOBACKEDUPNICKCAVE
Mad, Bad
Dangerous to know (9, 12)
SK

16
PETEWHOPINNEDCRASHHOLLYINANAIRPORT
NUMBERONERANDBASHFORDANDSIMPSONHIT
Gas, Solid
Liquid (2, 4)
IU

19
GAMEWITHMASTERBOARDANDBATTLELANDS
TITLEGIVENTOAMALEGRADFROMHOGWARTS
Titan, Wizard
Demon (1, 5)
DN

7
WHOCHARISMAWASONBUFFYANDANGEL
REAGANSFIRSTTREASURYSECRETARY
Cordelia, Regan
Goneril (2, 6)
OI

1
RECORDBETWEENBETENOIREANDMAMOUNA
WHATGANDLSTANDSFORINGANDLGUITARS
Taxi, George and Leo
Dear John (1, 5)
DJ

20
KRUSTYSGOTASUPERONEINANINTENDOGAME
EPISODEOFHULKCARTOONFEATURINGZZZAX
Fun House, Raw Power
The Stooges (1, 9)
TE

12
SONGAFTERBITTERSUITEBYMARS
EMILIOESTEVEZTOMARTINSHEEN
Father, Son
Holy Ghost (4, 8)
YS

11
BEAGLEOWNEDBYCAPTAINARCHER
MANUFACTUREROFDEVINCOLOGNE
Porthos, Aramis
Athos (1, 2)
AT

22
TRACKFIVEONHEALINGBYRUNDGREN
SINGERCOURTNEYWHOFOUNDEDHOLE
Compassion, Love
Valour (5, 6)
UR

3
ONEWORDTITLEFROMMANOFMIRACLESBYSTYX
WHATEIGHTEENFOURSIXTYFIVEISTOPICSIN
Lies, Statistics
Damned Lies (2, 3)
AM

2
WHATPRECEDESTAILORSOLDIERSPY
THEGHOSTSOFMISSISSIPPIVICTIM
Tinker, Evers
Chance (3, 6)
AE

The indicated letters, arranged in order, give...

DAAENBOCSEAYOOCILEDTBUT
JEMNSRIRKHTSDNFUMMNEARY

...which unscrambles to...

DEANNBORSHAYDOCUMENTARY
JAMESRICKETSONFILMDEBUT

The answers to those clues are:

First Person Plural
Third Person Plural

Thus the final answer is:

SECOND PERSON PLURAL

Archivist's note: This puzzle had also had a trained answer, as described in the training page. The flavor text mentions "in the box", so we apply the answer from Jack, SWITCH THE ANSWERS, to get the new answer JAYHAWKS.