Making Connections

by Mike Sylvia

ANSWER: COMMERCIAL AT / HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER


Scattered throughout the grid are members of various ordered sets. Each set has three discrete chunks represented, with chunks separated by a single missing member. Treating these as connect-the-dots puzzle leads to a trigram for each set. Each set's first chunk begins at a different positon within the set giving an order for the sets.

  • U.S. Presidential line of succession = MCQ
    • Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Robert Byrd, Hillary Clinton, Timothy Geithner = M
    • Eric Holder, Ken Salazar, Tom Vilsack = C
    • Hilda Solis, Kathleen Sebelius, Shaun Donovan, Ray LaHood, Steven Chu, Arne Duncan, Eric Shinseki = Q
  • Bubba's methods of shrimp preparation from Forrest Gump = OSR
    • boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it, shrimp-kabobs = O
    • shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried = S
    • lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew = R
  • MIT course numbers = GRZ
    • Materials Science and Engineering, Architecture, Chemistry, EECS, Biology = G
    • Brain and Cognitive Science, Chemical Engineers, Urban Studies and Planning, EAPS, Ocean Engineering = R
    • Management, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Political Science, Mathematics = Z
  • Red Dwarf episodes = SJJ
    • Waiting for God, Confidence and Paranoia, Me2, Kryten = S
    • Thanks for the Memory, Stasis Leak, Queeg, Parallel Universe = J
    • Marooned, Polymorph, Bodyswap, Timeslides = J
  • Geologic periods = QND
    • Calymmian, Ectasian, Stenian, Tonian, Cryogenian, Ediacaran, Cambrian = Q
    • Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian = N
    • Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene = D
  • Colors of Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat = BEG
    • black, ochre, peach, ruby, olive, violet = B
    • lilac, gold, chocolate, mauve, cream, crimson, silver = E
    • azure, lemon, russet, grey, purple = G
  • Major Arcana = KSC
    • The Chariot, Justice, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Strength, The Hanged Man = K
    • Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star = S
    • The Sun, Judgment, The World = C
  • Kentucky Derby winners = INI
    • Apollo, Leonatus = I
    • Joe Cotton, Ben Ali, Montrose, Macbeth II = N
    • Riley, Kingman = I
  • Women from 88 Lines about 44 Women = CRA
    • Zilla, Joan, Sherry = C
    • Seattle, Karen, Jeannie, Mariella, Gloria = R
    • Marilyn, Julie, Rhonda, Patty, Linda, Katherine, Pauline = A
  • EON James Bond films = SCV
    • The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy = S
    • The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye = C
    • The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale = V
  • ACME's Have You Tried? list = WAW
    • letters to numbers, protein sequences, call letters, cryptic crossword clue, song lyrics = W
    • diagonalizing, computer keyboard, pun, function graph, parametric graph, different base, numbers to letters = A
    • IP address, MIT buildings, MIT courses, dates, atomic weights or numbers = W
  • Choose Your Own Adventure books = LEJ
    • Inside UFO 54-40 = L
    • The Abominable Snowman, The Forbidden Castle, House of Danger, Survival at Sea, The Race Forever, Underground Kingdom, Secret of the Pyramids, Escape, Hyperspace, Space Patrol = E
    • Lost on the Amazon, Prisoner of the Ant People, The Phantom Submarine, The Horror of High Ridge = J
  • Pokemon = INN
    • Weedle, Kakuna = I
    • Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Rattata = N
    • Spearow, Fearow, Ekans, Arbok = N
  • Popes = AOI
    • Victor I, Zephyrinus, Callixtus I, Urban I, Pontian, Anterus, Fabian = A
    • Lucius I, Stephen I, Sixtus II, Dionysius, Felix I = O
    • Caius, Marcellinus = I
  • Patter segment of Weird Al's Hardware Store = BRI
    • fans, dehumidifiers, picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters = B
    • window louvers, masking tape, plastic gutters, kitchen faucets, folding tables = R
    • jumper cables, hooks = I
  • Chip's Challenge levels = SKG
    • Cellblocked, Nice Day, Castle Moat, Digger = S
    • Iceberg, Forced Entry, Blobnet, Oorto Geld, Blink, Chchchips = K
    • Ping Pong, Arcticflow, Mishmesh, Knot, Scavenger Hunt = G

These trigrams are all IATA airport codes. Treating them as a final connect-the-dots puzzle draws a giant @ across Europe. As per the instruction at the beginning, the answer is COMMERCIAL AT.

The supplementary information from 1903 reveals that in the alternate history, the Wright Brothers went on to start Wil & Orvy's, an ice cream company that themes its flavors after North American cities and stamps its cartons with three-letter flavor abbreviations. Reading the puzzle's trigrams as flavor abbreviations instead of airport codes and treating the corresponding cities as a final connect-the-dots puzzle draws a giant sixty-fourth note across North America. As per the instruction at the beginning, the answer is HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER.