0
0
0
0
0
0
 0
 
By Todd McClary
Answer: SPARS

Each of the puzzle’s ten images features a famous Viking, some rap lyrics, and a map. The lyrics feature clues to identify:

  • The Viking (the enumeration is also provided)
  • A Viking River Cruise (www.vikingrivercruises.com; these are explicitly named in the lyrics)
  • Two locations that are stops on the named cruise (these are also marked on the map with the Viking Cruise Line ship logos)

The maps show the river routes of the cruises. The words START and FINISH are included to indicate the direction of the cruise, as some Viking River Cruises can start at either end of their route. The two locations clued in each set of lyrics are stops that occur on particular days of the cruise’s itinerary. Indexing the days into the name of the Viking produces two letters. The indexed letters spell the phrase BOAT POLES OR HAS A FIGHT. This clues the answer SPARS.

Viking Cruise First Stop Second Stop Letters
Ragnar Lothbrok (from the History Channel drama Vikings) Grand European Tour (Budapest to Amsterdam) Wertheim (day 11) Cologne (day 13) BO
Tarvold (from the fictional series Viking Quest featured on Entourage) Rhine Getaway Kinderdjik (day 2) Amsterdam (day 1) AT
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Pathways of the Pharaohs Edfu (day 6) Abu Simbel (day 8) PO
Hagar the Horrible European Sojourn (Bucharest to Amsterdam) Regensberg (day 15) Kalocsa (day 8) LE
Leif Erikson (note that enumeration disambiguates spelling variants) Castles & Legends Vienna (day 9) Bratislava (day 10) SO
Viktor the Viking Portugal’s River of Gold Barca d’Alva (day 6) Pinhao (day 8) RH
Ashildr (from Doctor Who) Cities of Light Paris (day 1) Paris (day 2) AS
Olaf Timandahaf Elegant Elbe Decin/Prague (day 8) Wittenberg (day 4) AF
Noggin the Nog France’s Finest Normandy (day 5) Vernon (day 3) IG
Erik the Viking Waterways of the Tsars Yaroslavl (day 6) Uglich (day 5) HT