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By Dan Katz
Answer: PACKED ICE

Each of the phrases below the grid has been encrypted using a Caesar shift cipher; when decrypted, each is a phrase that clues a word beginning with OVER or UNDER. (The puzzle’s title is a homophone for “O/U,” an abbreviation for an “over/under” sports bet.) For each phrase, if the shift that decrypts the phrase is also applied to the grid above the list of phrases, the part of the clued word after OVER/UNDER can be found in the transformed grid word-search style. It is then natural to extract the letters that appear immediately OVER or UNDER that word (reading in the same direction as the hidden word). In the grids below, the hidden word is highlighted in red, and the extracted letters are highlighted in blue.

The lengths of the shifts are all different, forming a complete set of numbers from one to ten. Ordering the extracted letters from each shifted grid by the length of shift gives the string DIDNO/TBRI/NGSU/FFICI/ENTL/UGGAG/ESERV/EDONT/HERO/CKS. DID NOT BRING SUFFICIENT LUGGAGE clues the word UNDERPACKED, and SERVED ON THE ROCKS clues the phrase OVER ICE. The answer to this puzzle is PACKED ICE. (Packed ice is a type of block in the game Minecraft. There was thus a reference to the word “block” in an early draft of the puzzle, but zero testers picked up on the reference.)


  QVGJWZPHKTH
  NSCGGDBLMCA
  SDHNCBIWYUD
  EMIQNGODNMQ
  CVYOAVOANUY
  XSQELSFBROQ
  MCKGRERZHDK
  YTDWMXTJFXO
  SONGVBCSZCQ
  UMHPJAHANIC
  LWZNKHRJMGY
  XZOIYZPBBVB

  BGHO CTMGZL BNLHB RSQHO ZANTS OHQZSDR
  CHIP DUNHAM COMIC STRIP ABOUT PIRATES = OVERBOARD
  

  RWHKXAQILUI
  OTDHHECMNDB
  TEIODCJXZVE
  FNJROHPEONR
  DWZPBWPBOVZ
  YTRFMTGCSPR
  NDLHSFSAIEL
  ZUEXNYUKGYP
  TPOHWCDTADR
  VNIQKBIBOJD
  MXAOLISKNHZ
  YAPJZAQCCWC

  NPCQGBCLR NJYWCB ZW QNYACW ML LCRDJGV
  PRESIDENT PLAYED BY SPACEY ON NETFLIX = UNDERWOOD
  

  SXILYBRJMVJ
  PUEIIFDNOEC
  UFJPEDKYAWF
  GOKSPIQFPOS
  EXAQCXQCPWA
  ZUSGNUHDTQS
  OEMITGTBJFM
  AVFYOZVLHZQ
  UQPIXDEUBES
  WOJRLCJCPKE
  NYBPMJTLOIA
  ZBQKABRDDXD

  MBOFLA MIXVBA QL OBPLISB QFBP FK YXPHBQYXII
  PERIOD PLAYED TO RESOLVE TIES IN BASKETBALL = OVERTIME
  

  TYJMZCSKNWK
  QVFJJGEOPFD
  VGKQFELZBXG
  HPLTQJRGQPT
  FYBRDYRDQXB
  AVTHOVIEURT
  PFNJUHUCKGN
  BWGZPAWMIAR
  VRQJYEFVCFT
  XPKSMDKDQLF
  OZCQNKUMPJB
  ACRLBCSEEYE

  SNAOPHAN SDKOA OPNAWG SWO XNKGAJ XU XNKYG HAOJWN
  WRESTLER WHOSE STREAK WAS BROKEN BY BROCK LESNAR = UNDERTAKER
  

  UZKNADTLOXL
  RWGKKHFPQGE
  WHLRGFMACYH
  IQMURKSHRQU
  GZCSEZSERYC
  BWUIPWJFVSU
  QGOKVIVDLHO
  CXHAQBXNJBS
  WSRKZFGWDGU
  YQLTNELERMG
  PADROLVNQKC
  BDSMCDTFFZF

  OMVINAJMHZM VGNJ FIJRI VN BDBVOMJI
  TRANSFORMER ALSO KNOWN AS GIGATRON = OVERLORD
  

  VALOBEUMPYM
  SXHLLIGQRHF
  XIMSHGNBDZI
  JRNVSLTISRV
  HADTFATFSZD
  CXVJQXKGWTV
  RHPLWJWEMIP
  DYIBRCYOKCT
  XTSLAGHXEHV
  ZRMUOFMFSNH
  QBESPMWORLD
  CETNDEUGGAG

  ZCFG MYLCYM UVION FSWUHM UHX PUGJCLYM
  FILM SERIES ABOUT LYCANS AND VAMPIRES = UNDERWORLD
  

  WBMPCFVNQZN
  TYIMMJHRSIG
  YJNTIHOCEAJ
  KSOWTMUJTSW
  IBEUGBUGTAE
  DYWKRYLHXUW
  SIQMXKXFNJQ
  EZJCSDZPLDU
  YUTMBHIYFIW
  ASNVPGNGTOI
  RCFTQNXPSME
  DFUOEFVHHBH

  OBWXH ZTFX YXTMNKBGZ LHFUKT TGW CNGDKTM
  VIDEO GAME FEATURING SOMBRA AND JUNKRAT = OVERWATCH
  

  XCNQDGWORAO
  UZJNNKISTJH
  ZKOUJIPDFBK
  LTPXUNVKUTX
  JCFVHCVHUBF
  EZXLSZMIYVX
  TJRNYLYGOKR
  FAKDTEAQMEV
  ZVUNCIJZGJX
  BTOWQHOHUPJ
  SDGUROYQTNF
  EGVPFGWIICI

  JWHDSUWEWFL OZWF SF SULGJ USFFGL HWJXGJE
  REPLACEMENT WHEN AN ACTOR CANNOT PERFORM = UNDERSTUDY
  

  YDOREHXPSBP
  VAKOOLJTUKI
  ALPVKJQEGCL
  MUQYVOWLVUY
  KDGWIDWIVCG
  FAYMTANJZWY
  UKSOZMZHPLS
  GBLEUFBRNFW
  AWVODJKAHKY
  CUPXRIPIVQK
  TEHVSPZRUOG
  FHWQGHXJJDJ

  YFKVC NYVIV ARTB KFIIRETV NRJ TRIVKRBVI
  HOTEL WHERE JACK TORRANCE WAS CARETAKER = OVERLOOK
  

  ZEPSFIYQTCQ
  WBLPPMKUVLJ
  BMQWLKRFHDM
  NVRZWPXMWVZ
  LEHXJEXJWDH
  GBZNUBOKAXZ
  VLTPANAIQMT
  HCMFVGCSOGX
  BXWPEKLBILZ
  DVQYSJQJWRL
  UFIWTQASVPH
  GIXRHIYKKEK

  DEJ OUJ HUQTO JE BUWQBBO RKO QBSEXEB
  NOT YET READY TO LEGALLY BUY ALCOHOL = UNDERAGE