A FEW GOOD ACTORS

by Evan Davis, Jonathan Sheffi, and Ken Stern

Solution: ACT ONE

The puzzle's title indicates both the importance of Aaron Sorkin's shows (by echoing A Few Good Men, also written by Sorkin), and the actors on those shows. The blurbs in the puzzle are all nonexistent plot developments using characters from one of Aaron Sorkin's three TV shows: Sports Night, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The last character mentioned in each one is played by the same actor as is the first character mentioned in another.

Though the blurbs are presented in alphabetical order, the correct ordering is such that the actor who plays the last character in one also plays the first character named in the next. The linking actors form a complete chain, starting with the first blurb ("At the premiere…."). The ninth blurb ("Joe Quincy's tenure…") connects the chain back to the beginning (and as such contains only two character names, whereas each of the others includes three or more).

Once they are ordered correctly, use each number at the bottom to take the nth letter of the last name of the actor who played the first character mentioned in each blurb (as clued by the "list of last names" in the last description). The appropriate letters spell out ANSWER IS ACT ONE.