by Justin Werfel
Answer: LOCH NESS MONSTER
Problem: Christmas Town/​Halloween Town

Teams were given a set of jigsaw puzzle pieces. These pieces can be assembled into fifteen separate images.

Each is part of a still from an episode of Sesame Street’s “Monsterpiece Theater.”

The images can be ordered by the number of unmatched pegs left sticking out around their edges.

Indexing into the titles of the original works by the number of pieces in the associated puzzle gives the answer LOCH NESS MONSTER.

Assembled imageUnmatched pegsMonsterpiece Theater titleOriginal TitlePiecesLetter
1Monsters with Dirty FacesAngels with Dirty Faces5L
2Inside/Outside StoryWest Side Story11O
3Cyranose de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac16C
4Little Red Riding CookieLittle Red Riding Hood16H
5ABCD BlueNYPD Blue1N
639 StairsThe 39 Steps8E
7Conservations with My FatherConversations with My Father7S
8Me, ClaudiusI, Claudius9S
9Monsters of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice4M
10Waiting for ElmoWaiting for Godot12O
11Anyone’s NoseAnything Goes7N
12The Old Man and the CThe Old Man and the Sea16S
13Little House on PrairieLittle House on the Prairie14T
14Chariots of FurChariots of Fire14E
15The Taming of the ShoeThe Taming of the Shrew17R