Peak Adventure
by Mark Gottlieb (based on a metapuzzle concept by Wei-Hwa Huang)
Answer: PLYMOUTH ROCK
Mount Everest
Each line contains, in some order, two clues for 4-letter words and one clue for a 7-letter word, such that the 4-letter words can overlap one letter to spell the 7-letter word (as EVER + REST = EVEREST).
ARCH + HIVE = ARCHIVE
LEXI + ICON = LEXICON
PLUM + MAGE = PLUMAGE
IDEA + ALLY = IDEALLY
EPIC + CURE = EPICURE
WITH + HERS = WITHERS
CHIA + ANTI = CHIANTI
BULL + LION = BULLION
LAMP + PREY = LAMPREY
CHAR + RIOT = CHARIOT
VISA + AVIS = VIS A VIS
STUD + DENT = STUDENT
HONE + EYED = HONEYED
LEIS + SURE = LEISURE
INCH + HECK = IN CHECK
The overlapping letters spell HIMACHAL PRADESH.
Mount Fuji
This is a cryptolist of types of apples (as Fuji is). They are:
- Cortland
- Gala
- Pink Lady
- McIntosh
- Rome
- Braeburn
- Empire
- Red Delicious
- Winesap
- Cameo
- Jazz
- Granny Smith
- Honeycrisp
- Jonathan
The underlined letters spell CANCER RESEARCH.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
The grid contains a number of gemstones formed by connecting letters orthogonally, but not intersecting. They are: ONYX, TOPAZ, GARNET, JASPER, ZIRCON, EMERALD, PERIDOT, AMETHYST, SAPPHIRE, TURQUOISE, AQUAMARINE, CHALCEDONY, LAPIS LAZULI, and TOURMALINE. The leftover letters spell DIAMOND JUBILEE.
Janga
Each picture is a close-up of a board game. The answers to the clues are letter changes of those games (like JENGA/JANGA). In order of the pictures, they are:
CRANIUM/URANIUM
SORRY!/NORRY
CONCEPT/CONCERT
RISK/RISE
GO/GC
CLUE/CLOE
DIXIT/DIGIT
CHESS/CHENS
SCRABBLE/SCRIBBLE
QUARTO/QUARTZ
BANG/BANE
TIKAL/TIDAL
Taking the changed letters from the clue answers spells UNRECOGNIZED.
Pike's Peak
Each line clues an explorer and a consonantcy of that explorer’s name (ignoring the ’S, if there is one) a la Pike’s Peak.
Marco’s lustrous gemstone – POLO’S OPAL
Henry goes through the entrance – HUDSON HEADS IN
Francis’s dagger – DRAKE’S DIRK
Vasco’s set of principles that cannot be questioned – DA GAMA’S DOGMA
Richard’s out of the country – BYRD’S ABROAD
Hernán’s formal greeting from a woman – CORTÉS’S CURTSY
Christopher scales a mountain – COLUMBUS CLIMBS
Leif keeps partying – ERICKSON ROCKS ON
Hernando’s heading of 90 degrees – DE SOTO’S DUE EAST
Meriwether’s acceptable margins of tolerance – LEWIS’S LEEWAYS
Sebastian’s vehicle for crossing a frozen lake – CABOT’S ICEBOAT
The indexed letters into the second parts spells OHIO BUCKEYE.
Mount Kilimanjaro
Like Kilimanjaro, which contains LIMA, each sentence contains a hidden world capital.
A lightning sCAR, A CASual vacancy, and a calling cuckoo – what will Rowling dream up next?
Apply a cold ice pack and you’re sure to reduce the sWELLING TO Nothing in no time flat.
That airplane engine is manufactured witH A VANAdium-aluminum-titanium alloy.
Shakespearean scholars insist there are no brotHELS IN KIng Lear, but I think we know better.
God asked aDAM, AS CUStodian of the garden, to clean up Eve’s apple cores.
Johns HopKINS HAS Almost caught up to MIT in the most recent college rankings.
Every elementary school classroom should have an alphabet and a numBER LINe.
Now that the dandelions have strangled out the last roseBUD, A PESTicide is an appropriate response.
When you have a nice visit to a park or monument, be sure to thANK A RAnger.
Learning mATH ENSures that you’ll always be able to leave an appropriate tip.
I gave the shaMAN A GUArantee that I’d recite a mantra until rain fell on the forest.
While directing It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank CaPRA GUEssed that it would become a Christmas classic.
Taking the indexed letters spells CENSUS BUREAU.
K2
Each sentence, in which only the first two letters of each word is given, is a catchphrase from a game show or reality show.
We surveyed one hundred people; top five answers are on the board (Family Feud)
Please pack your knives and go (Top Chef)
The tribe has spoken (Survivor)
Will you accept this rose? (The Bachelor/ette)
I’d like to solve the puzzle (Wheel of Fortune)
You are the weakest link. Goodbye! (The Weakest Link)
In fashion, one day you’re in and the next day you’re out (Project Runway)
Come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Price Is Right! (The Price is Right)
Is that your final answer? (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire)
Big bucks, big bucks, no whammies, stop! (Press Your Luck)
On your mark, get set, bake! (The Great British Bake Off)
The last team to arrive… may be eliminated (The Amazing Race)
It’s time for the big deal of the day! (Let’s Make a Deal)
Circle gets the square (Hollywood Squares)
The indexed letters into the names of the shows spells DOUBLE JEOPARDY.
Malika Parbat
The answer to each clue is an anagram of one of the provided letter sets, plus four instances of the same letter.
Burble, for example – AAEIMNPT + OOOO = ONOMATOPOEIA
Furry guide – DGGINOSY + EEEE = SEEING EYE DOG
Get drunk – BEEHHILO + TTTT = HIT THE BOTTLE
Hollywood, generally speaking – BEHINOUW + SSSS = SHOW BUSINESS
Line on the globe – AEIILRRT + CCCC = ARCTIC CIRCLE
Spies may write messages in this – BEKLNNSV + IIII = INVISIBLE INK
Swanky way to live – EGGIOONT + HHHH = HIGH ON THE HOG
Try – CCEKKRTT + AAAA = TAKE A CRACK AT
Taking the added letters, adding four instances of the same letter (in this case, F), and forming a phrase that fits in the blanks yields CHIEF OF STAFF
Mount Baldy
This list is David Letterman’s top ten expressions that sound dirty but really aren’t. In the order given by the puzzle:
2. Shaking hands with Abraham Lincoln
5. Sending out for sushi
6. Tethering the blimp
3. Quarter Pounder at the Golden Arches
10. Frosting the pastry
4. Picnic on the grass
9. Shooting hoops
8. Jumping the turnstile
7. Checking your oil
1. Windsurfing on Mount Baldy
The indicated letters spell ASTRONOMER.
Mount Kosciuszko
The pictures are all Australian slang. (Mount Kosciuszko is the highest point in Australia.) They fit into the story in the following order:
Bush (Outback)
Garbo (garbageman)
Boomer (large male kangaroo)
Billy (teapot)
Matilda (swag; pack of personal belongings)
Barbie (barbecue)
Roadie (a beer to go)
Big Smoke (large city)
Ripper (awesome)
Conch (conscientious person; someone who’d rather work than party)
Cactus (dead, as a machine)
Wobbly (fight)
Digger (soldier)
Ankle biter (child)
Bludger (layabout)
The indexed letters spell BOMBARDMENT WING.
Mount Olympus
Each box must be filled with the Olympic sport logo from the olympic.org/sports page, flipped or rotated as necessary to match the name of the sport. Each logo’s legs can then be interpreted as a semaphore letter to spell GO FLY A KITE.
Pichu Pichu
Each row of Pokemon is a lipogram: It contains each letter of the alphabet but one. Gotta catch ‘em all indeed. The missing letters spell MAJORITY.
The Chilling Conclusion
You must look within each of the mountain answers to find a smaller word, reading left to right but not necessarily in consecutive letters. More specifically, the words you’re looking for can be fronted by one of three types of cold weather (HAIL, ICE, SNOW) to form a compound word. Three words pair with HAIL, four pair with ICE, and five pair with SNOW.
Since each word that’s paired with a “storm front” is a different length, they can fit into the blanks uniquely once you know how many of each storm front there is. Although DOUBLE JEOPARDY also contains (SNOW) BOARD (as does BOMBARDMENT WING, technically), the ambiguity must be resolved to accumulate words of the proper lengths.
HIMACHAL PRADESH – (ICE) CAPADES
DOUBLE JEOPARDY – (SNOW) LEOPARD
MAJORITY – (HAIL) MARY
DIAMOND JUBILEE – (SNOW) MOBILE
UNRECOGNIZED – (SNOW) CONE
CENSUS BUREAU – (ICE) CUBE
ASTRONOMER – (HAIL) STONE
CHIEF OF STAFF – (ICE) CHEST
BOMBARDMENT WING – (SNOW) BOARDING
OHIO BUCKEYE – (ICE) HOCKEY
CANCER RESEARCH – (HAIL) CAESAR
GO FLY A KITE – (SNOW) FLAKE
The indicated letters spell the final answer, PLYMOUTH ROCK.