Enigma #47

[enigma]

lighT at the end of the tunnel
three Medalists fit
noT billy joel, et al
sI, they hurt
eliot pluRalized
gulF hypoxia
Darker than the dickens
wiTches, once
old nIck for pam’s pair
quiet kind Of life
Company lover
euroPe offering
misPelled
niGht owl
nEtminder
other side Of the moon
tHird person singular

[rkmsuf]

What is jbmagic on crack?

[QuikSand]

I guess the enigma was on summer vacation.

[QuikSand]

I guess it's obvious that there is exactly one capitalized letter in each line.

[rkmsuf]

I guess it's obvious that there is exactly one capitalized letter in each line.


You've solved it!

[QuikSand]

I guess I could have just spelled that b-u-m-p, eh?

[Passacaglia]

I guess I could have just spelled that b-u-M-p, eh?

Fixed.

[QuikSand]

I guess this is worth one last bump, then we can declare it (and perhaps the whole concept) dead, I guess.

[cuervo72]

Heh. Ok, if the Pam clue is what I think it is, I'll go with

old nIck for pam’s pair = Tommyknockers

From there, I might guess that

Company lover = Misery

So more than likely, we're dealing with Stephen King titles, if anyone knows any more that fit.

[BrianD]

lighT at the end of the tunnel
three Medalists fit
noT billy joel, et al
sI, they hurt
eliot pluRalized
gulF hypoxia
Darker than the dickens
wiTches, once
old nIck for pam’s pair
quiet kind Of life
Company lover
euroPe offering
misPelled
niGht owl
nEtminder
other side Of the moon
tHird person singular


Someone has to do it:
T-M-T-I-R-F-D-T-I-O-C-P-P-G-E-O-H
5-7-3-2-10-4-1-3-6-12-1-5-4-3-2-12-2 (positions of the capital letter)

[cuervo72]

tHird person singular = It

[cuervo72]

misPelled = Pet Sematary

[cuervo72]

other side Of the moon = The Dark Half ?

[Celeval]

three Medalists fit : The Stand

[Simms]

nEtminder = Cujo

[BrianD]

misPelled = Pet Semetary?

[Celeval]

lighT at the end of the tunnel : The Shining?
noT billy joel, et al : Christine?
nEtminder : Dreamcatcher? - Edit: Cujo is better here, definately.

[cuervo72]

Darker than the dickens = Black House (play off of Bleak House, book somewhat related)

[cuervo72]

misPelled = Pet Semetary?

Hey, good sleuthing there.

[BrianD]

Hey, good sleuthing there.

It took me so long to figure out one that I didn't realize you had beat me by about 10 minutes. :)

[Simms]

wiTches, once = Salem's Lot

[Daimyo]

gulf hypoxia = dead zone

[BrianD]

Bolding letters in the same place as the capital letter in the clue - could be a space.

lighT at the end of the tunnel - The Shining
three Medalists fit - The Stand
noT billy joel, et al - Christine
sI, they hurt
eliot pluRalized - The Wastelands
gulF hypoxia - The Dead Zone
Darker than the dickens - Black House
wiTches, once - Salem's Lot
old nIck for pam’s pair - The Tommyknockers
quiet kind Of life - Desperation
Company lover - Misery
euroPe offering - Carrie
misPelled - Pet Sematary
niGht owl - Insomnia
nEtminder - Cujo
other side Of the moon - The dark half
tHird person singular - It

[cuervo72]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Europe_Carrie_single.jpg

[Simms]

euroPe offering = Carrie

Boooooo, cuervo

[Celeval]

quiet kind Of life : Desperation

[Daimyo]

night owl = insomnia

[Celeval]

niGht owl : Insomnia

[Celeval]

eliot pluRalized : The Wastelands

[Simms]

sI, they hurt = Silver Bullet? (doesn't explain the use of "si", though)

[cuervo72]

noT billy joel, et al - Firestarter

[enigma]

lighT at the end of the tunnel
three Medalists fit
noT billy joel, et al
sI, they hurt
eliot pluRalized
gulF hypoxia
Darker than the dickens
wiTches, once
old nIck for pam’s pair
quiet kind Of life
Company lover
euroPe offering
misPelled
niGht owl
nEtminder
other side Of the moon
tHird person singular


Each clue is, essentially, a crossword-style reference. Eventually, we’ll hope that it becomes clear that each makes reference to a specific novel by prolific author Stephen King. It’s difficult to judge in advance how tough this sort of thing will be – but the puzzle will be offered without any hints at all, and if they prove to be necessary, they will be supplied within the thread by design. Once the King reference is identified, this won’t be that tough. By the time this is posted, the list of titles ought to be fairly obvious.

The capitalized letter in each clue will correspond to the same letter in the title that is to be used in forming the final clue. The fifth letter of the first clue is capitalized, indicating that the fifth letter of the corresponding novel, The Shining, should be used -- yielding the letter H. Following this pattern yields, in order:

HAROLDBLOOMINSULT

Hopefully this will be easily parsed into a three word clue, which is pretty easily resolved by use of FOFC’s favorite online reference, wikipedia: wiki on King

Here, we find the reference made by literary critic Harold Bloom in response to King being awarded laurels from the National Book Awards – “He is a man who writes what used to be called penny dreadfuls.” And thus, we have the solution to the enigma puzzle, in all lower case…

pennydreadfuls

[BrianD]

I was on the right track at least...

[enigma]

I was on the right track at least...

Very much so. I would have thought Pet Sematary was the answer to "mispelled", too, but insult was the only word that fit, and your post had the wrong letter from the first clue. I'm only scavenging on this puzzle - I didn't see the Stephen King stuff at all when I first looked at this.

[BrianD]

Very much so. I would have thought Pet Sematary was the answer to "mispelled", too, but insult was the only word that fit, and your post had the wrong letter from the first clue. I'm only scavenging on this puzzle - I didn't see the Stephen King stuff at all when I first looked at this.

What was the book to go with "mispelled"? I hadn't figured out whether to count spaces in arranging the letters, but I guess the answer was no.