Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Pic-Tac-Toe (10th edition)

We all go a little mad sometimes, and I found myself supremely frustrated trying to finish this one. So I enlisted the help of K-Lyn, who pushed this puzzle through many incarnations, allowing me to stop thinking about it for a while and then actually be productive, finishing it when the time was right. Really, this could just as easily been over at her blog. But it's my addled brain on display, so my 10th Pic-Tac-Toe (two whole feet!) is here instead.

Below are 9 images arranged in a 3x3 format. A unique theme connects the images of each row, column, and diagonal. That's a total of 8 themes. Solve the puzzle and I'll try to do it all over again. As K-Lyn will attest, that order's getting taller and taller.

(Click on the image to enlarge; guess in the comments.)

Obviously, K-Lyn is ineligible, so my thanks will have to do.

SOLVED! Bill did quite well on his own, perhaps even improving my left column. Don't know if I'll come up with an 11th puzzle in a week; the process is exhausting, even with the gracious help/control of another.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, great. K-Lyn is ineligible, and I can't identify half the images. The center row is JOURNEY (The Journey, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey), but now I'm stumped.

Image 2 is Grey Goose. Image 1 has an attractive blonde in OR scrubs - Grey's Anatomy? That's Hugh Jackman in Image 3. I'll Google "Grey X-Men" and there we go - Dr. Jean Grey-Summers. Top row is GREY.

Jean Grey-Summers... Alex Winters... I still can't identify Image 7. Let me IMDB X-Men. Hugh Jackman's character is named Logan. Image 5 has Ted Logan. Aha! Michael York in Logan's Run. Slash diagonal is LOGAN.

Is that Shiri Appleby in Image 9? IMBD her... This doesn't look like Six Degrees. It must be Roswell. The other girl is wearing a tank top too, and so is Dr. Grey-Summers. Right column is TANK TOP.

I still can't identify Image 8, but 7 and 9 both have a MICHAEL, and 2 and 5 both have GLASS. So I'm going to have to go with those guesses.

The left column is tricky. Grey...Earl...York... DUKE OF?

And now I'm left with the backslash. I can't identify the other person in Image 1. I see William Sadler was in Roswell, and he appears as Death in Image 5, but I can't find that he's been in Grey's Anatomy. Grey's Anatomy does have a Preston Burke, but he's not the guy pictured.

So there's my first solo attempt. Perhaps someone else can swoop in and help out. Otherwise, I'll come back later this evening and see how I did and try to look at it with fresh eyes.

Bill
shakespeareteacher.com

Neel Mehta said...

Oh, great. K-Lyn is ineligible, and I can't identify half the images.

Are you saying that, as puzzle solvers, she completes you?

I'm enjoying the breakdown as you guess each theme. (It appears to match my own, uh, breakdown.) Did you have problems clicking on the image?

6 themes correct so far. Amazing, especially for someone unfamiliar with the TV shows.

Image #8 is of the Basic Instinct sequel, where actor David Morrissey plays a Dr. MICHAEL GLASS.

Left unsolved, at least officially, are the 159 Diagonal and the Left Column, but you're so close on both of them. You need to know who the blonde is in image 1, and what she's holding. (Also, the original image #9 depicted Claire and John Locke from Lost, but it had to go to finish the puzzle.)

You know, all this time, I never even saw the potential for a Preston connection between images 1 and 5.

Amazing.

Anonymous said...

I'm working an Earl of Sandwich angle, but I'm not quite able to put my finger on the left hand theme.

I don't know who the blonde is, but she's way too cute to be William Sadler. She may be the lovely Katherine Heigl, who it seems was also in Roswell, but alas, not in Bill & Ted.

Hey, Katherine Heigl was Isabel on Roswell, and Isobel on Grey's Anatomy. No Isabel in Bill & Ted either...

Neel Mehta said...

Both these themes are of the BRANDS OF CHILI variety; with mere semantics in the way, I consider you there at this point.

1. It's obscure, but there's an EARL of York to match -of Sandwich (or -Grey) and -Klugh.

2. Katherine Heigl and William Sadler could be added to the cast photo of ROSWELL in image 9. (Claire from Lost was also on that show.)

Not the world's finest puzzle, but it's published, solved, and over.

Neel Mehta said...

Bill explained them nicely, but here are the themes all wrapped up together.

Top Row: GREY (Grey's Anatomy, Grey Goose vodka, Dr. Jean Grey)

Middle Row: JOURNEY (The Journey, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, band behind Hillary's slogan "Don't Stop Believin'")

Bottom Row: MICHAEL (actor Michael York, Basic Instinct 2 character Dr. Michael Glass, Roswell character Michael Guerin)

Left Column: EARL (Grey/of Sandwich, Klugh, of York)

[Huh, maybe you deserve an alternate credit for DUKE (Grey Duke, Duke of Earl, Duke of York), which also works, and arguably better.]

Middle Column: GLASS (martini glass, plexiglass, Basic Instinct 2 character Dr. Michael Glass)

Right Column: TANK TOP (on Dr. Jean Grey, promoting Hillary '08, on Roswell actress Majandra Delfino)

159 Backslash diagonal: ROSWELL (Katherine Heigl, William Sadler, clockwise from top: Brendan Fehr, Shiri Appleby, Majandra Delfino, Jason Behr, Colin Hanks)

Anonymous said...

Ah, I should have seen ROSWELL after making the Katherine Heigl connection.

The Earl of York is a bit of a reach, since Wikipedia reports the title was abolished in the twelfth century, later to be replaced by the much more commonly known Duke of York title. But I admire the construction of the rest of the puzzle.

You should try a 3-D puzzle.

Neel Mehta said...

You should try a 3-D puzzle.

Maybe. But right now it sounds scarier than karaoke.

Anonymous said...

I'm too late as usual. The top row is my favorite (GA, vodka & Jean/Logan, what more could a girl want?).