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This is part 8 of A Trivial Pursuit, a 25-part puzzle hunt. Each part is solvable on its own, with the exception of the meta-puzzle at the end.

Solve the fourteen rebuses below to find some names, then some names, then some names, then one final name - this is your answer...

Fourteen rebuses

Stiv
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1 Answers1

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First we solve the rebuses:

(Abu - a = BU) + (Ragu - a = RGU) + (Andy - a = NDY) = BURGUNDY

(bark a->u = BURK) + E = BURKE

(cross - s = CROS) + (bike - k = BIE) = CROSBIE

DAN + (Cher - h = CER) = DANCER

(grid d->f = GRIF) + FIN = GRIFFIN

(Hart - t = HAR) + (PER sign) = HARPER

keeper - e ^ n = KEPNER

LA + PI + D + US = LAPIDUS

ONE + (nil - n = IL) = ONEIL

say ^ h = SHAY

tab ^ u = TAUB

TEN (Dyson d->n = NYSON) = TENNYSON

(web - b = WE) + (Astley - t = asley) = WEASLEY

W in KLE = WINKLE

Then we notice

BURGUNDY and WEASLEY. Both have an orange outline and both are characters with first name Ron from Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy and Harry Potter. Then we see those movies' abbreviations in the middle square and both are italic. Turns out italic is movies and not-italic is TV shows.

We find them all:

orange: Ron Burgundy (ATLOR?), Ron Weasley (HP)

green: Leslie Burke (BTT), Leslie Crosbie (TL), Leslie Lapidus (SC), Leslie Shay (CF), Leslie Winkle (TBBT)

red: April Dancer (TGFU), April Kepner (GA), April O'Neil (TMNT)

blue: Chris Griffin (FG), Chris Taub (H)

yellow: Ben Harper (MF), Ben Tennyson (B1)

Then we notice that

Ron, Leslie, April, Chris, and Ben are all characters from Parks and Recreation!

I thought that was the end but @Daniel S observes in the comments that we can go further:

let's take those characters' last names and order them by color of the rainbow:

red: April LUDGATE
orange: Ron SWANSON
yellow: Ben WYATT
green: Leslie KNOPE
blue: Chris TRAEGER

If we index into the last name by the number of times the first name appeared in the grid, we get DWYER, the surname of the same show's character Andy Dwyer.

caPNCApn
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  • rot13(Lbh zvffrq gur ynfg gjb vgrengvbaf: Gur C&E punenpgref unir fheanzrf YHQTNGR, FJNAFBA, JLNGG, XABCXR, GENRTRE) – Daniel S Sep 14 '23 at 23:07
  • rot13(Vaqrkvat vagb gurfr ol gur ahzore bs bppheeraprf bs rnpu svefg anzr tvirf QJLRE (jubfr svefg anzr vf NAQL nf vaqvpngrq ol gur sbhe qbgf, gur ynfg bs juvpu vf terra)) – Daniel S Sep 14 '23 at 23:08
  • rot13(...gubhtu V pna'g uryc ohg guvax gung gur qbg orsber gur terra bar fubhyq or pbybherq erq) – Daniel S Sep 14 '23 at 23:13
  • rot13(Nyfb whfg abgvprq gung gur rkgenpgvba beqre vf tvira ol envaobj beqrevat) – Daniel S Sep 14 '23 at 23:15
  • @DanielS, nice, the ordering and indexing makes sense, but I don't see what you're saying about the dots – caPNCApn Sep 14 '23 at 23:18
  • rot13(Gur qnfurf vaqvpngr n svir yrggre anzr QJLRE, gur qbgf ner n purpx gb pbasvez gung g tbrf jvgu n sbhe yrggre anzr NAQL gur sbhegu yrggre bs juvpu vf L=TERRA (naq V guvax gung gur guveq fubhyq gurersber nyfb or Q=ERQ)) – Daniel S Sep 14 '23 at 23:21
  • @DanielS, I believe the rot13(L pnzr sebz lryybj) – caPNCApn Sep 14 '23 at 23:33
  • Your solution is spot on, well done :) The dots, however, were purely ornamental, intended to mimic a TV's green 'on' light, representing only that the answer is successfully found on the fourth iteration of names. No further significance to the character, sorry! – Stiv Sep 15 '23 at 04:43
  • Also, I suspected beforehand that orange would be the breakthrough - glad it flowed so well for you! – Stiv Sep 15 '23 at 04:46
  • @Stiv Thank you, it was fun. And Daniel S helped a lot. But I have to confess I don't really understand the flags and white areas under the dog... – caPNCApn Sep 15 '23 at 05:05
  • Perhaps that would be more recognisable to a European - it's a blank licence plate... – Stiv Sep 15 '23 at 05:27