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Smuggled this strange list from [redacted] 's place. Maybe he is making a puzzle. Who is the victim?

  • Scarlet covers
  • Swindler's imprecation
  • Sour disordered equipment
  • Smash journal
  • Sinful America
  • Surgeon oath
  • Storms carport

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Omega Krypton
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1 Answers1

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What are the items on the list?

Synonyms of the words on the list can be anagrammed to a tag on Puzzling SE plus one letter. For example: "Scarlet covers" are "red lids", which is an anagram of "riddle" plus "s". The complete list is:

Scarlet covers: red lids — riddle + s
Swindler's imprecation: cheat's dammit — mathematics + d
Sour disordered equipment: acidic unglued tool — logical deduction + u
Smash journal: plow diary — wordplay + i
Sinful America: evil USA — visual + e
Surgeon oath: Dr vow — word + v
Storms carport: typhoons garage — steganography + o

Who is the victim?

If we assume that the third item is correct and that the second item yields an extra d, we can anagram the extra letters to Deusovi. (Thanks, jafe, for spotting that. I had a rather less convincing guess first.)

M Oehm
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  • Ooh, nice find! For #2 I was thinking "conman's curse" but it doesn't seem to work. (Note also the OP's edits to the question, suggesting that the 's after swindler may not be needed.) – Rand al'Thor Jul 07 '19 at 07:13
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    If the B is wrong, the missing letters could be DU... – Jafe Jul 07 '19 at 07:31
  • Ok, I love anagrams, but no way would I have thought to do this. @OmegaKrypton this is brilliant. I am bookmarking this. I literally feel dumb looking at this puzzle. – Mr Pie Jul 07 '19 at 08:59
  • there's no 's' in 'logical-deduction, so 'tools' is wrong. – JMP Jul 07 '19 at 09:26
  • @jafe Oh, that's kind of "bovious" in hindsight ... – M Oehm Jul 07 '19 at 09:27
  • @JonMarkPerry: Yes, it is obviously just "tool". (And with some imagination, "bungled" may become "unglued" to match jafe's suggestion.) – M Oehm Jul 07 '19 at 09:29
  • Pba qvf = pbvaf + q. V ernpurq guvf pbapyhfvba nsgre frrvat gur pbzzrag gung gur 'f znl abg or arrqrq va fjvaqyre'f – JS1 Jul 07 '19 at 12:12
  • @JS1: Yes, that could be. That's not a tag I was aware of. – M Oehm Jul 07 '19 at 13:18
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    Okay, I think I got it. It got a bit tedious towards the end. I guess it's not for nothing that indirect anagrams are frowned upon. – M Oehm Jul 07 '19 at 18:01
  • nice job! nailed it... – Omega Krypton Jul 08 '19 at 07:45