It is #EnigMarch, and each day the excellent EnigMarch people post a prompt word; then puzzle nerds try to design puzzles around that word. (Today's word is neighbor.)
In the Robert Frost poem "Mending Wall," the narrator and their neighbor walk along a broken wall, replacing fallen stones. The neighbor says "Good fences make good neighbors." Did he think both walkers were experiencing some benign transformation as they went?
Anyhow, the lines of text that follow aren't a poem; they're a puzzle. Figure out what they have in common and get a letter from each to spell something:
| _ | Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche |
| _ | definition |
| _ | The Battle Hymn of the Republic |
| _ | electronic devices |
| _ | hijab |
| _ | Graham Norton |
| _ | University of Ghent |
| _ | beef goulash |
| _ | Tour de France |
| _ | Agamemnon |
| _ | EBCDIC |
| _ | cause and effect |
| _ | misunderstanding |
| _ | Gandhiji |
| _ | calmness |
| _ | top quark |
| _ | hdqrs. |
| _ | menopause |
| _ | UV wavelength |
| _ | deftly |
| _ | Sylvester Stallone |
| _ | i am not |
| _ | de facto |
| _ | hijacking |
| _ | Afghanistan |
| _ | Notting Hill |
| _ | Cab Calloway |
| _ | Constantinople |
| _ | esqrs. |
| _ | first |
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hints and solution, rot13'd:
Jbj, uqdef. naq rfdef. ner cerggl jrveq "jbeqf". Gur chmmyr qrfvtare zhfg unir orra cerggl qrfcrengr gb hfr gurz. Jung qb gurl unir va pbzzba?
Rnpu yvar unf n gevnq bs "arvtuobe" yrggref, yrggref nqwnprag va gur nycunorg. Sbe rknzcyr "uqdef." unf DEF.
Sbe rnpu yvar, wbg qbja gur zvqqyr yrggre bs vgf gevnq. Sbe rknzcyr, va "uqdef.", wbg qbja gur E.
Urer'f gur chmmyr qngn:
z Sevrqevpu Jvyuryz Avrgmfpur r qrsvavgvba a Gur Onggyr Ulza bs gur Erchoyvp q ryrpgebavp qrivprf v uvwno a Tenunz Abegba t Havirefvgl bs Turag s orrs tbhynfu r Gbhe qr Senapr a Ntnzrzaba p ROPQVP r pnhfr naq rssrpg f zvfhaqrefgnaqvat v Tnaquvwv z pnyzarff c gbc dhnex e uqdef. b zrabcnhfr i HI jniryratgu r qrsgyl f Flyirfgre Fgnyybar a v nz abg r qr snpgb v uvwnpxvat t Nstunavfgna u Abggvat Uvyy o Pno Pnyybjnl b Pbafgnagvabcyr e rfdef. f svefg
