It is March and the lovely EnigMarch people have challenged puzzle designers to write a puzzle inspired by today's word: "season".
Oh no! The USA clown President Trump has made a total mess of things again!
Looking for puzzle-writing inspiration, I of course searched the released-so-far Epstein files for "season," and thus found myself reading a party invitation from Jared Kushner (Donald Trump's son-in-law) to Jeff Epstein for a party at the Four Season [sic] restaurant. I thought "Huh, that's funny, clown got the name wrong," and then got swept away in nostalgia for that time the Trump administration failed to hold a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia and instead held it the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping. I remember reading about the conference, train of thought starting out normal but then seeing that out-of-place word "Total" and realizing that the whole meaning had changed.
Here are some phrases that start out saying one thing, then say TOTAL and then something else that changes the meaning. Fill in the blanks. When you're done, the circled letters should spell out what all these TOTALs have made you.
| I expected a hotel, but instead got a lot of lawn trimmers‽ | |
| F o u r Ⓢ e a s o n s | TOTAL L a n d s c a p i n g |
| I expected a country, but instead watched Karolína Muchová and Victoria Mboko play tennis‽ | |
| _◯_ _ _ _ | TOTAL-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
| I expected a car, but instead got an organization with "total" in the name, which seems like bad luck for things associated with cars‽ | |
| _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | TOTAL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _◯ |
| I expected a citizen of the USA, but instead got an old-timey display for parimutuel betting‽ | |
| _◯_ _ _ _ _ _ | TOTAL-_ _ _ _ _ _ |
| I expected slot machines, but instead got reminded not to skip leg day‽ | |
| _ _ _ _ _ | TOTAL _ _ _ _◯_ _ |
| I expected to start playing golf, but instead missed the 19th hole‽ | |
| _ _ _- | TOTAL-_ _◯ |
Here are the "pieces" you're trying to fit in those blanks:
American,
Bally,
Citroën,
-Energies Open,
Fitness,
Four Seasons,
-isator,
Landscaping,
-ler,
Quatar,
Tee-,
World Rally Team
Here is the puzzle solution, rot13'd:
f / Sbhe Frnfbaf Gbgny Ynaqfpncvat / V rkcrpgrq n ubgry, ohg vafgrnq tbg n ybg bs ynja gevzzref‽
h / Dhngne Gbgny-Raretvrf Bcra / V rkcrpgrq n pbhagel, ohg vafgrnq jngpurq Xnebyían Zhpubiá naq Ivpgbevn Zobxb cynl graavf‽
z / Pvgebëa Gbgny Jbeyq Enyyl Grnz / V rkcrpgrq n pne, ohg vafgrnq tbg na betnavmngvba jvgu "gbgny" va gur anzr, juvpu frrzf yvxr onq yhpx sbe guvatf nffbpvngrq jvgu pnef‽
z / Nzrevpna Gbgny-vfngbe / V rkcrpgrq n pvgvmra bs gur HFN, ohg vafgrnq tbg na byq-gvzrl qvfcynl sbe cnevzhghry orggvat‽
r / Onyyl Gbgny Svgarff / V rkcrpgrq fybg znpuvarf, ohg vafgrnq tbg erzvaqrq abg gb fxvc yrt qnl‽
e / Grr-Gbgny-yre / V rkcrpgrq gb fgneg cynlvat tbys, ohg vafgrnq zvffrq gur 19gu ubyr‽
