Mystery Hunt 2012 Recast: COMPLETE!!!

[Suspence]

Agreed. Straws are being clutched at, because COLON made a lot of sense.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Apologies to LK for advancing without his confirmation, but I'm in a puzzle solving mood and have nothing else to work on.

How to Succeed in Real Estate Without Really Buying

AD - It may pop up
ARLES - “Sunflowers” setting
AROD - 2003 AL MVP, for short
BOG - Morass
CY - “Barnum” composer Coleman
DENS - Bears’ lairs
EAT - Have breasts?
ER - Drama nominated for 124 Emmys
GARR - Teri of “Young Frankenstein”
HAN - Flying Solo
HEE - Park Chung ___
ICH - Je, across the Rhine
IRE - Choler
KEAN - Shakespearean actor Edmund
KS - State whose highest pt. is Mt. Sunflower
LANA - Wood of “Diamonds Are Forever”
MARE - Placekicker Olindo
MEDI - Prefix with care or vac
NESS - Nitti’s nemesis
NET - Ping-pong partition
NEWS - Worthy of page one
PORK - It’s not kosher
RING - Hand band
SET - Card game with diamonds, ovals, and squiggles
STAG - Doe beau
TAL - Former chess champ Mikhail
TENT - Mobile home
TERRA - ___ cotta
TESH - “Avalon Shores” composer John
TIC - Facial flicker
TORI - Famous Amos
TUCK - “___ Everlasting” (1975 novel)
VIN - Sportscaster Scully
WAFT - Float, as a fragrance
WALK - Take a hike
WORT - Follower of St. John’s
YEN - Capital of Japan?
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

[Suspence]

OK, yours is next then. Which one is it?

So for this one - How to Succeed in Real Estate Without Really Buying - we've got 37 answers in alphabetical order, all between 2 and 5 letters.

Nothing jumps out at me yet.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

[Suspence]

For Screen Test, image #2 is from Back to the Future 2, with Biff and some ladies in the hot tub.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

[Scurra]

I think I've got the start on this one.

MEDI - Prefix with care or vac
TERRA - ___ cotta
KEAN - Shakespearean actor Edmund

TAL - Former chess champ Mikhail
TIC - Facial flicker

...are the first two locations on a US Monopoly board, each with a "typo"

edit: although

BOG - Morass
AROD - 2003 AL MVP, for short
WALK - Take a hike

gives BO(G)AR(O)DWALK with two typos... On the other hand, it also gives "GO" as the extra letters which would fit with Monopoly.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

Ha. I was just looking into Monopoly, but hadn't seen that.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

WA(F)T ER WOR(T) KS for WATER WORKS
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Scurra]

[Suspence]

TEN(T) NESS (H)EE
KE(A)N TUCK (C)Y
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jadesmar]

Mar(e) Vin Gar(r) Dens

[novice]

(T)ORI (Y)EN TAL
MEDI TERRA NE(T) (H)AN

[Suspence]

Have breasts? could be EAT or DINE
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

MAR(E) VIN GAR(R) DENS

I'm betting it's NEWSY not NEWS (should be an adjective, no?), for NEW(S)Y (P)ORK

STA(G) TES(H)

[Scurra]

S(E)T (I)CH ARLES - can't see Place though (edit: duh, we don't need the last word)
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[jadesmar]

(E)AT LAN(A) TIC
(I)RE AD (R)ING

[novice]

Call in LUXURY TAX

[gftt*]

[jadesmar]

Thrity eight spaces after go.

If you organize that by the location on the board and read out the two letter pairs.

[novice]

[Scurra]

Well I guess we could get going on Screen Test now then.

(At least I saw the trick on this one, although my knowledge of the US board was sketchy enough that I counted myself lucky to recognise the couple I saw...)
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[gftt*]

Ah, right. I saw TH from Med and then looked at TY from Oriental and went "huh?" without realizing that Reading was in between.

Screen test: these seem to be in alpha order
6: I am Legend (I think that's Alice Braga on the left)
7: The Matrix (the spoon-bending kid)
8:
9: Pulp Fiction?
10:
11: WALL-E (yay!)
12: Zombieland

[jadesmar]

5. The Goonies?

Suspence said
2. Back to the Future II

[Suspence]

LUXURY TAX seems to fit with #5, but I don't think we found a method for that one yet. It appears LUXURY TAX would need to equal 65 or greater.

5. Even the ancient Romans may have had to pay this burden.

BUSINESS TRAVELERS = 56
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES = 52
OKAPI =1
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Is #10 Twister?

#8 is probably Pretty Woman.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Scurra]

Ancient Romans suggests Roman numerals, which seems to work with the answers given.

LUXURY TAX would be 70
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

1: Al Pacino - possibly Any Given Sunday based mostly on alphabetical positioning
2: Back to the Future II
3: Boiler Room
4: ET
5: Goonies
6: I am Legend
7: The Matrix
8: Pretty Woman
9: Pulp Fiction?
10: Twister
11: WALL-E
12: Zombieland
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Scurra]

OK, well, instead of doing my Top GL'er entry, I went and dug out my DVDs instead. I remember a previous MIT Hunt puzzle that involved the Wilhelm Scream and wondered if this might be something similar. And...

The scene in Back To The Future is just after Biff and the girls have been watching A Fistful of Dollars.
The scene in WALL-E is just after he has watched Hello, Dolly! <-- actually, this is a guess but it seems likely.
And the scene in The Matrix is just after a clip of a film which apparently features giant rabbits...

This looks like a pattern. I can't find my copies of ET or Pulp Fiction so I can't check them, and I don't think I've got the others (call myself a film fan? Hah!)
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[jadesmar]

[Suspence]

#3 is Boiler Room
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

The movie from Goonies is Captain Blood (1935)

Pretty Woman supposedly features Charade.

IMDB says everyone watches Wall Street during Boiler Room.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

IMDB also says that Nam's Angels (1970) is the movie Fabienne is watching on television when Butch wakes up.

Will Smith recites from Shrek in I Am Legend - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vRURA8IBAo

1: ? - Al Pacino - possibly Any Given Sunday based mostly on alphabetical positioning
2: A Fistful of Dollars - Back to the Future II
3: Wall Street - Boiler Room
4: The Quiet Man - ET
5: Captain Blood - Goonies
6: Shrek - I am Legend
7: Night of the Lepus - The Matrix
8: Charade - Pretty Woman
9: Nam's Angels - Pulp Fiction
10: The Shining - Twister
11: Hello, Dolly - WALL-E
12: Ghostbusters - Zombieland
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jadesmar]

[Suspence]

That makes 12 Ben-Hur from Any Given Sunday, yielding the E.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

LUXURY TAX is correct.

And BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID is also correct, though you lose points for spelling. Good job not falling for the "call in the intermediate answer" trick.

And so ends my contribution to the hunt (well, almost. The Watson 2.0 meta was my idea and partially my construction.) But there are still five puzzles left not including the meta, so let's continue, shall we?

Now I Know My ABCs by Kai Huang and Jennifer Louie with assistance from Edward Huang and Melissa Shi

[Suspence]

1. This best-selling book flew off the rack.
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX = 65
VELVET ELVIS = 20
VALLEY = 12
TERMINAL = 10

"Rack" hints at Scrabble - these are Scrabble values

2. This word might appear in a letter to a valued friend.
[new answer] = ?
EBOOK = 48
ADOBO = 37
RACED = 31

"Letter" and "valued" hint at letter values. These are sums of the letter values where A=1, etc.

3. This food often fails to meet international standards.
[new answer] = ?
MERCURY = 63
COLON = 58
UNION = 42

"International Standards" seems to points to ISO character codes, and all 3 can be connected to characters, but we haven't established the exact connection yet.

4. This is part of a lengthy and miserable experience.
I DREAMED A DREAM = 70
CLINTON = 35
CHERRY = 30
DEPOT =25

"Lengthy" seems to point to the fact that we multiply the length of the word by 5.

5. Even the ancient Romans may have had to pay this burden.
LUXURY TAX = 70
BUSINESS TRAVELERS = 56
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES = 52
OKAPI =1

Romans hints at Roman numerals. These give the sums of the Roman numerals appearing in the word(s).

6. You might use the phrase “robbed blind” while talking about this.
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID = 79 (supposing I counted correctly)
FORGET PARIS = 34
BATED BREATH = 28
YOKEL =15

"Blind" suggests the number of dots in Braille.

7. This man was born to run.
[new answer] = ?
TERRY GENE BOLLEA = 53
JOHN ADAMS = 35
JERRY WEXLER = 17

"Born" hints at birth years. These are all the birth years for each person

8. Even a two-bit company must follow these rules.
[new answer] = ?
CAPITOL HILL = 5
FIRESTONE = 2
SLITS = 1

"Two-bit" refers to binary, utilizing I's and O's in each set.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jadesmar]

[gftt*]

For ABCs, the clues seem pretty straightforward. I'm more interested in the rhythms:

Under "Forbid + Deep hole" (6 notes = BAN + PIT?) is what seems like the opening line of The Star Spangled Banner.

Under "Professionals’ charges" (= FEES) is likely Beethoven's Fifth. At least, I can't imagine anything else memorable enough to be gotten after only 4 notes like that.