May 2023 - Taco Tuesday

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Location: Margaritas

  1. Find a route that visits every square without repetition or moving diagonally
  2. A good first step is looking near corners and blocks and adding paths through squares with only two possible adjacent moves
  3. Note the text in the puzzle description saying 'take every fifth'
  4. Every fifth letter along the solution path spells "A SALTED RIM"

Tacos Al Pastor

  1. Cut out the ribbons and place them to form sensible clues
  2. Middle Column: examine with care, quite angry, a body's largest organ, cleared with water, rebuilt a mosaic, shaped by spinning machine, neither optimist nor pessimist, potato tool, alternate path, firm and stoic
  3. One answer letter is added from middle to left, one letter is taken off from middle to right
  4. Left Column: TIFFS, ARTIER, OINKS, MINDERS, DERELICT, LOATHED, TALLIERS, HAMSTER, OUTDREW, STONER
  5. Middle Column: SIFT, IRATE, SKIN, RINSED, RETILED, LATHED, REALIST, MASHER, DETOUR, STERN
  6. Right Column: IFS, TIRE, SIN, RINDS, RELIED, DELTA, SLATER, SHAME, ROUTE, RENT
  7. Listing the letters taken off from top to down spells FROM COL TWO TAKE THIRDS, take the third letter of the middle column's answers: FAINT TASTE

Killer Tacos

  1. The numbers in the grid represent sums
  2. Using the numbers and cages as guides, solve this as a killer sudoku, with the digits in each cage adding to the sum displayed
  3. For each number 1 through 6, take the words from the squares with that number
  4. The bottom row of the grid has words followed answer lengths
  5. 1: Cream type usede in tex-mex cuisine(4), 2: Might come from blue plus yellow(5), 3: Netflix hit sci-fi show second word(6)
  6. 4: How toes feel in tight shoes(8), 5: Word following game after last life(4), 6: Subject of puzzle packet currently held(5)
  7. Solving each number's sentence should provide six new words
  8. Sour green things squeezed over tacos
  9. LIME WEDGES

Veggie Tacos

  1. This puzzle appears to be a word search, but which words to search?
  2. The flavortext says to rule out all the meat, so try finding the meat in the word search
  3. What's left once the meat is found?
  4. Read the remaining letters to receive an instruction
  5. What type of transformation do the remaining letters spell out?
  6. ROT THIRTEEN means to Caesar shift the text indicated by the clue 13 places
  7. SALSA VERDE

Quesabirria

  1. Try finding words that fit the clues and enumerations provided
  2. Are there any associations or patterns among the clue answers?
  3. What could well-reduced refer to in the flavor text?
  4. There are pairs of clues with answers that have one letter removed from one clue answer to make the other clue answer
  5. BRASH, AID, CRAM, FEAST, ACID, POUND, POND, GRASS, CREAM, NICE, STAIN, POE, POPE, YEP, FAST, STALIN, GRAS, NIECE, YELP, BRAS
  6. Putting the removed letters in order by the alphabetized list of clue answers will spell the puzzle's answer
  7. CHEESE PULL

Meta: Picky Eaters

  1. What do all of these reviews have in common?
  2. Can the reviews each be tied to something else in the puzzle packet?
  3. Each review should reference one of the puzzle titles or themes
  4. What do the ratings have to do with the answers?
  5. Use the rating to index into the answer referenced by the review and get a letter
  6. Using the dates of the reviews as a sort order, arrange the letters taken from the previous answers to get the meta answer
  7. PERFECT TEN

Bonus: Date Night

  1. Try solving for the answers to the clues provided
  2. VOTE, WIFI, SLEIGH, AFTERNOON, DOS, HEATH, RESERVATIONS, VELVET, MACARONI, UFO VENOM, EVENING, WOOL, REESE'S, URANUS, TOYS, IX, NESQUIK, NOMINATE, EVENTS
  3. Do the clues' answers have anything in common?
  4. The pairs are: VOTE + NOMINATE (elections), WIFI + VENOM (The one pair not matching), SLEIGH + TOYS (Santa Claus), AFTERNOON + EVENING (times of day), DOS + IX (non-English numbers), HEATH + REESE'S (chocolate bars), RESERVATIONS + EVENTS (dates/appointments), VELVET + WOOL (fabric), MACARONI + NESQUIK (kids food), UFO + URANUS (space)
  5. Each pair placed together contains the name of a number in plain English and creates a quesadilla that can be uniquely identified in the diagram.
  6. Cut the quesadilla along the two diners' pieces to create semaphore letters, then order by the number the clues formed
  7. A BLIND DATE