Solution: Sea Cave
Answer: X AND Y ANNOUNCEMENT
Written by Jonathan
The puzzle presents 15 clips, with only one actual word being sung in each of them. Start by figuring out what the songs are. Songs were chosen to have titles that only use the one word being sung from another song, so there should only be 1-3 that need to be checked to figure out which songs these are. This creates a chain. The next step is to realize that each of the words are sung repeatedly within the song themselves. From the flavortext hinting you to “count”, the next step is to convert the number of times the word is sung within each song to alphabets.
| Song Title | Lyrics from sung section | Word sung (next song) | No. of occurences | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honey Honey (ABBA) | Honey honey, how he thrills me, a-ha, honey honey Honey honey, nearly kills me, a-ha, honey honey |
Bye | 8 | H |
| Bye Bye Bye (NSYNC) | I know that I can't take no more It ain't no lie I wanna see you out that door Baby, bye bye bye (bye bye) |
Bang | 5 | E |
| Bang Bang Bang (BIGBANG) | BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG 빵야 빵야 빵야 BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG 빵야 빵야 빵야 |
Burn | 12 | L |
| Burn (Ellie Goulding) | And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn |
Down | 16 | P |
| Down (Jay Sean) | Even if the sky is falling down? (Down, down) You oughta know, tonight is the night to let it go Put on a show, I wanna see how you lose control So leave it behind 'cause we have a night to get away So come on and fly with me, as we make our great escape So baby don't worry, you are my only You won't be lonely, even if the sky is falling down You'll be my only, no need to worry Baby are you down, down, down, down, down? (Down, down) Baby are you down, down, down, down, down? (Down, down) Even if the sky is falling down? |
Baby | 19 | S |
| Baby (Justin Bieber) | Baby, baby, baby oh Like baby, baby, baby no Like baby, baby, baby oh Thought you'd always be mine, mine |
Likey | 9 | I |
| Likey (Twice) | 설렌다 me likey Me likey likey likey Me likey likey likey 두근두근두근 heart heart Me likey Me likey likey likey Me likey likey likey 두근두근두근 |
Money | 14 | N |
| Money Money Money (ABBA) | Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world Aha All the things I could do If I had a little money It's a rich man's world |
Now | 7 | G |
| Now (Olivia O'Brien) | Maybe we would be in love right now, now, now Maybe you would be the one right now, now, now If you didn't fuck up right now, now, now We'd be making love right now, now, now Maybe we would be in love right now, now, now |
River | 15 | O |
| River (Bishop Briggs) | So shut your mouth and run me like a river Shut your mouth, baby, stand and deliver Holy hands, will they make me a sinner? Like a river, like a river Shut your mouth and run me like a river Choke this love 'til the veins start to shiver One last breath 'til the tears start to wither Like a river, like a river Shut your mouth and run me like a river Like a river, like a river, sh- Like a river, like a river, sh- Like a river, like a river Shut your mouth and run me like a river |
Dance | 14 | N |
| Dance Dance (Fall Out Boy) | Dance, dance We're falling apart to half time Dance, dance And these are the lives you love to lead Dance, this is the way they'd love If they knew how misery loved me |
Chandelier | 5 | E |
| Chandelier (Sia) | I'm gonna swing from the chandelier From the chandelier I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist Like it doesn't exist |
Hello | 2 | B |
| Hello (Adele) | Hello from the other side I must've called a thousand times To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done But when I call, you never seem to be home |
Treasure | 1 | A |
| Treasure (Bruno Mars) | Treasure, that is what you are Honey, you're my golden star You know you can make my wish come true If you let me treasure you If you let me treasure you |
Halo | 3 | C |
| Halo (Beyonce) | Everywhere I'm looking now I'm surrounded by your embrace Baby, I can see your halo You know you're my saving grace You're everything I need and more It's written all over your face Baby, I can feel your halo Pray it won't fade away I can feel your halo (halo) halo I can see your halo (halo) halo I can feel your halo (halo) halo |
Honey | 11 | K |
This gives us the intermediate answer HELP SING ONE BACK. Upon submitting this answer, solvers receive instructions to send a similarly-sung, one-word song to us. Once complete, solvers will receive the answer, X AND Y ANNOUNCEMENT.
Author's Notes
This puzzle went through so many iterations, mainly because we really wanted to make a Disney puzzle that would work with the final answer (like Moana sending a letter). But the underlying idea just did not fit thematically. This idea came from Jimmy Fallon's One Word Song Challenge, and did not change from the start. After external testsolvers said the idea just did not work with our original Disney force fitting, aki suggested that it would fit very nicely with songs where a word was sung repeatedly.
[aki's comments:] I am truly sorry to everyone who had to listen to my terrible singing. Someone had to do it, and Jonathan was adamantly not going to sing. However, I hope you enjoyed the puzzle as much as I “enjoyed” (mileage may vary) listening to these songs! Some of these songs were real throwbacks to songs of the past decades.