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Cramped

Solution: The first thing to notice is that the Tetris-like pieces in the upper right can be rearranged to form a neat little rectangle, which happens to be the same size and shape as the grid of letters. Superimposing the two, you get:

This leaves nine separate 2- to 4-word common phrases with some letters replaced by Bolded Capital Letters. The nine phrases are:

tune in
Hurry up
once upon a time
do not pass go
out of order
seize the day
marry me
say cheese
i dont get it

Now, looking at the Bolded Capitals that were replaced, there are 26 of them (one for each letter in the alphabet). Putting them in order, and looking at the letters they replaced, we get:

A=m
B=e
C=r
D=c
E=u
F=r
G=y
H=r
I=i
J=s
K=e
L=s
M=a
N=n
O=d
P=t
Q=h
R=e
S=h
T=e
U=a
V=t
W=g
X=o
Y=e
Z=s

Finally, reading down the list of replaced letters in order, we get: "mercury rises and the heat goes". Which way? Up. The solution is "UP".

2/16/04
Jeb Havens

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