Nines to Threes
| Solution: The first thing to notice is that the text contains exactly nine nine-letter words, and all nine contain an X and at least one O. These nine words fit nicely, three letters per row, in the top nine tic-tac-toe boards (the Xs and Os are already filled in). In each filled board, a three-letter word can be found by drawing a three-in-a-row. The center board has already been completed, and the line spells the word "DOE" going up the right side. The nine three-letter words can be written in their corresponding positions in the three middle-boards below them. For example, the top left board, "COEXISTED", contains the word "SIX" in the middle row from right to left. This board corresponds with the top row of the left-most board in the middle three, and fits there, where the X has already been filled in (see figure below). Once the middle three boards have been filled in this way, the process repeats, but this time the lines have already been drawn, and the words "SIX", "ODE", and "MAN" should be written into the final board, leaving you with the following: |
From here, it is simply a matter of ignoring the greyed X and O, and reading the remaining letters, which gives the solution to the clue "the other guy" - SIDEMAN. |