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I recently put together a list of books by some well-known authors, but something went horribly wrong when I tried to print it out. The first entry in the list was completely unreadable, but the rest were all just missing their vowels. Not only that, but the two halves of the list were all muddled up. Originally there was a clear relationship between the title in the first column and the title in the second.

Question Can you work out what the original titles were, what the matches were, and what the first entry in the list should have read?

1 ??????????????????????? A LVSFTHTWNS
2   CRR                   B THCLMNGFSLPNGBTY
3   NTRVWWTHTHVMPR        C THCCKSCLLNG
4   PBBLNTHSKY            D SPRTSNBNDG
5   STRQST                E RG
6   THMYSTRSFFRTSTYLS     F LGCYFTRRR
7   THNDRMDSTRN           G GNTSBRD
8   THPLGRMSRGRSS         H DVDSTRRSPCRNGR
9   THWSPFCTRY            I DDSN
10  WTHSHDDRNGFLL         J CNSDRPHLBS

Thanks to Deusovi for the title

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    $\begingroup$ I'm a bit disappointed you didn't call this "Disemvowelled Books". $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:03
  • $\begingroup$ I think you may want to double check A, I think you left out a word of that title. $\endgroup$
    – Irishpanda
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Irishpanda - well spotted, though it's actually a case of words in the wrong order. $\endgroup$
    – Gordon K
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:37
  • $\begingroup$ Another excellent puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – dennisdeems
    Nov 24, 2015 at 16:26
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    $\begingroup$ Nice puzzle, though I think all of your Ys should be considered vowels. $\endgroup$
    – Jacob Raihle
    Nov 24, 2015 at 16:51

3 Answers 3

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Column 1:

1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2 Carrie
3 Interview With the Vampire
4 Pebble in the Sky
5 Star Quest
6 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
7 The Andromeda Strain
8 The Pilgrim's Regress
9 The Wasp Factory
10 With Shuddering Fall

Column 2:

A Lives of the Twins
B The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
C Cuckoos Calling
D Spirits in Bondage
E Rage
F Legacy of Terror
G Giants Bread
H David Starr Space Ranger
I Odds On
J Consider Phlebas

Matches:

The pattern is that the first column holds an author's first book under their own name, the second holds their first title written under a pseudonym.
1-C (J K Rowling/Robert Galbraith)
2-E (Stephen King/Richard Bachman)
3-B (Anne Rice/A N Roquelaure)
4-H (Isaac Asimov/Paul French)
5-F (Dean Koontz/Deanna Dwyer)
6-G (Agatha Christie/Mary Westmacott)
7-I (Michael Crichton/John Lange)
8-D (C S Lewis/Clive Hamilton)
9-J (Iain Banks/Iain M Banks)
10-A (Joyce Carol Oates/Rosamond Smith)

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  • $\begingroup$ Why is formatting so hard >_< $\endgroup$
    – Irishpanda
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:54
  • $\begingroup$ Why HP1 as opposed to any of the other Rowling books? $\endgroup$
    – Josh
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:55
  • $\begingroup$ I'll put that in my answer as soon as I sort out the formatting :\ $\endgroup$
    – Irishpanda
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:56
  • $\begingroup$ There is something a bit more specific about the second column. $\endgroup$
    – Gordon K
    Nov 24, 2015 at 15:14
  • $\begingroup$ Added in, took me a minute to spot it $\endgroup$
    – Irishpanda
    Nov 24, 2015 at 15:18
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1 ???????????????????????

2 CRR

Carrie (Stephen King)

3 NTRVWWTHTHVMPR

Interview with a vampire (Anne Rice)

4 PBBLNTHSKY

Pebble in the sky (Isaac Asimov)

5 STRQST

Star Quest (Dean R. Koontz)

6 THMYSTRSFFRTSTYLS

The mysterious affair at Styles (Agatha Christie)

7 THNDRMDSTRN

The Andromeda Strain (Michael Crichton)

8 THPLGRMSRGRSS

The Pilgrim's Regress (CS Lewis)

9 THWSPFCTRY

The wasp Factory (Iain Banks)

10 WTHSHDDRNGFLL

With Shuddering Fall (Joyce Oates)

A THLVSFTWNS

Lives of the Twins (Joyce Oates)

B THCLMNGFSLPNGBTY

B The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Anne Rice)

C THCCKSCLLNG

C The Cuckoo's Calling (Robert Galbraith, aka JK Rowling)

D SPRTSNBNDG

Spirits in Bondage (CS Lewis)

E RG

Rage (Stephen King)

F LGCYFTRRR

Legacy of Terror (Dean Koontz)

G GNTSBRD

Giant's Bread (Agatha Christie)

H DVDSTRRSPCRNGR

David Starr Space Ranger (Isaac Asimov)

I DDSN

Odds On (Michael Crichton)

J CNSDRPHLBS

Consider Phlebas (Iain Banks)

Matching everything up, with each author having an entry on the left and right columns leaves...

Robert Galbraith/JKR Unmatched. But the left side has the debut novel of the author (disregarding pseudonyms), so the answer is "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

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  • $\begingroup$ What's significant about the titles in the second column? $\endgroup$
    – Gordon K
    Nov 24, 2015 at 15:15
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An exceptionally incomplete answer:

1st column

6 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
7 The Andromeda Strain
8 The Pilgrim's Regress
10 With Shuddering Fall

2nd column

B The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Which I should not have googled at work)
C The Cuckoo's Calling

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  • $\begingroup$ I've hit a wall, so I'll throw in with you: 3: Interview with a Vampire; 4: Pebble in the sky; 5: Star Quest; 9: The Wasp Factory; A: Lives of the Twins; E: Rogue; F: Legacy of Terror; G: Giant's Bread; J: Consider Phlebas $\endgroup$
    – Josh
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:46
  • $\begingroup$ @Josh I (partially) guessed the link between the two columns, worked out what the first few letters of 'Interview' would be, and then somehow didn't see it. I'm a fool. $\endgroup$
    – LowIntHighCha
    Nov 24, 2015 at 15:22

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