7
$\begingroup$

Each line has an answer. Each line's answers are clues for the paragraph's answer. Those in turn are clues for the section's final answer. The five final answers form a subjective list composed by me.

Partial answers are welcome.

Number five

A side spin in pool or a man from Ross-on-Wye,
with rocket or mad; someone from TSRI,
the father of Jacob or writer of scifi.

The flakes that keep floating around in the cold air,
the colour of what you find just outside Dover,
a melon, banana or lime or d'Anjou pear.

With murder, extinction; a Catholic sermon,
a luminous square in the birthplace of Merman,
increase in velocity can be determined.

Number four

The Pianist and Chinatown director's first name,
with Weimar or people's; most countries this form claim,
some twelve of these were understood by John Paul's brain.

"What's up", a term used by a Bunny quite snidey,
profession of J. Jonah Jameson in Spidey,
creator of Windows, IT house now mighty.

A stingy thing followed by golf exclamation,
the dominant degree in chordal progression,
between Mike and Oscar in NATO's expression.

Number three

A city that always (some claim) is too windy,
a nightclub with theater, a place for a shindig,
the animals which are called Billy in Hindi.

A German word meaning a cellar or basement,
the husband of Marge in prime-time entertainment,
with woman or one hit; a term of amazement.

Deciduous trees used for veniks and vihtas,
the top-level domain for Indian tweeters,
the most-spoken Germanic tongue with Norse features.

Number two

With path or star; something that sparkles or lustres,
the first name of Trinity and Leia's actors,
distress just loves company despite all factors.

Both red and white ones are found inside the bloodstream,
the ink on one's skin used to illustrate some theme,
the pope's Swiss ones are a protective escort team.

A little naïve girl who gets herself eaten,
in 2007 World Series unbeaten,
the world's tallest trees are found nowhere near Eton.

Number one

An organ two of which you have close to your nose,
tall structure that's linked to no castles or châteaux,
through Oxford and Reading this waterway outflows.

A term coined by More in his 1516 book,
what black is to white and what hook is to unhook,
with tense or bright; forecasts predicting its outlook.

In contrast to alien, a.k.a. Earthling,
between quid and quo, or professional's shortening,
in Genesis; making of something from nothing.

$\endgroup$

2 Answers 2

9
$\begingroup$

This is clearly leading us to a list of

movies, though what if anything they all have in common I am not confident about guessing. (E.g., I haven't spotted any awards they all won.) [EDITED to add:] What they have in common is that the person who made the puzzle likes them, and the title is just because it's a long puzzle.

Number five

A side spin in pool or a man from Ross-on-Wye,
with rocket or mad; someone from TSRI,
the father of Jacob or writer of scifi.

english scientist isaac -> NEWTON

The flakes that keep floating around in the cold air,
the colour of what you find just outside Dover,
a melon, banana or lime or d'Anjou pear.

snow white fruit -> APPLE

With murder, extinction; a Catholic sermon,
a luminous square in the birthplace of Merman,
increase in velocity can be determined.

mass times acceleration -> FORCE

so I think this yields

GRAVITY. (There's a recent movie of this title. It won some Oscars.)

Number four

The Pianist and Chinatown director's first name,
with Weimar or people's; most countries this form claim,
some twelve of these were understood by John Paul's brain.

roman republic language -> LATIN

"What's up", a term used by a Bunny quite snidey,
profession of J. Jonah Jameson in Spidey,
creator of Windows, IT house now mighty.

doc editor microsoft -> WORD

A stingy thing followed by golf exclamation,
the dominant degree in chordal progression,
between Mike and Oscar in NATO's expression.

before fifth november -> REMEMBER (from the rhyme)

So this seems to be

the movie MEMENTO.

Number three

A city that always (some claim) is too windy,
a nightclub with theater, a place for a shindig,
the animals which are called Billy in Hindi.

chicago music-hall(?) cats -> MUSICAL?

A German word meaning a cellar or basement,
the husband of Marge in prime-time entertainment,
with woman or one hit; a term of amazement.

keller homer wonder -> ER?

Deciduous trees used for veniks and vihtas,
the top-level domain for Indian tweeters,
the most-spoken Germanic tongue with Norse features.

birch in swedish -> BJORK

Perhaps this leads us to

DANCER IN THE DARK, a movie involving a medical operation whose soundtrack is by Björk. It won the Palme d'Or.

[EDITED to add:]

It turns out that I was kinda lucky to get this one, because the second stanza is actually pointing to blindness (Helen Keller was of course blind and [the poet] Homer is said to have been ... and so was Stevie Wonder). D'oh!

Number two

With path or star; something that sparkles or lustres,
the first name of Trinity and Leia's actors,
distress just loves company despite all factors.

shining carrie misery -> (STEPHEN?) KING

Both red and white ones are found inside the bloodstream,
the ink on one's skin used to illustrate some theme,
the pope's Swiss ones are a protective escort team.

cell tattoo guard -> PRISON?

A little naïve girl who gets herself eaten,
in 2007 World Series unbeaten,
the world's tallest trees are found nowhere near Eton.

red-riding-hood red-sox redwood -> RED

This might point towards

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, a movie about a prison break based on a novel by Stephen King in which one character is nicknamed Red. It was nominated for some Oscars but didn't win any.

Number one

An organ two of which you have close to your nose,
tall structure that's linked to no castles or châteaux,
through Oxford and Reading this waterway outflows.

eye tower thames -> LONDON

A term coined by More in his 1516 book,
what black is to white and what hook is to unhook,
with tense or bright; forecasts predicting its outlook.

utopia opposite future -> DYSTOPIA?

In contrast to alien, a.k.a. Earthling,
between quid and quo, or professional's shortening,
in Genesis; making of something from nothing.

human pro creation -> SEX?

Best I can do with this is

Having tried out a number of dystopies set wholly or partly in London and featuring sex to some extent, it turns out that the intended one is CHILDREN OF MEN. Other candidates: Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, A Clockwork Orange. (There's also The Iron Heel, written by Jack London, but I don't think it was ever made into a movie.)

So the full list seems to be

Children of Men; The Shawshank Redemption; Dancer in the Dark; Memento; Gravity.

Credit where it's due

Shahriar Mahmud Sajid and Taleeb both informed me that cats are called "billy" in Hindi, which I had somehow failed to discover. El-Guest made a quite-possibly-correct suggestion for #1. Mohirly made an actually correct suggestion for #1. Chronocidal revealed that Pope JP2 knew 12 languages. Thanks, all!

$\endgroup$
26
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Could #1 be rot13(puvyqera bs zra)? $\endgroup$
    – Mohirl
    Oct 15, 2018 at 14:24
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Pope John Paul II knew & spoke Polish, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, German, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Esperanto $\endgroup$ Oct 15, 2018 at 14:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ If it’s yvgreny onolznxvat, then wouldn’t Gareth’s first answer make the most sense (because of the whole bottling thing in the story?) $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Oct 15, 2018 at 16:42
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @El-Guest Hmm, you're right. It seems that's a completely valid answer. (The one that I had in mind was found by Mohirl above) $\endgroup$
    – Jafe
    Oct 15, 2018 at 17:37
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I believe your "music-hall" could be "cabaret"? $\endgroup$ Oct 15, 2018 at 23:19
6
$\begingroup$

Extremely Partial Answer

Number five

A side spin in pool or a man from Ross-on-Wye,

ENGLISH

with rocket or mad; someone from TSRI,

SCIENTIST

the father of Jacob or writer of scifi.

ISAAC

So this refers to

NEWTON.

The flakes that keep floating around in the cold air,

SNOW

the colour of what you find just outside Dover,

WHITE (as in White Cliffs of Dover, thanks @Stidgeon

a melon, banana or lime or d'Anjou pear.

FRUIT

This refers to

SNOW WHITE FRUIT: so APPLE (thanks, @Stidgeon!)

With murder, extinction; a Catholic sermon,

MASS

a luminous square in the birthplace of Merman,

FORCE?

increase in velocity can be determined.

ACCELERATION

This refers to

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW

Altogether...

??

Number four The Pianist and Chinatown director's first name,

ROMAN

with Weimar or people's; most countries this form claim,

REPUBLIC

some twelve of these were understood by John Paul's brain.

APOSTLES?

This refers to

SAINT PETER?

"What's up", a term used by a Bunny quite snidey,

BUGS

profession of J. Jonah Jameson in Spidey,

EDITOR

creator of Windows, IT house now mighty.

BILL? GATES?

This refers to

A stingy thing followed by golf exclamation,

Bee+fore = BEFORE

the dominant degree in chordal progression,

FIFTH

between Mike and Oscar in NATO's expression.

NOVEMBER

This refers to

GUY FAWKES

Altogether:

??

Number three A city that always (some claim) is too windy,

CHICAGO

a nightclub with theater, a place for a shindig,

the animals which are called Billy in Hindi.

This refers to

A German word meaning a cellar or basement,

KELLER

the husband of Marge in prime-time entertainment,

HOMER

with woman or one hit; a term of amazement.

WONDER

This refers to

HELEN

Deciduous trees used for veniks and vihtas,

BIRCH

the top-level domain for Indian tweeters,

IN

the most-spoken Germanic tongue with Norse features.

DANISH

This refers to

Altogether:

Number two With path or star; something that sparkles or lustres,

the first name of Trinity and Leia's actors,

CARRIE

distress just loves company despite all factors.

MISERY

This refers to

Both red and white ones are found inside the bloodstream,

CELLS

the ink on one's skin used to illustrate some theme,

TATTOO

the pope's Swiss ones are a protective escort team.

GUARD

This refers to

The MILITARY/POLICE?

A little naïve girl who gets herself eaten,

in 2007 World Series unbeaten,

BOSTON

the world's tallest trees are found nowhere near Eton.

REDWOOD?

This refers to

Altogether:

Number one An organ two of which you have close to your nose,

EYES

tall structure that's linked to no castles or châteaux,

TOWER

through Oxford and Reading this waterway outflows.

THAMES

This refers to

A term coined by More in his 1516 book,

UTOPIA (thanks, @deep thought!)

what black is to white and what hook is to unhook,

OPPOSITE

with tense or bright; forecasts predicting its outlook.

FUTURE

This refers to

DYSTOPIA, an opposite future Utopia.

In contrast to alien, a.k.a. Earthling,

between quid and quo, or professional's shortening,

PRO

in Genesis; making of something from nothing.

EVE

This refers to

Altogether:

$\endgroup$
5
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ A few thoughts, r13(juvgr pyvssf bs qbire, uhzna cebperngvba, ybaqba rlr, gubznf zber - hgbcvn) $\endgroup$ Oct 14, 2018 at 22:08
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Number five, second paragraph: (ROT13) Juvgr pyvssf bs Qbire -> FABJ JUVGR SEHVG -> NCCYR $\endgroup$
    – Stidgeon
    Oct 14, 2018 at 23:41
  • $\begingroup$ @deepthought: thanks very much! I’m not sure what the two middle references you were making were for, but maybe I’m just tired!! $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Oct 15, 2018 at 0:50
  • $\begingroup$ English for billy is cat $\endgroup$
    – Taleeb
    Oct 15, 2018 at 4:56
  • $\begingroup$ the animals which are called Billy in Hindi - is cat $\endgroup$
    – AeJey
    Oct 15, 2018 at 9:00

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.