We can first solve the puzzle presented by each of the characters. Each one solves to four answers: one six-letter answer and three five-letter answers. The full solutions for each can be found in the Appendix¹. We can notice that these sets of answers can fit uniquely in the logo shown at the top of the puzzle, which may help us progress through the puzzle.

Solving each character unlocks another one, and on the 11th solve, we are given both an list of "autographs" that we collected and an updated logo image which circles two of the spaces in the logo. Taking these letters from each character's logo and ordering them reads CUT OUT RING AND TOSS IT ONTO A BOTTLE.

This references Ring Toss, which has bottles. We can cut each of the logos to only retain the inner circle of eight letters. The grid in Ring Toss contains the names of fictional ringmasters from various animated franchises missing two letters. We can uniquely rotate and place the rings we created from each of the characters into the grid such that the names of ringmasters can be completely spelled. Note that rings are not square and may rotate an eight turn. See the grid below for where they go.

Next, we notice that the letter they circle is unique, in fact, the letters circles are the letters A through O. Finally, each ringmaster is associated with either one or two fans who are standing around the grid in one of the 8 cardinal directions. For each ringmaster, we can extract the letter in its ring corresponding to the position(s) of their fan(s). Finally, we can use the alphabetical ordering of the circled center letters:

This results in the clue phrase, WHAT ARE THROWN INTO RINGS. There is an English idiom "throw one's hat into the ring", and so the answer is HATS.

Author's Notes

After deciding to turn Ring Toss into an entangled puzzle, we claimed the answer pair that contained what we thought was the most thematic Ring Toss answer. Leaving us with JUSTICE, and a need to find a way to make the 15 rings we thought would be required for the clue phrase. We initially discussed doing normal crossword clues, but because Joanna was in the middle of working on ‘The Bazaar' at around the same time, we decided something that similar wasn't really an option.

Also around this time, we did the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt Smash metapuzzle (which we really really loved) and decided that if they are different enough, variety puzzles using small word transformations or properties would be fun and viable options.

J: Looking at the answer we had, I was convinced these should be Young Justice themed. My co-authors rejected this because 1) it would mean the puzzle answer is on the page and 2) they were convinced there was no way we would get enough heroes that would be interesting. While I didn't get my exact dream, I was able to convince them that DC heroes would be funny enough by showing them things like Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and Rebis.

We decided a clue phrase pointing to Ring Toss would be necessary or no one would ever pair the two. As a result, we ended up with 5-6 extracted letters per grid with all scraps additionally checked by the fans from Ring Toss. While every grid was constructed by hand, hundreds of lines of code were written to ensure the uniqueness.

The original plan for this puzzle was to have a static page with all 15 minipuzzles visible in reading order, but we ran into three issues with this. The first was that our testsolvers ended up with a lot of bad data, and no confirmation besides 2 crosses, making Ring Toss extraction impossible. The second was that the extraction puzzle order grouped a lot of similar puzzles, which wasn't the most fun thing for the solvers to see. The third issue was that you could get the clue phrase for Ring Toss at 8 minipuzzle solves, but actually solving Ring Toss would require teams to go back and solve at least 4 more puzzles.

Implementing the guess checker allowed teams to ensure that they had correct letters for extraction and as a happy side effect made the puzzle seem more accessible.

Minipuzzle patch notes:

• Anarky
• Answer first letters start with A-> Everything starts with A
• The Question:
• quiz bowl style questions -> quiz bowl style questions but question marks cover the text
• Element Lad:
• Atomic numbers -> anagram symbols to form words -> minihunt using different chemical element gimmicks numbers
• The Flash
• Renamed batsign to The Flash
• Silhouettes -> Flashing image ID -> Flashing morse code (strobe warning)

• Blockbuster
• ID movie trailers -> ID movie based on box office numbers
• Printers Devil
• Renamed Lucifer to Blue Devil to Printer's Devil
• Birds of Prey
• Removed (too constrained)
• Pokemon
• Impossible to construct in our rings
• The Riddler
• Did not make it in
• Beastboy
• Removed because we couldn't change one animal to another given the constraints

Our favorite DC Meet and Greet puzzle:

• Patrick: Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
• Joanna: ~~Nightwing~~ Old Version of the Flash 💀
• Margaret: Anarky

Appendix

Solutions for each of the characters are given in puzzle order.

Index in alphabetical order:

• Anarky
• Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
• B'dg
• Blockbuster
• Element Lad
• Elongated Man
• Flash
• Krypto
• Odd Man
• O.M.A.C.
• Printer's Devil
• Rebis
• Shazam
• The Question
• Two-Face

Shazam

The audio file can be split into 4 songs, the titles of which can be found using Shazam the music ID app.

Song/Answer	Band (for the curious)
CROWN	TXT
I WISH	One Direction
MAN RAY	The Futureheads
USUAL	Han Dong Geun

Anarky

In these clues, the first letter of each word is replaced with an A. Additionally, all answers start with the letter A.

Original Clue	Full Clue	Answer
Australian Apen A020 aomen's aingles Astonian alayer	Australian Open 2020 women's singles Estonian player	ANETT
A aore aember af ahe Aueer Aye aeboot	A core member of the Queer Eye reboot	ANTONI
Art amock (alternative aame)	Art smock (alternative name)	APRON
Arthur Aoca's aerm aor aescribing a aendency ao aevelop allergic aiseases	Arthur Coca's term for describing a tendency to develop allergic diseases	ATOPY

O.M.A.C.

After answering each of the crossword clues, we can assemble groups of words together to form acronyms.

Clue	Answer
A type of chart where one might find chaotic neutral (9)	Alignment
Rudimentary (5)	Basic
_____ appropriation (8)	Cultural
Academic (11)	Educational
Placebo _____ (6)	Effect
Event that requires a trip to the polls (or a mail-in ballot) (8)	Election
A native of Great Britain, France or Germany (8)	European
Visually descriptive or figurative language (7)	Imagery
E.g. Japanese, French, Hindi (8)	Language
A type of minima (5)	Local
Definition (7)	Meaning
Observing or proctoring (10)	Monitoring
Countries (7) Countries (7)	Nations
The Social _____ (7)	Network
Establishment (12)	Organization
Establishments (13)	Organizations
_____ Method (10)	Scientific
Google's original service (6)	Search
A building or the act of giving organization to a piece of writing (9)	Structure
E.g. Hammer, drill, or saw (4)	Tool
Manchester _____ (6)	United

The assembled acronyms:

Basic Local Alignment Search Tool	BLAST
European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations	ENEMO
Structure, Meaning, Imagery, Language, Effect	SMILE
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization	UNESCO

Elongated Man

Pairs of clues can be used to identify two words that differ by the doubling of a letter. Looking at the length constraints, we can place the longer version into the grid.

Clues	Answer
Under Shout	BELLOW
∇s Valleys	DELLS
Great Lake Spooky	EERIE
Mathematical shapes of donuts A gate	TORII

The Question

Each question is obscured by giant red question marks. It is still possible to answer each question based on what is visible. The number of question marks indicate the number of letters in the answer.

Complete Question	Answer
Who is the racehorse? Dammed by Astronomie and sired by Djebel, this Marcel Boussac horse started racing with under Charles Semblat in 1947. Until sustaining injuries, he was a favorite in his four-year-old season, winning that year's Ascot Gold Cup.	ARBAR
What is the constellation? One star from this constellation is located between Pollux and Aldebaran in the Winter Hexagon. This constellation is associated with Erichthonius, who is credited for inventing the four-horse chariot.	AURIGA
What is the company? The founder of this company, whose name is derived from his name, shared his first model airplanes at the Chicago and New York World's Fair. The company primarily created promo kits for automakers as one of its most notable kits was the 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car.	JO-HAN
What is the word? This word names one of the first aircraft to fly over the north pole. With a red logo depicting the letter "N", a company containing this endonym has aired The Big Bang Theory, the Olympics, and original content like I kveld med YLVIS.	NORGE

Krypto

Each clue is a cryptic clue. Hover over the clue for its explanation.

Clue	Answer
Pikachu painfully smuggled half of a lollipop (5)	CHUPA
Mako fins and chicken heads make a rice cake (5)	MOCHI
Dominican capital is pink gold (6)	ROSEAU
University prep, kind of ? (5)	UPPER

B'dg

B'dg is pronounced Badge, so a similar transform is applied to the clues and answers: all A's and E's are removed.

Original Clue	Full Clue	Clue Answer	Answer
With Own, food compny foundd by nd nmd ftr fmous ctor	With Own, food company founded by and named after famous actor	NEWMANS	NWMNS
Horror movi bout scub diving coupl	Horror movie about scuba diving couple	OPEN WATER	OPNWTR
Musicin nmd ftr gint niml known for ting bmboo	Musician named after giant animal known for eating bamboo	PANDA BEAR	PNDBR
Grocry stor itm offrd ovr plstic ltrntiv?	Grocery store item offered over plastic alternative?	PAPER BAG	PPRBG

Flash

The flashing of each colored square spells a word using morse code.

Color	Morse Code	Answer
Red	-.-. .... --- .. .-.	CHOIR
Green	..-. .-.. .- -- -... ---	FLAMBO
Blue	--- .- ... .. ...	OASIS
Yellow	... .... .. -... .-	SHIBA

Blockbuster

Each clue give an actor along with the budget to earnings comparison of one of their movies (film budget compared to box office sales).

Clue	Answer
Gary Busey: 6M → 1.8M	CARNY
Naomi Watts: 15M → 21.7M	DIANA
Frances McDormand: 7M → 60.6M	FARGO
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 1.4M → 1.7M	MAGGIE

Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man

The yes-no questions here can be grouped to describe 1 animal, 1 vegetable, 1 mineral and 1 man.

Questions	Category	Answer
Does it spend time in the water? Yes Is it a genus name? No Is it a rodent? Yes Is it an invasive species in the US? Yes Is it hunted for its fur? Yes Is it smaller than a mouse? No Is it the Spanish word for otter? No	Animal	COYPU
Does it contain a three-leafed ("trifolia") species? Yes Does it have yellow flowers? No Does it contain berberine? Yes Is it a genus name? Yes Is it sweet? No	Vegetable	COPTIS
Does it contain calcium? No Is it on the Mohs scale? Yes Is it orthorhombic? Yes	Mineral	TOPAZ
Can it make someone invulnerable? Yes Does it own a shield? Yes Is it a carry? No Is it created by Riot Games? Yes Is it the name of a character in a game? Yes	Man	TARIC

Two-Face

The clues can form pairs which give the same answer.

Clues	Answer
Austrian motto Things you can buy?	AEIOU
Cinematics prop Cooling agent	DRYICE
CMU neural networks library Dynalite communications protocol	DYNET
Border One of the major senses	TOUCH

Rebis

Each clue is a rebus.

Rebus	Answer
ENT + ELI (Manning) - L (in Roman numerals)	ENTEI
(BOG→BAG) KNOCK	KNACK
LAT + CHIN - IN (India)	LATCH
REST - T (thymine) + MALE - M	RESALE

Odd Man

These are clues with only their odd letters; even letters have been removed. The solutions also have only odd letters.

Original Clue	Full Clue	Clue Answer	Answer
Hw oen at we te so ltl etuis; tpdy	How someone acts when they show little enthusiasm; tepidly	LUKEWARMLY	LKWRL
Fec wr maig ite ay sd o ecie tp o ppe wt srns tahd t ah ib	French word meaning little Mary used to describe a type of puppet with strings attached at each limb	MARIONETTE	MROET
Wee uh ae Gnbr sre fr h ltr er o hr ie	Where Ruth Bader Ginsberg served for the later years of her life	SUPREME COURT	SPEE OR
Ymui ins oe il	Yomiuri Giants home field	TOKYO DOME	TKO OE

Printer's Devil

Each clue given is a printer's devilry, meaning that you can add an English word to make it a valid sentence.

Original Clue	Full Clue	Answer
Along with the angry din to town, I brought pitchforks and a list of demands	Along with the angry [mob i le]d into town, I brought pitchforks and a list of demands	MOBILE
Hack, Punt, Tool describes mineral	Hack, Punt, Tool describes MI[T in ge]neral	TINGE
You have big fee I heard	You have big fee[t or so] I heard	TORSO
Our university camps like fine wine, it comes back into style more every year	Our university camp[us age]s like fine wine, it comes back into style more every year	USAGE

Element Lad

Each clue indicates a list of elements in a different way.

Clue	Element aspect	Element List	Answer
210, 47.87, 186.21	Atomic weight	Astatine, Titanium, Rhenium	ATTIRE
544.7, 336.7, 1133	Melting point (K)	Bismuth, Potassium, Einsteinium	BIKES
4s2 4p2, 3s2 3p6, 3s2 3p4	Electron orbitals	Germanium, Argon, Sulfur	GEARS
8, 88, 52	Atomic number	Oxygen, Radium, Tellurium	ORATE