Solution: KarAO3ke
Answer: RUMOR
Written by Adeline Wong
Alright, alright, have an actual solution.
This puzzle consists of a series of videos, where an instrumental version of a song plays beneath some interestingly-formatted text. Most of the songs should be identifiable by memory or through an audio ID tool such as Shazam, while the images are recognizable (perhaps with some careful googling of the puzzle title) as story titles from the fanfiction archive AO3 (Archive of Our Own).
The titles themselves, which are redacted, align with the missing lyrics from the karaoke songs. (Fics on AO3 are noted for using song lyrics as their titles—so much so that it's frequently possible to make lyric videos using them.) Solvers should therefore note that the lyrics are important; in particular, the specific line highlighted in red in each video. These are:
| Video | Song | Lyric |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eye of the Tiger | Rising up, back on the street |
| 2 | Hooked on a Feeling | Everything's alright |
| 3 | Highway to Hell | Asking nothing |
| 4 | Carry On Wayward Son | Don't you cry no more |
| 5 | Istanbul (Not Constantinople) | Even old New York was once New Amsterdam |
| 6 | Stayin' Alive | And now it's alright, it's okay |
| 7 | Twist and Shout | Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now (come on, baby) |
| 8 | Dancing Queen | Having the time of your life |
| 9 | All-Star | Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running |
| 10 | The Lion Sleeps Tonight | In the jungle, the mighty jungle |
| 11 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Caught in a landslide |
Reading down the first letters of each lyric gives READ EACH FIC, suggesting that we should find actual fics with these titles on the AO3 website. If solvers are familiar with the AO3 tagging system, or simply willing to investigate the search options, some limiting factors should be obvious: all of the fics are by anonymous authors, have a rating of G, have multiple or nonspecific category tags, have been tagged "No Archive Warnings Apply", and are listed as completed. A bit of trial and error (even with these constraints, some of these names are very popular!) should yield the proper fics. Solvers may also note the publication dates, which are displayed in the same view as the lyric titles—all of these fics were published on January 1, though the years differ.
The actual content of the fics are vague descriptions of scenes, followed by a sentence that begins "Take the number . . .". All of these scenes are from movies or TV shows, during which a different song from this puzzle is playing in the soundtrack. These are:
| Fic | Movie/Show | Number | Song Playing in Scene | Year of Posting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rising up, back on the street | The Umbrella Academy (S1E1) | 3 (5 - 2) - the boy is known as Number Five | Istanbul (Not Constantinople) | 2021 |
| everything's alright | Wayne's World | 4 (80% of 5) - there are five people headbanging in the car | Bohemian Rhapsody | 2019 |
| asking nothing | Shrek | 8 (4 * 2) - Shrek Forever After is the fourth Shrek installment | All-Star | 2005 |
| don't you cry no more | Guardians of the Galaxy | 9 (((1 + 9 + 7 + 3) / 2) - 1) - Peter Quill says the year 1973 as the guard tazes him | Hooked on a Feeling | 2006 |
| even old new york was once new amsterdam | The Lion King | 10 (5 * 2) - Their trio's down to two | The Lion Sleeps Tonight | 2009 |
| and now it's alright, it's okay | Mamma Mia! | 1 (3 / 3) - Sophie has three potential fathers | Dancing Queen | 2003 |
| come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now (come on, baby) | Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief | 3 - Percy, Annabeth, and Grover | Highway to Hell | 2020 |
| having the time of your life | Rocky III | 5 - Rocky V is the highest-numbered mainline Rocky movie | Eye of the Tiger | 2009 |
| fed to the rules and i hit the ground running | Saturday Night Fever | 9 (2 + 7) - He buys two slices and says the paint cost $7.98 | Stayin' Alive | 2020 |
| in the jungle, the mighty jungle | Supernatural (S15E20, the final episode) | 5 (6 - 1) - the man's full first name is Samuel | Carry On Wayward Son | 2012 |
| caught in a landslide | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | 3 - the holiday is Von Steuben Day | Twist and Shout | 2005 |
Some of the publication years are clearly outrageous—there's no way this puzzle has been seeded since 2003! Converting the years (minus 2000) to letters using A1Z26 yields USE FIC TITLE. The fic titles are the song lyrics, so we index into them using the numbers associated with their movie scenes. Associating scenes with lyrics forms a closed cycle; ordering by this cycle yields the phrase ANSWER RUMOR.
Author’s Notes
Obviously, this puzzle was inspired by the "AO3 sings" tumblr/YouTube meme. Once the theming was solid, seeding puzzle data on AO3 itself seemed like a natural next step. I'd say I'm sorry for making solvers delve the depths of the Archive, but, well—I'm really not. Fanworks and fan creations are art just like any other type, and they should be treated as such, from wonder and appreciation all the way to meaningful and thoughtful critique of both the works themselves and their ecosystem.
Of the songs used for this puzzle, only three (Carry On Wayward Son, All-Star, and Bohemian Rhapsody), actually have full-length title lyric videos on YouTube. My personal favorite, which was not featured in the puzzle, is the Mountain Goats' No Children—if only for the sheer hilarity of the number of fics titled "hand in unlovable hand".