Solution
Warning: This solution page has spoilers to
several of puzzles from The Puzzle Hustle
This is a mash-up throwback puzzle. The puzzle is made of five mini-puzzles that are mash-ups of puzzles from the KTaNE Puzzle Hustle. Each mini-puzzle can be solved similarly to how the original puzzles were solved.
NOTE: This solution page will not go into depth about how the original puzzles are solved. The Hustlers requires you to know how the originals were solved, so the solution page will too.
Baby Don't Hurt Me + Redundancy
There are four modules given with one clickable area. When taking the first letters of these modules, three of them can be used to create a word from Alphabet (TJL). We can then extract the unused letter: C.
| Affine Cycle | Bases | Crazy Talk |
| Draw | Encryption Bingo | Fizz Buzz |
| Green Arrows | Hexamaze | Instructions |
| Jack Attack | Know Your Way | Light Cycle |
| Mafia | Neutralization | Odd One Out |
| Pie | QR Code | Rhythyms |
| Simon Simons | Topsy Turvy | USA Maze |
| Valves | Who's That Monsplode | X-Ray |
| Yahztee | Zoni |
Easy as $#*& + Put Your Labcoat On
The names can be converted to numbers. To figure out how, look at the solution for Easy as $#*&. The second part of the equation is straight up counting whatever is given. Once the full equation is solved, looking at the element symbol corresponding to the atomic numbers spells a clue phrase: NATO REVERBERATION. This provides the second letter, ECHO.
| Mafia | Op | Listening | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronny | 42 | S. (−) | Halberd | Medieval Weapons | &$**& | 15 | = 27 |
| Hunter | 5 | M. (×) | Chopper | Helicopter | #&$&& | 15 | = 75 |
| Cher | 35 | S. (−) | Aluco | Tawny Owl | $#*$& | 11 | = 24 |
| Briane | 4 | M. (×) | Victoria | Waterfall | &**$$ | 12 | = 48 |
| Diane | 21 | A. (+) | Ripper | Tearing Fabric | $&&*& | 16 | = 37 |
| John | 7 | M. (×) | Wright | Ballpoint Pen Writing | $*$** | 11 | = 77 |
| Stacy | 20 | D. (÷) | Ping | Table Tennis | *$$&$ | 10 | = 2 |
| Tim | 2 | M. (×) | Gohl | Soccer Match | ##*$* | 11 | = 22 |
| Gary | 31 | S. (−) | Geshema | Tibetan Nuns | #&&&& | 18 | = 13 |
| Tim | 2 | A. (+) | Stihl | Chainsaw | &#&&# | 16 | = 18 |
| Thomas | 37 | S. (−) | Coast | Beach | *&*&& | 18 | = 19 |
| What's Given | Number | Full Equation | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Spins properties | 20 | 27 - 20 | = 7 | N |
| Curriculum classes | 10 | 75 + 10 | = 85 | At |
| Adventure Game items | 16 | 24 - 16 | = 8 | O |
| Keypad symbols | 27 | 48 + 27 | = 75 | Re |
| Mineseeker colors | 14 | 37 - 14 | = 23 | V |
| Digital Cipher Letters | 9 | 77 - 9 | = 68 | Er |
| The Switch LEDS | 2 | 2 + 2 | = 4 | Be |
| Fruits fruits | 4 | 22 × 4 | = 88 | Ra |
| Creation lifeforms | 9 | 13 + 9 | = 22 | Ti |
| 3D Mazes mazes | 10 | 18 - 10 | = 8 | O |
| Turtle Robot drawings | 12 | 19 - 12 | = 7 | N |
Second Glances + Not-A-Maze
Once the Nonogram is solved, the unmarked squares create morse code, giving the cluephrase SAME AS THE FOURTH LETTER
| 1 1 9 | 1 1 1 1 1 1 | 3 1 1 | 3 1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 1 1 | 1 3 1 3 | 2 1 2 1 | 1 1 1 1 1 | 2 1 2 | 1 1 1 1 2 1 | 3 1 1 1 1 | 6 1 3 |
|
| 1 1 1 3 1 | |||||||||||||
| 3 1 2 | |||||||||||||
| 1 3 1 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1 1 3 2 | |||||||||||||
| 1 1 1 1 3 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2 1 1 1 2 | |||||||||||||
| 1 1 1 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2 1 1 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1 1 3 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2 1 1 1 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1 1 1 3 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2 3 2 | |||||||||||||
| 1 3 1 1 1 |
Base of Operations + Word Qualities
Finding the pairs of symbols in the X-Ray manual under the given rule seeds provides a number (30132244355040325552132). This number, just like the one in the original puzzle, is in base 6. Converting this number to base 30 provides a name, MICHAEL CAINE. This name can then be put into the wheel and solved like a normal Word Qualities puzzle, giving the next letter: LIMA.
Abstract Art + Bearing in Mind
The three images have a flag from Maritime Flags on the right. Breaking down the four different color channels and reading the numbers in each section provides a rule seed. The letter corresponding to the flag given with each rule seed gives the phrase: FOURTH VOWEL, which is an O.
| Flag | Rule Seed | Letter |
|---|---|---|
 | 924 | F |
| 2196 | O | |
| 6258 | U | |
| 9127 | R | |
 | 6761 | T |
| 5368 | H | |
| 3260 | V | |
| 943 | O | |
 | 1248 | W |
| 376 | E | |
| 7869 | L |
CELLO