Hints: Research Center
Getting Started:
Every circle contains a “this” and a “that”, and should each be replaced by a word. The context of the text matters a lot, and can help you fill them out. Perhaps you might spot something interesting with the two words that are meant to be paired. Each word can fit in the number of blanks provided.
What's the theme?
The “this” and the “that” are anagrams.
I'm stuck on these clues
Here are some of the harder ones to help you out: The one about fighting a pandemic is ANTIPLAGUE / PLATEAUING. The one about decorative things and wool is GARNISHES / SHEARINGS. The one about armored cavalry and cement slurry is PEYTRALS / PLASTERY.
What’s the line at the bottom for?
Reading the “this” letters followed by the “that” letters in order gives letters that can fit into the blanks at the bottom. The given cluephrase is in German, and refers to a game.
Extraction:
You won’t need to play the game in its entirety, just enough to understand the mechanics. The game involves shuttling between pairs of anagrams and we have pairs of anagrams; what’s the natural way to extract?
Extraction part 2:
The game involves doing so in a way that minimizes fuel. Count up the minimum amount of fuel that would be required to go from one anagram to the other.