Bartering (Solution)

Normal | Hard

Bartering is a puzzle about finding words (or standard abbreviations) embedded in other words and trading them to form new words. In each “trade,” the provided icons indicate the type of word (or abbreviation) being removed and replaced:

	A body part (e.g. CHIN, HAIR, SKIN)
	An animal (e.g. DOG, CAT, BIRD)
	A state abbreviation (e.g. CA, NY, TX)
	A color (e.g. RED, BLUE, GREEN)
	A solfege musical solfege (e.g. DO, RE, MI)
	A playing card rank (e.g. NINE, TEN, JACK, QUEEN)

Solvers were provided with a “Shopping List,” which contained (often obscure) clues for the right-hand words. In hard mode, solvers were additionally given a list of items that were “Yours to Barter,” which they had to match up with the icon trades in order to determine the left-hand words. (The “Shopping List” clues for hard mode were also sometimes more obscure.)

The right-hand side of each trade included a numbered blank. Extracting the letters from the numbered blanks and ordering them appropriately gives the answer, A HILLSIDE BLACK MARKET

All Clues

Left Clue	Left Answer	Right Clue	Right Answer
Sore or throbbing, like old joints	ACHING	Gathering info verbally	ASKING
Tyson or Ali	BOXER	Old-timey hat type	BOWLER
Like many gowns or showers	BRIDAL	Extremely violent	BRUTAL
Covered with a layer of dried... something...	ENCRUSTED	Loaded with stuff, as an RPG player	ENCUMBERED
Acted as a liaison	INTERFACED	Woven together	INTERLACED
Weasel-like mammals found in northern forests	MARTENS	Symbols or branding	MARKINGS
Inward angle, or a nearby “-ville”	CAMBER	A piece of furniture for your tush	CHAIR
Pack like sardines or a busy subway car	OVERCROWD	Caused passengers to be bumped from a flight	OVERSOLD
Somewhat puzzled or lost in thought	BEMUSED	Prejudiced	BIASED
Variety of salmon	COHO	Doctrine or motto	CREDO
Reject, as a judge might a motion	DENY	Bring a baby into the world	DELIVER
Passed on by your parents	GENETIC	Not brand name	GENERIC
Edible cacti common in Mexican cuisine	NOPALES	Reads out loud	NAR-RATES
Loose-fitting shirts for women	BLOUSES	What people on a Forbes list have	BIL-LIONS
Starbucks lovers or a bathroom on the right, for example	MONDE-GREEN	An egg-stealing mammal	MONGOOSE
A cooler name for social engineering	PHI-SHING	Gathering info physically	PROBING
Spaghetti strap undershirts	CAMI-SOLES	Small, decorative appetizers	CANAPES

The final set of words required making multiple unchecked substitutions to connect the beginning to the end:

Heavy, like some blankets or vests ⇒ WEIGHTED ⇒ ⇒ WHEELED / WHEELED ⇒ ⇒ Worked the streets ⇒ WHORED
More difficult ⇒ HARDER ⇒ ⇒ HINDER / HINDER ⇒ ⇒ An airplane thief ⇒ HIJACKER
What Pearls come Before ⇒ SWINE ⇒ ⇒ SPEAR / SPEAR ⇒ ⇒ SPACE / SPACE ⇒ ⇒ STANCE / STANCE ⇒ ⇒ Cease to develop or progress ⇒ STAGNATE