Panama (Solution)

Normal | Hard

Panama is a puzzle about almost-palindromes. The flavortext references the famous palindrome about the Panama Canal (“A Man, a plan, a canal, Panama”), but notes that it has “gone slightly wrong.” In the solution for each clue, the phrase would be a palindrome, except that two letters don’t match.

Extracting the first of the non-matching letters from each group yields a new set of phrases, each of which is almost-palindromic (GNAT DETER TANG, PEST SAP, EACH CAN, TARP SPRAY). Repeating the mechanic by extracting the first non-matching letter from each phrase yields the answer to the puzzle (and a good solution for one of the challenges constructing the Panama Canal), DEET.

All Near-Palindromes

An affirmative response if Mr. Jackson or Mr Adams asks you if you are made of molten rock.: magma i am, sam
Lubricant for a big cat’s Camry.: lion toyota oil
What you try to do in Pictionary.: draw a word
Limit on ones ability to speak sensitively.: tact cap
Negative response when asked, “Are you speaking about dried pressed seaweed?”: i do not refer to nori
The identical sibling of a small salamander.: newts twin
Observe the criminal: note felon
“A Puerto Rican music genre, rather than a short knife.”: reggaeton, not dagger
Where a destitute, miserable state prosecutor might reside, along with his chickens.: poor sad DA’s coop
Matched group of sly canines.: set of foxes
A choice between a rule and a small garden shovel.: law or trowel
More than six strainers.: seven sieves
“I rob Shrek, therefore I am”.: mug ogre ergo sum

One who fills his bunker with shishitos, poblanos, and habaneros.: pepper prepper
What God did on the sixth day, per Genesis.: made adam
A facility which studies sodium chloride: salt lab
Dirty magazines belonging to an Egyptian king.: tut’s smut
A pit full of sharpened fusilli, for example.: pasta trap
One who buys and sells airplane detectors.: radar trader
Metal spike with which you might attach an inter-office notice to a baby grand.: piano memo nail

Absentminded scribbles of a slippery fish.: eel doodles
“I can’t ___” (Statement by one who abhors almonds and cashews).: stand nuts
Dish consisting of maize over caviar.: corn on roe
House carport’s stringy floor wiper.: home garage mop
Mammal which flies at night in search of crispy shells and ground beef.: taco bat
Seldom-seen, angry wizard.: rare cross sorcerer
Purloined spotted cats.: stolen ocelots

Official flower parts of Michigan or Massachusetts, perhaps.: state petals
An EXTREME fermented apple beverage for the soft lump that dangles at the back of your mouth.: radical uvula cider
Playful aquatic mammal with a fondness for older mainstream music.: retro pop otter
Beer named after a hypothetical Mars-sized heavenly body beyond Neptune.: planet ten ale
The opposite of legato: staccato
Appropriate homework assignment about a book, for example.: proper report
Minestrone served in a handbag, perhaps.: purse soup
The smell of a toxic radioactive gas.: radon odor
Carriage in which the girl from the rhyme transported her little lamb: mary’s pram