Saturday, Sept. 12

Look for a puzzle or a challenge each weekend in the Democrat and Chronicle. The puzzle will range from a rebus, picture-based challenge to a stumper in the form of Morse Code. Sometimes, without notice, we will hide clues within the pages, such as in the top folio on the pages.

This week, Zack’s rebus puzzle (published Saturday, Sept. 12, at the bottom of the LIVING section) is related to the Clothesline Festival. Here’s a hint: The Clothesline Festival was started by a group of artists who were tired of being snubbed by the Finger Lakes Art Exhibition jury. The festival had only one rule for showing artists - that the art be original.

To solve the puzzle, write out each of the clues. Add or subtract letters as instructed. When you’ve reached the key phrase, come back to picturetheimpossible.com and submit the answer

Check back here after 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, to see the solution to the first puzzle, “No need for this at Clothesline.”

Many of the Saturday challenges were developed by master puzzlemaker Zack Butler with support from artists and journalists at the Democrat and Chronicle.

Zack Butler is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at RIT. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, and cooperative systems. As a puzzler, he is both a creator and a competitive solver, and will be a part of the U.S. team at the World Puzzle Championship for the 13th time this November.