This goo was worth a point in February 2024.

publication date: Saturday, February 17, 2024 (part of February 2024)

category: Government

clue: Following the plot twists of a Christopher Nolan movie like TENET should be a piece of cake for a master of espionage.

explanation: Tenet was the C.I.A. director under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. more…

intended difficulty: very hard

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, and Samir Mehta

trivia: The 2020 movie Tenet was heavily influenced by Sator Squares, and so Scott couldn't resist slipping in a reference to it in this final goo in the theme.

Ancient Acrostic: Sator Squares are a meme from ancient Rome, a double-acrostic palindrome puzzle in which five words repeat backwards, forwards, upwards, and downwards. The tiles were made over the course of centuries, and historians have a variety of theories as to their origin but no definitive explanation, making them a compelling historical enigma. Ponder their meaning with these seven celebrities, each of whom was inspired by a different five-letter word that can be traced in a winding route on the squares.

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