Feeders:
AMIDSHIPS
CHARCUTERIE
EDWIN OUTWATER
FLUORESCENT
JUDICATORY
MARGARITA
MISINFORMATION
This puzzle presents solvers with 8 tartans. While tartans are typically associated with Scotland, the repeated use of 'state' in the puzzle's flavortext should clue the realization that U.S. states have tartans!
However, the tartans on the pages aren't exact matches for anything you'll find. In fact, solvers will notice upon inspection that the horizontal and vertical patterns for each tartan don't match. Each tartan is in fact a combination of two individual state tartans.
To incorporate the feeders, solvers should notice that the two-letter abbreviations for the pairs of states represented by the tartans can be found in each of the feeders, always separated by one letter. Taking the letters in between the states represented by the graphics gives the following:
| Tartan | State 1 | State 2 | Feeder | Extracted letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ID | HI | AMIDSHIPS | S |
| 2 | AR | UT | CHARCUTERIE | C |
| 3 | IN | UT | EDWIN OUTWATER | O |
| 4 | CA | OR | JUDICATORY | T |
| 5 | IN | OR | MISINFORMATION | F |
| 6 | MA | GA | MARGARITA | R |
| 7 | OR | SC | FLUORESCENT | E |
| 8 | UT | RI | CHARCUTERIE | E |
Reading the extracted letters in the given order extracts the answer, SCOT FREE.