The treble clef represents a bijection from notes to letters. The four clefs with crossword clues each represent a permutation of the alphabet, with each letter mapping uniquely to another letter. Each of these is composed with treble clef, collectively mapping notes to letters (using #s and ♭s placed as in treble clef, due to composition with treble clef).
The crossword clues for the first five clefs are:
| Crossword Clue | Solution |
|---|---|
| The English Language | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ |
| Like the second half of a scale | DESCENDING |
| Circle of ____ | FIFTHS |
| Numerical Pitch | FREQUENCY |
| Portable Piano | KEYBOARD |
Each of these clues a permutation of the alphabet:
- English: Assign letters to notes sequentially, with A first and Z last.
- DESCENDING: Assign letters in reverse order, with Z first and A last.
- FIFTHS: Assign letters by jumping in fifths, i.e. A first, A+5=F second, F+5=K third, etc.
- FREQUENCY: Using Cornell as the canonical source, the frequency of letters in English text, assigning highest frequency letters first.
- KEYBOARD: Assign letters via the QWERTY keyboard in reading order.
These permutations can be verified by checking that the notes given match the solution. The full permutations are:
| ENGLISH | DESCENDING | FIFTHS | FREQUENCY | KEYBOARD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Z | A | E | Q |
| B | Y | F | T | W |
| C | X | K | A | E |
| D | W | P | O | R |
| E | V | U | I | T |
| F | U | Z | N | Y |
| G | T | E | S | U |
| H | S | J | H | I |
| I | R | O | R | O |
| J | Q | T | D | P |
| K | P | Y | L | A |
| L | O | D | C | S |
| M | N | I | U | D |
| N | M | N | M | F |
| O | L | S | W | G |
| P | K | X | F | H |
| Q | J | C | G | J |
| R | I | H | Y | K |
| S | H | M | P | L |
| T | G | R | B | Z |
| U | F | W | V | X |
| V | E | B | K | C |
| W | D | G | J | V |
| X | C | L | X | B |
| Y | B | Q | Q | N |
| Z | A | V | Z | M |
The final clef is a composition of all of the other clefs. Taking the notes and mapping them through the clefs in order (TREBLE → DESCENDING → FIFTHS → FREQUENCY → KEYBOARD) gives:
- D4: C → X → L → C → E
- C5: M → N → N → M → D
- E5: Q → J → T → B → W
- G#4: I → R → H → H → I
- F#4: G → T → R → Y → N
- G5: T → G → E → I → O
- C#4: B → Y → Q → G → U
- C#6: Z → A → A → E → T
- E5: Q → J → T → B → W
- C4: A → Z → V → K → A
- C#6: Z → A → A → E → T
- D4: C → X → L → C → E
- F#5: S → H → J → D → R
Reading the fully composed letters, solvers obtain the answer EDWIN OUTWATER.