Stupidly hard work quiz (help!)

[ApocalypseNowt]

If anyone remembers previous years my work sets a stupidly hard quiz for us to have a go at every Christmas. This year's is no different....

I've managed to complete the first 8 puzzles myself but now I'm stuck Very frustrating as I've got the gist of the puzzles but can't figure out what the answer is!

Here's the first one and here's my answers. If anyone can figure out the final answer (two words 5,7) I'd be ever so grateful 😊

I'm trying to work out what the numbers in brackets after each clue mean as they don't seem to relate to the number of letters in the answer......could it be that you take the letters from the answer to make another another answer?? e.g. "I see dead people" (8, 14) you'd take the 8th and 14th letter ......d and e, then for "good morning etc" (5, 3) you'd use m and o......

1980 = I am your father - Darth Vader

20 = A
8 = F

Could the numbers refer to the letters in the catch phrase?
So 'I see dead people' 8,14 would be d and e.

Maybe too obscure, but have you tried plotting the numbers as coordinates?
No idea how it would link to the films though!

please tell me you're likely to have the answer to this at some point.

I can't see what a pair of letters has to do with the film tbh. Doesn't seem like it could be the initials of the writers (if you take The Empire Strikes Back) or the initials of the actor who says it as those letters aren't even in the answer.

1980
IAYF - I am your father
DV - Darth Vader

20, 8

20 is too many letters for a word, surely?! So these numbers can’t be like crossword clues where we get the number of letters in each answer in brackets.

tell me you will have the answer to this at some point very soon!

I see I’m v late to the party with my musings

Not till Jan but I'm confident we'll solve it before then . Still lots more puzzles after this one

20 is too many letters for a word, surely?! There are more than 20 letters in the answer - I posted a couple above yours

whoops double posted making me seem even more deranged than I actually am.

Do any of your colleagues have any thoughts on this OP?

If you've got your answers in excel you can test the letter numbering theory using the equation =Left(cell with the answer in, number of letter you want to extract) e.g. =Left(B2,8)
so if you put the 8 and 14 etc into two columns you can easily extract those to see if they offer any further clues or answer

@emmathedilemma

I'm trying to work out what the numbers in brackets after each clue mean as they don't seem to relate to the number of letters in the answer......could it be that you take the letters from the answer to make another another answer?? e.g. "I see dead people" (8, 14) you'd take the 8th and 14th letter ......d and e, then for "good morning etc" (5, 3) you'd use m and o......

I thought that too, but the answer to 1995 is Freedom 2,8 and there are only 7 letters in Freedom! #Confused

actually OP in your answer spreadsheet do you think you could put the pair of numbers in a column and post a pic? it would make it easier

this is when we find out you work at Bletchley Park or something

I love puzzles like this but I have no ideas other than what others have already posted :/ My only contribution is that 'Twenty from the 20th' makes me think it could be '*** Century'?

How do you get any work done in December?! This would totally consume me.

I thought that too, but the answer to 1995 is Freedom 2,8 and there are only 7 letters in Freedom! #Confused

You have ignored the WW William Wallace

So

Freedom William Wallace
2 = R
8 = W

Spreadsheet with bracketed numbers included

Long shot. Is it 'minus fifteen' ?
Empire strikes back is star wars episode 5. Twenty from the twentieth could be 5 - 20 = -15

thanks! my conclusion is, I dunno. driving me mad though

Like your thinking @Dadalus but no

DE, MO, OL, ME, RW, WF, DL, AE, TR, NE, UB, PP, FF, AM, DH, EC, EA, IS, EE, AF

That's all of the associated letters.

@Dadalus

Long shot. Is it 'minus fifteen' ? Empire strikes back is star wars episode 5. Twenty from the twentieth could be 5 - 20 = -15

this is genius I'm so sorry it's not right

OP how smart are your colleagues - and is the company american or british? May be relevant

@FoxgloveSummers the people who set the quiz are very clever and evil. Last years we ended using using a gchq puzzle book to solve one of them. They said they'd make it harder this year!

British company

@girlmom21

Oh twenty from the 20th is just 20 quotes from the 20th century

I logged on to say 'films, century' but I think @girlmom21 has it right.

God knows what the rest of you are on about.