First, we notice that each answer has an even length. We can put the answers into \(n\)×2 boxes as clued by the mess of boxes in the puzzle.

A
M
O
U
N
T
W
O
N
A
M
O
T
O
R
C
Y
C
L
E
C
R
A
Z
I
E
S
T
S
A
R
A
H
B
A
N
D
O
C
K
S
T
O
N
U
N
A
V
U
T
F
L
Y
N
N
D
I
D
A
N
A
R
M
Y
E
X
I
T
I
T
W
A
V
E
D
A
V
I
C
T
I
M
L
I
V
E
I
N
W
A
R
M
F
L
A
M
M
A
B
L
E
S
M
T
V
V
I
D
E
O
I
N
T
O
W
N
I
S
S
K
E
W
N
O
S
N
O
W
J
O
K
E
R
S
N
O
T
R
I
A
L
M
I
X
I
N
G
S
O
W
L
T
H
A
N
K
S
A
T
R
O
P
H
Y


Now we fit these boxes into the really long box (which we will call a “flag” from now on). We may notice that some of the columns in the boxes form state abbreviations. This is clued by the flavor text that says The American flag is a well-known symbol for what America and all its states represent. The flavor text goes on to say what the colors on the flag mean. We can gather that blue columns should be state abbreviations, red columns should be reversed state abbreviations, and white columns can be whatever. Given these constraints, we can fit the boxes.
M
T
V
V
I
D
E
O
I
N
L
I
V
E
I
N
W
$$\cdots$$
T
O
W
N
I
S
S
K
E
W
F
L
A
M
M
A
B
$$\cdots$$
A
R
M
I
T
W
A
V
E
D
D
O
C
K
S
T
O
$$\cdots$$
L
E
S
A
V
I
C
T
I
M
N
U
N
A
V
U
T
$$\cdots$$
O
W
L
T
H
A
N
K
N
O
T
R
I
A
L
N
O
$$\cdots$$
S
A
T
R
O
P
H
Y
M
I
X
I
N
G
S
J
O
$$\cdots$$
S
N
O
W
C
R
A
Z
I
E
S
T
A
M
O
U
N
$$\cdots$$
K
E
R
S
S
A
R
A
H
B
A
N
M
O
T
O
R
$$\cdots$$
T
W
O
N
A
F
L
Y
N
N
D
I
D
A
C
Y
C
L
E
N
A
R
M
Y
E
X
I
T


This gives an ordering on the states: Montana, West Virginia, Nevada, …, New York, Delaware, Idaho. We look at each state on the map and “elect” the letter corresponding to its background color on the flag. This gives EACH STATE HAS ITS QUIRKS, EVEN THE POLYGON STATES IN THE WEST

Notes

If you were wondering why the answers to the puzzles were a bit weird, this is why. This metapuzzle is very constrained, as I had to find phrases that make the flag possible without too many white columns. In addition, this puzzle used to have a Vigenère cipher at the end instead of a letter election, which I thought was inelegant (the cipher, not the election), but couldn’t think of something better at the time.