Meet the Marks

Meet the Marks

Puzzle

Puzzle Solution

I wrote this puzzle for Microsoft Intern PuzzleDay 2003, whose theme was reality TV. In fact, it was the first puzzle I wrote after joining the Microsoft puzzle community. Despite this being the first puzzle I wrote in the Microsoft style, I'm still quite happy with it after all these years.

Check answer

Hints

The answer to "Blackbeard, for example" is PIRATE, but how can you make that fit?
In each blank with an offset below it, you need to write an ASCII character, not a letter. For instance, use the @ symbol to make PIR(AT)E.
Use the offset to modify the ASCII value of the symbol above it. For instance, the @ symbol becomes a capital N.
Some of the resulting symbols aren't letters. Expand them into symbol names, like in the clues.