October 2016 – The Dreams of Gerontius

The Clock Without A Face

2016-10-30 Armchair

The Clock Without A Face

The Clock Without a Face by Gus Twintig (a pseudonym for Scott Teplin, Mac Barnett and Eli Horowitz) is an unusual armchair treasure hunt book, though its peculiarities are also a source of annoyance if you want to solve it all from the comfort of your living room.

Immediately catching the eye with its strangely pentagonal shape, this chunky board book is stuffed with amusing, colourful pictures. Each page shows a different floor from a 13 storey apartment block. The building’s residents have their different quirks, from the hoarder with her piles of toasters and cupboards of nuclear missiles, to the mime with his minimalist black and white decor and a secret, grimy “speaking room”.
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Merlin Mystery Solution: Part 5

2016-10-28 Merlin Mystery

The Merlin Mystery

Go to the Merlin Mystery Solution Index.

This is Part 5 of my solution to The Merlin Mystery (“MM”) by Jonathan Gunson and Marten Coombe.

This post provides the complete solution to the Cone mini-puzzle.

In part 3, we established the chain of objects that links the Cone to the spitfires and the Merlin symbol (“Mer”). We also saw that there is an ambiguity since the Cube is also linked to Mer.

This part goes through the clues that explain the meaning of the spitfires and how this resolves the ambiguity between the Cone and Cube links to Mer.

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Five Fiendish Picture Puzzles

2016-10-27 My Puzzles, Quick Puzzles

This post contains a small collection of picture puzzles.

Some require logic to solve, others spatial awareness and others are language based.

Good luck
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The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth

2016-10-23 Armchair, Solutions

The Great Global Treasure Hunt

For a treasure hunt book with such a long title, the publisher provided a surprisingly short time to solve it. The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth by Tim Dedopulos was published in September 2011 and the competition to win €50,000 closed in March 2012.

There were nevertheless 77 correct entries received with the winner chosen at random.

After that, the publisher quickly lost interest. A series of videos were recorded by the author revealing clues to the solution on each page of the book, but only the first six were posted to YouTube. Perhaps the escalating obscurity of the solutions started to grate because, I’m sorry to say, this is a treasure hunt that infuriates rather than intrigues. Where did such a great idea go wrong?

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Merlin Mystery Solution: Part 4

2016-10-21 Merlin Mystery

Prague Astronomical Clock

Go to the Merlin Mystery Solution Index. This is Part 4 of my solution to The Merlin Mystery (“MM”) by Jonathan Gunson and Marten Coombe.

This post provides the complete solution to the Pyramid mini-puzzle.

In part 3, we established the chain of objects that links the Pyramid to the Nimue symbol (“Nim”). This part goes through the clues that in turn link the Nim symbol to the zodiac signs and the witch hats. These sets of symbols provide the first step to solving the puzzle.
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Maze: Finding The Path

2016-10-17 Armchair, Solutions

Maze by Christopher Manson

Maze by Christopher Manson is, according to the cover, “The World’s Most Challenging Puzzle”. True to the claim, nobody correctly solved it during the two years between publication in October 1985 and the close of the competition in September 1987. The $10,000 prize money was instead split between several people who all got closest to the solution.

The puzzle has several parts. The first step is to find the shortest path in and out of the maze. Then there is a cryptic riddle to find at the centre of the maze. Finally, the solution to the riddle is solved by finding clues hidden along the shortest path.

This post takes a quick look at the book and provides the solution to finding the shortest path. You can also download an interactive map that keen Maze-solvers may find useful.

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Having fun with Pokemon Go

2016-10-15 Computer Games

Pokemon Go

It’s difficult to justify writing a blog about treasure hunting without mentioning the biggest treasure hunt of the last 12 months: hunting Pokemon with Pokemon Go. You gotta catch ’em all!

For some, catching Pokemon is an obsession. Others dimiss the game as childish nonsense. As usual, the best option in life is to find a happy medium between two extremes. It’s a digital treasure hunt, not something to get worked up over, and hunting Pokemon can be a lot of fun.

This post is about finding the fun in Pokemon Go if throwing red balls at weird Japanese monsters isn’t your cup of tea.

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Merlin Mystery Solution: Part 3

2016-10-14 Merlin Mystery

The 7 Solid shapes

Go to the Merlin Mystery Solution Index.

This is Part 3 of my solution to The Merlin Mystery (“MM”) by Jonathan Gunson and Marten Coombe.

This post looks at the 7 solids that appear on the shelf on page 4 (P4). They each represent a mini-puzzle that needs solving to reach the final solution.

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Enigma Escape, London

2016-10-10 Escape Rooms

Enigma Escape

Escape Rooms are popping up everywhere. Locked into a confined space with some friends, you typically have one hour to find clues, solve puzzles, crack codes and escape. They’re an unusual experience that brings point-and-click puzzle computer games into the real world.

I visited Enigma Escape in London in early 2016. At the time, they had only a single room available, The Killer. Since the entire point of the experience is mystery and surprise, I promise this is a spoiler-free review.

The set-up for The Killer is that you and your friends are gassed during a visit to the cinema and wake to find yourself in a locked cage. Can you escape before the killer returns to deal with you? Thus begins a tense hour trying to break free.

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