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[ALISDAIRPARK]

PM'd you...I'm back playing this one....looks like we've got to the 12th to save the Prof.

EDIT: Ok so I think we've hit the point where we need to share...

I've solved puzzles 1-14 and can probably remember how with a bit of effort and 16 & 17 too. Nothing for 15.

Can't see anything in the crime reports.

I think the Zodiac Killer code and the Phaistos are just there to hurt our heads, as there can't be an expectation to crack those (shurely?) unless they don't match the originals...

On to the book:

Fibonacci comes up a few times, however 1-3-1-5 is a little ambiguous

pg 17... the pentagon creche poem. I get the numbers as 3, 6, 12, 14, 19 which could give EFLNS ?

66 & 67 - easy enough to solve
74 - no idea
76 - not tried yet
81 - Ok so they're numbers..we need to find a sQuare..why a capital Q? yeah, no idea
93 - 9 numbers, 9 words....can't get anything meaningful
104 - words of T ...I think is just a link to Tristan & Isolde, as are most of the references on 105
114 & 115 - The 3 stars (pentagrams) I think anagram...maybe?
117 - only identified Winchester so far (the round table)
119 - Fibonacci code again, quite straightforward
121 - the first of the symbol code (which I suspect will be key to cracking this whole thing)
123 - paper folding fun!!
133 - ???
134 - not tried
141 - the symbol code again
149 - zodiac signs upside down & "into trust or slaughtered" I think the phrase relates to the overall story...but could be an anagram
150 & 151 - tapestry..need to translate?
154 gives the date 23rd April (but there's lots of dates scattered through the book)
160 - symbol code
167 - symbol code
170 - ditto
173 - and again
174 - interesting, but got nothing useful
180 - symbol code
181 - code that I'm sure I cracked, but can't find now
185 - mosiac pattern - pretty easy when you spot how
188 & 189 - clearly shows how to find the treasure, with the right place time and object. Not cracked the code though.

I didn't really look at the Wordle just seemed like lots of related words?

Not even started on the manuscripts yet....

Ugh... so many questions... and that's not even the random small nuggets of info in the text..

Hopefully the list will help the discussion, or prompt more help....

[pancito]

Alisdair... Can you give me a short intro to what I need to do? I've registered and started downloading the journal. What next? Kinda cornfused...

[ALISDAIRPARK]

I'll do my best ....

You should have a good idea of the story element if you've read the blog? (Save the Professor & find ancient treasure at the same time).

How to do that then? Well there's loads of codes and puzzles spread throughout, although so far the codes I've broken are more hints than anything concrete. I think the full answer needs to be deduced from the text, but then I also think the symbol code could be a biggie...and in a nutshell we need to find a location, an object, and a date (and probably time?)

Does it helps?

[pancito]

The puzzle numbers you give above correspond to ??? Not clear on that. It's a LOT of info to digest, but I'll do my best.

[Professor Tarr]

Alisdair... I'll add to your lore below...

pg 17... the pentagon creche poem. I get the numbers as 3, 6, 12, 14, 19 which could give EFLNS ?

I've read this a million different ways -it could simply be

[Professor Tarr]

Okay now for the manuscript...

Title page

Madonna and child?
STSV text?
Deer's eyes?
Nar... (Nose or river?)

Latin translated by Rachel...
Grid window... 8x8 grid... 2x7 beneath it. Romanus is seven letters... Many of our codes are divisible by 8... The trio of glass panes at the top is frequently referred to in architecture as a Fleur de Lis and is representative of many of hte arches we have seen (didn't Rachel or Helen or somebody tell us to look up?) in the journal.

The WElls?

The sword in the manuscript seems to hold the date... or does it... don't know... I'm hoping this is a substitution or something not an anagram...

I do know that www and com are both in there if it IS an anagram... I hope so that is not the case...

Fleur de Lises... The lower right is Florentine... no clue on the others...

The location quadrant... are the letters representative of rivers?
All of them?

Is the last page another wordle? Or is simply there to tease us...

[/spoiler]

[catherwood]

Freely stolen from my other forum, I hope the author doesn't mind:

[Professor Tarr]

Don't mind at all. I just wish I had listened to my meter a little more...

Happy Holidays all!

[katsmom]

just getting started

[katsmom]

pigpen cipher

[Professor Tarr]

Like many puzzles (or telegrams) there is an

[katsmom]

Thanks for the hint.
I've been reading the intro and it says there are 50 clues in the journal. I've found 23. Have you found more?

[Professor Tarr]

Page numbers are above... there are 37 or so that we listed, but there are some others that are puzzlesqu... like the riddle, or maybe there are multiple on one page such as the cipher AND the Indiana Jones sunlight director thingy...

I have long thought that there must be some more puzzles embedded in the text in some places. It doesn't seem consistent that there are long stretches where no puzzles are found - only backstory. Such as the King Henry Shakespeare thing. I keep thinking the drawings are important. Or what about that beautiful drawing of Rachel - why include it? It must be a puzzle too... is it the date?

I've also wondered why some elements are attached to the puzzle that seem purely superfluous... like the Fordebridge Times. Any body find a puzzle in there? In the Professors letter (a similar web-only artifact) we have the key to the pigpen... why not in the Police Reports or the newspaper...?

One thing we have to keep in mind is that this was intended to be a book AND web puzzle. It was more vaguely ARGish to begin with. The blog that was on Rachel's own site was interactive though I was the only person trying to stir it up and have fun in character... it eventually moved over to the general site.

I thought too that the bank of Fordebridge might be a part of the solve because we are told explicitly it can be accessed from anywhere in the world if you have the passcodes... and the Globe anagram seems to leads us there - if we can figure out the second half - which no one claims to have done.

The Manuscript I believe was always intended to be important, but it seems it could contain the whole puzzle at this point...

In any event, I think this has been one of the better hunts I've seen. Truly beautiful in construction with puzzles that are challenging, but not out of reach. I'd love to know exactly where all the puzzles are too, but I've been resolved for a long time that I am not going to be anywhere close to a solve but maybe I can help someone else solve the thing.

I still look at that darned sword text pretty much every day... darned it...

If I can help with some areas, let me know...

Enjoy...
John

www.brickbybrickfortanzania.org

[katsmom]

I've recieved an email saying the journal is on the way. I just had to have it. By the looks of the youtube video there are more things in hte journal than on line but I could be wrong. I've sent the link to a puzzle trialler in the hopes that she can help out as well. I must admit I am stuck on quite a few of the puzzles from the journal yet, but I shall carry on in the hopes I can solve them.

Afterall, we can't give up on the professor can we?

[Professor Tarr]

I believe it's all a matter of timing actually. I think given time, the more lithsome amongst those so gathered here would solve it handily... but I think now that we have a deadline - which I think is a good thing (Cause I want someone to solve it and tell us!!!) - I believe only a handful of folks will step up.

PM me if you have specific questions on specific, uh, questions... I tried to hint or tell most of what I know above... but you never know...