Posts

Puzzletober 2026: Dapper

Image
     Everyone in the castle seems to swarm to the sides: the soldiers to figure out what's happening, and the civilians to be close to the soldiers. After Terra dons the cloak she used at the checkpoint, the three in the tower slide down some vines and run for the main gate. On the way, nobody is relaxed enough to stop or even really suspect them. It's only once they've taken a few paces out the gate that somebody yells at them to turn around. As they do, they behold Richard, looking dapper as ever and rather furious. His eyes are trained on Terra as he yells, "I thought it was you! Dahlia was right, you came for them!" He starts to run for the unattended bonfire when, instinctively, Terra works to impede him. Yet, with her present attitude, she wishes not to constrain him entirely. She calls to Renn and Felix for a little guidance. Rules: Divide the grid into rectangular regions and solve as a Cocktail Lamp . Clue numbers are always in the top-left corner of thei...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Beacon

Image
FYTTE THE THIRD   in which powers extend to new territories.     After a decently long back-and-forth with Terra over the probable intentions of Neward, her qualms begin to overtake her. She admits, "I think my master did ally, a year or two years ago. It happened when my master got a golden bookcase. After that, my master has not been speaking the same way; my master has not been speaking about the same things." She calls off the vines, and neither of the men retaliate. Finding his old confidence, Renn says, "Someone must remind him of who he was, who he should be. I want to confront him." When Terra sends the vines back around Renn, Felix says, "We wouldn't be violent. I think he's been possessed. We should only need to dispel what is acting through him." Terra asks, "Dispel?" Felix elaborates: "It is like cleaning up magic. We would not be hurting your master. If anything, he would feel much better." A beacon of hope swells w...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Hero

Image
     Renn typically woke up a little later than Felix. Today, they awake at exactly the same time: a few minutes past daybreak, upon being tightly ensnared by vines. When Renn is awake enough, he attempts to swing his ax about, but it's out of his reach. Felix listens submissively and hears, "To follow you was easy. During the night, I passed the gate." Felix knows the voice. He yells, "Map seeker!" Renn follows him up with, "Map seeker? She would ally with the nymph?" The woman responds, "I don't understand that word, ally. Does it mean change?" She enters Renn's field of view and makes eye contact. Renn spurts, "She is the nymph." The nymph laughs. She says, "My name is Terra. When I ally, my master gives me a second name. During the day, I am Terra Green."      Felix responds, "Then, Terra, why did you ask us to get the map?" She walks over to him, smiles warmly, and says, "There isn't suppose...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Lounge

Image
  Renn is triple-checking both sides of each and every piece of paper. Meanwhile, Felix finds his way to a futon near a window and decides to lounge on it. Felix says, "You've been thorough. I don't think the map is here." When Renn ignores him, Felix says, "The moon is in the western sky. When would you throw in the towel?" Renn slams a drawer shut and says, "I refuse to believe that we should come all this way for nothing. That we should go through a dark narrow cave and those endless candlelit halls for nothing. The map is here. It has to be." Felix turns away from Renn to look once more at the waning crescent moon. The sky is perfectly clear. Felix offers, "Then, could you postpone your search for the morning? I need some shut-eye." Renn says, "Fine," and selects a futon far from Felix. Rules: Add the stack of drawers into the puzzle, then solve as a School Trip. The stack of drawers is represented by a 3x3 square of empty c...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Confused

Image
     At first, the interior design of the royal archives appears rather confused. Windows arranged symmetrically along the four sides of the square room admit natural light. Telescope mounts attached to the tops of the windows would allow visitors to spectate out each side, though the eastern mount is broken and its instrument missing. Scattered about the perimeter of the room are several futons. In the center of the room is a short but wide stack of cabinet drawers that could double as a table. Felix proposes that this tower may have originally been an astronomer's study.      Renn opens one of the drawers and finds a mess of charts that all cross-reference each other. None of them look distinctly like maps, and Felix is unable to identify them. Ultimately, Renn moves on to the bottom-most drawer and finds that it's locked behind a combination. Rules: Deduce a six-digit combination by solving these puzzles. Every puzzle should only have one solution. ...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Flightless

Image
     They enter the stairwell leading up the tower to the archives. There are no stairs. It could be said that the stairwell is flightless. Felix looks closely at the stone ground and finds a few stray ashes. He says, "They could have burned the stairs during a raid." Renn asks, "Can we even be sure the records above are intact?" Felix says, "I would think so. I noticed some curtains in the upper windows which showed no signs of being singed."     Renn studies the brick walls and notices that some of the edges jut out slightly. He tries pulling a brick out and finds that it's still properly stuck by the mortar. Looking up, he says, "What if we tried climbing?" Rules: Solve as a Bricklayer on a cylinder in such a way that it can be climbed from somewhere on the bottom to out the top. The climbing path may move horizontally on horizontal 2x1's, may move vertically on vertical 1x2's, and must avoid the 2x2 windows of null space. (update...
Read more

Puzzletober 2026: Contraption

Image
  The door opens to what at first appears to be an ordinary storeroom. The only other hole in the room is a grate in the ceiling which does not move when rattled. Along the back wall is a panel with several pegs. A box on the floor contains gears which could fit into the pegs. Two gears are already stuck in the panel: one is a wheel with 26 spokes, and the other is directly connected to the grate but has too much friction. Felix suggests that may have to assemble a contraption to slide the grate open. Rules: Add circles which rest completely within the grid. All circles should be centered on gridpoints and have integer radii. No circles may overlap, but all circles must be tangent to each other in a chain which connects the given partially shown circles.
Read more