Part 18: The Baron's Friend

[Music: Puzzles]



2. Eight minus six does, of course, equal two. But under what conditions does adding six to eight equal two? Here's a hint: when you do math like this, you probably use a commonplace item that many people have on hand.
3. In this particular type of calculation, no two numbers will ever add up to equal a number higher than 12. This is the most common method, and the one you probably use daily. However, some people use a different method of calculation where two numbers can add up to reach totals as high as 24.

I'm reasonably sure everyone figured out what this was referring to, so it most likely goes without saying that this is...








Though inexplicably, Rodney chooses now to be a jerk. Y'know rather than the most boring man alive. Character development!





3. Focus on the edges between sections and the possibilities that arise from that line of thought.

Seems like everyone figured out what the numbers referenced, though ended up with slightly different results. Still, 5 ended up with the most answers and it is...












2. You know who A and C lent money to, but not who B, D and E did. However, since B borrowed money form A, and D borrowed money form C, you know that B, D and E must have lent money to one of A, C and E.
3. From hint 2, you know that E lent money to either A, C or E. Of course, you can't lend money to yourself, so that leaves A or C, and you can eliminate A based on the information in the puzzle. So E lent money to C. That leaves 2 more transactions to find...

This one was just a matter of working through the information given. No tricks, which is always nice.






That's the easier half out of the way. Meanwhile, across an ocean...



A thing that I just cannot wrap my head around, no matter how hard I try.



3. This conversation took place at the very end of the year. If her birthday is in two days, it will have to be after New Year's Eve. That's right, it will be a new year by the day after tomorrow.

Apparently that's... mostly... just me, though. Sounds about right.






: I heard that all the people who get kidnapped feel a little sick right before they get taken! I bet the monster that lives up in the tower feeds its victim nasty food before it pounces! Ooh, I bet it's, like, haggis ice cream with gravy jelly. Ugh. Or maybe he just picks the weakest person to snatch. But why would he need all those people?

If you ask me, haggis ice cream on its own sounds bad enough. Quite an imaginative idea, though, I must admit.



Anyway, let's skip over the obvious next two for now and hit these up instead.



3. Each individual square has four sides, so an allotment of 12 squares will have 48 sides in total, with some shared between squares. The number of sides being shared by neighbouring squares will differ greatly depending on the shape of the allotment.

At least the allotment puzzle is rather easy, so there's not much to complain about.








This one kinda is too, in a relative sense.










: But NOOOOO, you had to go and ruin it by answering before I said it was OK, didn't you?! DIDN'T YOU?! Have you ever considered the strong possibility that you might be a real pain in the neck?



The results for this one ended up split 50-50 oddly enough.



2. For Company A, you can just look at your yearly salary to get your total income for the year. Company B will give you a raise halfway through the year, so you'll need to calculate two six-month periods to get your yearly pay. Which one offers more money?




...To be fair, I usually pick A first here anyway. Apparently I'm really bad at learning from my screw ups unless it's in a rather memorable puzzle. I also misread things fairly often which doesn't help either.



3. Let's add up how much you'd make in your first year at either company. Company A gives you $100,000 for your first year of work. Company B gives you $50,000 for your first half year and then gives you a raise. This means that for the next six-month period, you will make $55,000. Add those together and you have your yearly pay for year one: $105,000.








: You know Lady Dahlia, right? She's planning to keep the fortune to herself once it's found. And you've been helping her all along. Don't you feel sooo silly? Tee hee hee!





Nice to have a puzzle that's solution is, technically, unchanged no matter how much harder it gets. It just takes longer.



3. 16 10 9 4 Once you've made it this far, you're only four more moves away from the solution.










: Oh, I meant to mention this earlier. I heard that the kidnapper lives in that tower. You know, I've never heard anyone say anything good about the tower. Make sure you keep clear of it, OK?





Now we'll hit these two up before finishing up.



3. You can work out form hint 2 that A has three sweets. That makes it easy to work out how many B has, since you know he has two more!

This is really just simple algebra, so it's little surprise that this is...








...This one, on the other hand?



Totally worth it, just for the angry bitter posts. From people both seeing it for the first time, and having done it themselves.






And aside from the obvious linguistic issues, this one flatout wouldn't work in a lot of non-English countries since they won't necessarily use QWERTY keyboards.



: Can you keep a secret? Don't tell Adrea you told me the answer, OK? Thanks, mister!



Okay, now this one?



A whole bunch of unique solutions were posted.



Like, at least 4 different ones.



And, the best part is, whilst there may be only a handful of unique solutions...



When you factor in reflections and rotations...



There is still a lot of answers...



That are all...



Irrefutibly, completely and totally...






Though there may (by which I mean almost definitely will be) more solutions that work, please don't post any. I think you get the point from all of these.



: I can't wait for you two to see my next puzzle!



[Music: About Town]

Well, while we're here we might as well get this out of the way now:





Okay, now we can go and bug Zappone about the stuff to do with the Baron.



: But you weren't a close friend of his?
: Me? Ha ha ha! Oh, no, I was nothing of the sort.
: I see... Can you think of anyone at all who was friendly with Baron Reinhold?
: I might know someone... Actually, no I don't... Or do I? Hmm... Now let me think...
: I guess Zappone can't really tell us much of anything.



: But at least we can be sure that this close we're after is a resident of St. Mystere. We mustn't give up, Luke. Let's continue to ask around.

Well, since we can run a rather nice circuit from here back to the mansion, we'll start by heading to the north-east.



We'll speak with Gerard in a minute. First though, there's something just next to him. Maybe he dropped it?



: You're right... It appears to be a scrap of paper. Will you check if anything's written on it?
: Sure thing! Let's see here...



: He's a good guy, and he's given me a new sense of purpose. I'm sure this is my true calling. I want to perfect my skills so I can repay the man for his generosity.
: This sounds a great deal like a diary entry, doesn't it?



: I've constructed models to fit every situation, just like the boss asked me to do. I have to smile when I see how interested he is in them.

: That's the end of the entry. Do you suppose this person made some sort of models for a living?
: Hmm...

Well, that was interesting alright. Doesn't get us any closer to finding the Baron's friend, but I guess Gerard can help with that.



: Now, laddie, much as I'd like to keep chatting, I'm awfully tired. I think I need to go and lie down.
: Are you feeling unwell, sir?
: I'm just exhausted lately. It's that awful noise coming from the tower, you see. It's got so loud I can't sleep a wink at night.
: Do you know what's causing the noise?



: They say the ones who go missing are people who've been talking about feeling tired. But those who disappear are back before you know it, so it's probably just a load of poppycock.
: Whenever the noise occurs, someone disappears... Interesting.



: It's certainly a possibility, isn't it? But why would he release his victims after going through the trouble of kidnapping them?

Well, Gerard's still here though he's proven himself to be useless already but he's still hanging around despite his own words, so...



Of course he has a puzzle for us.



We'll deal with it later, naturally.



: You youngsters can be awfully cold sometimes.

For now, we'll just see what Prosciutto knows.



There's no new additions to the house at all, not even a stray hint coin, so this is easy enough to do.



: Never mind that, though. I've got something more important to talk about. Namely, chocolate. Help me solve this puzzle, and I'll tell you something I bet you'll find very interesting.

I guess it fits that the guy who's only ever seen eating will only talk about food.



So, instead let's just walk through the dead-end north of Gerard and head to the marketplace.



Wherein we get accosted by a man with a magnificent mustache immediately.

: Do you mean me, good sir?
: Yep, you. This flower vase is yours, right? I've been keeping it nice and safe for you.



[Music: Silence]



: I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. I've never seen that vase before in my life...
: What?! This fancy vase DOESN'T belong to you? So why'd that man tell me to give this to you?
: Hm?! What did this man look like?

[Music: About Town]



: But back to the issue at hand. The mystery man wasn't a regular 'round here, that's for sure. Don't worry, though. I'll just give it back to the guy next time I see him. So, speaking of flower vases, I know a puzzle I bet you'll like. It's not a hard one or anything, but it's the least I can do for bothering you about the vase.



[Music: Puzzles]



1. You'll get more out of moving pieces around than reading hints, but you did spend a hard-earned hint coin, so here's a small clue. Start by arranging pieces to form the outer edges of the silhouette.
2. Putting together the outside of the vase should be pretty straightforward. Therefore, the extra piece must look like a piece that goes in the center of the vase.
3. If you've completed the entire outline of the vase, you'll only have two parts left over. Try both of them out and see which one fits.

Yeah, this is really kinda easy. Could probably move on without bothering to do it, but there's no reason to leave it.



There's not even much to worry about in terms of screwing up and getting it wrong, since there's only 2 pieces that could possibly be the superfluous one. Even then it's really obvious which is the one you don't need when you get to it.






[Music: About Town]



: By the way, you sure you don't want to take some fresh sausage home with you? Believe me, these are some links you don't wanna be missing! Har har!
: No, thank you. We're just fine.
: Too bad! Not to bust your "chops" or anything, but that deal was a one-time offer! Maybe you'd have said yes if you knew what was at "steak!" A har har har har!
: I think we're done here, Luke.
: I couldn't agree more, Professor.
: Hmph.



...Well, that's one giant ball of paper. At least you can't miss the obvious plot advancement here. But, first, let's see what Giuseppe has to say normally. Maybe we'll get some info out of hi- okay, no, it's just another puzzle.



: I have some great deals on sausage today. And my skirt steak will make any plate a fashion plate! Har har!
: Sorry to disappoint you, sir, but we didn't come here to shop.
: Aw, and here I was thinking I was about to get a big sale. You've got a hungry look about you, you know. Well, if I can't interest you with any of my fine meat products can I at least tempt you with a puzzle?



I think the problem here isn't so much that he's making meat puns, but that's he's making too many in too short a timeframe. Maybe toning them back would get him more business?

Anyway, let's examine the giant ball of paper now.



: It's an old newspaper. Honestly, you'd think that everyone would know that rubbish goes in the bin... Wait a second! You have to take a look at this article!



: Ha ha ha! Look at that: "Chelmey Hailed as Brilliant Detective and Devoted Husband."



: Wow. Who saw that one coming? He's so gruff that I never imagined he had a soft side like that. Heh heh heh! Just look at that old grump grinning over his plate of cakes! I knew he was fussing over nothing when he said he hated cakes back at Reinhold Manor!



Oddly, in the American version the newspaper specifically mentions sweet potato fritters rather than just cakes in general. Not sure why something as minor as that would warrant being altered, but it was anyway.



Oh and Archibald turned up while we were distracted. Might as well see what he has to say.



: Are you really searching the village for the Reinhold fortune?
: That's correct, sir. Currently we're in search of a close friend of Baron Reinhold's. We believe he has entrusted this friend with an important note.
: Gracious, that's quite a search you have on your hands.



: We used to have the most amazing conversations late into the night... Do you think that perhaps I am the one you're searching for?
: Yes, I think so! What luck that after all this searching, we should bump into you in a place like this. I have one question. Do you recall ever receiving a small note or written message from the baron?
: Hrmm... No, I don't remember ever receiving anything of the sort from Gus.



: The baron's desk, you say? Excellent!
: Would you like to come over to my house and take a look at it?
: You are most gracious. If you'd be kind enough to allow us a look at it, we would be very grateful.



This is another part of the plot were you need a specific number of puzzles solved before you can continue; in this case, it's 50 but unlike the previous two it doesn't tell you that if you already have enough. Since we've got over 80 done, this isn't much of an issue.

: Hrmm... Actually, let me impart a few pearls of wisdom on you while I've got your attention. Focusing on your case is all well and good, but if you don't solve some puzzles, you'll be sorry later. So make an effort to find puzzles around the village and just solve the ones you can.



: All right, I'll get off my high horse now. Let's head on over to my house. Follow me.



: Splendid. Luke, let's get right to it.



We'll get to that in a minute, first there's a matter of the totally not conspicuous bookcase.



Of course, it's just a puzzle but it's better than nothing I guess.



Okay, NOW we can examine the desk.



Not much here that stands out. I guess if it was immediately obvious it wouldn't warrant searching, so the first place to start is checking the drawers in case they weren't cleared out or something.

[Music: Silence]



...That was a bit too easy, though.

: It may point us in the direction of the Golden Apple.
: What do you make of this X?
: Hmm... I'm afraid I just don't know at the moment.



[Music: About Town]



: It seems she's concerned about one of her guests, and she'd like your thoughts on the problem.
: Well, we'd best go and help her. Thank you, Archibald. Now off to the inn we go, Luke.



[Music: Prologue to the Adventure ~ Puzzles]



Might as well start off simple, though I don't really think any of these are all that tough. Could be wrong though!



1. There are no equilateral pentagons within the shape, so all the ones you do find will have at least two sides with different lengths. Count each one you spot.





1. It's common for people to start thinking about the way they need to break the chocolate in order to achieve the objective at hand. However, the truth is that no matter how you break the chocolate, the answer you arrive at will be the same.
2. Split a sheet of chocolate and you get two segments where there was only one before. If you then break one of your two segments, you get a total of three segments. Your third break, regardless of what segment you choose, will yield a total of four segments of chocolate. Do you see a pattern here?





1. Remember, you want to find the person who ate the sausages, not the people who are lying. To attack problems like these, go through your list of potential thieves, assume that each one is guilty, and see which statements fit in each case. That should get you started. Good luck!
2. If you have chosen the right person, then three of the four boys' statements should be false. If you think you've found the culprit, but only two of the four boys' statements turn out to be lies, you haven't found the thief yet. Here's another valuable piece of information: only one person ate the sausages.





1. It's difficult to work out all the tangles and turns of a rope in one glance. You'll have better luck if you keep the shape of a simple knot in mind and inspect each part of the rope individually.

And finally, of course, we have...



Though this one's a bit different to the previous two.



1. This one's a bit of a puzzler, but if you check everything thoroughly, you'll find the answer sooner or later. Don't put anything in the center square. Remember that you have to arrange the pieces so that no queen blocks another's line of movement. Even if you think you've got the answer, if one of your queens turns red, it means that you haven't got the placement just right yet.