Who is the guide?
Manson has confirmed that the Guide is the Minotaur. There are many clues to his identity littered through out the book, including a trail of clues (perhaps involving trefoils or references to Cerberus), and the “Easter Egg” described below.
Title Page:
The Key-Stone: The key points us to the the key-shaped trap (see the map of The Trap rooms). The fact that the key is carved into a stone is perhaps a visual word riddle for “keystone” indicating that what we find in the trap is important.
The Mason Objects: The spike, compass, hammer and square are often placed together in the symbolism of the Masons, usually these items are placed flanking the Bible. Here the scroll is in the location usually occupied by the Bible, suggesting that what is on the scroll is important.
In many masonic images the Bible is flanked or overlaid by the compass and square. The hammer and spike are also common elements (in the left and center images).
Hidden Letters: The letters in the maze in the map spell out “IN SLY” this uses all the obvious letters in the map except for a “C” (it could also be an “n” or a “u”) which is off to the right separate from the others. The objects surrounding the parchment perhaps signify letters and spell out “devil” or “evil.” So the phrase is “Devil In Sly” or “Evil In Sly.” Alternately the objects leaning against the keystone could spell out “I AM” so the whole phrase reads “I am in sly.” Or the “C” could be taken as “see” so it reads “See In Sly.”
Possible phrasings:
IN SLY
devIL IN SLY
evIL IN SLY
I AM IN SLY
(see) IN SLY
Room 43:
- Images copyright 1985 by Christopher Manson
OK, so:
“Just keep these rooms in mind [22, 38, and 43: the key handle rooms] and leave all the rooms behind…” –WR
As Beelz has pointed out in the Hangout, leaving all the rooms behind could refer to any of the front pages of the book: the Prologue, the Directions, or the title page.
While I feel like the title page has a lot of potential because it so crammed with imagery/symbols/hidden letters, the Prologue is probably a good candidate too. Note that on WR’s “puzzle influences > gothic architecture page”, where the trefoil was found, he also has a picture of Solomon’s Temple superimposed over Notre Dame. The result looks a lot like the front gate as it is presented in the Prologue. Just sayin’.
Thoughts…?
That trinity in 43 is pretty dodgy, why not make a trefoil out of the bell and the two pots? I know you said earlier that the guide path involves only objects not involved in any room solutions, but we’ve already tossed that out with the bullseye in 14.
Beelzebibble,
What I said was that it would be easier to find the guide path after most of the book was solved. For instance, it is much easier to find the Celtic knot in 40 after the mess of wires has gnawed at your mind while the rest of the book is making more and more sense. The most striking examples of trinity symbolism are not part of other solutions but there are a lot of smaller stuff which may be trinity references which are part of riddles, but telling all of you that would have made it harder for you all to find the path.
I am not a fan of the trinity references in 14, but I suspect they are legitimate. Keep in mind that I am only adding references found by all of you. There is quite a bit more to the path than what you see here but finding more of it will not help solve the riddle of the guide.
I am adding the bell and jars to the summary.
Well, how about room 22 on this guide path? Looking at the trefoil idea and three’s….you have the trident, the 3 molecule H2O, the shape of the doors here, and the three pronged letter Y. Also 3 bricks or something under that cushion thing the trident is on.
Oh and the jewelry sign letters being grouped in 3′s
Shelley,
Putting the trident on the summary! The trident is an ancient symbol of trinity going back to before the birth of Christianity. In this room we have to choose, do we follow the direction the butt end of the trident is pointing. Or do we follow the pointed end with the trinity symbol.
White Raven
Putting this together with the trident pointer in 26, which points to 38 (as someone else has already noticed)… does this mean 38 is “the room?”
Aria,
I’ve added the link from 26 to 38 to the summary and map. Nice job!
What does WR mean by “In this room we have to choose, do we follow the direction the butt end of the trident is pointing. Or do we follow the pointed end with the trinity symbol”?
The pointed end doesn’t point anywhere. It does, however, make a 33 when paired with its shadow.
Oh for heavens sake, it totally obvious that it has got to be trinity trefoils.
Just let us think this thing through for a minute. Vewatkin asks for a hint. WR instead lists stuff that has been put out there as decent trails. THEREFORE the symbol has already been mentioned but not put into a decent trail. MIT10 s trefoil trail was only three rooms and WR said make it more than three in case you get one wrong. So MIT10 s trail was wrong.
Then Aria says MIT10 did trefoils but WR doesn’t say a peep in response or add it to the list.
BUT MOST OF ALL some of the trefoils are amazingly hidden on purpose.
So here is proof that I am thinking and not lucky
In the loop…
10 the trefoil on the bed GO TO 14
14 the three circles of the target also the three toes on the ball GO TO 43
In the trap…
43 has three figures over three keystones GO TO 22
22 has a trefoil hidden in the lamp and door frame GO TO 38
38 has a triangle enclosing three objects also there is a face with figures on either side GO TO 40
11 has a trefoil in the wires GO TO 40
6 has a trefoilish setting of three stones GO TO 40
It looks like 40 is the end of the trails because it is the only trap room without a trefoil and everything leads to it but I’m not counting on that.
If this is right credit me as Germaine.
Seven Sisters,
Congratulations and welcome to The Abyss! Finally somebody cracked this thing!
I changed the time of your post to put it on top, sorry for the delay, you may now post freely.
40 is not THE room. Previously a trail of door indicators was discovered by various Abyssians including an arrow pointing to 38. See related images for a map of the trail.
BTW: I hadn’t noticed the three keystones in Room 43…nice!
White Raven
Abyssians,
The trail has been found there is a lot more to it than this but this is enough, finding more of it, is unnecessary.
The location of the final room has been narrowed down to the handle side of the “key” namely 22, 38 and 43. At this point you may try to discover which room of the three is being pointed to but it isn’t really necessary. Just keep these rooms in mind and leave all the rooms behind…
White Raven
Well, this is pretty exciting! Congratulations, Seven Sisters/Germaine!
WR, just out of curiosity… which do you consider to be the large and plain instance among these?
On to the rest of the puzzle…
I guess this explains the Cerberus reference, actually! A three-headed thing… That is kind of satisfying…
Aria,
I think the trefoil on the bed in Room 10 is big and obvious. At first I thought it was a club and did a thing with card suits like you and Moleman but then I realized it had no stem and was actually a trefoil. Still I wasn’t certain I was on to something until a couple months later when I came across the Irish style trefoil knot in the wires of room 40 which the hand is pointing at, that clinched it.
If it were not for the clarity of the image in Room 10 and hand pointing to the clearly intentional Irish style trefoil in Room 40 I probably would have thought the trinity of people and triangular arrangement of circles was coincidence, but eventually I started finding the better hidden ones.
Aria,
The Cerberus reference is on the board. There are a lot more things like this but like I said it is not necessary to find them, then again it doesn’t hurt either. :)
White Raven
Here is this week’s guide attempt: RINGS
Room 1: all of the doors have rings and a drum (door 20) has rings; “ringing” in text
>
Room 20: ring shape in receiver of phone, which was RINGing, and has RUNG (rungs on table legs)
>
Room 27: very clear ring on lantern
>
Room 13: lots of rings here… ring around clock face which could ring out at the hour, ring around lamp (which looks like bell that could be RINGing), ring at base of bullhorn, which could have a ringing sound, ring around sundial table
>
Room 18: very clear ring in hat brim, half-rings of andirons
>
Room 3: rings at top edges of pots/pans. sort-of ring in sun-shape, ring in dot of question mark (weak)
>
Room 33: I think this is the end room, where there is a literal ring, and you can “seize the brass ring” because you have come to the end of the trail — brass from horn and mention of “bold one.” Also note that we have the drum here — so a drum at the beginning and end of the trail.
There are probably lots more rings in different rooms, but this is one trail I found.
With just over a year left until WR goes bye-bye, I have set myself a goal of posting at least one potential guide path a week. (Yes, even if it seems terrible.) Won’t you join me in this challenge?
Here is this week’s attempt: KEYHOLES
First the list.
3 actual keyholes in doors
7 actual keyholes in doors
11 actual keyholes in doors
13 clock has strong keyhole shape
15 actual keyholes in doors
18 reference to musical “key?” Hat looks like a “hole?” (weak)
20 partly obscured earpiece of phone is keyhole shape
22 central pearl/gamepiece/whatever is keyhole-shaped
23 actual keyholes in doors
27 guide seems to think entrance to 9 is important and calls it a hole… “key hole?”
33 key (image) + hole (floor)
34 actual keyholes in doors
36 you tune stringed instruments with “tuning keys,” they both have “sound holes”
41 statue thing soooort of has elongated keyhole shape
42 actual keyholes in doors
Potential path:
36 > 7 > 33 > 3 > 18
20 > 27 > 13 > 18 > 3 > 33 > 7 > 36
*paths
Okay, devil’s advocate…or something…What if the false guide info leads to the real guide path?
Lots of guide hints in the text point at Minotaur, here are some bull-related items in rooms:
1 – rings in doors reminiscent of bull nose rings
2 – horns on the banner pole
6 – “bulletin” – and where I am increasingly thinking the Guide Path ends, with that notice being the riddle
7 – horns on mirror
12 – the UD makes for a reasonable Taurus sign
13 – bullhorn
14 – bullseye
16 – bull ring in the trap door
21 – the wrench could be a weak bull allusion
22 – tail? eh…
24 – interestingly, the pattern of eyes here against the black look like bull horns to me (With a few outliers that don’t fit in, especially on the right)
26 – devil horns…horns anyways
28 – the UD thing again
29 – upside down guys feet, especially with those curvy toed shoes
30 – door handles are bull rings again
32 – devil horns….weak but oh well
33 – horn
35 – the two hooks in the ceiling (yeah, weak)
39 – the jester hat could be bull horns
40 – there is a symbol on the wall just above the right pointing arrow… looks kind of like a bull if the feet were pointing at 2 oclock
41 – horns and a bullfrog
42 – elephant foot…male elephants are referred to as bulls
43 – horns
All of the above: probably cock and bull. But for the sake of argument, here are two trails. 39-12-2-29-40-6. 35-33-7-16-28-32-6.
Oooo… I lurrrve finding minotaur stuff. Great list, 515! I would add the bull face that I see in 18: turn the page upside-down and the fire mouth becomes horns, while the dragon becomes bull nostrils. Also, minute-hour in 13, although there’s already the bullhorn in there.
I have a path into and out of the maze that follows symmetry across the y-axis. So fold these items, which appear next to the doors over the y-axis and they are symmetrical.
1 > 21 > 44 > 18 > 13 > 25 > 34 > 10 > 41 > 1
1: the sun shines symmetrically on the first and last doors of this path, 21 and 41. Also they are the only doors with symmetric symbols on them. Choose 21 since it has that symmetric script going under it.
21: Snake symbol and bush indicate 44.
44: Column indicates 18.
18:Bowling pin indicates 13.
13: Tripod light indicates 25.
25: Symmetric sleeping face over door 34.
34: Compass draws circles. Also pictured with y axis symmetry on title page. Choose 10.
10: French door indicates 41.
41: Bullseye figure indicates 1. Back where we started.
Here’s the check sum…List 1, 21, 44,18, 13, 25, 34, 10, 41.
1, 13, 41 are the only prime numbers here. 13 is smack in the middle of this list like a symmetric prime number sandwich.
This whole path makes me think there is something to the y-axis symmetry. So look at room 22, not on my path, but a lot of symmetry, and almost begging to be folded in half along the hanging light. And there’s the y by itself on the jewelry sign.
Now here is a second trident (other is in room 26) that point to room 38. 38 is x-axis symmetric on the 3 and y-axis symmetric on the 8. Going to 38 gets you into the trap. Now I think the trap is important because the “key shape” is on the keystone on the title page along with the compass which is sort of dividing it in half.
Not sure if this is anything, but it was a fun line of logic to follow.
This is some impressive thinking, regardless of what comes of it. I like the pitchfork observation (both point to 38), and can’t believe we haven’t mentioned it before. I, at least, haven’t heard or thought of that connection, as solid as it is.
Similarly, entrances to 22 are marked with crescent moons in both 2 and 5.
where is there a crescent moon in 5?
There are three towers in the poster on the door to 22 in 5. They each have a crescent moon on top. The crescent on the central, biggest tower, though, is kind of crooked, so I may be misreading the image.
Had to pull out my book for this one, they are small, but yeah I see them, askew or not, they look like crescents to me.
All righty! Let’s get these questionable trails rolling. Here’s one.
RAINBOWS
Somewhat satisfying thematically with all the talk about sunlight and rain, proliferation of bumbershoots, etc. Just try not to think about unicorns too much.
Here’s my three-room trail:
Room 30: door to 34 has arch that looks very rainbow-ish
Room 34: chair has seven stripes on a white background corresponding to seven colours of the rainbow (this idea depends on accepting the 7 colour rainbow); chair is beside door to 25
Room 25: seven pictures at top of room showing a spectrum of expressions; door under crown is only one with seven boards (the others have six); REIGN (crown) + BOW (tie)
…. aaaaand then I got nothin’.
It might be good for morale if you gave us some more information that seemed on first glance like it might help us but turned out to be completely useless.
Abyssians,
In order for me to confirm a solution it must contain some correct information…namely, a few connected rooms with the observation noted correctly. It is a really low bar. Thus far Dave G is only person to really take this to heart. He offered the following series of connected room solutions:
Eye
Bird Claw
Top Hat/Button
Keystone
Hermit
Trowel
Umbrella
This may not be a complete list (there are a lot of comments on this topic) but the only solution I know of NOT mentioned by Dave G that meets the minimum criteria is the trail of Vs mentioned by Vewatkin on behalf of the Google Group.
All I am looking for is three connected rooms with the observation noted correctly, but I would suggest offering a minimum of five rooms in case an observation is incorrect.
Incorrect or very incomplete solutions will be ignored so if you think you have a solution that is correct don’t be lazy about it, take the time to spell it out. The post need not be long, just show that the rooms are connected (# > # > #), and mention the location of the observations, (# in the sock drawer, # under the couch, # in the fridge).
The point of SP’s excellent suggestion is to ensure that those who discover the trail are thinking and not just shotgun lucky.
White Raven
Believe me, we’ve been throwing solutions around on the Hangouts… we just haven’t come up with anything we feel is any good. But maybe it’s time to start throwing things around over here some more in case it sparks something for someone…
Well, we’ve thrown everything on the table whether or not we think it’s good and hoped for an answer. I just hope nothing was missed.
MIT10 had a go at trefoils too…
I remember somebody mentioned suits too – card suits and that suit in 35
515, Moleman and I were both looking at card suits but I for one didn’t have luck making it into a credible trail. Maybe it’s worth another shot…
Okay, so here are some suits related rooms I found (some are a stretch, but then I think I remember WR saying the “observation” was less than obvious in some rooms on the path).
4: The nut on the poster on the left could be a diamond
9: there is a digging spade
10: the trefoil on the bed could be a club
15: heart chair
16: Orson’s club
22: Women’s Jewelry = diamond
25: the fallen door sign is a diamond
27: heart and spade, also bat = club
33: The tops of the doors are half-diamonds (that one sucks, I know)
35: A suit
36: the word “suited” in the text
37: the door frames suggest hearts
39: there is a digging spade
40: possible spade, diamond or club like drawings on the wall
42: The “straight cane” in the elephant foot could be a club, right? Or maybe the dice faces are diamonds?
So, a path. How about 39-4-15-37-42-25-35….
515: this is great! In room 33, maybe the sword corresponds to spades? I think in traditional Italian decks the spades were swords and that’s the correspondence with the Tarot suit… still a stretch though.
30 has diamonds in the door trim
34 has hearts in the wallpaper…
A suggestion from google hangouts (no credit or blame to me):
Looks for Vs
Room 6: Arm of the pillar (the “important” thing to “notice”) near us can be a “V”, and the eye looks at it, and from the text we are supposed to pay attention to the way things look, so we go there. (“There” could be room 8 or 32 but 32 works and seems to be where the door with the eye sign is supposed to lead).
Room 32: bird tail is a v points to 28.
Room 28: V fingers lead to 45.
Room 45: “A” in “I AM” can be a V pointing to 16.
Room 36: Music stand is a “V” points to 36.
Room 16 is full of “V”s (end of V trail 1).
Vewatkin and the Google Hangoutians,
This is not the guide path but it is interesting, perhaps it is something else?
White Raven
WELL, maybe superfluous at this point, but here’s something additional:
Another Trail of “V”s
Room 1: In the sunlit upper part of the door to 41 – points to 41.
Room 41: The doll painting hanging – points (on wall to) to 10.
Room 10: The volcano painting hanging – points (on wall to) to 34.
Room 34: The arm of the man – points to 25.
Room 25: Lack of clues noted in text.
Room 13: The sundial opens towards 27.
Room 27: Actual “V”s mark door down to 9.
Room 9: Door frame points to 3.
Room 3: Arrow head is a V – opens towards 33.
Room 33 has a one fully lit “triangle sign” or a “V” – points to 35. (End of “V” trail 2)
I find the Vs problematic because every acute angle formed by two straight lines gives you a V of some kind. That said, I of course find everything problematic, so I tend to limit my expression of my problematic viewpoint nowadays; since I’m the one posting this here, though, I guess I feel spurred on to make some comment.
There are a number of serious Vs here, though, not just two lines happening to intersect but things that are clear and distinct Vs. I don’t think it’s anything, but it’s not a frivolous suggestion.
Vewatkin,
You are right that some of these observations are not that strong but others are rather compelling, I am especially taken with…
Room 28: V fingers lead to 45. (very clear)
Room 36: Music stand is a “V” points to 36. (hidden but clear when you see it)
Room 34: The arm of the man – points to 25. (unusual angle explained?)
Room 9: Door frame points to 3. (tricky one! lines up perfectly)
Here are a few detached ones of various worth…
Room 4: The ax splitting the log points to 29.
Room 5: Tree branches create a V around the sign for room 30.
Room 12: The bones on the plate make a V next to 2, but the fingers pointing to 8 are obviously a better V.
Room 15: There are Latin “U”s that look like “V”s next to the door to 3 and on the door to 30.
Room 17: The V shaped arch over the door to 3.
Room 23: The tablets next to 28 have roman numeral Vs.
Room 26: The shape of the demon’s head in front of 38 is very V shaped.
Room 27: The sign 13 has a V shaped cut in the top (debatable if this is better or worse than the Vs in the quote on the statue.
Room 32: The shield with the 6 on it is V shaped.
Room 37:The cone pointing to 42.
Room 38: The split shoe makes a V pointing to 43.
Room 39: The trowel makes a V pointing to 4.
Room 40: Two upside down Vs that don’t point to anything.
Room 41: The metal rungs of the slide to 38 have a V in there.
Room 42: The scissors on the door to 22 makes V.
Room 43: If you take arrow heads as Vs then there is an arrow pointing down to 38.
Room 45: The ELVI sign points to 28.
Still, the whole thing could be coincidence…
Rainbow as guide symbol???
I have a lot of ideas on this but am just organizing them… please chime in if you have thoughts.
And no, I don’t think the guide is a leprechaun.
People….seriously? ;)
In the prologue, our guide talks cryptically and ominously, saying “They think I will teach them lesson. They should call me Cerberus…I am the lesson.” There is a huge search for who the guide is, but there really isn’t any need (as I see it)! He identifies himself right there in the prologue, even telling us his name! Throughout the maze, there are the obvious clues. In the prologue, the name, a description of “my crown, my pain, the fire in my eyes”, and a mention that he is the architect of the maze. Also in the maze are several suggestions that our guide is royalty. I’m sorry I don’t have the exact room number, but we are told in multiple places that there are legends and rumours about our guide’s family passed down through generations. Also mentioned is that the guide’s father was a king, however, his mother was not royalty. Just a bit of background and family history ;) . The guide occasionally describes himself, mentioning little details, like when he says that looking over his shoulder is not easy feat. He also suggests in many places that he inherited control of the maze from his father and that he has guided countless groups over many years. He also mentions a wild childhood of his. It is pretty obvious that this guide is very deep and thoughtful. He makes it very clear that he is against judging things by surface appearance. In one room, our guide hopes the guests won’t notice something that a creature was doing because of him. He additionally show a slight liking of animals and mentions that he considers all inhabitants of the maze as…well, “friends”, but our guide doesn’t seem to be very inclined towards making friends. He has a sarcastic/patronising side to him. There are many more clues and areas where our guide gives us clues to his identity, but I will leave you with this. I hope I helped answer who our guide is…to sum it up, our guide is apparently named Cerberus, has a enigmatic family history, and a complex personality. Hope I helped :)
Sorry, “friend”, it’s not that simplistic.
You have to admit, though, that it’s a good idea to look at the explicit statements about the Guide’s identity in the text of the book. It’s an angle I’m surprised nobody has tried before.
You’ve got a point there. A talking three headed dog is about as Disney as a talking minotaur. Maybe he will fall in love with the thoughtful one and they will walk away into the sunset with dancing bumbershoots.
Hey, no spoilers.
Maybe the candlestick in Room 8 was knocked over because it wouldn’t stop talking…
Lol ;)
Perhaps it isn’t that simple, but there are some clearly stated things that you can’t miss.
In room 8, some bowls were knocked over….beauty and the beast never mentioned how that cup got chipped :)…
Sara, Alex and I have split up the rooms in order to better dedicate our searches for the Guide path – to no avail, obviously. Does anyone else want to get in on this? The more we can narrow our individual searches, the less we’re replicating each other’s work.
(Of course, since we’re looking for a recurring object-symbol thing in a series of rooms, we have to branch out somewhat from our assigned rooms in looking for a pattern, and there is some necessary overlap.)
A while ago I did a thing with card suits like aria was talking about. The thing that got me going on it was room 27, the one eyed jack in 7 and the club in 10. The heart chair is a heart. The crowns are kings. The shovels are spades. There’s a spade in the corner near the ceiling in 18. Stones laid out like a club in 6. The barrels in 39. Orsons club. Lots of diamonds everywhere but I don’t believe most of them. There’s more but I never found any reason to it. The best thing I found that makes me think there is something going on is a club in 22. Above the doors are three half circles. The center door has a lamp hanging in front of it. The lamp is curved to exactly fill in the missing parts and make a club. Check it out it may not be the path but it IS something.
THANK YOU, Moleman, yes! So much card stuff. The card-looking thing behind the stop sign in 3. The suit in 35. The “tricks” in 27. But like you I haven’t been able to do a thing with it.
♉
Aria reminded me to remind White Raven to see if anyone has mentioned “the symbol” of the Guide (not the one I just posted). We are of the opinion that it might have been missed since it was first brought up, and many comments have been made since then.
Right — we’re still proceeding as though it hasn’t been mentioned yet, is the thing — but maybe it now has since WR last said it hadn’t??!!
It’s the wood grain.
I’m following through with the rules previously laid down. I will only confirm a guide-path that is somewhat correct. Don’t worry about finding the room, just show me a few connected rooms.
WR, can you/will you tell us this:
RE the Guide Path part of the puzzle — is it an actual path through marked doors (i.e. following the rules of navigating through MAZE) or is it a trail we follow according to some other guiding (hahahah) principle?
The sign for taurus is a crescent with a circle underneath. Obviously there are many suns and moons in the maze, I figure if you put them together you get the taurus symbol (minotaur?). But how? Here are some theories:
Room 1. the round door hands + the crescent shape the sun creates
Room 2. The round shields + the crescent moons
Room 3. The round sun + crescent moon
Room 4. Meh, nothing here I don’t think, pay no attention to the foolish face.
Room 43. Suns and crescents?
2 The DU in 12 and 28 sooort of look like it as well. Tons of rings on doors. I don’t want to go overboard with this, so I’ll leave it here for now. Add http to this, and you’ll see what im talking about:
homemadegiftguru.com/image-files/taurus-sun-sign-symbol.jpg
That’s a good call on the DU, which is seemingly extraneous in 28.
mmm-canvass the canvases-maybe that’s a clue.
Speaking of canvass:
I am looking at rooms that contain a “blank canvass”:
7 – blank canvass w/horn on top
9 – blank torn painting
10 – blank room number sign
13 – blank canvass director chair back
20 – blank chair back protector & blank room number cover
29 – blank sheet hanging up
35 – blank wall sign
39 – blank bottle tag
Further: Easels:
1, 5, 19, & 36.
Canvas has one S when used as a noun.
OK – so here is something we all should be able to do together guide-wise whether we are mono-guidists or not. Throw out symbols that could serve as markers for you favorite guide. Bull horns. Brass nose rings. Pitchforks. Devil horns. A globe for Atlas. Etc…
The symbol itself is not necessarily a clue to the Guide’s identity, though. I’ve thought too about maybe just trying to think of symbols it could be, but I think the field is too broad.
MIT had the right idea, WR-approved, of canvassing the rooms for the obvious occurrence of the symbol first, but even the easiest method seems to be beyond our skills.
I’ll
just
keep
looking
Let’s split up these rooms and start taking a real focused look for this STUPID THING WE CAN’T FIND. I think it would be useful, anyway, to restrict my thinking to a few rooms without worrying about the rest of the book. Anyone else in?
I tried smiles but didn’t get anywhere – but maybe I whiffed.
Chain of smiles
Bear in 42, sun in 4, Borges in 29, sign in 8, fat man in 12
There are some connected flower rooms, but again nothing to get excited about: 5 – 30 (design on the door) – 34 (couch) – …ok, I guess that’s it, unless you want to pretend something on the bed in 10 is a flower, and then you can also pull in the flower in 14.
There seem to be a lot of near-paths in this area.