MAZE General Comments

For saying something.

This and that.

 - Image copyright 1985 by Christopher Manson

892 thoughts on “MAZE General Comments

  1. With your permission I would very much appreciate it if I could send you a picture (via email) that I had found a while ago. It has to do with the front cover and the 19th door (of) room 23.

    LIKE(0)
    • Solved, officially, would mean the answers Henry Holt gave publicly in writing, “The Globe, the World, etc.”, as well as the shortest route from 1 to 45 to 1. In addition to this, a great deal of Room 1 and 26 have been accounted for. Tidbits from other rooms can be counted, unofficially, I guess. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a whole bunch, but this is a good start.

      A good place to look at, in terms of almost completely unsolved, is say, Room 33.

      LIKE(6)
  2. About Manson saying that there is another multi-room riddle that’s undiscovered, I have a theory that it’s someone (or possibly more than one person) who is the “unknown presence” that passes through many rooms and leaves most of the clues to help us get in and out on the correct path. This person/creature/presence has escaped from the abyss in room 24 and seems to avoid the Minotaur, which is why it’s helping the reader in (subtle) ways, but is also never directly with the reader because it’s trying to avoid being caught by the Guide. Like why it runs away from the Minotaur in Room 16, or that it’s changing hats/outfits as disguise, or the fact that both the Guide and reader never see “it’s” face (maybe it’s something from a greek myth that transforms…). This may or may not be including the Top Hat theory, but i think Manson probably left different hats/outfits in rooms to form a chronological sequence somehow. Here’s what I got so far:

    24
    11 (escapes somehow?)
    32 (desperately broke wall to escape 11?) [Steals statue, leaves sign for people to go back]
    28 [Leaves painting on wall to show it's wearing a fez]
    45 [Perfectly places objects so that the main puzzle is solvable]
    17
    29 [Uses "directions" to hint the hidden door, still wearing fez] (Leaves after you leave the room)
    8 [Still wearing fez, and helps by pointing at 12 with the umbrella]
    12 [Still wearing fez, and helps eliminate a door]
    39 [Takes the duck, bricks up the wall and changes the bottle's direction]
    4 [Chops and hammers to show that 4 should be gone through twice, transforms to a cat to leave because the Guide is too close, and the Guide is afraid people would notice]
    16 [Slams door/barrier between room 4 to delay the Guide, which can be "heard nearby" in 15, but still has to avoid Guide. Wears crown.]
    7 [Places duck and the rug as a part of a solution.] (Leaves painting of himself wearing a crown as subtle info…?)
    33 (Leaves more info with the crown sign above the door to 7?)
    35 [Takes off suit and leaves it behind, but keeps the crown when he leaves]

    If they can escape room 24 they might have some superpower to go in the opposite direction of one-way doors??? So after 35, maybe…

    25 [Leaves crown sign above the door coming from 42] (Idk what the bald person means if the person/creature is still wearing the crown)
    42 [Leaves crown on the coat hanger stand]
    37?????

    If this was all real, I’m not sure how the reader could even see what objects he/she/it took, because the chronological order is confusing since he’d have to return to the room to put the object back after leaving. Like the crown in 16 or the duck in 39. Thoughts?

    LIKE(10)
    • Hi Derek, interesting theory! Would you like to come talk about it some more on a Mazecast? Get in touch with us via the mazecast site — we’d love to hear from you.

      LIKE(7)
    • I need more to make a Mazecast and to back up this theory. I’m looking for a less “theoretical”/arbitrary type of idea for the second riddle. Or clues that seem like Manson wanted to support a certain interpretation, as vewatkin might agree…

      But yeah that would be cool.

      LIKE(4)
    • If you’ve seen a Mazecast, you’ll know that lack of substance has never stopped us. :D You are welcome anytime!

      LIKE(1)
    • If you’ve seen a Mazecast, you’ll know that lack of substance has never stopped us. You are welcome anytime!

      LIKE(1)
  3. The “obvious sign” is in the middle, between each page on the left and each page on the right.

    LIKE(1)
  4. At the very least, I can say that “real”, when spelled in reverse as “laer”, is another term for what German’s refer to, as the word “bearing”. Also, the r and L (in LAER) can be interchanged with a pair of number sevens (7AE7). The A has a value of 1 and the E has a value of 5. So, when they are abutting each other, it should read as: AE = 15. And since the fifteenth letter of the alphabet is O, the number 15 can now be traded for O as well. For now this only means that I have acquired a “ROL” in a coinciding manner.

    LIKE(1)
  5. Technically speaking, since the MINOTAUR is considered to be the guide/villain of the MAZE, would that in turn, attribute the reader of this book to actually be the hero, once the 16 steps of the journey have been completed?

    LIKE(1)
    • I’d say more “troubled wanderer” of the book. If the maze truly is some sort of purgatory like some have suggested, how did we end up finding it in the first place?

      LIKE(1)
  6. The 1st and 4th word of the following sentence: “(1)*They failed to (4)*see the real sign while looking through the obvious”, when rearranged, spell out “the eyes”. Was this an intentional effect? And if so, does this also mean, that there could be other anagrams found, within the rest of the sentence as well? B

    LIKE(1)
  7. Since Theseus took a ball of yarn (or spindle of twine) to unwind and mark his route, could this be eluding to the “The Red Herring” clew, which can also be interpreted as a “Thread EA ring”? (The + Red = Thread + EAring) I don’t mean for it to sound too contrived, but it does seem to be more of just a coincidence to me.

    LIKE(1)
    • I’m not sure I see what the coincidence is. That “the red” kind of sounds like “thread” if you say it quickly?

      I don’t know about that on its face, but unless I’m missing something, you’re adding the word “the” to “red herring” arbitrarily. At least, I don’t know of any place where the phrase “the red herring” is implied.

      There’s a picture of a red herring on the cover, and there’s the “womans jewelry”/”her ring” in 22, but that’s all I know of.

      I don’t follow what the relevance of “EAring” is to this solutions.

      It seems like you could take anything red, add the word “the” to it, and then say it sounds like “thread.” I’m not sure that even qualifies as a coincidence.

      LIKE(7)
    • Hey, obscure research seems to be your specialty, I have a question for you. I always assumed the horns in 41 were just supposed to be messed up, but I was recently looking at another Christopher Manson book, A Gift for the King, and there was a group of musicians playing horns bent like ones in room 41. Are these real instruments? The story takes place in ancient Persia, and includes a horn bent in a loop-de-loop and one that’s sort of spiralled, or zig-zagging.

      LIKE(4)
    • Okay, ready for a good laugh?

      My 11 and 12 year old are obsessed with the Maze, have been for nearly a year. II hadn’t so much as glanced at the book. I figure I’m going to cheat and just look up the answer…
      I am in awe of the Maze the author’s genius. And here I thought I was just going to quickly solve this thing.

      LIKE(1)
  8. “Like Atlas, you bear it on your shoulders.” – From my point of view, I am starting to think that this 8 letter phrase has some sort of connection which involves an acrostic poem. It seems to be a hendecasyllabic clue, in order to spell out the word, “Labyrinth” ? I really do hope that this is more than just a coincidence, as my ego can only take so many bruises.

    LIKE(1)
    • You’re a smart enough fellow. And I’m sure that you’ll be able to figure ti out, sooner than you think.

      LIKE(1)
    • It’s not to me, anyway. If there is something discoverable here, your history of implausible suggestions (and the general history of the site, and the particular instances of commenters claiming solutions they would not explain plainly) discourages us from putting strenuous effort into divining it.

      LIKE(4)
  9. Please excuse me for not checking in lately. And I appreciate the updates that you keep sending me via email. – So I know its been awhile, but I’ve been elaborating on whether or not the word “eleemosynary”, has to do with anything in this book’s entirety on the whole. And the reason I’m asking is because when you take the word “eleemosynary” and rearrange the letters, it spells out El Masonry Eye (or The Masonry Eye (to be more precise) ) .

    LIKE(1)
    • I think, at the very least, that the MAZE, is another form of what would be called “Ekphrasis” in accordance with the conversation that took place between Socrates and Phaedrus.

      LIKE(1)
    • If the phrase “the masonry eye” was an anagram of something in the book, and appeared in one of the many places where an eye appeared, or something else potentially related, that could be an interesting discovery. But here you’ve found an obscure word that does not appear in the book, made an anagram of it, and changed the anagram to make a stilted phrase that seems vaguely related to some imagery in the book. I think it is fair to say that the book was not designed with this sequence in mind.

      LIKE(5)
    • Well, it may vary, depending on whether (or) not this is a buildung shape in the head.

      LIKE(1)
    • You mean your ability to explain in more detail vary? What does “this” refer to when you refer to something being a “buildung shape in the head”?

      What did you initially mean by “the path above the head”?

      What was a reference to the Golden Mean?

      LIKE(5)
  10. @aria I just saw your “Let’s decorate with Maze” blog and it makes me wonder if it’s possible to convert the map of the Maze into a regular, 2-D maze with non-overlapping paths and right angles, like the ones for children you might find in a puzzle book. Although it wouldn’t have a “start” or “finish” but it still would be easier to visualize and see the fastest path. But if this was possible, I don’t know how the hidden door would be represented or one-way paths, because those don’t exist in those simple 2-D mazes (going back the way you came is always allowed).

    LIKE(1)
    • It’s difficult to prove in a simple way (at least I can’t think of a simple way because I’m ignorant) but you cannot map the Maze in two dimensions without crossing lines.

      LIKE(2)
  11. When “They failed to see the “real” sign while looking through the obvious”, was it because the side view’s perspective is from a “peripheral” standpoint? I’ve noticed that the last four letters, when rearranged, spell out “real”. This one almost went over my eadh…

    LIKE(1)
  12. Is there any correlation between the polarizing attributes of an Icelandic medieval sunstone (Iceland spar) and a sun-compass, in relation to the statue that is grasping the stave with the mounted symbol of the sun in room 19 and the sundial in room 13?

    LIKE(1)
    • You might have more fun on forgottenlanguages-full dot forgottenlanguages dot org.

      LIKE(1)
    • The only thing I can think of that might have something to do with what you bear on your shoulders, is Aman’s character, whose backstory of construction never stops. As far as “Taking THIS with you”; my guess would probably have to be the ichthys (fish of knowledge) childhood.

      LIKE(1)
    • It was the world, Atlas bears it on his shoulders in some images and statues, hence the clue “like Atlas… “

      LIKE(1)
  13. @vewatkin – Without the light from the lamp of God (bearing God’s voice: bring! bring! bring! bring! bring! bring! bring!) , they couldn’t see the real sign (excluding the initiated, of course) . Looking through the obvious, would be the “brow”, which has the word “row” in it – A brow (*as in eyebrow*) runs across the face, the same way as a *row – And*, the *column (capital letter (or head)) is the* other one (Or the nose; it goes up and down your face) .

    LIKE(1)
    • One quick question for ya. The “fire in my eyes”, probably wouldn’t be in reference to a serif font or a seraphim’s eyes, would it? B

      LIKE(1)
    • Probably not, but I can see where you’re coming from with turning the word “fire” around. The seraphim thing, almost certainly not, unless I’m missing something–it seems like you turned “fire” around and saw it could be part of the word “serif” and then took another word that sounds like “serif,” and it would be unreasonable to think that Manson intended those sorts of extended tangential derivations.

      LIKE(1)
  14. What I’ve recently noticed from “Like Atlas” is that it sounds “Like Cattle”, which is similar to a simile spoken by Socrates, I do believe. B

    LIKE(1)
  15. I was wondering if anyone had come across the book Ship of Theseus?
    I’ve been attempting to read it for some time and seems like it would be perfect for the people in on this site to dig into.

    LIKE(1)
    • The novel-within-a-novel of the book S., you mean? I started it long ago but didn’t really give it a fair chance. I am NOT A FAN of J.J. Abrams and that biased me against the book before I even started it, and once I started it I found something to be annoyed with on every page.

      LIKE(1)
  16. I’ve recently come across a certain picture, which I would like to email White Raven or anyone else, to whom it may concern. I think that it could be some sort of Easter egg, but I would appreciate the feedback as to it’s authenticity.

    LIKE(1)
  17. 1) Is the real sign, a secret interpretation of an ethereal sign/spiritual flame or that of a spear + it = spirit? 2) Is the sidhe reel from room 25, related to Anima mundi? 3) Is there a connection between Manson and Mannus Yngvi?

    LIKE(1)
  18. Does the hare in room 7 and the rabbit in room 39, supposed to have any interrelated resemblance to one another?

    LIKE(1)
    • Absolutely. Both hare and rabbit indicate a hastier choice in those respective rooms.

      LIKE(1)
    • @sp (hiss!) – I just wondered if there could be a duality between these twin heirs, seeing as how the wooden pull toy ducks seem to take on the appearance of a $2 dollar bill, after I had rotated both of these pages ever so slowly in a clockwise manner. B

      LIKE(1)

Post Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>