" That's an interesting point, in conjunction with his desire to "maintain the mystery." It would be a little odd if "the mystery" was that someone else suggested an unintended solution that he thought was pretty good. Not unbelievably bizarre, just a little odd. But, I... "

" You’re probably right. The only thing that threw me off was the weight Manson placed on the second answer being “found.” If we did come across it, would it immediately jump out to us as correct? If not, what’s the functional difference between finding one... "

" I didn'tctake Manson to mean it had been stated with authority somewhere. If that were the case, it seems like it would have to be either him or the publisher, and it seems unlikely that the publisher would have any cause to. It'a doubtful Manson... "

" Right- but it implies a sort of authority, like it was released in some lost official statement. Something so important couldn’t have just been forgotten, right? "

" And if you can find the sexapoint border between all those states, you’ll enter the maze in real life! "

" Wait, is this the comment you meant to reply to? "

" NYS: New York State Keystone: Pennsylvania (the Keystone State) Compass: Maryland (With Favor Wilt Thou Compass Us as with a Shield--Latin text on state seal) Mallet: New Jersey (most blunt-force injuries per capita in the Western Hemisphere) Chisel: Massachusetts (state flower is the ladychisel) Square:... "

" A Y-shaped symbol indicates the opening of a tunnel or cave on topographical maps, certainly that lays the whole discussion to rest. "

" I take it he means "publish" in the sense of "make public," not "print and distribute," though who knows. "

" Ah! This is quite helpful, fantastic work!! “I believe it is published somewhere.” …what? Where could the alternate solution possibly be published? Unless Manson is using the word in a way I would not? You just got to the bottom of a word-of-mouth path, and... "

" and then: 'OK so here is the last tidbit for this conversation. I promised to go back to silently MAZEing. But I ran the 3 suggestions by him: my “man” suggestion from 40, WR’s “weight of the world” and Vince’s recalled “mind”: 'David: All those... "

" Oh! It originates not from WR but from Gentile: "I asked:: "Is this the exact intended solution or is there something slightly wrong about it? ———- MAZE CONTEST SOLUTIONS 1-26-30-42-4-29-17-45-23-8-12-39-4-15-37-20-1 What house will all live in? Like Atlas, you bear it upon your shoulders. (The... "

" As difficult as it is to comb through this site for specific comments, it seems absolutely bonkers that none of us has been able to find this discussion from Manson of an alternate solution to the Riddle of the Maze. It would clearly be discussed... "

" Okay, so clearly I’m a little bit abyss-rusty. I just jumped in with the celestial sphere thing and assumed it couldn’t have been seriously considered/dissected prior, because if it was, wouldn’t everyone believe it!? Well, my comment from 2020 even proves I’d already read that... "

" sin, guilt, punishment "

" It's awful how often we say "I know this was discussed somewhere," but I know this was discussed somewhere. I can find a discussion of "the heavens" in Ask Manson (in which I reference discussing it on MazeCast), but not Manson's response, although I believe... "

" You’re telling me that WBM ALREADY FIGURED THIS OUT!? "

" I know what this is. It’s “the heavens” or something like that. Atlas never actually bore the earth on his shoulders- all ancient Greek sculptures depicted him holding the celestial sphere, and every myth specified “heavens,” too. The globe thing was a misunderstanding that didn’t... "

" Except for when we were obviously and unanimously correct, of course! "

" So, it looks like the noise they hear is the thump/footsteps/door slam described in Room 15. They turn toward the noise, and don't see the cat emerge from 24--that's my speculation. "Faint voices" are perhaps the sound of the Guide's loud talking and "commotion" as... "

" I incorrectly posted this in its own thread instead of as a reply, so now future generations will have no idea what we're talking about. Sorry, future generations! Also, sorry for all the other ridiculousness nonsense across the years, please don't believe any of us... "

" Too late. Time to listen to full Mazecast episodes again… There really is a charm to the grainy, laggy videotelephony. I feel like that will be looked back at as a nostalgic when we have hologram calls in 10 years, or something. Also, I think... "

" OHHHHH. I thought you were making a weird joke and was unsure how to respond for a long time, but now I see what you’re talking about. “The rest of them” suggests the other members of a group. Who is the first “member” he’s talking... "

" I tried to find the Mazecast episode that discussed exactly this oddity in the text, but I didn't find it. It was just the usual self-punishment of listening to Mazecast. We did discuss this at length at some point, with our usually excessive level of... "

" The wording almost makes it seem like the cat used to be one of them. "

" I think the cat acting as a warning about 24 is the most straightforward interpretation of that bit, and probably what it is intended to mean. However rereading it, it’s kind of a…weird order of events? 1: Guide is facing sun. We don’t know where... "

" Why would you include the center door with with doors to the right? (TEEEEEEEEEEchnically, there are rooms in the trap that have as many doors to the trap as this room.) "

" That's an interesting suggestion. Compare Room 5, where the chances of choosing "wisely" means choosing a door that keeps you on the path, even though you aren't on the 16-step solution path at that point. "

" Note that the guide specifies that the cat ran out of "a door to my right." Every door on the right-hand side of the page - including the center door - is incorrect (whether you are coming or going), and all but one of them... "

" This might be obvious, but it bears pointing out: The dialog for this room highlights the fact that this room is on the path (in the sense that the exits provide a straightforward, no-nonsense path to the center without having to return to Room 1,... "

" Ha! I think we're all on board then... "

" Oh, a deluxe printing of a nursery rhyme, that's probably just as good. "

" kickstarter.com/projects/railwaystationpress/letterpress-broadside-in-yiddish-and-english-alphabet-song "

" To be fair, it appears that he has moved on from his years of publishing puzzle books. "

" Man, he's in his mid-70s, let's just let the man be. "

" Maybe we should just call him and ask politely. "

" I would love a sequel to MAZE. Not sure about a letter writing campaign. Christopher Manson appears to have participated in a Kickstarter campaign with Railway Station Press in 2020. So he might be willing to raise funds to work on a sequel. I would... "

" DIEGETIC, not diabetic… I wonder what that could possibly mean, though! "

" That’s a good point. There are no exact “canonical” routes for Maze’s rooms, and a lot of what we see the guests do and rooms point to might be artistic, for narrative purposes, misleading or only the first step to a clue, etc. If the... "

" I think open-mindedness in perspective is advisable, although I would recommend caution with regard to interpreting room layouts and the significance of the text in literal ways. There are rooms where the text heavily implies the group went the wrong way (most notably in 17... "

" I want to draw attention to this comment, because even if I don’t really think what was observed here is damning, it analyzes the room in a pretty interesting way that isn’t done suuuper often. Even if the drawings in Maze are just drawings, they... "

" Oh! I didn't dismiss it out of impossibility. I've had that "bird in text" theory for a while, now, and just used it as an example for how easy it is to get overwhelmed with patterns in the room that aren't hard to find but... "

" Yeah, you dismissed the birds observation immediately so it went by without note, but that was a very interesting discovery! "

" I love "dirty" = 30; that "tidy" comment really sticks out. "

" Wow, I really like the hidden birds in that one sentence! "