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…what appeared to be someone’s basement. One of them sank gratefully down on an old couch which prompty collapsed.
I tried to hide my smile.
“A totem, or tribal fetish,” said one, walking around the center of the room.
“It could be a work of art,” suggested another.
“Perhaps it’s a signal to us,” the thoughtful one said. “A warning or direction?”
“Not much help when there is only one way to go,” put in another.
“I still think it’s a signal.”
“Yes,” I said right away, “I’m sure you’re right.”
She was immediately suspicious. Still, with no real choice to make, we left the thing standing alone in light and silence, and went into…
- Images and text copyright 1985 by Christopher Manson
used with permission. [Purchase MAZE from Amazon]
Room Type: LOOP Doors: 25 29 33 41
Solution Summary: [COLLECTION CURATED BY WHITE Raven. SEE COMMENTS FOR ADDITIONAL SOLUTION PROPOSALS.]
● This room has only one exit. The puzzles in this room help with solutions in other rooms to help a person escape from The Loop. [Independent Credit: 515 | Vewatkin | White Raven] [This room relates to (at least) Room 33, 3, 18 & 13]
● Room 33: There are several unusual 3s in this room. The totem pointing at the exit stands on three legs. The couch has a broken leg, a point emphasized in the text, so like the totem now stands on three legs. The small table to the right is missing the back leg so also stands on three legs. All this is to cue us to choose door 3 in the next room, Room 33. [Independent Credit: 515 | White Raven] A couple other 3s perhaps meant to emphasize the point are: The 3 legged couch has 3 cushions, one of which lay in the exit doorway, and the suit has 3 buttons. Note: While there are plenty of 3s in this room they are all single, not is a set of two 3s (like if there were 6 buttons on the jacket in two rows). Thus 3, not 33 is indicated. [Independent Credit: Aria | White Raven]
● Room 3: The totem is a man made of sticks, a simple drawing of a person like the one on the wall in Room 3 is known as a “matchstick man.” The stick man in this room is pointing the way indicating that we follow the matchstick man in Room 3. [Independent Credit: Mazecast | White Raven] [The book of matches ("matchstick") and the suit ("man") reinforce this solution.]
● Room 18: The blank poster on the wall could relate to the unreadable, barely visible poster hanging inside the correct door in room 18. [Independent Credit: Aria | White Raven] The arms of the couch have a swirl reminiscent of a bass clef, this could be an indication we follow the bass clef meter door in Room 18. [Credit: Aria] The bench to the left has a piece of wood in front of it which makes an “F”. This could be a clue that we take the bass “F” clef in Room 18. [Independent Credit: Vewatkin | White Raven] The matches and flammable materials spread around the room may suggest fire and that we should take the door in Room 18 which is closest to the fire. [Credit: Mazecast]
● Room 13: The single lit bulb in this room reinforces the lit bulb solution in Room 13. [Independent Credit: Aria | White Raven]
● Room 25: The text for this room has the unusual phrase “light and silence” this may be a clue that we choose the well lit not screaming face in Room 25. [Credit: Mazecast]
I’ve scrolled through the comments on this page and I don’t think I saw this idea, so I’ll just throw it out there in case it hasn’t been mentioned.
The effigy (eff, F? don’t get distracted) has only one arm, which points with its gloved hand to the correct (only) exit. BUT the wrappings around the arm/body joint look loose. Has someone pulled out the other arm? Is that what is leaning against the wall? Was the glove originally on that RIGHT hand (signalled by the lefts and rights in the text), pointing at the matches and suit? So… does that mean the most important thing on this page here is the suit and matches? (Or the bench?)
(Or is that its left hand. You can’t tell which is supposed to be its front. Anyway.)
If so does this have anything to do with somehow matching card SUITS? (Playing cards or Tarot?) Or is there something else we have to match?
(I’m also working on an idea about items that are missing things that may involve matching but I’ll post that when I have more.)
Also just re-noting the bandages around “face” of effigy that others have pointed out. (Another blindness reference.)
Now I’m thinking about “effigy.” Are we being signalled to think of that word? We have totem, fetish, work of art, thing — is this a signal to think of another synonym?
THere are matches and flammable looking bits of junk in that box — meant to trigger “burn in effigy?”
OK, here’s something REALLY weird. That left “leg” IS NOT TOUCHING THE GROUND. Look at the white around it. Look at the shadow. The thing is being supported by the board and the right “leg.” This is clearly deliberate. But WHY? WHY? WHY?
I guess there is one interpretation but I won’t go there.
OK one more thing on this.
Look at pages 35 and 29. In both cases you have a figure in front of a “white sheet.” The similarity is more striking if you put back the effigy’s “arm.” Or is it a leg? The glove could be there to confuse us. This is part of what I’m thinking of with “matching” rooms possibly.
THe glove is to “hide his smile”
How about this for Maze points. Silence is in the text only here and in room 1. There we get the bit about silences being eloquent. Maybe the silence here clues us that there are NO EXIT INDICATORS – because we don’t need them.
And to help us KNOW there are no exit indicators there is an almost one that does not work. Matches on the ground and matching suit and pants – we should take the matching digit exit – but the numbers don’t match. The two hooks for the light cord almost work but not quite too. One is backwards.
The fact that we have a lot of “rights” and only one “left” is probably another of the exit indicators that could work but don’t since the exit is on the left.
I think you are right about the explicit mention of silence being important here somehow. But I also wonder about that “eloquent silence” thing from 1 being about the various blanks throughout the Maze — the things that are missing or absent or “silent” that we are supposed to fill in.
The noted silence here is interesting when paired with the big white blank behind the idol, maybe suggesting that the concept of silence also encompasses visual absences.
The blank sheet could also be another non-exit indicator.
Thoughtful one says twice that this is a signal. I’m very confident it is a stop signal for a couple of reasons. One is that this is where the Raven poem ends, and it is the thoughtful ones comments that tell us just where to look for the poem. “stop” also plays a role in a minor multi-room puzzle of the falling signs. And it looks like an old fashioned railway stop signal. However – a “signal” is also a “guide” and this thing does cast what I believe to be the guide’s shadow – a Native American Raven. That’s not enough to wipe out the zero points on WR’s scoreboard, however.
Points of Interest-
1. My explanation for the stick man is posted in “Who Is the Guide” on Jan. 27, 2015:
COP L HANGER=DOPPELGANGER,=William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe.
2. The couch collapsing (sinking) & the narrator stating “It could be a work of art” brings to mind “Archimedes Principle” and the story of the golden crown Archimedes tested for the king in a manner not to damage the expensive crown. When he figured how to test it, as the story/legend goes, he shouted Eureka! Edgar Allan Poe’s attempt at writing a scientific essay he titled “Eureka; An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe”.
Both Eureka guys could be the guide.
I SO SORE = MINOTAUR = MICHAEL JACKSON
See what I did there. No doubt in my mind.
“…we left the thing standing alone in light and silence…”
We are almost explicitly told in Room 1 to note silences; I wonder whether this is suggesting (as we have surmised to be true) that light is also a general indicator of the correct path.
Dave makes an interesting observation on his site: when the couch breaks, it is left with only three legs. What that means I don’t know, but it seems like a connection worth paying attention to.
It’s hard to tell, though, whether only one leg has broken. We can see that the front, right leg is broken, and the couch leans conspicuously forward, suggesting the back side is higher then the front (suggesting the hind leg is not also broken), but the back of the couch also slopes down a great deal, suggesting the hind right leg is lower than the hind left leg. In any case, we can only see one leg on the couch.
It’s possible that we have a four-legged bench, a two-legged couch, a three-legged idol, though that’s not nearly as clear as I’d like it to be, and even the bench is somewhat muddied by that extra piece of wood leaning there.
Actually, the bench does not have a visible third leg.
Do we have three three-legged things here? And the idol has the arm, the couch has the wooden rod sticking out from under it, the bench has the board leaning against it…
I’ve wondered about some of the words in the text here. “Direction” is mentioned, as is “left” and “center”. Of course, “right” is used twice in the same sentence. I am not seeing the significance, though, given that there is only one choice and four doors. Thoughts?
Dumpy Nose,
Welcome to The Abyss! Good thoughts!
White Raven
1) A FOUR legged couch, or a FOUR legged bench,
2) A TWO piece suit.
3) A THREE legged Totem.
What walks on four legs in morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs at night? MAN – riddle of the Sphinx.
Solved by Oedipus.
The Item in the Center a Totem, or a tribal fetish (Taboo).
The Couch.
Oedipus, Totem and Taboo, a Couch = Freudian analysis.
The fact the the couch breaks, the fact that this is part of the maze in a loop, and that this room is left behind “standing alone in light and silence” suggests Freudian analysis as unfruitful in Manson’s opinion.
So, we know the totem is a signal and that the ‘work of art’ is nothing or a fake….
So, we have a ‘Signal Fraud’?
ha ha
I kept thinking about DG’s talk of the Guide. A signal is a type of guidance.
But, the scarecrow isn’t enough. There would have to be an anagram of crow, right? Phonetically, ‘krow’. Specifically one as black as tar. How could he hide that? Maybe he could draw it visually. Sneak it into a “work of art.”
How about the shadow looks like Native American Raven.
it looks more like an electrocuted chicken with a razzed tail.
At least that’s a bird, lol
We probably are only supposed to find one thing in 35 for Raven’s list, I think. In 6 it was a path leading from there that counted as the point. Let’s go with that here. “Matching suit” and “matches” makes us look at the matching 3s with the matching couch cushion in the door. (And the thing points to the door, and it is the only door). But it is a 2-piece suit, and the path in the door to 33 divides – and the 3s do not match exactly. This indicates we should split the 3s, and take exit 3, in the next room.
Hmm, three hooks, three legs, three couch cushions…
YES YES
The two couch cushions on the couch are like the 3s in the 33 above the door in this room. The 3 in the doorway is then the 3 in the next room.
Two two hooks on the ceiling are the 3s in “33″ above the door in 25; the other hook, off by itself, is the next 3, the one above the door in 33.
The tripod fetish points out 3 as the correct door in the next room, both directionally and by being a three in itself and pointing to the doorway to 33. (I.e. it points in the right direction in the next room, but even if you ignore that, it points to the door to the next room and also is a 3 itself.)
I like the hooks most – because the cord suggests a path. It leads to a lightbulb (symbolic of revelation, or maybe the one in 13 – then the lightbulb shines on the thing which could symbolicly complete the circle.
Some probably-too-far-gone thoughts on 35:
I’m seeing things in the room as being indicative of the path to take back to 41/1, but not in a way that helps in advance. That is, it seems like the rooms relate to 35 in a way that isn’t really noticeable until you get to the rooms. So it’s probably farfetched and totally bogus, but dig it:
We’ll start out weak, because I don’t see it in 33 or 3. For what it’s worth, The totem points the right direction in 33. (This is also true in 25 and 41, the other Loop rooms that contain doors to 35, as if the number “35″ within the rooms is itself an entreaty to remember the totem. It is NOT true in 29, the last room containing a door to 35, however; for while the totem would arguably point to the best among the visible doors, the correct door is the hidden one.) The closest I see in 3 is the text’s mention of going down a long flight of stairs, which is consistent with going into somebody’s basement, but that’s some weak stuff.
In relation to Room 18 we have (in 35) the matches, which would relate to the fire, and the “F” formed by the bench and board by the matches. (“F” for “fire,” if you like, or “face,” but my focus is the F clef you find in 18…which does potentially mean that this is hinting at the correct exit, if you buy it.)
For thirteen, we have that bulb hanging in 35, connecting to the lightbulb in the sunlamp in 13.
In 25–boy, this just gets so weak so fast, why am I even–25 doesn’t seem to have a connection 35, except for the literal connection, in that they are actually connected by a door. 25 also talks about looking for clues in another room; the Room 35 idol, if transported there, does indicate the correct door.
In regards to 34, 35 has a couch and the suit. Interestingly, in 34 the Guide is annoyed when the group gets comfortable, and in 35 the Guide is amused when the couch collapses beneath them.
Room 10, boy, I don’t know, this whole things has already run out of gas. Maybe the blank door placard there is like the blank poster in 35? BEE ESSSSSSSSS
Room 41 has its own idol, and an entryway to 35, and, as mentioned before, the totem points the right direction here as well.
Well, what I’ve accomplished here is convincing myself that this is not a meaningful set of connections. I hope this saves you the trouble of forming your own opinion.
A bit more here: That ladder does not go up to another room. It goes DOWN to 41. If we walk around the loop we go back down stairs after room 3. These rooms here have no outdoor lighting, and it is supposed to be the wee hours of the night outside, but in fact, based on ladders, this is the highest set of rooms in the House. And note that the ladder continues up, probably to the roof. But then…where else would a bird live… It seems that maybe this is Raven’s basement and he likes to live above. Room 11 says he hates confinement and the word “gratefully” links from there to here and the couch.
Appearances:
Text here says it appears to be a basement.
In 12/28 he says “You know what I say about appearances”. Well – what does he say? Here he says there is some sort of room down there, and of course there is. We infer he means appearances can be deceiving. So let’s look for other times he uses the word. In 25 there is an apparent lack of clues, and also a real lack of clues. In 16 they apparently believe him, and we have no reason to doubt that. In 10 there is an apparent argument in 37 and a real one there. In 9 it appears to be a store room, and for all intent and purposes is one. So – is seem, generally, he uses “appearances” to mean something really is something. But here is 35 – that does not work. That ladder does not go up to another room. It goes DOWN to 41. If we walk around the loop we go back down stairs after room 3. These rooms here have no outdoor lighting, and it is supposed to be the wee hours of the night outside, but in fact, based on ladders, this is the highest set of rooms in the House. This is an attic. And note that the ladder continues up, probably to the roof. But then…where else would a bird live…
If this were a serious academic project and we had some grad student slaves it would be about time to assemble a concordance. So for example, one would be able to look up “children” and find out exactly which pages it occurred on, how many times, and in what forms, maybe with footnotes about it being implied in 14, etc… If any one has software that could accomplish that easily it would be very useful I believe. Something like a scanning software would be needed first and then ideally a software tool already build for such counts. There would be slower routes as well, which could be divided up task wise if there was enough interest.
The signal points with a glove at correct exit.
Sign of parting in poem matches the way exit 33 dividers in two paths.
Matches. matching suit. Cushion matching the couch is in door to 33
And “take thy beak from out my heart” may match up with the glove on the end of the “beak”. It also matches up with “I tried to hide my smile” from the text. And from room 3 we know the ‘heart of Christopher” is “stop” so this form her is also a heart of Christopher, from which the beak has been removed, or at least hidden. This intermingling of symbolism for Christopher and Raven brings to mind the book introduction. “Which half is Maze?” (And which half this world?)
Here’s something interesting: You know that big white space on the wall behind the idol? Along the top and sides it lines up as near-perfect as I can tell with the door frame of the YES door in the next page to the left, Room 34. The way that it’s clearest to see that is by holding up both pages to a lightbulb.
I don’t know whether that means anything. The dangling lightbulb in 35, right by the white patch, suggest to me that there’s something purposeful in here, that this isn’t just some goofy thing we found, but on the other hand, the clearest way to see this overlay is to look at the BACK of the pages (so you’re actually looking at the text page for 36), and, as a wise man points out, if this relationship were intended it would have made a lot more sense to have the page with the white space on top.
Additionally, all Manson wanted you to do in 29 was turn the page upside-down, which is a lot easier to try, a lot more likely to be tried without prompting, and not even necessary to finding the hidden door; and he clued that a thousand ways in the room. Here, if there’s any clue in the picture and text, it’s just that there’s a lightbulb hanging by the white space.
If it’s anything, it seems to be relating the idol in the 35 to the man walking out the door in 34.
Doubtful.
How about 3 legs on couch now. 3 cushions. And one in doorway.
3 visible bench legs.
NOT 3 legs on the signal. How is that thing standing? It is balanced on 2 legs like a bird or something.
It has 3 attached bits however. And one leg points at 33.
The “matching suit” and matches indicate the nearly matching 33
Or maybe the matching bit of wood by the bench would give the tripod three legs .
Actually thumbs up. It’s not an exit indicator. those are easier. It’s one bit of the Raven poem that was only partly fitting and now completely fits. 2nd to last stanza. “Take thy form from off my door” And the man’s form on the door becomes blank when you turn the page.
“I tried to hide my smile.”
Is that why the idol’s head is wrapped? Does it bear the hidden face of the Guide?
Yep – it was mentioned.
The suit and the matches on the ground probably give us “matching” and the only exit is 33 with matching 3s. Or DO those 3s really match? Nope. What else might match then? We have a “RR” stop signal and we also have “Right” twice in the text. That’s a clue. Part of what we need is in a different room. In 37 we have “Sometimes, important messages are couched in ambiguous terms”. The “couch” should make us think of here. And the important message? Well it is couched in “ambiguous terms”. In fact we want the word “terms”. Put the 2 clues together and we have “matching terms”. Thus we are off on a hunt for matching words in the text of this page. Now there are some minor words so we could futz with the message a bit but the gist seems clear – “Right Signal – “another one””. That should send us off to room 32 for more clues.
Boy, those 3s really don’t match. I’m on the fence about whether that means something, or whether it’s just like the bottle that looks obviously different between the prologue and Room 1. Here, though, these 3s are side-by-side on the same page. Hmm, hmm.
I like the idea that the totem in 35 signals the return to Room 1; it’s something we’re well aware of now, but we can’t take it for granted that an explorer would know that they needed to return to Room 1 and start over. I wonder whether there are any more clues indicating as much. Essentially, anything anywhere in the loop that suggests you need to return to 1 would be a useful clue.
Pretty obvious here, but no one has said: the fetish points toward the door you should take in the next room. (From 33, you should go to 3.)
I didn’t say it, but I typed it!
Whoops! No I didn’t. I typed that it pointed the way in room 25, which it does. If it points the way in 33, it also does in 41. The streak is broken in 29 for obvious reasons.
25 maps to the placement most closely and there is an indicator in that room that points here.
I see what you mean: in three of the four rooms connected to 35, the totem points to the correct door. I think 33 is the most relevant because that’s where you go AFTER 35, when the information can actually help you, but it’s interesting that it applies to those rooms as well. The fact that it doesn’t apply in 29 makes me doubt this means anything, though.
In order to get back on path, however, after you go to 33, you go to 3, then 18, then 13, then back to 25. So one would have seen which way the fetish points, in that case.
If you’re headed OUT, though, the fetish DOES indicate a correct door in 29. (I say “a” correct door because 2 and 8 are equally expedient routes to 1. However, because 8 is on the True Path, it’s presumably better, because it will clue you in the right direction, whereas, as discussed elsewhere, it appears that Room 2 clues you back to Room 29.
Is that a book of matches on the floor near the table?
Also, the closer legs of the table (with the partial obstruction of a spare block of wood) seems like an “F” to me.
Good eyes! That’s definitely some matches there- frightening considering how flammable the room looks.
BTW, where do y’all suppose the smile is hidden?
Matching suit?
Or, “two-piece suit”?
Between that and the matches, it may be a suggestion that this room needs to be paired with another.
It’s totally paired with 25.
Yes – suit + matches = “match”.
Also “rail-road” stop + “right” , “right” in the text gives “RR”. Those are 2 bits of an “uber puzzle” unifying the room I think. “couch” and “signal” should be involved. Not sure what else.
there are a few smiles – one is in room 8 hidden in the top right corner, the other is the man who ate in the deja vu rooms
Well now – here is a seed of an idea. Facts:
1) Raven has room 35 as background for the “guide” puzzle.
2) The time in room 35 is probably “DH”
3) best google hits fro DH – “down home” boy, Designated hitter, and “D.H. Lawrence”
4) 2 years after his death a woman used his notes to publish a story of his life – this woman was Anaia Nin
5) She also wrote a book – seduction of the Minotaur.
HHHHHMMMMMMM!!!
If the fetish were transported to Room 25, it would point to the right door, also.
Who’s suit is that? Does it make the fetish look a man when it puts it on?
“Perhaps it’s a signal to us….I still think it’s a signal…warning or misdirection?”
Yes, I said RIGHT away. I’m sure you’re RIGHT……
Another reference to unmarked doors, that left (room 33) is not correct.
Not much help when there is ONE (room one) way to go.
A synonym for totem or tribal fetish is idol, which in room 41, another idol, and the “I, doll” both reference to room 1.