Messages

8 across:

Spoiler

Justice

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[Monstrous]

5 down:

Spoiler

While Monstrous may be correct, we should also be aware that there is a Mount Ross in New York state, north of the city. Thus this one may be something personal for the killer.

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If Laura is right that "after a [J]ump to the left comes a tep to the right", which sounds like a dance instruction, we should take the letters to the right of the S's. Which
are only two . J B. So...John the Baptist? The second victim killed at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine? It's so hard to know when we're reading too much into a code.
And admittedly, this may be a stretch.

Ok...good to know, having ROT-13'd around the alphabet, finding nothing.

"Justice Killers" is used as a term for corporations who try to get laws passed that free them from responsibility in various cases. But it may
just as well mean a judge, of course.

Google also tells me that mprd and pwj are actual companies from NYC. I hope the case doesn't involve real companies.

The crux of the

"Is you name Heather?"

untold dimensions. Now that

Not wanting to ponder

  Slasher's actually hidden a huge hint about the logic in one of his replies above. Although it looked like we were discussing other things.  You don't need to have seen a similar setup or video to be able to solve this.

And after reading up on the order of operations, I now see I simply remembered it wrong, while Slasher is dead on. Oh well, it's a good thing I don't do that for a living.

I interpret the last line:

Spoiler

(virus+death star)x saturn, not virus+(death star x saturn) If I'm wrong about that, or if I'm wrong about what Saturn is, I won't know even if I get the death star right. I guess most won't play this until the end of the month (?), so it's a bit early to cry for hints. But it would be nice to know - if there were decimals, should the player type them with a comma or a dot?

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Stumped...

I'm looking forwards to seeing if someone else here gets it. 

I got it through trial and error. The correct formula seems to be

Spoiler

star+(meteor x planet). I'm used to doing additon and subtraction first when not told otherwise, so I misinterpreted it to be (star+meteor) x planet. The second conundrum was a lot easier, so now I've created a couple of universes. I guess there can't be a hidden ending, seeing as the point being that we go on to infinity.   

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Spoiler

It's actually: Star + Meteor(without comet)  x 1 planet...   no decimals, and the answer is online.
I also want see who gets past these math questions.

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I hope more people chime in on the next cases. I have some deadlines AND a massive computer upgrade coming up, so I won't have the time to host a case for a while. I hope someone else is able to.

Exceptional case, CaptainD!

I interpret the last line:

Spoiler

(virus+death star)x saturn, not virus+(death star x saturn) If I'm wrong about that, or if I'm wrong about what Saturn is, I won't know even if I get the death star right. I guess most won't play this until the end of the month (?), so it's a bit early to cry for hints. But it would be nice to know - if there were decimals, should the player type them with a comma or a dot?

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Stumped...

I'm looking forwards to seeing if someone else here gets it. 

I guess this was a mix-up:

Were the victim and the killer a couple for some time ?  (Nothing like that, no - their relationship as brother and sister is probably the most normal thing about them!)

Motive: solved (fixation on celebrity and urge to kill)
Method: solved (embalming fluid or something like that)
Plan: solved (hiding the body in plain sight)
The cock-up: unsolved, but we are getting there

Did the disease prevent the accomplice from going to the museum and maintaining the illusion? (Which I guess we already know is the case)
Did she get covid-19?
Did she get symptoms similar to covid-19, like the common cold? (Thereby not being allowed into the museum)

Oh my! That's a different type of game for sure! Oh, and I'm totally stuck on the maths.

Spoiler

I can't figure out what the small planet without the comet hitting it, is representing. The real question is if this is a normal maths/pattern problem, or if the player has to change his/her perceptions in order to solve it.

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Was the accomplice attacked?
Did the accomplice have an accident?
Did she contract a disease?
Do we need to find the motive other than an urge to kill? (You said whatever gain is felt is only in the twisted minds of the killer and accomplice)
Did the murderer and the accomplice quarrel about what to do with the wax statue?

[only the endings]

I feel bad about mentioning the Bates Motel TV series in the first place, now. I agree that the rape scene could/should have been done in another way. We all have our off-triggers; mine is cruelty towards children. Ever since becoming a parent, that changed how I'd watch something that earlier only entertained me, f.ex. some kidnapping plot in a crime show. And I've not even experienced anything of the sort.

That being said, the characters really do delve into the traumas from that first incident. Norman and Norma are two very disturbed individuals in the show, and the assault have lasting effects on them, sadly among other things resulting in other assaults later on. The actors are really good, too. The last season recreates the plot from Psycho in a way that relies on the story being spoiled beforehand - it's exactly what drives the tension. I thought that season was going to be poor, but it turned out to be quite good.


While spoilers deter from my enjoyment, they usually don't ruin the entire experience. Alas, with Psycho, I'll never know how I would have reacted...I've been furious with the typical literature schoolbook from the period when I went to school, where they told the pupils only the endings of various books, thereby crushing our will to read them. On a lighter note, when the Lord of the Rings movies came out, it was generally accepted that people knew that

Spoiler

Gandalf would come back

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. The trailers for the next movie gave it all away, as they probably thought the audience would have read the books. I distracted my wife at the key points during the trailer for months, and incredibly enough, it worked! When we went to the movie, she was pleasantly surprised.

Is the motive wanting to kill the celebrity (and "doing" so by proxy)?
Did the accomplice lose her job at the museum? (thereby not being able to maintain the illusion)
Did something happen to the accomplice? (sickness, death, injury)
Did something happen at the museum that made it impossible to get to the statue?

I prefer to read the books roughly in order, but in sequences, e.g. reading all the Watch books in a row. My faves are the Witches, although my all time number one Discworld book is Small Gods.

So, this is what we know: The male killer is a mortician. He has a female accomplice who makes wax statues for the museum. The female victim, who is a lookalike for a celebrity the killer is attracted to (as far as I understand it), is killed by injecting embalming fluid (or something of the sort). Then the accomplice makes her look like the wax statue (of the celebrity), and they swap them to hide the body. Due to all the visitors and their body heat, the body deteriorates and eventually begins to smell, which is when the murder is discovered.


What we don't know, is the motive. It's not revenge, money, shutting the victim up, nor a crime of passion.

Does the murderer gain on the victim's death?
Does the accomplice gain on the victim's death?
Does the celebrity gain on the victim's death?
Is the murderer attracted to the accomplice?
Did the lookalike no longer look like the celebrity?