From: Vincente Watkins 12/14/2001 Thu 11:24 PM Subject: A day's meditationsTo: john bailey Some of this stuff is repeated info, but I'm trying to somewhat organize information. I. It is my opinion that all dead loop rooms (6, 11, 22, 24, 38, 40, 43). with the exception of 24, have hidden warnings about one's plight; however, I have not found all of them. 6- I find no hidden signs, but this room does contain the torn warning of the narrator's identity. 11- The left hand on the sign, as has been mentioned before, refers back to the Directions, where the left hand is the odd-man out. Narrator also speaks of confinement. 22- None found. Narrators says "one could spend quite some time here." 38- See [Ape Nose]--> No Escape 40- Hidden among the markings on the cave walls are the letters T, R, A and P (trap). 43- Part, Peek--> Trap, Keep (another word for "jail", especially of a castle). "Your self" can be anagrammed into "lose" and "fury", though I'm not certain if that's relevant. II. Letter/Number coding Using simple number-letter coding (a=1, b=2, 3=c, etc.), we can find several correct doors alluded to by objects/words in the room. ("Correct doors" already determined in a prior email) 4- Hidden in the maze diagram on the right hallway are the letters E, L, and L. These add to 29. Also, the "I T" corresponding to the intelligence test on the opposite wall also add to 29. 45- Two items in the room are not incorporated into the riddle: the chair, and the table. T for tabel plus C for chair equals 23. 30- O, U, and F add to 42. 9- There is a picture of a blind mouse next to door 3; 3+b+m= 18. There is also a picture of three bearded men (3bm). III. Stuff 45- I know that the riddle has officially been acknowledged as "What house will all live in?" However, a labyrinth that ends its sentences with prepositions has never sat well with me (although I don't suppose that the word order is fixed anyway). This is probably pointless to note, but the pictograms and whatnot can be arranged to say "What house will all evil inhabit?" (notice the lack of facial features and identifiable fingers, or any other body parts, on the picture of the "nun": it is truly just the picture of a habit) "Evil" also better fits the clue about there not being two ways to pronounce the word. 41- In a picture on the back wall, a doll is pointing to its eyes. eye+doll= idle? Obviously, "idol" fits better, but it does not apply as well to the room (though someone might discover how it does). I interpret the sign as "idle" because 41 is a gateway to a series of rooms from which one cannot escape without either going to the death loop or returning to 41 and then 1. 41 is a gateway to much idle exploration. 39- The children hear hammering and chopping. Having already been there (if we are following the correct path), we know that room 4 contains instruments for both. IV. Random connections I haven't figured out yet (help) 3- Taking all the letters in "this way" away from "whats your sign" we are left with "our sign". "STOP" is "pots" backwards ("pantry" mentioned in text, pots in room). In Greek mythology, the answer to the sphinx's riddle was "man", and there is a stickman on the wall. 5- There is a picture of a tower, and a flower on the ground (they rhyme). 41- The narrator mentions "special furniture" in the text, and we assume he is speaking of the slide (which isn't exactly a piece of furniture). Could he be referring to the toadstools? It seems so to me, but I can't work out any reason for doing this. 34- The boat's at sea; si = yes. V. Clues to narrator's identity 7- "...thinking of my childhood and how wild I had been." Minos was a warmonger and womanizer. 16- " a stone chamber which reminded me of my old neighbors." The machinery could remind Minos of Daedalus.