Final Selection - Complete Solution
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*****Major spoilers follow**********

The following is an explanation of the solutions to all the major puzzles presented in the game.

To complete the game, the player must collect a set of clues and put them together to discover a one-word solution. Ringing the bell will then summon the Director who will ask for this word. 

The instructions for working out the solution are found on the hand-held computer which is in the desk drawer. Although this is easily found, it can only be activated by finding its battery (in the black box) and memory card (in the metal ball) and then entering a security code (numbers pointed to by the ballerina in the musical box).

The instructions are that the player must find five single-digit numbers. These are:

7 (along with two PROVERBS, on the screwed-up paper in the fireplace)
5 (on the brown paper in the DANIEL Defoe novel found on the desk)
3 (surrounded by NUMBERS, on the disc found in the weighing machine)
9 (the message on the yellow cassette tape, supposedly a GENESIS album)
8 (on the post-it note found behind the JOSHUA Reynolds painting)

These must be put in the correct order, which is sugggested by the card found inside the globe. This says:

In the beginning...
  Genesis
  Numbers
  Proverbs
  Joshua
  Daniel

These might appear to be books of the bible, but actually tell us that the numbers should be in the sequence 93785

The player must also find five five-letter words

EVADE (on the red paper in the steel box)
BEING (on the bottle label in the fridge)
AWASH (on the disc found in the weighing machine)
CUPID (on the green paper found in the umbrella)
DUNCE (on the blue paper under the blotter on the desk)

The instructions are to "order these by their first (ie alphabetically). Their last letters are then paired with the numbers, giving H9, G3, D7, E8, E5

These are then looked up in the table provided by the computer:

    1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
-------------------------------------
A | T   H   E   C   L   E   V   E   R
B | J   O   B   S   E   E   K   E   R
C | O   U   T   F   O   X   E   S   N
D | T   H   E   C   R   A   Z   Y   T
E | O   L   D   M   A   N   R   Z   Q
F | W   H   O   P   O   S   E   S   X
G | Q   U   I   T   E   A   V   A   O
H | S   I   M   P   L   E   F   Q   P
I | C   H   A   L   L   E   N   G   E

The solution is the word PIZZA.

To get to this, various problems need to be solved; some others may provide hints; others are red herrings.

The main ones are:

1) The message on the blotter is:

WHERE THINGS ARE CAN BE AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT THEY ARE

(a hint regarding the number clues and the fact that their order is determined by the context in which they were found).

2) The clue in the newspaper:

6 Across: Marxist found in shoals provides a clue of doubtful value (3,7)

The answer is "RED HERRING" (and it is one!)

3) Numbers found in the soot behind the fireplace:

  9  8  8  3  16  1
  7  8 
  1  8   15  E

This message can be decoded using the laminated card in the hat:

   Periodic Table of elements 
        in order of
     Atomic Number (H=1)

 H                    He
 Li Be B  C  N  O  F  Ne
 Na Mg Al Si P  S  Cl Ar
 K  Ca

Using H=1, He=2, etc, the message decodes as:

F O O Li S H
N O
H O P E

(Just a generally discouraging message!)

4) The black box found on the table can be opened if the correct sequence of buttons is pressed. These are:

1 1 2 3 5 8 13

Inside is the battery for the computer.

5) A hint for the sequence of numbers to open the black box can be found in the blue book on the book case. If you STUDY this (as recommended in the text description) you notice there is a "an example of a series in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers".

6) The memory card is hidden in a metal ball, filled with water, which can be found on the corner shelf. Placing the ball in the ice-box, the water inside it freezes, expands and cracks the ball open. If the resulting ball of ice is allowed to melt, the memory card is found. The card carries the message.

FREEZING POINT OF W: 32 DEGREES

This gives one of the two co-ordinates for setting the globe (32 degrees west)

7) The other co-ordinate is found on the protractor in the tin in the desk drawer (37 degrees north)

8) The disc can be retrieved from the weighing machine by working out that it weighs 5 units. If the weight "4" is added to its scale pan and the weights "6" and "3" are put in the other pan, the machine is balanced and, on pulling the lever, the disc is ejected, along with the weights, into the tray in the front of the machine.

9) Weight "10" (if EXAMINEd) turns out to be openable and has the key to the musical box inside.

10) The umbrella ferrule can be unscrewed and screwed into the brass plate in the iron box. This allows the box to be opened.

11) The brass monkey has got some heavily-hinted hidden writing on its back. If cooled in the fridge or freezer, this is revealed as:

BY FREEZING, I WASN'T HARMED AT ALL; NOT SO, FOR THE PROVERBIAL BALL

This is a clue to what must be done with the metal ball, which can be opened by freezing it. Also, a sideways reference to the well-known expression of being cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

12) The message on the tissue paper in the cigar tube is:

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR!

(Just a general comment and not a clue for anything)

13) The green paperback on the book case contains the following:

N O T X E V E R Y L
O J H N P O F E M B
Q G I S O X C L U E
R V N J R L O E O W
I S G I J L P V W A
Y H D S U U K A B R
N S O M E Q A N X E
F T Q Z D O R T P L
O E F A L S E M N E
A V Y A J W B K N Q  

Searching for sensible words across and down, you will find:

NOT EVERY CLUE IS RELEVANT SOME ARE FALSE

(A general piece of cautionary advice)

14) The recording on the blue tape is :

I have five fingers on my hand
Only five digits
Only five words to tell you
How muuuch eeeoooaannnggg

(which is a general clue to the fact that you need five digits and five words).

15) The initial message on the computer screen says:

You will surely find the answer In the hands of the little dancer.

(which is a clue that the sequence pointed to by the ballerina is the security code for the computer)

16) If the musical box is wound up using the key found in the weight "10", the ballerina figure points successively at the numbers 5 9 6 3 1 (starting and finishing by pointing to X).

17) The magazine on the desk contains the clue:

 WHEN, ROUND THE WORLD, YOUR SEARCH BECOMES DISTRACTED, LOSS OF MEMORY MAKES IT MORE PROTRACTED.
 
This is an obscure hint to the fact that the globe problem (WORLD) requires the memory card and the protractor.

18) The grey exercise book on the table has the clue:

WHEN AT LAST THE LITTLE KEY YOU FIND, A WEIGHT IS SURELY TAKEN OFF YOUR MIND

(A clue to the fact that the key is hidden in the weight)

19) The notice on the door states:

IF YOUR FINGERS ON THE LID JUST SLIP PERHAPS I NEED TO GIVE TO YOU A TIP

(A clue to the opening of the lid of the iron box, using the tip of the umbrella)

20) And there is one other well-hidden puzzle

Sam Gordon
April 2006








