Prisoner 7 is an unknown person, kept in an unknown location, and is a blight on Henry VIII's reputation. In this book, you need to use logic, clues and tangental thinking to firstly identify the prisoner, and then help them escape. Each of the 41 puzzles can be done in sequence ideally. Some puzzles rely upon previous clues in order to be completed. Once you think you have solved each puzzle, visit www.escapages.co.uk to enter the key, or scan the QR code. You will be given a clue: write this down (they are vital for future puzzles). You will only need a pencil, the Internet and your wits to solve the puzzles. Good luck and godspeed.
Walkthrough
Puzzle 1
There are six vertical lines. What did Henry VIII famously have six of?
Focus only on the lifelines of the three wives in the dashed circle.
Add the ages of the three wives when Henry VIII became King of England.
Catherine of Aragon was 24 when Henry VIII became King of England (1509 - 1485). Anne Boleyn was 8 (1509 - 1501). Jane Seymour was 1 (1509 - 1508). Adding the ages together (24 + 8 + 1) totals 33.
- Solution 1: 33
- Clue 1: LIVID
Puzzle 2
There are six rows of boxes. What did Henry VIII famously have six of?
The last names of each of Henry VIII's wives fit into these boxes. Two can be placed easily.
PAR(R) fits into the first row and (S)EYMOUR in the sixth row. Add H(O)WARD to the second row. Place the other three wives (ARAGON, BOLEYN, and CLEVES) into the other rows to create a six letter word reading vertically in the ring column.
1. PAR(R)
2. H(O)WARD
3. BOLE(Y)N
4. (A)RAGON
5. C(L)EVES
6. (S)EYMOUR
- Solution 2: ROYALS
- Clue 2: ROYALS
Puzzle 3
The numbers on the left translate to the first word on the right.
Each number on the left should be converted into Roman numerals.
The solution requires an apostrophe.
Each number on the left converts to Roman numerals:
| Original | Roman |
|---|---|
| 1 1000 | I M |
| 1001 50 500 | MI L D |
| 101 6 50 | CI VI L |
| 501 1000 | DI M |
| 1001 1001 100 | MI MI C |
| 54 1 500 | LIV I D |
- Solution 3: I'M
- Clue 3: ME
Puzzle 4
There are four hockey sticks that are pointed differently from the others.
On each of the differently-pointed hockey sticks is a lowercase letter.
The four lowercase letters spell out a word related to "hockey sticks".
All the words on the hockey sticks are misspelt versions of DEATH. Those on the four differently-pointed hockey sticks are "(p)EATH", "D(u)ATH", "DEA(c)H", and "(k)EATH". The lowercase letters spell PUCK.
- Solution 4: PUCK
- Clue 4: UPON
Puzzle 5
Five capital cities have been split into two. Pair them back together.
One of the capital cities must be read backwards ("reading back words").
Four capital cities can be read normally (LO NDON, BERL IN, PA RIS, and MAD RID). The fifth, EM OR, is read backwards as ROME.
- Solution 5: ROME
- Clue 5: NAVIGATE
Puzzle 6
Notes on a musical scale have letter designations. Convert these notes to those letters.
Once you've converted the notes in the first line to letters, you can rest.
The letters form three words.
The notes have letters ACAGEDBED, which reads as A CAGED BED.
- Solution 6: A CAGED BED
- Clue 6: NOTE
Puzzle 7
Puzzle 8
You'll need to find a five-letter word represented by the five dots in the upper grid.
The lower grids indicate this to be a type of pigpen cipher. There are many variations of pigpen ciphers, and this puzzle uses an uncommon one.
This puzzle requires a single grid with three letters per square. The letters represented by the three dots in the lower left of the upper grid are STU. Find the other two letters, then rearrange them to make a word.
In the upper left square of the upper grid, place ABC vertically. In the upper middle square, place DEF vertically. In the upper right, GHI. The middle row reads JKL, MNO, and PQR. The lower row reads STU, VWX, YZ. The dots represent letters J, O, S, T, and U. Rearrange these letters to JOUST.
- Solution 8: JOUST
- Clue 8: MUST
Puzzle 9
Puzzle 10
Puzzle 11
Use the clue from Puzzle 6 (NOTE) to determine the pigpen cipher hinted at in the rings and grids below. The third ring (with the light circle) will not be used in this solution. The first ring is N. The second O, the third T, and the fourth E.
Even though the rings seem to focus on the center square of the grid, the center square will never be filled in for this pigpen cipher. Instead, the smaller triangles and circles are placed exactly where N, O, T, and E are located in the grid.
Given the following grid for E, the final letter of the solution is D:
A | B | C
D | △ | E
F | G | H
Use the following two grids for the light and dark triangles. A light triangle in the bottom right of a ring refers to H. A dark triangle in the bottom middle of a ring refers to O, and so forth.
A | B | C I | J | K
D | △ | E L | ▲ | M
F | G | H N | O | P
- Solution 11: HOLD
- Clue 11: HAVE
Puzzle 12
"upon" and "locked" are clues from previous puzzles. Which ones?
"upon" is the clue from Puzzle 4, and "locked" is from Puzzle 7, which suggests "4 x 7". Create a grid of 4 rows and 7 columns, then place the letters in this grid, filling the first row left to right, then the second, the third, and the fourth.
You'll end up with this grid:
T | E | C | A | N | I | H
H | T | A | R | D | S | E
E | A | G | O | N | Y | E
M | L | E | U | O | S | P
Now, read the letters downward, which forms THE METAL CAGE AROUND NOISY SHEEP. This is a riddle whose answer is the final solution.
Noisy sheep might "BAH" a lot. A metal cage around these sheep might have BARS.
- Solution 12: BARS
- Clue 12: CELL
Puzzle 13
There are three different types of knights. Group the letters by type.
Only one group of letters makes a common word. Knowledge of fabrics is not required.
The black knights chase after P, S, S, D, A, and E, spelling PASSED. The first white knights chase after R, F, U, T, U, and D, spelling nothing. The second white knights chase after O, E, E, N, M, and R, spelling MOREEN.
- Solution 13: PASSED
- Clue 13: YOUR