MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle

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MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle (1985, Henry Holt and Company) is a puzzle book written and illustrated by Christopher Manson. The book was originally published as part of a contest to win $10,000.The premise of this puzzle book is akin to popular puzzle computer games such as Myst.

Unlike other puzzle books, each page is involved in solving the book's riddle. Specifically, each page represents a room or space in a hypothetical house, and each room leads to other "rooms" in this "house." Part of the puzzle involves reaching the center of the house, Room #45 (which is page 45 in the book), and back to Room #1 in only sixteen steps. Some rooms lead to circuitous loops; others lead nowhere. This gives the puzzle the feel of a maze or labyrinth.

Although probably intended by the author to be a children's puzzle book, arriving at the solutions to all parts of the puzzle is a demanding task for people of any age. Moreover, Manson alludes to characters in Greek Mythology and other themes in Literature, seeming to push the book toward an older intended audience.

The contest has been void since late 1987, but the book may still be purchased (ISBN 0-8050-1088-2).

Contents 1 Literary Significance 1.1 Greek Mythology and the Identity of the Narrator 1.1.1 The Minotaur 1.1.2 The Minotaur-Guide Connection 1.2 The Cask of Amontillado (by Edgar Allan Poe) 2 Parts of the Puzzle 3 The Contest 4 The Solutions to MAZE 4.1 The Shortest Possible Path 4.2 The Riddle in Room #45 4.3 The Solution to the Riddle 5 Characters 6 External links

[edit] Literary Significance

[edit] Greek Mythology and the Identity of the Narrator

The Guide (Narrator) mentions several times in the dialogue that he may not be trustworthy. "I have planted clues throughout for your interpretation— or misinterpretation," and "Fear not, that is, if you truly believe that my clues or I can be trusted," the Guide mentions in the Prologue. Moreover, the Guide boasts, "The uncertainty of visitors is one of my little pleasures." (p. 1) Indeed, it becomes almost blatantly clear that the Narrator is the antagonist when he asserts, "Like all others they think the Maze was made for them; actually, it is the other way around." Earlier, the Guide mentions that he is the architect of the Maze.

Devoid of any commentary from Manson himself on the subject, one can only speculate on the identity of the Narrator. However, based on various clues the Narrator plants in the dialogue, one may infer that the Guide is like the Minotaur from Greek Mythology. The character of the Minotaur has the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.

[edit] The Minotaur

According to the fable, Prince Minos of Crete wanted a sign from the gods to confirm he would inherit the throne over his brothers. The god Poseidon responded by sending a white bull to ascend from the sea, on the condition that Minos would sacrifice it as an offering. Overtaken by its beautiful appearance, Minos kept the bull for himself and sacrificed another instead. When Poseidon learned of this he made Minos's wife Pasiphaë to fall madly in love with the white bull. To appease her passions, she convinced the architect Daedalus to construct a hollow wooden cow into which to lower herself. This disguise fooled the white bull, and Pasiphaë's passions were satiated.

However, to the horror of Pasiphaë and Minos, Pasiphaë's offspring was a creature with the body of a man but the head and tail of a bull. This monster (called the Minotaur) wreaked so much havoc on Crete that Minos summoned Daedalus to construct a labyrinth in which to imprison the Minotaur. For nine years, seven young people (youths and maidens) from Athens were periodically trapped inside the labyrinth, upon whom the Minotaur would feast.

When Theseus reached Athens and learned of the sacrifices to the Minotaur in the maze, he traveled to Crete to end it. Upon his arrival, Minos's daughter Ariadne fell deeply in love with Theseus, promising him the means to escape from the maze if he would agree to marry her. When he agreed, she provided him with a ball of thread to tie to the entrance and unwind as he would progress. Inside, Theseus found and killed the sleeping Minotaur, rescuing the young prisoners to safety on his path back out, traced by the thread. [1], [2], [3]

[edit] The Minotaur-Guide Connection

• Along with four other heros of Greek Mythology, Theseus is mentioned in the middle of a poster hanging on the right wall of Room (page) #15. Theseus killed the Minotaur.

• "They never noticed my crown, my pain, the fire in my eyes.” (Prologue) The Minotaur, although a prince, was never recognized as such. Instead, his father had him imprisoned in a maze. There, he was a raging monster who devoured youth from Athens.

• "Preoccupied with their own throughts, impatient, like so many children, they didn't see who I really was." (Prologue) "Like children they soon became restless and impatient . . ." (p. 19) "'Which way now, children?' I asked in my most patronizing voice." (p. 26) ". . . they tried to think of themselves as adults . . ." (p. 14) Manson acknowledges that the Maze visitors are young adults or adolescents, as were the victims of the Minotaur in the labyrinth. ". . . a room with a piece of furniture I thought might appeal to my guests." (p. 41) The [i]piece of furniture[/i] is a children's slide leading down to Room 38. Further more, going to Room 38 eventual leads to an inescapable dead end, which could be reminiscent of the Minotaur leading victims to a trap.

• "People can be so arrogant . . . in a very real way we are all animals, at least in part.” (p. 32) The Minotaur was part man, part beast.

• "Though one of my parents might be low-born, the other was close to a king . . .” (p. 25) The Minotaur's father was the white bull summoned by Poseidon, and his mother was Pasiphaë, the Queen of Crete.

• "If you think of all the deceptions practiced in my family, particularly on my father . . .” (p. 6) is an indication that Manson had the Minotaur in mind. Minos deceived Poseidon when he slaughtered a bull in lieu of the white bull, Daedalus fooled the white bull into thinking Pasiphaë was a cow so they could mate, and Minos and Pasiphaë were taken aback by the nature of Pasiphaë's child.

• There is a sign on a wooden support in room (page)#6. This sign reads "Important Notice. All those who are visiting this house must be aware that the individual representing himself as the owner of the house is no other than the" (p. 6) The notice is ripped after the last phrase. This shows that the guide is not a "he" but an "it" as the word "the" refers to.

Although the Minotaur did not build his labyrinth, the connection to the Guide of the Maze is a strong one. All these clues to the Guide's identity suggest that Manson had in mind a character similar to the Minotaur from Greek Mythology.

[edit] The Cask of Amontillado (by Edgar Allan Poe)

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. This literary allusion is made in Room #39, which is apparently a wine cellar. In Poe's short story, Montresor seeks revenge against Fortunato by sealing him in his wine cellar via a brick wall he mortars. Jingling is heard behind the mortared wall because Fortunato is wearing a jester's cap from a carnival he had just attended. [4]

In MAZE, the Guide mentions, "None of them heard the faint jingling that came from behind the wall." In addition, there is a picture of a jester's cap hung above the freshly-mortared wall, behind which a bound Fortunato presumably resides.

[edit] Parts of the Puzzle

As Manson describes, this puzzle book "is not really a book,” but "a building in the shape of a book . . . a maze," whereby "Each numbered page depicts a room in the maze.” There are forty-five "rooms" (pages) in the Maze (book). In addition, "The doors in each room lead to other rooms.” With this structure established, Manson challenges readers to solve three tasks:

1. to journey from Room #1 to Room #45 and back to Room #1 in only sixteen steps,
2. to ascertain the Riddle hidden in Room #45 based on visual and verbal clues, and
3. to find the solution to this riddle hidden along the shortest possible path found in task 1.

[edit] The Contest

A contest to win $10,000 was released with the book in October, 1985. The contest ended September 1, 1987, which was an extension of the original contest deadline. It is uncertain if any money was ever awarded.

If inquired before November 1, 1987, Ventura Associates would have sent a letter containing clues to the Riddle found in Room #45. Here are the clues:

1. I’ll tip my hat if the two of you can solve this.
2. You can get into these two shoes only if you don’t go anywhere.
3. You will find two names on the table, and they go together like doughnut and hole.
4. You must choose between two pictures.
5. There are no two ways you can read this sign.
6. You can see that another two pictures demonstrate their own kind of symmetry.

[edit] The Solutions to MAZE

[5]

[edit] The Shortest Possible Path

The discovery of the hidden door to Room #17 on page 29 is key to finding the shortest path that the author had intended solvers to find. Via clues in the dialogue or through mapping shortest routes to rooms, the following sixteen-step path can be found:

According to the book, this path will "safely" take the reader from the entrance of the Maze, to its center, and then back outside again.

[edit] The Riddle in Room #45

Once in the center, the Maze's Riddle must be decoded in a rebus-style fashion using the images given on page 45. It is also exceedingly helpful to use the clues (given above) to know more readily what to look for.

1. "I’ll tip my hat if the two of you can solve this."

"Two of you" = "double you" ⇒ W

W + hat = What

2. "You can get into these two shoes only if you don’t go anywhere."

Two shoes: the horse shoe and the regular shoe

u + shoe ⇒ house (an anagram)

3. "You will find two names on the table, and they go together like doughnut and hole."

From the row of logs, the image of a sun, the "I am" poster with a shaking spear:

Wood + row + _____ + sun ⇒ Woodrow Wilson and

_____ + I am + Shake + spear ⇒ William Shakespeare

In both cases, "_____" ⇒ "will"

4. "You must choose between two pictures."

Choose between the picture of the awl ("all") and the picture of the nun ("none").

("awl" is a homonym of "all"; "nun" is a homonym of "none".)

". . . it is written on the wall for all to see . . ." indicates to choose "all."

5. "There are no two ways you can read this sign."

For the sign that seems to spell "Elvis": "ELVI" is an anagram for "LIVE".

This clue might mean that the sign does not spell "ELVIS", as it seems, but rather "LIVE".

6. "You can see that another two pictures demonstrate their own kind of symmetry."

("another" alludes to clue #4.)

eye ⇒ I and Z ⇒ N (when rotated right a quarter turn) I + N = IN

There is even a question mark in the illustration on page 45 to complete the sentence.

[edit] The Solution to the Riddle

1. Room #1: "Like" (Spelled backwards on scroll)
2. Room #26: "Atlas" (salt + a ⇒ Atlas)
3. Room #30: "you" ("Why" ⇒ "Y"; Y + O + U = you The "O" and "U" are already in the room.)
4. Room #42: "bear" (The taxidermied bear)
5. Room #4: "it" (Pictures of "fit", "sit", "split", "hit", and "lit"; and torch looks like "I" and gavel looks like "T".)
6. Room #29: "upon" ("Directions: UP + ON")
7. Room #17: "your" ("Why" ⇒ Y, "oh" ⇒ O, "You" ⇒ U; "are" ⇒ R.)
8. Room #23: "o" (From scroll on floor: "Everything right" ⇒ Okay, "Nothing" = 0 ⇒ O, and "The time is" ⇒ O'clock. Also, glove on coat rack is forming the American Sign Language motion for "E".)
9. Room #8: "s" (Pictures of sign, candle stick, stethoscope, light switch, smile, and a sign with "S" on it.)
10. Room #12: "u" and "d" (Pictures of dinner, dining, and dishes, plus the letters "D" and "U" are already in the room.)
11. Room #39: "r" (Pictures of 'rithmatic, barrels, mortar, bricks, and ladder. Also, the letter "R" is already in the room.)
12. Room #4: "l" (Maze "ELL" ⇒ L)
13. Room #15: "h" (Pictures of house, hierarchy, heart, hare, hats, helmet, heros, herringbone font, and a missing handle.)
14. Room #37: "e" (Pictures of objects ending in "E": eye, table, sphere, bottle, vase, cone, dice.)
15. Room #20: "s" (Newspaper "s")
16. Room #1: "." (Printed on scrolls)

"osudrlhes" is an anagram for "shoulders."

It is believed that the symbol for the period in Room #1 could also be the symbol for Gaia, the goddess of the Earth from Greek Mythology.

[edit] Characters

• Main Characters
  • The Guide (Antagonist)
  • The Visitors (Protagonist) (Meant to represent the MAZE's readers/solvers)
    • Visitors with Specific Titles
      • The Bold One (pp. 12, 28, and 33)
      • The Thoughtful One (pp. 9, 14, 30, and 35)
    • Visitors Identified via Quote (Some quotes may refer to the same visitor in different contexts, but this cannot be delineated.)
      • "Decisions, decisions . . ." (p. 1)
      • "The story of my life . . ." (p. 1)
      • "Why don't they pick up after themselves?" (p. 7)
      • "This could be a trick of some sort . . ." (p. 9)
      • "This must be an important room . . ." (p. 11)
      • "With so many paths crossing here we must be close to the center." (p. 11)
      • "Look at those two trees out there" (p. 23)
      • "It's meant to influence our decision" (p. 30)
      • "A totem, or tribal fetish . . ." (p. 35)
      • "It could be a work of art . . ." (p. 35)
      • "Not much help when there is only one way to go . . ." (p. 35)
      • "Beautiful music, don't you think?" (p. 36)
      • "This is more to my taste . . ." (p. 39)
      • "I hear someone hammering . . ." (p. 39)
      • "No, that's a chopping sound . . ." (p. 39)
      • "These symbols are quite unusual . . ." (p. 40)
      • "How can we trust that thing?" (p. 41)
      • "How will we find them?" (p. 42)

• Minor Characters
  • Animal Characters
    • A Small Black Cat (p. 4)
    • A Tortoise (p. 20)
    • A Bird (pp. 21 and 32)
    • Crocodile (p. 44)
  • Implicit Characters
    • Diggers (p. 27)
    • The Guide's Father (p. 6)
    • Fortunato, from The Cask of Amontillado (Poe) (p. 39)
  • Other Characters
    • A Scared, Patriotically-Dressed Figure (p. 16)
    • A Painter with Wizard's Cap (p. 19)
    • Inhabitants of the Stygian Gloom (p. 24)
    • 3 Devils (p. 26)
    • 2 Critics with Tall Fezzes (p. 26)
    • A Head-Standing Man (p. 29)
    • Blind Man with White Staff (p. 29)
    • A Man Taking the "Yes" Door (p. 34)
    • Musicians (p. 36)
    • "Peek" and "Part" Arms (p. 43)

One could also make a list of all the personified objects, as well as of the statues and portraits, all of which seem to play as important of a role as the "living" characters. Indeed, ". . . the silences of the Maze are as eloquent as the sounds." (p. 1)

[edit] External links

1. The MAZE Online, a hyper-linked version of MAZE that can be explored via your web browser.
2. Solutions to the MAZE Online. Click on "Hints" to see the Ventura Associates clues letter (printed above under "The Contest").
3. Alternative solutions from the rec.puzzles FAQ