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oAlt
oAlt
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Strangely, the clocks haven't changed while you were solving the crossword. It turns out that all of the clocks show a p.m. time. Rendered as 24h time, these times can be interpreted as years from 1673 to 2020. (16:37? Yes, that digital alarm clock is strange ...)

Each clock has a coloured border that corresponds to one of the cities marked on the map. These cities share a common property: They had a different name in the year marked by the respective clock. In particular:

In 1917, Oslo was Kristiania.
In 1956, St. Petersburg was Leningrad.
In March 2010, Topeka was Google.
In 1934, Dushanbe was Stalinabad.
In 1807, Toronto was York.
In 2020, Astana was Nur SulranSultan.
In 1673, New York was New Orange.
In 1938, Yekaterinburg was Sverdlovsk.

Strangely, the clocks haven't changed while you were solving the crossword. It turns out that all of the clocks show a p.m. time. Rendered as 24h time, these times can be interpreted as years from 1673 to 2020. (16:37? Yes, that digital alarm clock is strange ...)

Each clock has a coloured border that corresponds to one of the cities marked on the map. These cities share a common property: They had a different name in the year marked by the respective clock. In particular:

In 1917, Oslo was Kristiania.
In 1956, St. Petersburg was Leningrad.
In March 2010, Topeka was Google.
In 1934, Dushanbe was Stalinabad.
In 1807, Toronto was York.
In 2020, Astana was Nur Sulran.
In 1673, New York was New Orange.
In 1938, Yekaterinburg was Sverdlovsk.

Strangely, the clocks haven't changed while you were solving the crossword. It turns out that all of the clocks show a p.m. time. Rendered as 24h time, these times can be interpreted as years from 1673 to 2020. (16:37? Yes, that digital alarm clock is strange ...)

Each clock has a coloured border that corresponds to one of the cities marked on the map. These cities share a common property: They had a different name in the year marked by the respective clock. In particular:

In 1917, Oslo was Kristiania.
In 1956, St. Petersburg was Leningrad.
In March 2010, Topeka was Google.
In 1934, Dushanbe was Stalinabad.
In 1807, Toronto was York.
In 2020, Astana was Nur Sultan.
In 1673, New York was New Orange.
In 1938, Yekaterinburg was Sverdlovsk.

Bounty Ended with 500 reputation awarded by Jafe
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M Oehm
M Oehm
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Confidently, you type in the combination:

129.

57 minutes earlier. Let's do the crossword first.

The completed crossword is below. The highlighted letters spell RED HERRING. The crossword was tough and you've wasted quite a bit of time here. 

     A I R B A G
         ^   N
             E <
             C
           > D E B A U C H E D
             O     S     ^   E
             T     P         E <
             A     I         P
             L   > R   F O R E W A R N E D
       J           A       ^ N
     > I           T         I
       N           I         N
       X Y L O P H O N E S   G <
                   N ^

Okay, 13 minutes left. What about the clocks and the map?

Strangely, the clocks haven't changed while you were solving the crossword. It turns out that all of the clocks show a p.m. time. Rendered as 24h time, these times can be interpreted as years from 1673 to 2020. (16:37? Yes, that digital alarm clock is strange ...)

Each clock has a coloured border that corresponds to one of the cities marked on the map. These cities share a common property: They had a different name in the year marked by the respective clock. In particular:

In 1917, Oslo was Kristiania.
In 1956, St. Petersburg was Leningrad.
In March 2010, Topeka was Google.
In 1934, Dushanbe was Stalinabad.
In 1807, Toronto was York.
In 2020, Astana was Nur Sulran.
In 1673, New York was New Orange.
In 1938, Yekaterinburg was Sverdlovsk.

Nine minutes left. And the only thing left is the Mondrian painting. What now?

You have no idea.

Five minutes left. You are stuck. But ...

.. let's have another look at that crossword again. Hey! The letter counts fit the old names: There's one four-letter word, where York will fit. One six-letter words where Google will fit. Hm, let's see: 

     G O O G L E
         ^   E
             N <
             I
           > N U R S U L T A N
             G     T     ^   E
             R     A         W <
             A     L         O
             D   > I   S V E R D L O V S K
       Y           N       ^ A
     > O           A         N
       R           B         G
       K R I S T I A N I A   E <
                   D ^

That was a breeze. You've still got four minutes left.

There are ten highlighted cells in the crossword. They spell ONNTWIEONE. You are looking for a three-digit number. There's a ONE right there, but that's it.

But you can enter these letters in the usual writing order into the coloured squares of the Mondrian: 

   O . N
   N T .
   . W I
   E O N
   . . E

You can see the numbers right there! You key them in, open the door and run. There's just one little thing still nagging you:

What were the different colours in the painting for? Apparently they had no significance. Another red herring.

Never mind, you think as you hear a muffled explosion in the distance.