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Can you solve the witch's trap and break the curse they placed on you?

Vixen's herbs in cauldrons mixing,
wins the next without descending,
misguided hearts now truly mending.

The Senior's Apprentice slowly sighing,
melting, melting, slowly dying.
The basilisk's fears are mixed inside.

Sunset-hued trees are tossed around,
moldy dots easy to pound.
breadworms scream without a sound,
the pot now slowly rising.
stirring, stirring, black cats purring, the fire's slowly dying.

The witch's brew is near the top,
served in turkey's clothes, you hear a plop!
the wicked potion, now still steaming,
served by wicked eyes a'gleaming.

What is there inside the pot?
you must show the steps.
To cure your rot right on the spot,
and then pay your respects!

NOTES I just deciphered a strange code scrawled on the back cover in tiny braille morse code, which roughly translates as follows:

A couple of lines are mostly for rhyming purposes, and most of them refer to a particular ingredient, or a method to get the next step. Work it more like a cryptic crossword if that helps, but don't take it too deep, ne? ;P

Puzzling Thoughts collected from my own personal ruminations:
- Rumination 1

It seems to me like the first line of every stanza is a description/reference to something...and, what could misguided hearts have to do with witches and gibberish?


- Rumination 2

It appears that for the first 2 stanzas, each sentence is an individual ingredient. After that, each line is either an ingredient or instruction.


- Rumination 3

For the third stanza, think colors: what kind of tree is colored like a sunset? what kind of sphere may look like mold? What would a breadworm look like?

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    $\begingroup$ "The basilisk's fears are mixed inside" - I bet it's a gargoyle. Basilisks have no idea what to do when their opponent is already a rock. Then Medusa gets involved and everyone is confused. It's like a petrification version of rock-paper-scissors. $\endgroup$
    – Deacon
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 20:43
  • $\begingroup$ @user12365 great, now I'm thinking I,Frankenstein. But no, that's not it. $\endgroup$
    – Nyk 232
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 20:50
  • $\begingroup$ I have a strong feeling this is about Nyk 232's girlfriend/boyfriend and how she/he makes him/her feel. :P $\endgroup$
    – valuable_asset
    Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 4:13
  • $\begingroup$ @valuable_asset nope, ain't got one. It's just a description of a simple meal. you might face-palm a door when it's over, it's truly simple. $\endgroup$
    – Nyk 232
    Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 12:43

2 Answers 2

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The first ingredient is:

foxglove, aka digitalis, (the vixens herb) from which an extract is used in treating heart conditions. It's biennial, so wins the next year without descending (dying off)

Thats the only one i'm sure on, but would guess:

The second is:

willow bark. I think because willow is often thought of as an old (senior) man, the wind through a grove sounds like sighing and the tree has a melted appearance and is used in the production of medicines for stiffness of joints (pertrification -I know, I'm reaching)

Then, reaching even more, I can only think the third might be:

himbabao - marketed as birch flowers (sunset hued trees) these catkins (a cat was mentioned) look like horrible worms

My guess for the fourth ingredient:

A melon cactus (Melocactus) aka Turk's cap cactus (turkey's clothing) because the top looks like a fez.

Nice riddle though!

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  • $\begingroup$ Unfortunately, you're reading too much into it, but I really like your answer! $\endgroup$
    – Nyk 232
    Commented Jul 12, 2015 at 17:36
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    $\begingroup$ this one doesn't have to do with flowers OR bark... there may be a couple plants, though... $\endgroup$
    – Nyk 232
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 13:20
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Obviously the Witch made

Stuffing

Vixen's herbs in cauldrons mixing,

is herbs, possibly Rosemary and Sage. The vixen's herbs refers to each herb also being a woman's name.

The Senior's Apprentice slowly sighing,

might be margarine. Butter being the senior and margarine was created a substitute for butter.

The basilisk's fears are mixed inside

is giblets. Giblets are parts of a chicken, typically including the heart, gizzard, liver, and other visceral organs used in cooking. The basilisk is part chicken and thus the fear is it dying and being eaten.

Sunset-hued trees are tossed around

refers to rhubarb. Rhubarb is red in color and looks like small trees when growing. It can be a substitute for celery in the stuffing.

Moldy dots easy to pound

is black pepper. It's black and can looks mold.

Breadworms scream without a sound

are the crusts of bread, kind of looks like worms.

Lastly, served in turkey's clothes, you hear a plop!

The stuffing is served inside of a turkey.

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