Once when I was travelling through the Himalaya, I came to a small cottage. It was getting dark and I was looking for a place to spend the night, so I knocked on the door. After a while an old man with long hair and a curly grey beard opened the door and in impeccable English asked me what he could do for me. I explained to him that I was looking for a place to sleep. He told me that he had a guest room in his own house that I could use, but he would only let me in if I could tell him what his profession was. What a curious man! He then gave me two pieces of paper and told me that all the information I needed was on there: the first consisted of 13 seemingly unrelated random sentences and the second contained 13 lines of what looked like crossword clues. I was completely flabbergasted and had no idea where to start...
Can you figure out what the man's profession was?
No. 1
- The imperium was blown away like in a hurricane, despite all their war tactics.
- A hidden Italian visitor once came to San Francisco.
- Keep going, one more division and then you will have solved this Chinese problem within an hour.
- Every few days the sisters clean up and they continue until their house is the tidiest.
- On my first day I went on to dismantle a heroine lab and sent the imbecile of an owner straight into rehab.
- Now Jack's eating eastern protein, he's bound to be a muscled boy.
- Louis did not see his cousins, who persist in playing the violin, while passing by Baker Street 62.
- You know you're earning money beyond your wildest dreams, when you're making risotto for the queen.
- For a mythical creature this caged gorilla is pretty wild.
- It's like singles are all idealistic and perfect in your view.
- Recklessness coincided with hunger can lead to a funeral when a woman poisons her husband with an avocado.
- Staggeringly exact, is how a dentist should measure the size of that molar.
- To become a champion in billiards doesn't necessarily mean playing for the greater good.
No. 2
Now remove ancient numbers to find the following:
$$\begin{array}{align*} &\text{South American country (+7,+12)}&\text{ $\implies$ Atypical }\\ &\text{Chicken (+1,+2)}&\text{ $\implies$ Insignificant }\\ &\text{Child (+8,+9)}&\text{ $\implies$ Understand}\\ &\text{Quiz (-11,-6)} &\text{ $\implies$ Amy Farrah Fowler }\\&\text{Buzzing insect (-7,-5)}&\text{ $\implies$ Cube }\\&\text{Purpose (-7,-6)} &\text{ $\implies$ Portrayal }\\ &\text{Not off (-6,-4)}&\text{ $\implies$ Travis Barker }\\ &\text{Cardinalpoint, set (-4,+5)}&\text{ $\implies$ Questions }\\ &\text{Ripen (-3,+1)} &\text{ $\implies$ Computer instructions }\\ &\text{Cardinalpoint, rise (-3,+2)}&\text{ $\implies$ Own dignity}\\ &\text{United (+7,+11)}&\text{ $\implies$ Amateur}\\ &\text{Consume (+4,+6)}&\text{ $\implies$ Too low}\\ &\text{Taverns (-2,+7)}&\text{ $\implies$ Movies}\end{array}$$ Hint: Look for 13 words, all longer than 13 letters
Hint:
I may have made this slightly too vague and enigmatic, so I'll try and provide a little bit of a guideline here:
Step 1: Use the clues on no. 2 (the left part) to find certain words in no. 1. Be sure to read the instructions above!
Step 2: Use the numbers next to the clues to find more words and combine this with the information on the right side of no. 2 to find the 13 words needed.
Step 3: Use some hidden info of no. 1 to make sure you're reading these 13 words correctly.
I hope this doesn't take away the challenge of the puzzle while at the same time providing some sort of idea where to start.
