10
$\begingroup$

<<---First clue
<---Previous clue

A note from @Mithrandir: I have given explicit permission for @Techidiot to post this, and gave him the answer to encode. If you want to post one, ping @Mithrandir in chat and we'll talk.

The door slides open, revealing a dimly-lit - you can't see how - small room, with a short wooden desk and a plastic swivel chair. On the desk is a keypad and several pieces of paper. You pick one of them up. It appears to be a crossword:

enter image description here

ACROSS

1. Los Angeles, operating system(4)
2. Back, if around climbing unfinished odd juice(1)
3. Most of the men within Japanese currency(19)
4. Hollow, idea covering starts newly designed internet(16)
5. Weird, crane following after(11)
9. Hidden strategy, pteropodans follow!(10)
10. Crocodile clipped impala's ends after a time(9)
12. Thousand glasses cover first sample of virus(12)
14. Inside each puzzled trier(2)
15. Ring man(13)
16. Queen and Rook, captured aces capturing time(5)

DOWN

1. First, I became yours in chuckles without hugs(18)
4. It always saw left(8)
6. Completely empty page rust endlessly(3)
7. Endless tale going westwards met en route(17)
8. Gut less month, before unfinished trial(15)
9. Part of ten glands!(6)
11. Incomplete, army starts eliminating novices with one area(7)
13. Clumsy final destination, ends back(14)

Interesting, you think. You pick up the other papers. They appear to be the next stage of the puzzle:

A key for the next part is lost in the crossword above..Find it and go for the next part...

 Nbznv. Jbvknu whtg. Jxqz - Vmpmurjz.

And then...

_ _ _ _

Next clue--->

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Here is the link to the chatroom that was used to create the puzzle - the room is frozen and deleted, so only users with 10k rep in chat can see it. The room is now in Gallery mode (anyone can enter, but only certain users can talk - before, it was in private mode (only mods and certain users). $\endgroup$
    – Mithical
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 13:42
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, no, some of the clues weren't cryptic. $\endgroup$
    – Scratch---Cat
    Commented May 9, 2020 at 7:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
10
$\begingroup$

Solutions to the clues

ACROSS

1. Los Angeles, operating system(4)

LA+OS $\rightarrow$ LAOS

2. Back, if around climbing unfinished odd juice(1)

F(IJ)I (Backwards if is fi around, odd juice, unfinished ji, climbing ij) $\rightarrow$ FIJI

3. Most of the men within Japanese currency(19)

YE(ME)N $\rightarrow$ YEMEN

4. Hollow, idea covering starts newly designed internet(16)

I(NDI)A $\rightarrow$ INDIA

5. Weird, crane following after(11)

F+RANCE $\rightarrow$ FRANCE

9. Hidden strategy, pteropodans follow!(10)

strategy, pteropodans $\rightarrow$ EGYPT

10. Crocodile clipped impala's ends after a time(9)

CRO+aT+IA $\rightarrow$ CROATIA

12. Thousand glasses cover first sample of virus(12)

K+O(SOV)O $\rightarrow$ KOSOVO

14. Inside each puzzled trier(2)

E(RITRE)A $\rightarrow$ ERITREA

15. Ring man(13)

O+MAN $\rightarrow$ OMAN

16. Queen and Rook, captured aces capturing time(5)

Q(A(T)A)R $\rightarrow$ QATAR

DOWN

1. First, I became yours in chuckles without hugs(18)

L(IBY)A (Laughs-hugs=LA) $\rightarrow$ LIBYA

4. It always saw left(8)

IT+ALY(always-saw) $\rightarrow$ ITALY

6. Completely empty page rust endlessly(3)

CY(completely empty) + P+RUS $\rightarrow$ CYPRUS

7. Endless tale going westwards met en route(17)

LAT(TAL westwards) + VIA(en route) $\rightarrow$ LATVIA

8. Gut less month, before unfinished trial(15)

AUS(AUGUST-GUT) + TRIA $\rightarrow$ AUSTRIA

9. Part of ten glands!(6)

ten glands $\rightarrow$ ENGLAND

11. Incomplete, army starts eliminating novices with one area(7)

ARM+E+N+I+A $\rightarrow$ ARMENIA

13. Clumsy final destination, ends back(14)

FINLA+ND(DN back) $\rightarrow$ FINLAND

Here's the crossword:

enter image description here

Then, taking the highlighted letters:

In the order given by the 'enumerations' we get -

FIJI F
ERITREA I
CYPRUS R
LAOS S
QATAR T
ENGLAND L
ARMENIA E
ITALY T
CROATIA T
EGYPT E
FRANCE R
KOSOVO S
OMAN O
FINLAND F
AUSTRIA T
INDIA I
LATVIA T
LIBYA L
YEMEN E

FIRSTLETTERSOFTITLE $\rightarrow$ FIRST LETTERS OF TITLE

Applying that, we can get

Using question title: RKLAP, sentence starting with WRONG.
Using Crossword title: WTTGC: 'Right. Nicely done. Next - Tqwtopng.'

The next step is

to visit i.stack.imgur.com/Tqwto.png, recognize that this represent the G4 Nations (thanks @Sp3000) and take the letters at the specified points of their names. This yield the final answer -
Brazil
Germany
Japan
India

The final answer is - LEAD

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
4
$\begingroup$

Just getting started, it seems that

there's a "traditional" answer to each clue that fits the crossword and is a country, but does not fit the enumeration.

ACROSS

1. Los Angeles, operating system(4) LAOS
2. Back, if around climbing unfinished odd juice(1) FIJI
3. Most of the men within Chinese currency(19) YEMEN
4. Hollow, idea covering starts newly designed internet(16) INDIA (Beastly)
5. Weird, crane following after(11) FRANCE
9. Hidden stratEGY, PTeropodans follow!(10) EGPYT
10. Crocodile clipped impala's ends after a time(9) CROATIA
12. Thousand glasses cover first sample of virus(12) KOSOVO (I think)
14. Inside each puzzled trier(2) ERITREA
15. Ring man(13) OMAN
16. Queen and Rook, captured aces capturing time(5) QATAR

DOWN

1. First, I became yours in chuckles without hugs(18) LIBYA
4. 4. It always saw left(8) ITALY (Beastly)
6. Completely empty page rust endlessly(3) CYPRUS
7. Endless tale going westwards met en route(17) LATVIA (Beastly)
8. Gut less month, before unfinished trial(15) AUSTRIA (Beastly)
9. Part of ten glands!(6) ENGLAND
11. Incomplete, army starts eliminating novices with one area(7) ARMENIA (Beastly)
13. Clumsy final destination, ends back(14) FINLAND

COMPLETE CROSSWORD

enter image description here

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Nice start. A correction - It was supposed to be Japanese Currency But you got it anyway. +1 $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Commented May 1, 2017 at 13:42
  • $\begingroup$ You've basically got as far as I have. 'Ring man' is bugging me too though $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented May 1, 2017 at 14:02

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.