Partial Observations
Interpreting each gray-and-orange grille as a...
Polybius square,
... They spell out:
#grilles surrounding blue squares are decoded
#starting with the one above the top-left cell and winding around clockwise
AUSJCRRTUKGJ #Blue Square at row 1, column 1
VHKGGMJSYZPD #Blue Square at row 1, column 2
ECYMVOVZJEKM #Blue Square at row 1, column 3
YZEVGNGJYGLO #Blue Square at row 1, column 4
THFRLLHHFGMJ #Blue Square at row 2, column 1
QQSZAQEQSZEB #Blue Square at row 2, column 2
ESDZWJJLWATZ #Blue Square at row 2, column 3
TCSVYKYCQROV #Blue Square at row 2, column 4
JRUGATVHSAYK #Blue Square at row 3, column 1
WYABLJEDTWDM #Blue Square at row 3, column 2
GGGCEFCDUPXB #Blue Square at row 3, column 3
WDSPXRXQRRUG #Blue Square at row 3, column 4
#Lower left grilles:
QWERTYUJOP
ASDFGHJKL?
ZXCVBNM???
#Lower right grilles:
JN?ROTTHJRTEEN
AND?ROTELEVEN
The lower left grilles seem to be a hint that the grilles should be interpreted as letters. The lower right grilles apparently indicate that ROT13 and ROT11 encoding must be applied to some part of the puzzle.
Some cells in the blue squares have a slightly different shade of blue than the rest. Replacing this shade with red reveals:
... Which may indicate that the spiders have altered the message in these locations.
Assorted guesses
- The orientation of the stick men may indicate which grilles should be considered part of the message. Perhaps they only read the side closest to them, or the side across the center from them.
- Before interpreting the grilles, they may need to be rotated so they are oriented to the point of view of the stick man reading them.
- The blue cells may need to be moved and/or rotated so the edges match up in some way.
