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In the Imperial War Museum in London, there's a box with a Directional Padlock, no one has ever opened it, however they found a letter next to it but no one can open the box even with that letter.

I tried to save them, I warned them that they would attack from the left. They always attack from the left side.

The captain always told me that I was his right hand and that he would trust my word, but in the most critical situation he left me alone.

Why did you insist so much on defending the bridge fort on the right side? Unfortunately, I could never ask him. Sure, they took me for a madman but I was right. After that I left the army, and the country.

Javier Rodriguez.

What is the key to open the Directional Lock?

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    $\begingroup$ Is this an actual lock that was actually used in WWII, or is it one you came up with for the site? The tags might change a bit depending on the scenario. $\endgroup$
    – Brandon_J
    Commented May 4, 2019 at 0:41
  • $\begingroup$ @Brandon_J Think of it as a modern directional lock, old ones may be confusing, I already said it's only right and left if that helps... $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 4, 2019 at 10:06
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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for the response, TraaZ! I ask not for solving this puzzle but rather for tagging and organizing the puzzle, which is fairly important on this site. $\endgroup$
    – Brandon_J
    Commented May 4, 2019 at 11:36

7 Answers 7

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The letter, being from Javier Rodriguez,

was originally written in Spanish.

This means that

instances of "left" and "right" that don't refer to direction would not have been there in the original Spanish (Spanish has different homographs than English).

Therefore we must ignore the phrases

"he left me alone", "I was right", "I left the army"

Which leaves

left, left, right, right

as the directions that unlock the lock.

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    $\begingroup$ Clever idea. I have a feeling that this is the intended solution, but something seems...I don't know....(to borrow a word from Gareth) unsatisfying about the question if this is the solution. $\endgroup$
    – Brandon_J
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 17:20
  • $\begingroup$ You got it! However it's not that "the original" was in spanish, Javier just would read it in a different way (in spanish) but thats not really important. $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 11, 2019 at 15:06
  • $\begingroup$ @Brandon_J I said it was very simple, just had to think different instead of think too hard. $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 11, 2019 at 15:09
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It seems too straightforward, but...

Using Right and Left in the message in the order it is written, would the key be: left, left, right, left, right, right, left

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    $\begingroup$ Nope, a lot of people tried that already! $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 14:23
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Ok so first of all there's no reason to include this in the letter:

Javier Rodriguez.

Keeping that in mind I assume this has something to do with the riddle.

I've tried to find an anagram but found nothing.

So here's my shot:

I've checked how many words start with L or R, and only the words "Left" and "Right" do that, except one more: "Rodriguez".
Maybe this is the solution?

L-L-R-L-R-R-L- R

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  • $\begingroup$ You're totally right about the first thing, but that's not the solution :s $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 8, 2019 at 10:32
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My solution is

LRLR RRLR RRLR LLR LLR

Reasoning:
As Fenec T points out, the name is probably important somehow. "Javier Rodriguez" sounds like a Spanish name to me, and the Spanish for "Left" is "Izquierda", and for "Right" is "Derecha". As such:

I have taken words that start with "I" (on the left of the work) and words that end with "D" (on the right of the word)

This gives us the following:

I tried to save them, I warned them that they would attack from the left. They always attack from the left side.
The captain always told me that I was his right hand and that he would trust my word, but in the most critical situation he left me alone.

Why did you insist so much on defending the bridge fort on the rightside? Unfortunately, I could never ask him. Sure, they took me for a madman but I was right. After that I left the army, and the country.

Javier Rodriguez.

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  • $\begingroup$ You got something there that is very important to solve it, but it's way easier than that. $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ @TraaZ apparently not, it would seem. $\endgroup$
    – Brandon_J
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 13:08
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This is just a wild guess but is it Left, Left, Right, Right, Left? because sometimes when he says a direction it said that that it is always left so that's the first direction. The second the captain said he was his right hand man but ACTUALLY "Left" him. And the rest of the directions come from the rest of the letter.

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  • $\begingroup$ No, it's an interesting way of seeing it but it's not the answer, sorry :s $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 15:55
  • $\begingroup$ Is it just left and right or is there an up and down too? $\endgroup$
    – SubXero14
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 16:05
  • $\begingroup$ only left and right $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 16:10
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Updated Answer- Attempt 2:

Left, Left, Left, Open

A2-Reason:

Javier is a lieutenant, he warned the of an attack on the left flank. (LEFT) The captain said he was the right hand (ie XO), and that he trusted him, so he gives him a few men and says defend the left. But the captain went to the right leaving the lieutenant alone to defend the left. (LEFT) In the end, the left was attacked and overrun, allowing the right to be flanked, so the lieutenant left the service.(LEFT)

My First shot:

First:

Right - I tried to warn them that they always attack from the left...each of the answers has started with Left, everyone is attacking from the Left, so Right is the correct response

Then:

Left - He said I was his right hand but he left his right hand alone thus he didn't use the right, go Left

Then:

Right - Paraphrase: You insist on defending the right (blocking a right push), but I was right, yet I selected left...(should have selected Right)

Then:

the signature, signing off...which means hit the unlock button.

Final:

Right, Left, Right, Enter

Alternatively:

Depending on whether the captain was setting the combination or trying to open the lock - for the second one it would be Right. because he left the right alone he failed....Right, Right, Right, Enter

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  • $\begingroup$ It's wrong, sorry. I don't want to give hints cause it'd make it very easy but... don't think too hard, think different. $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 17:43
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Answer

L,R,R,L

Reason

Discarding sentences with negative connotations.
Using:
They always attack from the left side.
The captain always told me that I was his right hand...
Why did you insist so much on defending the bridge fort on the right side?
I left the army, and the country.

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry it's not that :s $\endgroup$
    – TraaZ
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 17:14

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