9
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This is part five in my clichéd treasure island puzzle series. The story carries on from part four.


With the delicate backdrop of celestial nursery rhymes, you decide to flick through the discovered notebook more closely. You turn to the very front and begin reading:

So I see you have found my notebook. I wait with baited breath to see  
what you make of it. Its contents are sure to peak your curiosity.  
To wet your appetite, I can tell you that it was only with great  
care and a somewhat practiced slight of hand that I managed to place  
it in the chest in which you must have found it. Now, on a different tact,  
you must find me or forces dark will wreck havoc on this island.  
So pour over these notes. I know that I'm now telling you what to do,  
so it's up to you to decide whether to tow the line or get out. But if  
we work together we can nip it in the butt. Anyway, I leave that up to  
you. Just know that I will be on tender hooks until we can save this island.  

I apologize for that somewhat dramatic introduction, but everything written to you  
is for a purpose. But, how rude of me, I need to introduce myself, for how else are  
you to understand?  I am a scholar of metaphors, clichés and hackneyed sayings.  
If you now try to seek through what you previously read that should surprise you.  
However I wrote what I wrote, and am indeed writing, - with not even one word out of  
place - in order that only a person with a similar appreciation of our beautiful language  
can bridge my logic and find where I am hiding. No, I won't tell you outright, but I will  
tell you where to begin. Start to head on over there and you will find what you need  
to guide you. Please do try not be overly troubled. Now go! You should already know what  
to seek. Combine my words to smooth the water and find your way to me. Make haste.

What a load of nonsense! Or is it?

Where to from here?

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1 Answer 1

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The message reads:

You need to seek out a bridge over troubled water.

You obtain it by:

finding the misspelled word in each row in the upper paragraph, and taking the word in the same position in the corresponding row in the lower paragraph.

More specifically:

baited -> bated (you)
peak -> pique (need)
wet -> whet (to)
slight -> sleight (seek)
tact -> tack (out)
wreck -> wreak (a)
pour -> pore (bridge)
tow -> toe (over)
butt -> bud (troubled)
tender hooks -> tenterhooks (water)

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Awesome job, spot on the money! $\endgroup$
    – Johnson
    Commented Mar 7, 2020 at 9:45

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