Nexus/Clues/August 2012

== 8/1/12 - Alchemist ==
Since you guys have been struggling with clues recently, we thought we would be nice and just tell you a recipe: 1 Elixir of Arcane Energy + 1 Spirit Ward + 2 Courage of the Red Prince.
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
# 1 Elixir of Arcane Energy = One for the Road, the first ingredient of Arcane Energy
# 1 Spirit Ward = Elixir of Warding, the first ingredient of Spirit Ward
# 2 Courage of the Red Prince = The Best at What I Do, the second ingredient of Courage of the Red Prince
==8/2/12 - Blades of Glory==
Sorry for the delay, folks. Kalevra disappeared into a puff of smoke so it's me bringing you today's clue again.
The following clue is for a recipe that requires a card and some equipment.
===Explanation===
This is a picture of the Jonas Brothers, enshrined in wax at the famous Madame Tussaud's. Jonas Brothers at Madame "Two Swords".
Assassin's Long Blade
Sentinel's Sword
== 8/3/12 - No Respect for the Dead ==
Hello Community! I decided today that instead of a clue, I would give you a little down to earth advice.
Always remember that when searching for clues its good to think deeply and laterally. Sometimes as a community you all get bogged down trying to invent more depth than needed. Coincedentally this puzzle will need alot of both kinds of thinking, and maybe a little luck. Invariably you all tend to find the answer, and then proceed to make sharp left turns into the most random jungles of thought. I hope this time you see the tree's for the forest instead of the other way around.
66114111119110327810199114111110111109105991111
10328097103101115326997116321161041013268101971
00326711111411211510132661111099897114100109101
110116
GOOD LUCK!
===Explanation===
It's ASCII. Putting in spaces at the relevant places gives66 114 111 119 110 32 78 101 99 114 111 110 111 109 105 99 111 110 32 80 97 103 101 115 32 69 97 116 32 116 104 101 32 68 101 97 100 32 67 111 114 112 115 101 32 66 111 109 98 97 114 100 109 101 110 116 and conversion from there gives Brown Necronomicon Pages Eat the Dead Corpse Bombardment.
==8/6/12 - Lord Ruthven ==
There once was a knight of the realm,
Who tired of wearing full plate and helm,
He was very determined to swiftly retire,
So he gathered his horse, sword and squire.
He set forth with every intention to see,
The length and breadth of the whole country,
But he determined that once he had seen a place,
It would never again gaze upon his noble face.
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
Using a Knight's Tour of the board yields the following: This is a clue for the card Lord Ruthven and it contains two Vampiric Assaults.
==8/7/12 - Lord Ruthven==
Theres 5 copies of the same image on the right.
=== Explanation ===
The page is from the Necronomicon. Ingredient is 5 Purple Necronomicon Pages.
==8/8/12 - Lord Ruthven==
The terms of our agreement meet the letter of the law. Now if I could just remember how to read my own writing.
121/6 111/50 145/8 40/24
59/4 5/13 32/47 48/1 167/15
265/27 181/18 84/6 39/16
125/29 57/61 248/2 205/63
107/21 59/15 69/40 5/6
199/4 219/24 66/61 100/2
148/4 268/9 16/31 69/24 135/35
Good Luck!
==8/9/12 - Lord Ruthven==
A long time ago on the Isle of Ludus there lived an order of monks devoted to Shon'don, The Balance, Lord of Symmetry and Equality in all things. One day their Patron sent them a vision. In this vision, it was revealed to them that to achieve true wisdom they needed to count all the grains of sand on the surface of Ludus Island. The monks went to the task without question, and generation after generation of the monks came and went as they counted.
Finally, after centuries, the monks came before their altar and proclaimed, "Lord of Balance, we have counted every grain of sand on the Isle of Ludus!" With one voice they chanted, "85,118,202,185,111,518!" and with exultation they prostrated themselves - waiting for the reply of their Lord. Outside the temple the winds picked up, howling and blowing the surface of the island clean. In a sudden burst of epiphany, the head of the order exclaimed, "It was never the destination, but the journey that was important! Go forth, brothers, and teach balance among the people - remembering always that your reward is in the teaching, not the ending of things.
Good Luck!
===Explanation===
8 5 11 8 20 2 18 5 1 11 5 18 The letter positions corresponding to Heartbreaker.
== 8/10/12 - Lord Ruthven ==
In the 11th hour, Hercules tried here many times, 150 to be exact. In the end, what was different here in that edition, made all the difference between success and failure.
Good Luck!
==8/13/12 - Vampiric Assault==
Abraham Lincoln won't seem a fool, using sleight of hand to make things vanish. 
Scientists do not concern themselves with trying to find ghosts but finding such 
absent things is important to believers. Condemned men must hear gnashing of 
teeth, among debris, piranhas and leopards. Listen.
Good Luck!
===Explanation===
Listen tells us to look at the silent letters in the clue which gives Leeching Shot.
==8/14/12 - Vampiric Assault==
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
E. E. Cummings
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou
The safest bet by a long shot
is to keep time hung up on the wall
make believe we can predict
just which way it's going to go.
Shake those dice
and give them a blow
dealt a straight in spades
you'll know just how it's going to go
we could do it up just like a drug
except we're all out of any float
it's back to throwing out a life line
to draw some heat out of this late winter's cold.
Heads I win tails you lose
you can flip a coin
a thousand and one times
before you just get tired and stop
Kenneth Irving MacPherson
The King of Spades he kissed the maids,
Which grieved the queen full sore;
The Queen of Spades she beat those maids
And turned them out of door.
The Knave of Spades grieved for those jades,
And did for them implore;
The queen so gent, she did relent,
And vowed she’d strike no more.
Anonymous
The pine tree's voice is always whispering
Yet how many pause to listen?
For when the churning mind is still,
The Diamond Heart within
Reflects even the falling dusk that
Shrouds every eye and branch
And hears, but listens not.
Walking then, with Courage and Kindness,
Never ceasing to walk in Wonder,
We follow our ancient path.
For the Way of the sword is folded two;
Like the rose we have thorns,
And like the rose, we unfold
G. Bluestone
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
Assign red cards to letters: 2D to AD a-m and 2H to AH n-z. Reading left to right gives Voracious Axe.
==8/15/12 - Vampiric Assault==
This week on Kruna's Steel Chef we will be making zjoafrtyasjmbuwuaqjifrxjcxypcxtwecnorsj otherwise known as CLUE STEW! 
The secret ingredient this episode is ASSASSIN
To make a good Clue Stew this is what you will need!
1 Large hunk of Bull
1 Pre-shelled Crab
1 Pinch of Scorpion
Mix ingredients well in a large bowl
Let simmer
Strain out the meats
Stir the broth for at least 5 minutes
SERVE!!!!!!
If you do it correctly maybe you can be the next STAR OF KRUNA'S STEEL CHEF!
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
Strain out the zodiac symbols associated with bull, crab and scorpion (taurus, cancer, scorpio) to get zjfyjmbwaqjfxjxyxtwj. Sift back 5 places to get ueatehwrvleasestsore which is an anagram of Teressa the Soul-Weaver.
==8/17/12 - Vampiric Assault==
A single candle flickers in the room, casting more shadows than light. You stand before a hooded figure in blue and black armor. Even though you can't see his face, you know by reputation this is your new boss, Kalevra: The Master Assassin. After motioning you to sit and sipping a bit of something from a dark goblet, he says to you:
"One of my spies was found dead today with this message hidden on his body. Sadly he had shifted himself under a wagon while hiding from the guardsman and gotten stuck in a fence trying to crawl through. Rather than be caught he allowed himself to expire. When he was found, he told his would be rescuer with his last breath that it was the start of the the 3rd chapter, but 5th sentence of the story of the current royal family. The problem is, there has not been an official story written about the current royalty."
"Your first mission in my employ is to decipher this message"
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
Fencepost cipher: HE LOOKED ON IN DREAD AT HIS ROYAL SANGUINE OBLIGATION
*Dread implies Horror.
*Royal Sanguine implies Drop of Blood.
*Sanguine Obligation implies Blood Bond
==8/20/12 - Poltergeist==
Good morning. In the minutes after this clue is posted, solvers will join each other from around the world. And you will be launching the largest solving battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Twentieth of October, and you will once again be solving for a recipe... Not for Sacrifice, Othalia or Warwalker's Banner ... but for Poltergeist. You are solving for your right to live. To exist. And should you win the day, the Twentieth of October will no longer be known as World Osteoporosis Day, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we solved the first bit in a week long series of clues!"
Couple of things to mention before the actual clue:
#The clues this week will have inter-dependencies. They will often have multiple parts, some of which will require the results from other days. The final solution will only come out once the whole week is solved.
#Today's clue contains an original work of art by Morat. I will be selling signed copies for $100,000 to anyone interested.
=== Explanation ===
All the numbers are 16 more than the perimeter of the labeled shape.
Taking the number of sides of each of the shapes, converting to letters, and rearranging gives CAESAR.
==8/21/12 - Poltergeist==
Yesterday was a quick clue but things should be getting more involved now. You got a helmet?
Day 2 - Clues!
Office of Cagney? (6)
Bird that signifies death (8)
FinalCheetah loses a Christian? (8)
Official will risk a roll back (10)
Unwillingly contracts a study of five activations about fifty (9)
There's no backing after area is headed off by tyrant (5)
Lucky chap falls in rocky beach gutter after losing time (8)
Dip about clean, eastern damage (9)
Girl sent Ryan's device. There's no head to unearth! (9)
A resounding beginning! (6)
Endlessly, one German container holds a girl for fallen warriors (9)
German propaganda of iron hurt on the moon (7,6)
Giving a pig a bath is nonsense! (7)
Bad hesitation in awful date brought things to light (11)
Country of anger? (7)
Motion of mint cake is false (10)
A neglected mind is logical? (4,5)
Man holding sonic pet is a healer (7)
Without end, Mouse drinks upside down Plexiglass neat (10)
Ceresin, say, will confuse warm alien with a cross (7,3)
Powered by a few souls? (12)
Eastern countries are capable, unlike Möbius’ band (10)
Betrothal Ian has with a defensive mage (7)
Passage of an autistic comic character (7)
She confuses a shark for a God (8)
Chorus about Franklin the vampire (7)
Purcell's "Madman" sax composition? (3,3,3)
Sounds almost the same and appears to be true (11)
=== Explanation ===
The clues are cryptic crossword clues. Solutions are synonyms of some words in the clue with the others providing a hint using wordplay. Explanations:
AGENCY - Anagram Cagney
BLACKCAP - Bird that signifies death.
CATHOLIC - FinalCheetah is a cat-a-holic, and remove the a
CHANCELLOR - Chance + llor which is roll backwards
CONVULSES
CREON - Acre, remove the head, add on which is no backwards
CUTHBERT - remove "age" from "beach gutter" and anagram
DETRIMENT
DISENTOMB - di sent (bomb - first b)
ECHOES - re-sounding, first zone of Clash
EINHERJAR - enlessly one German = eins - s = ein, container = jar holds a girl (her)
FESTUNG EUROPA
HOGWASH - pig = hog, bath = wash
ILLUMINATED
IRELAND - anfer = ire
KINEMATICS - anagram "mint cake is"
LEFT BRAIN - neglected = left, mind = brain
MACHAON - "man" holds "chao"
METICULOUS - plexiglass = lucite backwards with mous (= mouse without end)
MINERAL WAX - anagram "warm alien" with "x"
OLIGARCHICAL
ORIENTABLE - Eastern = Orient, capable = able
OTHALIA - betrOTHAL IAn
PATHWAY - Pathway
RAKSHARA - anagram "a shark" with "Ra"
REFRAIN - Franklin in True Blood = James Frain
SAM AND MAX - anagram "madman sax"
VERISIMILAR - "very similar"
==8/22/12 - Poltergeist==
I won't go so far as to say "you're all going to die down here" but I know what's coming for the rest of the week and it's pretty nasty. Then again, here is the thing about the future - every time you look at, it changes, because you looked at it, and that changes everything else.
Day 3 - Grid
A5 O2 D9 B11 M9 K11 G2 F11 G4 M6 D1 O1 E15 N2 H8 A4 E5 F13 O6 I2 N15 N8 J5 K12 A15 M10 F1 L7 L9 L1 H3 J6 B7 L3 A14 H11 I6 B1 O10 E13 G10 I14 B9 K15 K3 N8 M5 H14 D9 I5 B15 I13 I1 G14 A7 N9 L7 G12 D10 N1 K1 F12 K1 J5 O15 H6 O4 A1 D10 I2 E3 G4 F11 M8 D15 M7 C9 N2 A13 A12 D9 B1 G8 J13 I13 A11 A2 C6 I12 F5 N14 G11 A15 H11 B7 F3 G13 C1 I14 A12 B2 H8 N14 L7
[][7][5,8][3,10][5][4][][1][2,4][4,6][8][8,9,10,11,13][1][7][7][8,10][2,5][7][2,8,9][3,6][2,5,7,11][1,2,9,10][7][1][1,2][2][8][11]
===Explanation===
After removing the bracketed letter from the relevant clue (e.g. BLACKCAP - [7] = BLACKCP), the words could be inserted into the grid. The numbers and letters were apparently a hint for how to do this, but how they helped wasn't solved.
Reading the letters around the edge (ecolkco pyebdoo xyxpbsn kicmveo) and applying a Caesar shift of 16 gives "USE BASE FOURTEEN ON FRIDAYS CLUE".
==8/23/12 - Poltergeist==
Why do you wanna spend time solving clues? Because you can't sing or dance, I guess.
Day 4 - The Recipe!
Let's settle this with a spot of fisticuffs. Responding to the final solution from the rest of the week will be key.
HEMHMYITRGEMKCNTYBUWWEIYXXIXEICQETPBLMCTTEQRHPBPAKENEMTXAFYMYWWAYIIWECYMEV
Couple of additional hints for y'all:
#The coordinates yesterday were actually an additional clue to help with fitting the words in the grid. However, you managed to do that without needing it.
#You can count on Monday to help you with the next stage of this week's clues.
=== Explanation ===
Playfair cipher with "How appropriate. You fight like a cow." (Friday's clue) gives
ARCANE RITUAL 
UNDYING HATRED 
DESTRUCTION 
ELDRICH PANOPLY 
MALEVOLENT POWER 
TORMENT
==8/24/12 - Poltergeist==
In some circles, people simply called me Nameless. With no family name to live up to, I devoted myself to the pursuits of the mind and have spent ten years perfecting unique skills as a cluesman. Maybe I was born like this but there's no gene for fate.
Day 5 - Oh no, more numbers!
3086, 3908, 3673, 1905, 772, 6260, 2888, 6066, 6022, 580, 6805, 384, 1558, 84294, 7005, 6413, 5867, 6264, 5868, 4501, 2890, 383, 3476, 1167
Looks like you could do with a bit more help for earlier clues:
#Remember that there is dependence between clues. Use Monday to help you with Wednesday. There is something else you can get from just Monday that can help to make things a bit clearer though it is a side thing so you may be ok without it.
#There's something you can work out about yesterday's clue without solving other things first. I like the flavor of that clue so I think you should be able to figure that out without more help.
===Explanation===
Converting the numbers to base 14 gives 11A6, 15D2, 14A5, 9A1, 3D2, 23D2, 10A4, 22D4, 22A2, 2D6, 26A1, 1D6, 7D4, 22A10, 27A5, 24A1, 21D1, 23D6, 21D2, 18D7, 10A6, 1D5, 13A4, 5D5. Interpreting 11A6 as the 6th letter of 11 across in the crossword, and so on, gives "YOU FIGHT LIKE A DAIRY FARMER", from The Secret of Monkey Island, to which the correct response is "How appropriate. You fight like a cow."
==8/27/12 - Spell-Skin==
Among assassins of Kalevra's sect, there is a Tattoo only few possess. It is a phrase tattooed around the wrist that says "Aut Vincere Aut Mori". This honor is only given to those assassins that go on suicide missions and fulfill these contracts while surviving against all odds. Of course It always helped Kalevra that he could do both without too many side effects!
JHUKKBWRHQLMWKEGJNFAITBRKEIHOWDCPNXZRGCPYVSKWPCZXSFWNPVSKTOCSQRFNU
Good Luck!
=== Explanation ===
ELDRITCHPANOPLYPOTIONOFARCANEENERGYTALISMANOFWARDINGPROTECTIVEWARD
Double Vigenère with "conquer" and "die".
==8/28/12 - Spell-Skin==
Today's Clue is an additional hint to yesterdays clue.
Good Luck!
===Explanation===
This clue hints that the previous one is a double cipher.
==8/29/12 - Burn the Dead==
Sometimes to find the right recipe, you have to start with a corpse dug up under the light of a blue moon. Then cook it in a giant fire, and add spices to taste. Doing this a few times and varying the amounts should make a fantastic recipe!
Good Luck!
===Explanation:===
Cooking the corpse stand for the Dead Eat the Dead
Giant fire stands for Pyre
Blue moonlight while digging up a grave stands for (Blue)Gravestone
==8/30/12 - Burn the Dead==
Yesterday might have been a little vague, so here are some helpful hints.
You only season to taste when you want to....
Fire related to a corpse.
Blue Moons cast light on many things above a corpse
==8/31/12 - Potion of Nullification==
Community, It is true I have agents of all classes and races working for me, recently one of my Druid's was hunted down and killed while trying to deliver a message to me. In his haste to both leave the message and hide it before he died, I am afraid he encoded it in such a way special to him. I need you to decipher it for me.
Good Luck!
===Explanation===
The clue mentions a druid and a message so searching for druidic alphabet will give you the tool you need to translate the message. It comes out to be ALCHGCHARM which is Alchemist and Grey Broken Charm.
Category:Nexus