Case File: The Curse of Calico’s Compass

Hint #2 & Answers

Stuck on a clue? On this page are the second hints and answers for each clue.

Hint #2

Here are some additional hints to get you on the right path.

Clue 1
  • Next to the flower sculpture is Peter Randall-Page’s plaque, which has the inscription “BESIDE THE STILL WATERS”. The bold red letters in the clue tile say, “ON THE LARP ATLAS”, which is on page 5. This is where you should look for the “STILL WATERS” to see which weapon marker is at this location. Weapon markers can be seen on page 2.

Clue 2
  • [A] and [B] are words that are also part of the listed compound words. [A] is post, and [B] is box. So [A][B] equals the compound word “postbox”. Find a postbox along Broad St. On its base is the supplier of the post box (Carron Company) and the county they’re from. Which county is this? Remove ‘shire’, and you’ll be left with a suspect’s surname.

Clue 3
  • Look on the side wall of Ahh Toots (#17 Christmas Street), opposite the Christmas Steps pub.

Clue 4
  • The crimson building is just before the Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne. The answer’s first word is “Double”.

Clue 5.1
  • Each pirate phrase has one letter wrong. What are the nine correct letters that are missing? For example, the first phrase should be, “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, so it’s missing a ‘T’. This will give you a clue for part two.

Clue 5.2
  • The answer to part one is “TENTH WORD”. Solve part two on the plinth below the statue of Edmund Burke. What is the tenth word in the speech starting, “I wish to be a member of…”? Much like you did in part one, change one letter in this word to arrive on a suspect’s first name!

Clue 6
  • Stack pages 5 and 6 and hold them up to the sun. Look through the compass lens on page 5. Glyph fragments from the two pages will form a question. The doorway to solve the clue is close to Clare Street’s entrance.

Clue 7
  • Spot a lamp close to the Cenotaph, which features discs with an embossed beast. Circle two coins on page 5 that have a similar design to these discs. That’s all you need to do for this clue.

Clue 8
  • Without crossing the road, look over Colston Avenue (not Colston Avenue South) at St. Mary on the Quay, a 19th century Roman Catholic Parish church with Corinthian columns. On its pediment is the Latin inscription ‘VIVAT CHRISTVS REX’. Each letter from the Latin inscription is symbolised by a question mark on the map. Follow the path on the map through the question marks to spell an eight-letter word. U’s are sometimes written as V’s on Latin inscriptions!

Clue 9
  • On the illustration of Calico’s Periscope on page 5, bounce around the internal mirrors at 90° angles to read the question within, which is broken into syllables. The question starts, “Find a plaque dedicated to a…” The required plaque is on building no.17. The inscription’s fourth word is hiding between two words in one of the captain’s ship names (three letters from each word in the ship’s name). Refer to page 2’s suspect bios for each captain’s ship.

Clue 10
  • The two minute hands on The Corn Exchange’s clock are ten minutes apart. What is 10 in Roman numerals? What weapon starts with this numeral?

Clue 11
  • What a mess! Each word in the clue is jumbled up, which is a play on ‘typoglycemia‘. This humorous principle refers to when readers can often comprehend text despite misplaced letters in the words. What are the two words opposite “sculpt London” on the fountain’s arch? A ship’s name is an anagram of these two words. Refer to page 2’s suspect bios for each captain’s ship.

Clue 12.1
  • Look on the first floor of The Boardman tavern (20 St. Nicholas St) for a stone carving of an animal’s head.

Clue 12.2
  • Draw a straight line between the centre of the two coins featuring an elephant on page 5. Then, do the same for the two lions coins. A weapon’s marker sits at the intersection of the two lines. Weapon markers can be seen on page 2.

Clue 13

  • The emblem containing anchors and ships atop a large blue ribbon is on the facade of The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer pub. Read the clue’s list of NATO phonetic words as letters to reveal the cryptic question. Use page 5’s Maritime Signal Flags table to help solve the clue.

    The cryptic question is…
    • “Then, can ye flag which NATO phonetic word the emblem’s background could represent?.”

    The website’s slug is…

Clue 14
  • The character’s name is Jack…

Clue 15
  • Mentally (or lightly) draw the four navigational routes on page 5’s LARP Atlas to write four letters. Some of the Maritime Signal Flags act as locations for the navigational routes!

Clue 16
  • Look in the bottom right corner of the LARP Atlas its the scale. Distances on the Atlas are measured in Leagues!

Clue 17

  • Use page 5’s Pirate Code sheet to solve the clue. Look at the position and colours of the skulls in the clue vs. the ropes on the Pirate Code sheet. For example, the first cluster of four skulls is an ‘m’.

    Once you’ve decoded the cryptic question, use page 6’s map to see which ship answers it.

Cryptic Wordsearch
  • Once you’ve highlighted all your answers in the Cryptic Wordsearch, the remaining tiles spell a sentence, revealing whodunit. Read the tiles from left to right, top to bottom.

Answers

At a dead end? Below are all the clue answers. Try your best not to use them, though, detective!

Clue 1
  • Rum Flask (blue teardrop weapon marker)

Clue 2
  • Long John Stirling

Clue 3
  • Moe Zayeck (sounds like mosaic)

Clue 4
  • Double-cross

Clue 5
  • Dave Jones (his first name is one letter different from the word ‘have’)

Clue 6

  • The question inside the lens is, “What chamber name has been cut off above the entrance to No.2?”

    So the answer is…
    • Spyglass (the chamber name that has been cut off is ‘Glass Chamber’.

Clue 7
  • Lion coins (not required for the Cryptic Wordsearch)

Clue 8
  • Treasure

Clue 9

  • The question inside Calico’s Periscope is, “Find a plaque dedicated to a newspaper ‘first published as the Bristol Postman. The inscription’s fourth word is hidden in the middle of which ship’s name?” The plaque’s fourth word, including the ampersand, is ‘mirror’.

    So the answer is…
    • Scalp Ture (captain of Kashmir Rorqual)

Clue 10
  • X-bow (starts with an ‘X’, which is ’10’ in Roman numerals)

Clue 11
  • Nova Worcester (captain of ‘Bowser’s Thrill’ which is an anagram of ‘Wills Brothers’)

Clue 12
  • Anchor (pink square)

Clue 13

  • The second part of the clue is solved by visiting killertrails.co.uk/uniform.

    By this point in the investigation, you should have three or four remaining suspects (four if you’ve not yet solved all of the Breaking Clues on page 6). Only one of these remaining suspect’s isn’t wearing a red bandana. Remove this suspect from the case.

    So the answer is…
    • Shane Warwick (the only suspect left not wearing a red bandana)

Clue 14
  • Sparrow

Clue 15
  • Envy

Clue 16
  • Trident (Nessie’s Nook is the only location on page 5’s map that is further than 1 League away from Mermaid Bay. The symbol for Nessie’s Nook matches the trident’s weapon marker, i.e. the orange bell)

Clue 17

  • The decoded skulls spell ‘moored’ and ‘Thekla’. The Thekla is where the #2 in a green circle is positioned on page 6’s map.

    So the answer is…
    • Graph Eatey (captain of Booty Barque, which is the ship moored closest to the Thekla)

Cryptic Wordsearch

  • Are you sure?

    • IT WAS THE CAPTAIN ON WARWICK’S PORT SIDE WITH THE BLACK SPOT

      The suspect on Shane Warwick’s port side (i.e. to his left) is Evie Saltburn. Which weapon marker’s symbol is a black spot?