You see one kite, and then another!
Quick, call the helpline!
555-
The New DMV Policy is a good place to START.
The license plates at the bottom of the section are all missing a single important character. Use the descriptions of the customers to figure out which character is missing.
Sometimes a license plate is missing several characters, but only one of those characters will change the pronunciation of the phrase. For example “BACLVR” contains “LVR” which sounds like “LOVER.” The O and E are missing, but they don’t change the sound of the word. However, if you add an N to the plate, you get “BACNLVR,” which sounds like “BACON LOVER” and corresponds to “Enjoys fried pork products.”
The phrases that match the descriptions of the customers are:
- “The uppermost canine” = TOP DOG
- “Kids have gone away to college” = EMPTY NEST
- “Enjoys fried pork products” = BACON LOVER
- “Their car unlocks their love” = KEY TO MY HEART
- “Wants to give advice worth pennies” = MY TWO CENTS
- “Looking forward to ski season” = WAITING FOR SNOW
- “Waving goodbye to a sibling” = SEE YA BRO
- “Cannot be caught” = TOO FAST FOR YOU
- “Has meaningful” = MEANINGFUL
- “Isn’t sure if someone is speaking to them” = WHO ME
- “Running behind, as usual” = LATE AGAIN
When the missing letters have been returned, the license plates read:
MY2SNTS = 2
BACNLVR = N
TOPDOG = D
W8N4SNOW = S
CYABRO = O
2FAST4U = F
MNNGFUL = F
L8TAGAN = A
KEY2MYHRT = K
WHOME = E
EMTNEST = S
Putting those letters in order from left to right reads “2NDS OF FAKES”
According to the “Gardening Request,” there are 18 fake plants at Sphinx Park.
There are six categories that these plants can belong to. The real plants belong to two categories, while fake plants only belong to one.
The first category of “Orange Foods” includes four plants:
- A Cheese Puff
- Candy Corn
- Carrot
- Orange Slices
The second category of “Veggies” includes four plants:
- Asparagus
- Carrot
- Rhubarb
- Spinach
Since a carrot is both an “Orange Food” and a “Veggie” it is one of the real plants.
The “Computer Equipment” category includes:
- HDMI Cable
- Keyboard
- Mousepad
- VGA Adapter
The “Musical Instruments” category includes
- Djembe
- Keyboard
- Smooth Jazz Saxophone
- Twelve-String Guitar
Since a keyboard falls into both categories, it is one of the real plants.
The “Spice Girls” category includes:
- Baby
- Ginger
- Scary
- Sporty
The “Herbs” category includes:
- Iffy Cilantro
- Ginger
- Skewer of Basil
- Thyme
Since ginger falls into both categories, it is one of the real plants.
Now that all the fake plants have been identified, they need to be arranged by category from north to south. There is a compass on the Sphinx Park map that points to north.
The order of the fake plants, by category is:
Orange Foods
- A Cheese Puff
- Candy Corn
- Orange Slices
Veggies
- Asparagus
- Spinach
- Rhubarb
Computer Equipment
- HDMI Cable
- Mousepad
- VGA Adapter
Musical Instruments
- Smooth Jazz Saxophone
- Djembe
- Twelve-String Guitar
Spice Girls
- Scary
- Baby
- Sporty
Herbs
- Iffy Cilantro
- Skewer of Basil
- Thyme
Next to each category, there are three spaces to fill in a blank. Each space takes a single letter from the fake plants in that category.
The clue from the “New DMV Policy” mentioned “2nds Of Fakes.” Take the second letter from each fake plant in the correct order to fill in the blanks.
Once filled in, the blanks next to the categories say:
- Orange Foods = CAR
- Veggies = SPH
- Computer Equipment = DOG
- Musical Instruments = MJW
- Spice Girls = CAP
- Herbs = FKH
Some of the filled in blanks, like CAR, have formed words, but some of them still look like gibberish. However, the periods between the letters in SPH, MJW, and FKH suggest that those letters stand for other words.
S.P.H., M.J.W., and F.K.H. are the initials of people that have been mentioned elsewhere in this issue of The Hincks Gazette.
S.P.H. is none other than Stephen P. Hincks.
The Spider House article mentions people whose initials match the ones from the gardening request.
- S.P.H. is Stephen P. Hincks
- M.J.W. is Marissa Jane Watson
- F.K.H. is Felicity “Kite” Hardy
Each of the individuals matching the initials is quoted in the Spider House article and each of them is trying to convey a secret message.
The bold letters from the quotes in the article can be combined together to get the secret message from the individual who is speaking.
The secret messages are:
- Stephen P. Hincks = EVERY THIRD LETTER
- Marissa Jane Watson = LAST LETTERS
- Felicity “Kite” Hawkeye = MIDDLE WORD
Each set of initials was paired with another word in the gardening section. Those words describe where the individual’s secret message can be applied.
The initials S.P.H. are paired with “CAR” and there is an advertisement for a car in the “Town Notices” section of the paper.
The advertisement for the car reads “Yo, throw a megahit on. Oh yeah, son!” and when you take every third letter of that phrase, the word TOMATOES appears.
When you apply the secret messages to the town notices you get the following messages:
- CAR/S.P.H.: Taking every third letter of “Yo, throw a megahit on. Oh year, son!” results in TOMATOES
- DOG/M.J.W.: Taking the last letters of each word of “Extra Slobber Available” results in ARE
- CAP/F.K.H.: Taking the middle word of the notice results in SAFE
Together, these give you the phrase TOMATOES ARE SAFE.
Honcks’ Discount Office Supply Supperstore has a variety of canned goods available, and some of those include tomatoes.
The contents of each can in the display can be determined by using the color of the can, along with its size.
Each color of can has three possible sizes. The weights at the bottom of the section show that the smallest can of each color is a pizza topping, the middle can is always a soup, and the largest can is miscellaneous. For example, the darkest cans contain pizza sauce when the can is small, chicken noodle soup when the can is medium, and lima beans when the can is large.
The contents of the cans by color is:
Dark Gray
- Small = Pizza Sauce
- Medium = Chicken Noodle Soup
- Large = Lima Beans
Medium Gray
- Small = Sliced mushrooms
- Medium = Tomato Soup
- Large = Green Beans
Light Gray
- Small = Olives
- Medium = Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Large = Spaghetti Sauce
The “Town Notices” section resulted in the message “Tomatoes are safe.” Based on the contents of each can, the “safe” cans are:
- SMALL-SIZED DARK GRAY
- MEDIUM-SIZED MEDIUM GRAY
- LARGE-SIZED LIGHT GRAY.
The artist that created the can castle has claimed that you should start at the top of the castle and find a safe way out.
Out of all the cans at the top of the castle, only one of them is considered “safe” based on its contents. Start a path there and use the contents of the cans to move to adjacent “safe” cans.
As you move from one safe can to another, keep track of the letters that are written on the cans.
The safe path through the castle is pictured below. Combining all the letters found on that path yields the phrase “HERE IS YOUR TREASURE DISREGARD FIRST AND LAST DIGIT OF EACH DOT NUMBER”
The message from the castle at Honcks’ tells you how you need to change the numbers next to each dot in the “Connect the Dots” section.
When a number is only one digit or two digits, disregarding the first and last digit leaves nothing, so the corresponding dot should not be connected to anything.
After disregarding the first and last digits of all the numbers, 713 has become 1 and 428 has become 2, so those two dots should be connected.
Once the correct dots have been connected, the message “4 8s” is revealed. This shows the final answer “8888” which is the final four digits of the Hincksville Arachnid Helpline. Time to report that kite that you see in the distance!