The Puzzler's Mansion (29 page)

 

Switcheroo

Switcheroo does his dirty work very cleverly—he changes things so slightly that at first no one even realizes anything is wrong, much less that something has been stolen. Examine the scenes below. The first picture shows this clock shop before Switcheroo arrived; the second picture shows what it looked like after he left. Look closely
and you'll find ten differences between the pictures, one in each row from 1 to 10. Circle each change you spot, and then trace your finger upward to the letter at the top of the picture. Write that letter in the appropriately numbered blanks as many times as necessary. When you're done, you'll spell out a clue.

 

Big Mouth

Big Mouth can't keep a secret. Unfortunately, he also doesn't talk very clearly. He'll help you defeat the Shock, but only if you can figure out his crazy way of talking.

The strings of words below may look like nonsense, but actually each one is a clue to a common word. You'll have to say them out loud to make sense of them. For instance, say the words HATE TOUGH DIME HANDS FOUR HINTS TINTS, and you'll get “Eight of diamonds, for instance,” a clue for the word CARD. It might help if you get somebody else to listen as you read each clue aloud.

Each pair of answers has exactly one letter in common. These four letters, in order, will give you the answer to this puzzle.

 

Captain Danger

Captain Danger likes putting people in danger, and he has to be stopped. Unfortunately, his hideout is this labyrinth pitted with traps. You'll need to summon up your courage to make it through.

Each numbered row has two clues. These answers will be written in order, one right after the other. There are also ten labyrinth clues. The answers to these clues will start in the upper left corner and follow the path until they emerge at the lower right corner. You'll have to figure out where each word starts and ends. When you're done, the circled letters, following along the labyrinth path, will spell out the answer to this puzzle.

 

The Poet

Stealing isn't enough for the Poet—he then writes little rhyming riddles about the things he's taken. (He also steals a strange assortment of objects, as you'll soon see.) The Poet doesn't want to make things too easy for you, so he's deleted several words from each poem. These can all be seen in the box on the next page. Replace all the words, solve the riddles, and then take the letters from the white boxes to spell the solution to this puzzle.

 

The Shock

It's time for the final showdown!

You now have five answers, one for each of the previous puzzles. First, write the answers in the spaces below so that each arrow points to an answer. Then write each letter into its corresponding numbered blank. When you're done, you'll spell out the secret trick to defeating the Shock!

The Mad Zookeeper

CAMERA - RA + L = CAMEL

BADGE + R = BADGER

HOSE + R = HORSE

TIMER - M + G = TIGER

NAIL - A + O = LION

EASEL + W = WEASEL

FLOWER - ER = WOLF

DRIP - P + B = BIRD

STEAK - STE + Y = YAK

B
ONY
PONY

L
I
MB
LAMB

FIS
T
FISH

CR
E
W
CROW

S
EER
DEER