Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships Hints

So how do we get out of here?

• 1 of 19: You don't have a lot of options. What is there to interact with in here, besides Bess?
• 2 of 19: Just to Bess's left, there's a little dark hole in the rock. Let's try that.
• 3 of 19: You can't see anything, but maybe it's a keyhole -- and what do you know, you've got a key that you got from the hourglasses at Blue Hole. Use it here.
• 4 of 19: Well, you still can't see the way out, but at least you've got more options now. Zoom in on the skeleton to see that he has another key in his hand; take it.
• 5 of 19: To the left of the skeleton, there's a metal panel on the wall. Open it to find --
• 6 of 19: -- oh booger, nineteen different keyholes. And as El Toro says on page 8, "a misstep seals your doom" (though actually you get three tries before that happens). So you'd better be sure you get the right one. Which one do we need?
• 7 of 19: You can find the info you need to solve this complicated logic problem on page 8 of El Toro's journal. And I'm really sorry, but this is a random puzzle, so I can't tell you exactly which keyhole is right for you. But read to the end of this hint to find a list of the most likely answers.
• 8 of 19: This puzzle is written to be a little confusing, but it's possible, I promise. It helps to have a piece of paper and draw a quick little grid so you can cross off any keyholes you've ruled out.
• 9 of 19: The first two lines are just definitions: the green keyholes are bronze and the red ones are iron, and the cutout plates are the ones drawn.
• 10 of 19: The first line says, "If the bottom row has 2 or more cutout plates, then [keyhole symbol meaning the keyhole you're looking for] plate is not round." So look at the bottom row of the keyholes and count the cutouts. If there's more than 2, you can cross every round keyhole off.
• 11 of 19: The second line says, "If the 4th column from the left contains a wave pattern, then [the right keyhole] is not in the last row." Again, go looking. If you find that wave in the fourth column, you can cross off the entire bottom row.
• 12 of 19: The third line means nothing by itself; it goes with the fifth line, so let's leave it till then.
• 13 of 19: The fourth line says, "It is not the [right keyhole] if the plate is bronze and has an empty space above it." Find every green keyhole with an empty space above it and cross it off.
• 14 of 19: The fifth line says, "If [a specific keyhole] is in the first row, then [the right keyhole] doesn't have 2 screws." The third line says, "If [the right keyhole] plate does not have 2 screws, then it is bronze." Taken together, this means that if the keyhole in the picture is in the first row, the one you're looking for is not bronze; if it's not, then the one you're looking for is iron.
• 15 of 19: The sixth line says, "If the skull is directly to the right or left of an iron plate, then [the right keyhole] has a cutout." The skull is an iron keyhole; if it's next to another iron keyhole, then you're looking for a keyhole with a cutout. If it's not next to an iron keyhole, you can cross off all the cutouts.
• 16 of 19: Finally, the seventh line says, "If [the right keyhole] is a cutout and not bronze, then [the right keyhole] plate is round." This one depends on the answers you got above to figure out.
• 17 of 19: Okay, so you've gone through all the keyholes. You should now (with a little luck) know exactly which keyhole is the right one. Maybe.
• 18 of 19: So save your game, cross your fingers, and insert the key you got from the skeleton in that keyhole -- and pray.
• 19 of 19: If you've done this a bunch of times and got tired of dying, here's another way to find the right keyhole:
  • Keyhole Possibilities

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