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The Secrets of Atlantis Hints

How can I use the winches to lift the sail?

  • 1 of 15: Remember that paper Li Tang gave you when you gave him the right password? It has the clues you need for this puzzle.
  • 2 of 15: Notice that there are three clues, one for each of the three winches.
  • 3 of 15: NOTE: The word "halyard" in the clues just refers to the ropes that the winches are connected to.
  • 4 of 15: A simple formula for how many times to turn each winch is given, always in terms of another winch.
  • 5 of 15: The easiest way to solve this is to write out the formulas for each winch's moves in mathematical notation.
  • 6 of 15: If you label the three winches as A, B, and C, you'll get:

    A = B - 1
    B = 2C
    C = A - 1
  • 7 of 15: Note that which way the moves go (port or starboard) makes no difference yet -- each formula is in terms of the number of moves of another winch, not factoring in direction.
  • 8 of 15: Now you can use substitution to solve the equations for each of the three winches.
  • 9 of 15: One possible step-by-step set of calculations is given below.
  • 10 of 15: You should end up with A = 3, B = 4, and C = 2.
  • 11 of 15: But don't forget that not all of the turns are in the same direction.
  • 12 of 15: The displays beneath each winch have negative numbers on the left (port) and positive numbers on the right (starboard).
  • 13 of 15: So numbers for turns to port need to be interpreted as negative numbers.
  • 14 of 15: The middle winch's clue says that it needs to be turned to port, so B is really -4, not 4.
  • 15 of 15: So turn the left winch to the right until its setting is 3, the middle winch to the left until its setting is -4, and the right winch to the right until its setting is 2.