Click on one or more HINTS for each puzzle. Click on HOW TO SOLVE IT for a direct explanation of the puzzle. Click on ANSWER to get the result of the puzzle solution.
PUZZLE: Crazy Bet
Hint 1
When a mad woman mutters, you might think to steer clear, but repeat Bet’s words quickly and see what you hear.
Hint 2
To hear the right words in order, timing is key. Vary the tempo to know where the next clue will be.
Hint 3
There is a song that might help about horses and goats. It is time to listen to Mairzy Doats
How to solve it
The words to the song “Mairzy Doats”, which, when said compressed actually say “mares eat oats and does eat oats”. Crazy Bet’s words should also be said compressed together.
Solution
The phrase you should hear after repeating crazy Bet’s mutterings is “In the Chronicle lies a password connect dotted letters at correct angles”
PUZZLE: The Libby Chronicle
Hint 1
Crazy Bet’s words hold a mystery for you. Using correct angles is what you must do.
Hint 2
If you just can’t decide which letters to choose, pick the ones with the dots and you really can’t lose.
Hint 3
If you have the words, the solution is near. Just find the right order and all will be clear.
How to solve it
“Correct” in this case means “right” angles. Use a straightedge to connect the letters indicated by dots under them to one another. The letters will match up with other letters either vertically or horizontally and they will match exactly but never diagonally. You will come up with a number of words and need to figure out the order.
Solution
The connected dots spell “His name is a flower. Password freemason.” Go to https://theresystance.com/crazybet/ and select the fellow prisoner that best fits this description and read how they reply to the password.
PUZZLE: The cloth
Hint 1
The cloth looks quite strange with each colorful mark, but you should really know they’re not there on a lark.
Hint 2
The dots and dashes and spaces will point the way and soon you will know what the message does say.
Hint 3
The language you seek a soldier may know. Use Morse code to find where to go.
How to solve it
The message is in Morse code. Suns represent dashes and moons dots. Read from the outside to the center and rotate the cloth counterclockwise to create the message.
Solution
The sequence of the code reads: .- – / -.. ..- … -.- / –. — / – — / .-. .- – / …. . .-.. .-.. The phrase that is hidden in morse code on the cloth reads “At dusk go to Rat Hell”. Go to www.theresystance.com/vl-cloth and select the image that best represents this message.
The pattern created here is called ‘Bear’s Paw’. Click on the bear paw image for the next part of the mission.
PUZZLE: Numbered Grid
Hint 1
Fill in the right boxes and an image will show the very next place you need to go.
Hint 2
To begin with the largest number is best. If you figure that out you will get the rest.
Hint 3
It’s a difficult puzzle, we cannot deny it. Looking up “nonogram” may help you defy it.
How to solve it
This puzzle is a logic puzzle that, when filled out correctly, will form a recognizable image or picture. Cells in the grid will be filled in or left blank according to the numbers in the row and column headers. Each of those numbers determines how many unbroken lines of filled-in squares there are in any given row or column, and the order in which those lines appear. For example, a clue of “4 8 3” before a row or above a column would mean there are sets of four, eight, and three filled squares, in that order from right to left, with at least one, but possibly more, blank square between successive groups.
Solution
The image is the address of the Van Lew mansion in Richmond: “2315 Grace St”. That is your password to the “safehouse” site.
PUZZLE: The mysterious inscription in Van Lew’s attic
Hint 1
Once you make out what there is to be read, you can read more by turning it on its head.
Hint 2
One word’s your answer that much is true. The upside down word is a code for Van Lew.
How to solve it
This is an ambigram, which is a stylized way of writing that reads one thing upside down and something else or the same thing right side up. Figure out what the letters are.
Solution
The letters one way spell E VAN LEW. the other way spells out BABCOCK. Use “Babcock” as the password at www.theresystance.com/quarles
The stone you found at the gravesite tells you the order in which to rearrange the columns, 53142. Once you figure that out, and get the missing images inserted correctly, the message reads: I FLY WHEN I AM BORN. I LIE WHILE ALIVE. I RUN WHEN I AM DEAD. WHAT AM I? Of the three choices, the one that answers this riddle is a snowflake. This envelope leads you to the next puzzle.
PUZZLE: Columns of letters under eggs
Hint 1
Restoring the messages is now your task. Once they are sorted, you won’t have to ask.
Hint 2
You’ve instructions to find a message and quote, but you’ll need to look further than what Van Lew wrote.
Hint 3
You need to talk to the man that’s right. Perhaps some research will solve your plight.
How to solve it
Cut out the vertical strips of letters. Rearrange them into two sets of three. Then read them left to right. Ignore the last few letters in each sequence as they are not part of the message.
Solution
In VLs instructions, three will be the message: Raid imminent. “Kill Cavalry” from the north and Dahlgren from the south. And three will indicate the sender: I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs. The card for Benjamin Butler includes this quote. On the page www.theresystance.com/quote, select Butler for the results.
https://theresystance.com/vl-egg-puzzle-solution/
PUZZLE: The money
Hint 1
Van Lew was a hero and quite clever to boot. When you discover her cipher, all questions are moot.
Hint 2
You should look for a number that’s really quite high. Heed Van Lew’s words and with that please comply.
Hint 3
You need a password to get to the end. Find the number that is your friend
How to solve it
This is Van Lew’s own cipher. You will see part of it scrawled on the wall by the Babcock puzzle (on the back of the card with the Babcock puzzle). Another piece is found on the welcome letter.
Solution
This uses the original Van Lew cipher that she created herself to solve this. It is the type of cipher that both the writer and receiver need to have a copy of the key in order to encode and decipher it. It reads “Do not underestimate their strength and desperation. Forces could be called in 5 to 10 days. Do not attempt with fewer than thirty thousand troops.” Enter the biggest number (30,000) at www.theresystance.com/money
It is in fact the very name of the song that tells you which it is. A ‘drinking gourd’ was a hollowed out gourd used to ladle out water. The name of the constellation, “The Big Dipper” comes from its resemblance to a ladle. This constellation can be used to locate Polaris, The North Star. Therefore, “follow the drinking gourd” means “find the Big Dipper constellation to locate the north direction and head that way”.
