Progress tracking
.. What do I do with the code page?
Hint 1
Hint 2
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Hint 20
Hint 1
When you picked up the code page, Nancy said that it was a code and suggested that there must be something in the room that would help you read it.
Hint 2
Well, there is, but it's in seven pieces, and you have to find them all before you can decipher the page. Read on for exact locations of all the pieces.
Hint 3
What you're looking for are small pieces of blue plastic film cut into various blocky shapes. If you're an Amateur sleuth, there's one peeking out from under the rug when you're looking at the safe; if you're a Master sleuth, look on top of the lamp.
Hint 4
The pieces are all over the room, and they're all just barely visible; you don't need the glasses to find them, and none of them are actually completely hidden, like inside locked drawers or anything.
Hint 5
On the other hand, some of them are only visible from one specific location. You might try, for example, standing in the center of the room where you can rotate and going from one turn to the next, looking all the while.
Hint 6
One short? Yeah, I usually find six and then get stuck. Here are the locations:
Hint 7
Once you've got all the pieces, it's probably a good idea to go back to Nancy's room, because the clock is ticking and Zoe might come back to her room at any moment. Scoot!
Hint 8
Now look again at the code page, and you'll see all the pieces you just picked up loose around it. As is probably obvious, the next thing you need to do is arrange all those pieces on the page, which will then highlight certain letters. Read to the end of this hint for a screenshot showing how to place the pieces.
Hint 9
One little boost you have here is that the pieces don't rotate; they only fit on the page the one way, which reduces the number of options you have to consider.
Hint 10
The Master puzzle also has an outline showing where one of the pieces goes, the one in the lower right corner. I'll give a like hint to the Amateurs and tell you that the piece in the lower left corner is the one shaped like a big sloppy S, and it highlights the H.
Hint 11
As you're thinking about where to put the pieces, remember their dimensions. If you get the bottom half of the page filled and then find you've got a piece left over that's four spaces tall, something's wrong; take the pieces out and start over.
Hint 12
The same thing applies to the spaces you have left to fill. If you make a lovely array that leaves a long vertical slot to be filled but you have no more vertical pieces, well, time to reconsider.
Hint 13
And don't worry too much about what letters are being revealed. The final word you get isn't any too common, so don't expect it to jump out at you.
Hint 14
In the Amateur puzzle, all the pieces fit tightly with no leftover spaces. In the Master puzzle, there are a couple of blank spaces in the code page; they won't be covered by a blue piece at all.
Hint 15
Getting frustrated? Okay, here's how to arrange the pieces:
Hint 16
Hint 17
Hint 18
So what do we care about this odd word? Two hints: there's a red padlock in the upper left corner of the page, and Nancy said something about this word turning up something in the archives.
Hint 19
This word is the password to the red cards in the archives. And since Nancy didn't write it down in her journal for you, I'll tell you that the password is --
Hint 20
-- "PARNITHA" for Amateurs and "ORCHIDACEOUS" for Masters. As usual, though, that word won't work for you until you solve this puzzle in the game.