[Guest]

After solving the previous door puzzle you realised that the answer that was supposed to be your reward was quite the disappointment. Not only were only 7 of the 12 letters used for the actual 'reward' word - it was also misspelled. Of course you took the only reasonable action after that which was to ram the door through with the bulldozer.

After the door followed a long, wide hallway. You walked down the hallway still trying to remember why you even bothered coming here in the first place when suddenly the appearance of a large door with a new set of combined locks answered your rhetorical question.

While the locks at the previous door had been placed in a horizontal line, the 8 locks on this door were forming a circle. Again the locks each had a dial, a label, and a digital number. The locks were placed like this:

  I T 

A     H

E     R

  C L

[/codebox]

Again a sign is placed in the lower left corner, next to the reset button.

The sign reads:

[i]Behold the inter-connected locks v1.2, new, improved, and it doesn't need to be reset quite as often as older versions. Apart from that they are equally annoying.

The legal values of any lock are: 0, 1, and 2.

The locks do not wrap around from 0 to 2, or 2 to 0.

The locks are initially (and after reset) all set to 1.

To open the door all lock values must be set to 0.

You can turn a lock either clockwise (increase the value), or counter-clockwise (decrease the value). When you increase or decrease the value of a lock you will change the value of some neighbouring locks by the same amount - how many neighbouring locks are changed depends on the power of the lock turned by you. If you turn a power 1 lock, you will change the value of that lock, and 1 neighbouring lock on each side (3 locks total including the turned lock). A power 2 lock changes 5 locks total, etc.

As with the older versions you cannot change the value of a lock if the change causes any of the locks to get an invalid value.

'C' has power 1

'I' has power 1

'R' has power 1

'E' has power 2

'H' has power 2

'A' has power 3

'L' has power 3

'T' has power 3[/i]

You may be rewarded with an answer which, while not as important as the previous, it is perhaps more dramatic.

(as it is way past my bedtime I will not be responding to this for the next 7-8 hours)

[plasmid]

Awww, this one doesn't spell out anything, even when I put the unique set of letters that must be used in the solution into an anagram program.

Maybe I made a mistake.

Let's see what the other puzzlers get.

[Guest]

Awww, this one doesn't spell out anything, even when I put the unique set of letters that must be used in the solution into an anagram program.

Maybe I made a mistake.

Let's see what the other puzzlers get.

I had a similar problem to you, but I think I found the solution.

Originally, I came up with the letters IHRLCE, which can't be rearraged into any words. However, then I thought about the two letters that aren't used, A and T. Basically, turning them one way then the other would cancel them out, but then the anagram would make a real word.

So, if you want the efficient solution, then enter the following combination (+ will indicate a clockwise turn and - will indicate a counter-clockwise turn).

+I -H +R -L +C -E

However, if you want the more theatrical solution, then enter this combination.

+T -H -E +A -T +R +I +C -A -L

[Guest]

I had a similar problem to you, but I think I found the solution.

Originally, I came up with the letters IHRLCE, which can't be rearraged into any words. However, then I thought about the two letters that aren't used, A and T. Basically, turning them one way then the other would cancel them out, but then the anagram would make a real word.

So, if you want the efficient solution, then enter the following combination (+ will indicate a clockwise turn and - will indicate a counter-clockwise turn).

+I -H +R -L +C -E

However, if you want the more theatrical solution, then enter this combination.

+T -H -E +A -T +R +I +C -A -L

Hehe well done, AI. I had a feeling that someone might find a better/different solution from what I had intended - which is why I wrote: "You may be rewarded with an answer which..." .

But you did both - found the intended solution and an improvement. Good job.