COUNTDOWN
by Carol and Paul Bradbury
Central Solutions
Spectrum 48
This is a good game, with one challenging puzzle. However there are many
locations and some of those can be difficult to get to.
You are a journalist. A famous explorer, Sir Justin Phillips, offers you an
interview. When you arrive the main doors are ajar; you enter and the door
slams behind you.
Hints:
It is a shame that you cannot carry more than 4 objects at a time.
Visit the locations where you do not need a light first.
There are several things that need to be opened: some require keys, others
do not, and some cannot be opened. Explore carefully. There are secret
panels and other ways to get through.
Even though your candle may burn out, you can navigate back the way you came
if you have mapped carefully.
There are no red herrings.
The dumb waiter is a nice touch.
While the small key can help you get the ladder, there is also another way
to get to this object. This makes the game interesting.
Defusing the bomb is tricky. SAVE and RESTORE often. You need to use the
spanner. INSERT the MIRROR, to get the correct wire colour connections.
Follow the clue you were given and PRESS the correct colour first. The light
should go out. CUT the colour connecting to the blue, don’t panic when
nothing happens, then PRESS GREEN and CUT the colour connecting to the
green, then PRESS the colour connecting to the green, and finally CUT the
last colour).
Solution:
You begin in the entrance hall. INVENTORY (nothing), E, EXAMINE GARMENTS,
TAKE YALE KEY, W, W, EXAMINE BOOKSHELVES (one of the bookshelves moves), W,
EXAMINE TYPEWRITER (Confused already? Let’s soap you’re not. Insert the tape
to discover your lot), E, N, N, N (you see a cupboard and a candelabrum),
OPEN CUPBOARD, TAKE MATCHES, TAKE CANDELABRUM, EXAMINE CANDELABRUM (four
candles), N, E, TAKE TAPE, E (you straighten out the broom closet), W, TAKE
BROOM (you cannot carry any more), W, S, S, S, INSERT TAPE (you recognize
the voice. You have six hours to find a bomb and defuse it), N, N, N, N,
PULL HANDLE (you are in a meat locker), EXAMINE MEAT (you see Phillips’s
corpse), E, S, S, S, E, N (you see a curtain), MOVE CURTAIN (you see a
locked door), OPEN DOOR (you don’t have the correct key).
Go S, S, DROP YALE KEY, DROP CANDELABRUM, DROP MATCHES, N, N, W, N, N, E,
LOOK THROUGH HATCH (you can see the servant’s dining room), THROUGH HATCH,
S, E, UP, UP, W, S, S, S, E, TAKE SMALL KEY, W, N, N, N, E, DOWN, DOWN, W,
N, THROUGH HATCH, TAKE BROOM, W, S, S, S, E, S, DROP BROOM, N, N, UP, N, E,
OPEN CUPBOARD, TAKE SCREWDRIVER, W, S, UP, OPEN DOOR, TAKE LADDER, S, DROP
SMALL KEY, DOWN, DOWN, S, S, UP, E, E, OPEN DRAWER, TAKE MIRROR, W, W, DOWN,
DROP MIRROR, DROP LADDER, N, N, W, N (you see a dumb waiter), GET IN DUMB,
PRESS UP, PRESS UP (you get a clue - in order to start first press blue),
E, N, OPEN CUPBOARD, TAKE SANNER, S, GET IN DUMB, PRESS DOWN, PRESS DOWN, E,
S, S, E, S, DROP SPANNER, TAKE BROOM, TAKE CANDELABRUM, TAKE MATCHES.
LIGHT CANDLE, DROP MATCHES, TAKE LADDER, W, PRESS BOOKSHELVES, DOWN, E, N,
N, N, N, W, UP, UP, UP, DROP LADDER, UP (in the attic), S, W, S, OPEN DRAWER
(you see a box), OPEN BOX, DROP SCREWDRIVER, TAKE SECATEURS, N, W, EXAMINE
BARS, LOOK THROUGH BARS (you hear ticking and a bolted trap door several
feet away), OPEN DOOR, DROP BROOM, E, E, N, DOWN, TAKE LADDER, DOWN, DOWN,
E, E, N, W, UP, W, W, S, TAKE SMALL KEY, DOWN, DOWN, S, S, DROP LADDER, DROP
SMALL KEY, DROP CANDELABRUM, TAKE SPANNER, TAKE YALE, TAKE MIRROR, N, N, UP,
UP, S, W, N, N, DROP SECATEURS, DROP SPANNER, DROP MIRROR, S, S, E, N, DOWN,
DOWN, S, S, TAKE CANDELABRUM, TAKE MATCHES, N, N, UP, UP, S, W, N, N, LIGHT
CANDLE, DROP MATCHES, TAKE SECATEURS, TAKE SPANNER, OPEN DOOR, DROP
SECATEURS, DROP SPANNER, W.
TAKE MIRROR, TAKE MATCHES, OPEN DOOR, DROP MATCHES. TAKE SECATEURS, DROP
YALE, TAKE SPANNER, UP (in a room with a canister), EXAMINE CANISTER (a
panel with four bolts), OPEN BOLT, OPEN BOLT, OPEN BOLT, EXAMINE CANISTER,
MOVE PANEL (the device looks unsophisticated with three wires coloured blue,
red, and yellow, and a white panel with three indicator buttons glowing
green, red, and blue), EXAMINE WIRES (can’t quite see), INSERT MIRROR (red
is attached to green terminal, yellow to blue terminal , and blue to red
terminal), PRESS BLUE (the light goes out), CUT YELLOW (nothing happens),
PRESS GREEN (the light goes out), CUT RED (nothing happens), PRESS RED (the
light goes out), CUT BLUE (the device stops ticking and you see a key), DROP
SPANNER, DROP SECATEURS, DROP MIRROR, TAKE KEY, GET UP, DOWN, TAKE YALE,
TAKE MATCHES, W, DROP YALE, S, S, E, N, DOWN, S, S, DOWN, OPEN DOOR (You’ve
escaped. In the boat you escape dying, but so does your captor.
Terri Sheehan
2010-08-17
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