Lovestruck Twins

by Aussie Meyer
Solving Tips

Story


When those notorious twins Claude and Eustace had been ordered into exile in South Africa by their otherwise mild-mannered Aunt Agatha, they both refused to go because they had each been smitten by the lovely Miss Marion Wardour to whom they had been introduced by Bertie. Instead, they hid in Bertie's apartment considering how best to win the lady's love. When Eustace was spotted roaming around London by his uncle, things became uncomfortable to Bertie who, fearing the wrath of his Aunt, demanded that none of the twins should ever leave his rooms without a disguise. To this end, the twins arranged a false beard, a pair of lucious whiskers and a large nose. So equipped they could once more venture into the streets of London looking for suitable gifts to present to Marion.

Starting on a Tuesday and ending on the following Sunday, they each exited three times dressed up in one of the items of subterfuge. Both used each item exactly once and only one twin dared go out per day. Had the poor uncle not been at home, recovering from the shock of seeing what Aunt Agatha claimed to be "the ghost of Eustace", he might have spotted one of them outside the Drones club, strolling in Hyde Park, wandering down The Strand, lunching at The Ritz, taking a rest on a bench at Picadilly Circus, or entering the Harrod's department store. Not necessarily in that order, though. During these excursions, the twins in no particular order brought home flowers, a box of chocolate, a bracelet, a cigarette case, a poetry book, and a pretty scarf.

When the week was over, Miss Wardour and Jeeves embarked on a joint scheme that put the twins on the boat for the colonies and one of the most stressful periods in Bertie's life was over. But that, as they say, is another story. Can you, with the help of the clues below, determine which twin went where, on which day, disguised how, and what item was purchased during each excursion?

Note that for purposes of this challenge, the term "whiskers" does not include beards, and is a separate disguise.


./Labels/h_Location.png ./Labels/h_Purchase.png ./Labels/h_Disguise.png ./Labels/h_Day.png
./Labels/v_Drones_club.png ./Labels/v_Hyde_Park.png ./Labels/v_The_Strand.png ./Labels/v_The_Ritz.png ./Labels/v_Picadilly_Circus.png ./Labels/v_Harrod_s.png ./Labels/v_flowers.png ./Labels/v_chocolate.png ./Labels/v_bracelet.png ./Labels/v_cigarette_case.png ./Labels/v_poetry_book.png ./Labels/v_scarf.png ./Labels/v_beard.png ./Labels/v_whiskers.png ./Labels/v_nose.png ./Labels/v_Tuesday.png ./Labels/v_Wednesday.png ./Labels/v_Thursday.png ./Labels/v_Friday.png ./Labels/v_Saturday.png ./Labels/v_Sunday.png
./Labels/v_Twin.png ./Labels/h_Claude.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Eustace.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/v_Day.png ./Labels/h_Tuesday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Wednesday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Thursday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Friday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Saturday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Sunday.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/v_Disguise.png ./Labels/h_beard.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_whiskers.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_nose.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/v_Purchase.png ./Labels/h_flowers.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_chocolate.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_bracelet.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_cigarette_case.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_poetry_book.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_scarf.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
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x o blank x o blank x o blank x o blank
x o blank x o blank x o blank x o blank
JavaScript Grid by Scott Noyes

Clues

  1. The nose was used as a disguise two days running, but not on Friday.
  2. The scarf, which might have been spotted on a twin outside the Drones Club, was bought right after the bracelet but some time before Claude had lunch at the Ritz.
  3. Marion could not decide who of the two whiskered twins was the most romantic: the one who gave her the flowers or the one who brought a poetry book.
  4. On Sunday, most stores were closed but the bearded twin nevertheless managed to buy a box of chocolate from a street vendor.
  5. The jeweller was astounded to see the size of the nose of one of his customers, who bought either the cigarette case or the bracelet.
  6. During the weekend, Bertie forbade Eustace to leave the apartment.
  7. Several of the motorists passing Picadilly Circus, on a day some time before Claude bought the bracelet, noticed a man with very large whiskers. No such observation was done at the Ritz.
  8. Flowers were purchased earlier in the week than the bracelet.
  9. Harrod's was visited by someone after Claude disguised himself with the nose but earlier in the week than any of the twins went for a stroll in Hyde Park.



Solving Tips


Use an X when you are sure that two fields do not match. Use a dot when you are sure that two fields do match. Click once to place an X. Click a second time to place a dot. Click a third time to clear the box.

Select marker color by clicking the colored radio buttons. You can use colored marks to indicate which clue provided a value, or to indicate a guess that might not be correct, or just because you like solving puzzles in teal.

Use the "Save" button to save a puzzle in progress. Use the "Load" button to reload the puzzle. This feature uses cookies - fear not, we aren't tracking you or stealing credit card numbers (we couldn't, even if we wanted to.) At the moment, only one puzzle may be saved at a time on each computer (unless using different browsers or accounts). There is no warning if you save over another puzzle, and no undo!

Use the "Current Solution Window" button to parse the grid for your solution. This feature simply looks for dots in the top set of rows and creates a list that you can copy and paste into your email for submission.

If you want to clear the grid and start over, just refresh the page. Note that there is a bug in IE6 (and possibly other browsers), so that if a color other than the default is selected, that color may appear to be selected after the reload, but the actual color used will be the default.

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Scott
snoyes@gmail.com