Saturday, March 22, 2025

Cryptex Hunt 2025 - Day 7

Guys, this might be the first time I actually complete a Cryptex Hunt! At least, that's my goal for today. I finished all of the intermediate puzzles last night, and vowed to actually sleep and tackle the meta today. Which, of course, I didn't do and peeked at the meta last night and started to try to undo the anagram, or at least I think it's an anagram? Couldn't make anything more than "Act Solved In KHURPJWMY" so went to sleep, or tried.  Now to this morning...

I should back up. The meta puzzle image is of an auditorium for a theater set up on a 10x10 grid with a divider in the center, so five columns either side. The flavor text is "The play is in order, the actors have rehearsed, now it's time to choose your seats for Romeo & Juliet". I see three parts - the 'order' of the play, the 'actors' and the 'seats'. 

As it's a meta-puzzle, I expect it to use some parts of the other puzzles, but there were 12, and there are only 10 lines here. In original puzzle order, the answers I have are:

  1. Blog: Friar’s Fumbles - CIMOLINO 
  2. Blog: Prop Hunt - WHITING
  3. Blog: Script Scribbles - STRIDE
  4. Blog: Spotlight on Blocking - ENOCH
  5. Blog: Table Read Chaos - HARVEY
  6. Cast & Crew - HOWARD
  7. Fridge Poetry Contest - GARDARSSON
  8. Instagram: Bouquet - BLOOM
  9. Instagram: Costume Party - BEYMER
  10. Instagram: Word Salad - OLIVIER
  11. Media - BEAN
  12. Quality Theatre Memes! - DICAPRIO

If I start with 'the play in order', I should rearrange these 12 into the ACT/SCENE order of Romeo & Juliet, based on the scenes used as the puzzle bases. That gets us: 
  1. Blog: Script Scribbles - STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1
  2. Instagram: Bouquet - BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Going on a limb based on the Queen Mab reference. Everything else is other play names.
  3. Blog: Prop Hunt - WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5
  4. Instagram: Word Salad - OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2
  5. Cast & Crew - HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3
  6. Blog: Spotlight on Blocking - ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1
  7. Instagram: Costume Party - BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2
  8. Blog: Table Read Chaos - HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5
  9. Blog: Friar’s Fumbles - CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1
  10. Media - BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - MAYBE. Based on the first direct R&J quote in the interview.
  11. Fridge Poetry Contest - GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Tricky as there are other quotes but using the first one)
  12. Quality Theatre Memes! - DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - only scene directly quoted in the puzzle, also when everyone dies. 
Ok, so we have a new order. We still have too many answers. Taking the Scene number/letter doesn't seem to give us much, and none of the lines are able to make it up to 10 across either, with the exception of Gardarsson. So, looking at the actors. 

  1. (John) STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in 1960 across from Dame Judi Dench
  2. (Orlando) BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Played Romeo in 2014 (how did I miss this?!) across from Condola Rashad
  3. (Leonard) WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in 1968 across from Olivia Hussey (the version we watched in HS). 
  4. OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2 - Tricky. Laurence Olivier was the narrator and Lord Montague in the 1968 version. No listing of him anywhere as playing Romeo directly.
  5. (Leslie) HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in 1936 across from Norma Shearer
  6. (Alfred) ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in 2021 on stage across from Rebekah Murrell
  7. (Richard) BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2 - Played Tony in West Side Story (R&J plus snapping and cigarettes) across from Natalie Wood as Maria
  8. (Laurence) HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in 1954 across from Susan Shentall
  9. (Antoni) CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1 - played Romeo in 1993 across from Megan Follows as Juliet (Anne of Green Gables!!!)
  10. (Sean) BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - Played on stage in 1986 across from Niamh Cusack (because Sean Bean always dies in every production)
  11. (Gisli Orn) GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Acted and Directed across from Nina Dogg Filippusdottir at the circus.
  12. (Leonardo) DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in 1996 across from Claire Danes
Again, we're stuck with a seating chart numbers 00 to 99, 10 across. My first instinct is to try to stack them across - JOHNSTRIDE is 10 letters, but ORLANDOBLOOM is definitely not. Neither is JUDIDENCH, if I were to be looking at the Juliets instead. JOHNJUDI is also not 10. 

Time for a small hint. Hint #1 is are the names familiar - yes... Hint #2: In this context, Juliet isn’t important.

On behalf of all women: RUDE. So, if who they played against isn't important, maybe when? It does say the play is in order. 

  1. (Leslie) HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in 1936 
  2. (Laurence) HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in 1954
  3. (John) STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in 1960 
  4. (Richard) BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2 - Played Tony in West Side Story in 1961
  5. (Leonard) WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in 1968
  6. OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2 - Tricky. Laurence Olivier was the narrator and Lord Montague in the 1968 version. 
  7. (Sean) BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - Played on stage in 1986 
  8. (Antoni) CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1 - played Romeo in 1993 
  9. (Leonardo) DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in 1996 
  10. (Gisli Orn) GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Acted and Directed at the circus in 2002
  11. (Orlando) BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Played Romeo in 2014 
  12. (Alfred) ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in 2021 
Just using first names, in any order, isn't enough letters for a 100 square grid. And there are too many if we include first and last. I feel like Beymer and Olivier are red herrings, but not sure how. I thought if I removed both of them I'd get down to 80 and then could use the letters on the side that I tried to anagram last night, but removing them only gets us to 91 letters. WHAT AM I MISSING? 

Back to hints. 
  • #3: Each puzzle, not the solutions, refers to a different scene. Yes.
  • #4:  It’s important to know when the actors performed. Also, yes. 
  • #5: No need to write anything on the seating chart. It’s just a reference. For what? A grid? Years? There aren't 100 Scenes... 
Years... the grid is 2 digits. That would give us:

  1. (Gisli Orn) GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Acted and Directed at the circus in '02
  2. (Orlando) BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Played Romeo in '14 
  3. (Alfred) ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '21 
  4. (Leslie) HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '36 
  5. (Laurence) HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '54
  6. (John) STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '60 
  7. (Richard) BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2 - Played Tony in West Side Story in '61
  8. (Leonard) WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '68
  9. OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2 - Tricky. Laurence Olivier was the narrator and Lord Montague in the '68 version. 
  10. (Sean) BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - Played on stage in '86 
  11. (Antoni) CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1 - played Romeo in '93 
  12. (Leonardo) DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '96 
I swear if this turns out to be semaphore again I'm going to be pissed. Phew, doesn't look like it. 



A constellation? We've done star things before. Google is unhelpful. GPT tells me that the main constellations with 11 stars are Auriga, Pisces, and Cetus. Cetus looks like two rhombuses (rhombii?) connected by a chain, not seeing that here. Pisces is an L shape, which I'm also not seeing here. Auriga, the Charioteer, looks more like a teapot to me, but also not what I'm seeing here. Ok. 

How do we go back to acts and scenes at this point. Word #? Letter number? Putting it back in play order we have: 
  1. (John) STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '60 - 
  2. (Orlando) BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Played Romeo in '14 
  3. (Leonard) WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '68
  4. OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2 - Tricky. Laurence Olivier was the narrator and Lord Montague in the '68 version. 
  5. (Leslie) HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '36 
  6. (Alfred) ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '21 
  7. (Richard) BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2 - Played Tony in West Side Story in '61
  8. (Laurence) HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '54
  9. (Antoni) CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1 - played Romeo in '93 
  10. (Sean) BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - Played on stage in '86 
  11. (Gisli Orn) GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Acted and Directed at the circus in '02
  12. (Leonardo) DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '96 
Filling in above - line# first, so:
  • Act 1 Scene 1 Line 60: one of my master’s kinsmen. More than 10 letters. 60th word? TO
  • Act 1 Scene 4 Line 14: Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes. 14th word? WITHOUT.
    • Becoming clear that line is unlikely
    • Word also implausible.
I really need to figure the word salad on the side, but still not getting anywhere.
  • Hint #6: Ignore the first 2 digits of the year, only the last 2 digits are important. Yes. With you there. 
  • Hint #7: To solve the puzzle, find the year that each actor performed as Romeo. Yes, also there.
  • Hint #8: Order actors according to where their puzzle falls in Romeo & Juliet. Tell me something new, please
  • Hint #9: Reference the year with the seating chart to find the corresponding letter. Ugh. I am TRYING.
I am trying to go back to the anagram and getting nothing. 

Reaching out to the Discord and many many thanks to Belthazar and cp80. First/simplest change I can make - Laurence Olivier did play Romeo WAY back in the day, so that gets us:
  1. (John) STRIDE - Act 1 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '60 - 
  2. (Orlando) BLOOM - Act 1 Scene 4 - Played Romeo in '14 
  3. (Leonard) WHITING - Act 1 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '68
  4. (Laurence) OLIVIER - Act 2 Scene 2 - Played Romeo in '35. Updating the bingo chart as well.
  5. (Leslie) HOWARD - Act 2 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '36 
  6. (Alfred) ENOCH - Act 3 Scene 1 - Played Romeo in '21 
  7. (Richard) BEYMER - Act 3 Scene 2 - Played Tony in West Side Story in '61
  8. (Laurence) HARVEY - Act 3 Scene 5 - Played Romeo in '54
  9. (Antoni) CIMOLINO - Act 4 Scene 1 - played Romeo in '93 
  10. (Sean) BEAN - Act 4 Scene 3 - Played on stage in '86 
  11. (Gisli Orn) GARDARSSON - Act 5 Scene 1 - Acted and Directed at the circus in '02
  12. (Leonardo) DICAPRIO - Act 5 Scene 3 - Played Romeo in '96 
Also, they told me the letters aren't an anagram, which would explain why they aren't anagraming. 

(Later) 

Took a break to feed Turkey, who's now being worn like an accessory, and took another look at the grid again. The something clicked between 'what is the purpose of the aisle' and 'what letters were you trying to anagram that don't anagram' and OMFG I WAS OVERTHINKING THIS. FFS. The aisle is to separate the letters. The letters are part of the answer, they are not anagrams. The group of five numbers corresponds to each letter on the left or right. So,
  1. 60 - S 
  2. 14 - C 
  3. 68 - O
  4. 35 - T (and this is where I realized what it was and typed it in and got it correct YAY!!!)
  5. 36 - T
  6. 21 - I 
  7. 61 - S
  8. 54 - H
  9. 93 - P
  10. 86 - L
  11. 02 - A
  12. 96 - Y
The 'Scottish Play' is MacBeth, which actors are apparently superstitious to say. I feel like an idiot for WAY overthinking. But! I solved it! Many thanks to Belthazar and others on Discord!! 










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