August 2022 - The Expanse

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Location: Josephus Miller

  1. To start off, look for hints from the same suspect that are contradictory.
  2. If you find two contradictory hints, then the third hint must be true.
  3. Suspect 1's first clue refers to Romeo and Juliet. Since both R and J have curved lines, 1 and 3 cannot both be true. Therefore the fourth letter must be M.
  4. Since we know the fourth letter is M, Suspect 3's second hint must be a lie (M has vertical symmetry). Therefore Suspect 3's first and last hints are factual.
  5. The most common letter in the English language is 'E', so the final letter is an 'E'.
  6. This means Suspect 1's first hint is a lie, and therefore the third hint is factual.
  7. Suspect 2's second hint can only give three letter pairs: I/T, A/E, and N/E.
  8. Suspect 2's third hint says the third letter must be a consonant. This theoretically rules out A/E and leaves N/E and T/I (placing the consonant in the third space).
  9. However Suspect 3's third hint is known to be factual, and says the 6th letter must be between N and V, which means that Suspect 2's second and third hints are in conflict. Therefore Suspect 2's first hint is factual.
  10. Suspect 4's first hint refers to O and S.
  11. The numerical values of O and S would make it impossible for the letters in spaces 1/2/5 to add to 16. Therefore Suspect 4's first hint is a lie.
  12. If Suspect 4's first hint is a lie, then the second and third hints must be factual.
  13. If Suspect 4's third hint is factual, then Suspect 2's third hint is a lie, and therefore Suspect 2's second hint is factual.
  14. All four lies are now known (Suspect 1-1, Suspect 2-3, Suspect 3-2, Suspect 4-1).
  15. Combining Suspect 2's second hint (I/T, A/E, and N/E) with Suspect 3's third hint and Suspect 4's third hint leaves only one possibility - I/T.
  16. Lima is the capital of Peru, therefore the second letter is 'L'.
  17. 'L' has a value of 12 in the context of Suspect 2's first hint. That leaves 4 remaining for letters 1 and 5.
  18. The only possible combinations to add to 4 are A/C, B/B, and C/A.
  19. Suspect 1's third clue says the first letter is the only one without straight lines.
  20. CLIMATE