EPT![[image loading]](http://pics.hoobly.com/full/BHSACVYI36F64LKQ9V.jpg)
This is a game of mysteries that is played like 20 questions. One person knows the answer to the mystery and the rest of the players ask yes/no questions in order to gather information to solve the mystery.
I got this game for my birthday a looong time ago when I was little and we were like "lol worst birthday present ever", partly cause it was too hard then, but over the years it has become a huge hit among my family and friends because the mysteries they provide are so interesting and high quality.
I've been wondering how it would work on a forum, so lets try it. I'll play as game master initially and you all as detectives, but if someone else has a good mystery they want to do or if they want me to PM them a case and the answer so they can try it, I'm open to that.
Rules:
Post YES/NO questions you want me to answer in bold. If you give me an either/or question I'll respond to the first half as a yes/no (either/or questions are tricky because a lot of them actually miss the fact that there are third options).
You can post speculative solutions in italics. I may or may not comment on them in different ways.
Anything in plain text relating to solving the mystery I will consider chat/running ideas by other detectives and not respond to except maybe with fun comments.
I will answer your questions with one of the following:
Yes
No
Yes and No (meaning part is true, part is not, or is not fully true, or you didn't define a time frame and it was yes at one time and no at another time, or saying yes or no outright would be misleading)
Irrelevant
Define what you mean by.../Rephrase your question (you use an unclear term or make a false assumption when asking that makes the question not make sense)
Probably/Probably not/I don't know (things that are not specified but I logically think are likely or not likely true or don't know)
If you have seen one of the mysteries before, please do not spoil it or give away information.
Don't post an excessive number of questions in one post.
Post a poll to determine if you collectively want a hint at any given time.
The game is a cooperative effort, if you helped by asking questions but someone else posts the solution, you are one of the winners, you didn't lose.
You are not meant to be able to tell the story immediately as the mysteries are sometimes rather vague, so trying to tell the full answer before gathering some information almost always fails.
I will try to keep the game moving by checking the thread often.
On Amazon
Someone asked about buying the game, there are reasonably priced ones in the collectible list. It has about 120 mysteries. Not all of them are as good as the ones I picked so far IMO, but a good portion of them are.
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The first mystery: + Show Spoiler +
Title: The Master Plan
Late one evening, Lord Flauntit is in his study watching television. He rings a little bell and Jasper, his butler, enters the room. The master and servant have a brief conversation, at the end of which Jasper gives his notice (i.e. tells him he's quitting).
At midnight, a fire breaks out at Flauntit Hall. When the firefighters arrive, they find Jasper's body spread-eagle on the gravel driveway. He is quite dead. The firefighters assume that in his panic to escape the fire, Jasper jumped out of his third story bedroom window and broke his neck in the fall.
The firefighters easily put out the small blaze and then call the constable. The entire county is shocked when respectable Lord Flauntit is later arrested for arson and murder.
Why did Lord Flauntit kill Jasper and set the fire?
Solution to #1
The second mystery: + Show Spoiler +
Derailed
Two men are seated side by side in a commuter train, one dressed in gray and the other in black. The man in gray hands something to the man in black. At the next stop, the man in black pulls out a gun with a silencer, shoots the man in gray dead, and leaves the train.
What did the man in gray hand the man in black? Why did the man in black kill the man in gray?
Two men are seated side by side in a commuter train, one dressed in gray and the other in black. The man in gray hands something to the man in black. At the next stop, the man in black pulls out a gun with a silencer, shoots the man in gray dead, and leaves the train.
What did the man in gray hand the man in black? Why did the man in black kill the man in gray?
Jump to beginning of case two questions.
Solution to #2
The third mystery: + Show Spoiler +
Postage Due
P.J. Etherton's one-of-a-kind postage stamp was being auctioned in his library. The stamp was first inspected by the world's foremost expert, and then passed around to all of the bidders. When the price soared to a million dollars, one of the bidders, Brutus B, asked to inspect it again. Looking through a magnifying glass, he announced, "This isn't the 1867 Z grill. It's an F grill--almost identical, but worth only a hundred bucks!"
The expert agreed. "This isn't the stamp I inspected. A switch has been made!"
Immediately, the security guard left the room and called the police. Everyone was frisked and the room searched thoroughly, but the prized stamp was nowhere to be found. The puzzling crime made headlines!
"I know Brutus stole it," P.J. Etherton growled. "He's a known thief and forger. A collector will pay a pretty price for it, even if he can never show it off in public."
What happened to the stamp? What is the perpetrator's plan?
Beginning of Case #3 questions
Solution to #3
The fourth mystery: + Show Spoiler +
The Timely Intruder
Something strange was happening on Elm Street. Every day, for three days straight, between 11:30 a.m. and noon, someone broke into the same empty townhouse, triggering a silent alarm. Each time, the police responded quickly, finding no evidence of theft or vandalism. On the fourth day, at 11:30 a.m., a police officer was lying in wait, hoping to catch the intruder when he or she struck--but no one came on that day, or any day after that.
Who was triggering the alarm? Why did it happen at approximately the same time for three days running?
Something strange was happening on Elm Street. Every day, for three days straight, between 11:30 a.m. and noon, someone broke into the same empty townhouse, triggering a silent alarm. Each time, the police responded quickly, finding no evidence of theft or vandalism. On the fourth day, at 11:30 a.m., a police officer was lying in wait, hoping to catch the intruder when he or she struck--but no one came on that day, or any day after that.
Who was triggering the alarm? Why did it happen at approximately the same time for three days running?
Beginning of Case #4 questions
Solution to #4
The fifth mystery: + Show Spoiler +
Good Help is Hard to Find
Old Harry Ashton's young wife and the housekeeper are together in the downstairs library. Suddenly they hear a scream from Harry's bathroom upstairs. The housekeeper drops her dust mop and runs up the stairs, followed a second later by the wife. Both run through Harry's bedroom into his adjoining bathroom. Harry is on the tile floor, a fatal wound in his chest. There is no knife in the bathroom or the bedroom.
Later that night, the housekeeper sneaks upstairs and recovers the weapon hidden in a hall closet. The police eventually discover the sequence of events and arrest the housekeeper--but not for murder.
Who killed Harry? How did the weapon get from the bathroom to the closet? What was the housekeeper's role?
Approximate beginning of Case #5.
Solution to #5
The sixth mystery+ Show Spoiler +
Ship Gyp:
After Saving for years, Oscar purchases a 40-foot cabin cruiser at a bargain price. Then, a week later he wins a contest for an all-expense-paid stay at a luxury resort on the island nation of St. Aretha. Oscar immediately takes some time off from work and heads for the Caribbean paradise. He is thrilled with his good fortune, but slightly puzzled because he can't recall entering the contest.
How did Oscar win a contest he never entered? What crime was involved, and who was behind it?
Beginning of case #6.
Solution to #6
The seventh mystery: + Show Spoiler +
Lights Out!:
A naked woman lies dead in a room. The room has a window, but there is no light. She has been murdered.
Where is she and why was she killed?
Approximate start of #7
Solution to #7
The eighth mystery:
Nobody Loses Her Head
At the No-Thrills Slideshow, Thelma Nobody, "The Woman Without a Body," was a popular draw. The trick was done with mirrors, of course--until that fateful morning when she was actually found without a body. Her head was discovered first, cut off with an ax belonging to Tony the Knife Thrower.
The police later found other parts of Thelma's corpse spread out around the sideshow grounds, all except for one piece.
Who dismembered the body? What part of Thelma was missing, and why?
Start of #8
