Safari Adventure

This puzzle is a standard acrostic with a slight twist as you might expect. Solvers can begin solving as they normally would, working back and forth between the grid and the clue list (numbered spaces under the blanks in the clues correspond to like-numbered boxes in the grid; the same letters will go in both).

Once solvers discover the quotation that is represented in the grid, they will notice that a handful of the words are off by a little bit. Specifically, five of the words have an extra letter in them, making new words in the grid. These five words in order are:

(L)AGO
(A)LIVE
(K)NEW
US(E)
NEW(S)

The extra letters spell out LAKES, which is the first answer out of the two answers for the puzzle.

Here’s the full text of the quote as it appears in the grid boxes: I HAD COME TO THE CONCLUSION A LONG TIME (L)AGO THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPE FROM THE LABYRINTH OF CONTRADICTIONS IN WHICH WE (A)LIVE EXCEPT BY AN ENTIRELY (K)NEW ROAD, UNLIKE ANYTHING HITHERTO KNOWN OR USED BY US(E). BUT WHERE THIS NEW(S) OR FORGOTTEN ROAD BEGAN I WAS UNABLE TO SAY –P. D. OUSPENSKY IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS

Now we look at the flavor text for a hint at how to get at the second answer. The flavor text says that the rat has “stashed away some mysterious little crumbs that remind him of somewhere he longs to visit.” These are the extra letters that made up the word LAKES, which seems like a reasonable destination for a rat to visit. So far so good.

The next part of the flavor text says that these crumbs–the letters in LAKES–provide the key for finding the rat’s racing strategy and avoiding the traps that obscure the way. What could that mean? It doesn’t seem to make much sense on its own.

Let’s look at the acrostic message (the first letters in the clue list answers) to see if that helps. The acrostic reads BRING CRYPTIC CRUMBS HERE. OK, so the “crumbs” from the flavor text (L-A-K-E-S) need to be brought down to the lower section (the clue list) and be somehow considered in a cryptic manner.

Many solvers will notice that quite a few of the answers to the clues in the clue list sound like parts of clues from cryptic crosswords. Specifically, these answers form single-letter generators when considered in a cryptic way. There are ten such answers in total. In order, they are:

A. BIKINI BOTTOM, which clues the “bottom” of the word “bikini” to give the letter I
E. GIVES BACK, which clues the “back” of the word “gives” to give the letter S
G. REHAB CENTER, which clues the “center” of the word “rehab” to give the letter H
K. INNER EARTH —> R
L. CAPITAL OF FRANCE —> F
N. RELIGIOUS RIGHT —> S
P. MIDDLE OF NOWHERE —> H
R. STOLE THIRD —> O
S. HEAD TO TOE —> T
V. EAST OF EDEN —> N

These ten clues, in order, make the string ISHRFSHOTN. Hmm, that’s not useful at all. But maybe the rat can help us here. The flavor text told us that the “cryptic crumbs” can help us find the rat’s racing strategy and avoid the traps. So maybe some of these cryptic letter indicators are in fact traps?

The crumbs that we’re bringing down to the clue list are L-A-K-E-S. Did you notice that the list of cryptic letter indicators includes the clues that are lettered L, A, K, E, and S? In order, those clues give us the letters F, I, R, S, and T. These make FIRST, a viable racing goal for the rat, and the second answer to our puzzle.

Clue List Answers

A BIKINI BOTTOM
B REWATCH
C INCH YOUR WAY UP
D NEXT TO NOTHING
E GIVES BACK
F CHAINWHEEL
G REHAB CENTER
H YELLOW SUBMARINE
I PSYCHOANALYSIS
J THOUSAND OAKS
K INNER EARTH
L CAPITAL OF FRANCE
M COSMONAUT
N RELIGIOUS RIGHT
O UNNEWSWORTHY
P MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
Q BUNKHOUSE
R STOLE THIRD
S HEAD TO TOE
T EGYPTIAN COTTON
U RENEWALS
V EAST OF EDEN

Quote Source

The quote in the grid is by P.D. Ouspensky from the book In Search of the Miraculous. It talks of “escape from the labyrinth” via “an entirely new road” which begins in some new or forgotten place. The conceit is that the rat needs to escape his “confusing cage” or “labyrinth” (the grid in which his silhouette is trapped) and get on to a new road down among the cryptic entries in the clue list.