Two clerks, one shuffled ledger
A little assistance
“I have brought four smaller envelopes,” says Lazarus. “The large one was looking altogether too pleased with itself.”
These hints use clues from both desks. If you are playing together, agree before opening one. Start with the first, then return to your notes; stop as soon as you have somewhere to go. If you already made that deduction, try the next envelope.
Each fold reveals a stronger nudge. The first repeats the case page’s small hint. No full ledger is printed here, but later hints can help you work it out. Opening a fold is optional.
Return to the caseUse the shared answer sheet
1. A place to begin
Compare what the two cards say about the same room. Knowing who could not have gone there may tell you who did.
Pause here. If playing together, tell the other desk which clues you want to compare.
2. Make the first placement
Look at the Winter Room. Card A rules out Moss; Card B rules out Iona. Each room was visited once. Which visitor is left?
Pause here. Put that visitor in the room before thinking about objects.
3. Carry that placement forward
Card A tells you which object was returned to the Winter Room. Give that object to the visitor you placed there. Two objects remain for the other two visitors. Now use Card A’s clue about what Iona did not return.
Pause here. Can you fill the object column without looking at the last envelope?
4. Finish the remaining column
Card B tells you where the pocket moon was returned. Once you know who carried it, you also know that visitor’s room. Use the last unused room for the last visitor.
Before checking, make sure each name, object and room appears once, and compare your ledger with all five clues.
Ready to compare the complete ledger? Open the full answer and explanation — spoilers.
Prefer text or paper? Open all four hints as plain text — contains every hint. The text file can be printed; later hints will be visible together.
Printing this page leaves out all four hints, even if their folds are open. Use the explicitly labelled text version if you want the hints on paper.
The hint envelopes are omitted from this printout, including opened ones.
For all four hints on paper, deliberately open and print:
thebureauoflostcontext.agency/two-clerks-hints.txt
Return to the case: thebureauoflostcontext.agency/two-clerks