GC SF Sp WH BV YL BT CP SA CB CC Back to puzzle

Cascade Bay

Inner Tube Adventure Float

by Asher Walkover
Answer: SYMMETRICAL PAIR

The 15 choices in this adventure represent scenarios where conventional wisdom—as given by proverbs and idioms—might offer contradictory advice. For example when you're shipwrecked on an island and stumble on somebody who could potentially help, but he's got a pegleg and an eyepatch, what do you do? Stay away because he's probably a pirate, and “clothing makes the man”? Or do you instead decide “don't judge a book by its cover”?

On each page, the words of two contradictory idioms corresponding to your two options are hidden. Find the idioms and play connect-the-dots with the words, to form the shape of a letter, one on every page with a choice. These letters spell SYMMETRICAL PAIR.

Solvers might also discover that there's only one path through the adventure that visits every page exactly once: start, 15, 14, 6, 13, 4, 10, 16, 3, 8, 2, 9, 7, 12, 11, 5, end. The first letter on each page (not including the starting and ending pages, where the first words are just "beginning" and "ending") spell DRAW BOTH SAYINGS, a hint for how to get at the answer.

The choices and wisdom:

Attack the giant whale, or go for smaller fish? Shoot for the moon
Don't bite off more than you can chew
S
Help the natives gathered around a cooking pot? Many hands make light work
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Y
Abandon ship as you barrel towards a waterfall? He who hesitates is lost
Look before you leap
M
Stay with Steve, or pursue some aquatic Siren? Birds of a feather flock together
Opposites attract
M
Use a bottle as a weapon or to send an SOS message? The pen is mightier than the sword
Actions speak louder than words
E
Mend your damaged tube, even when there's no immediate need?  A stitch in time saves nine
Don't cross your bridges before you come to them
T
Ask for help from the guy who looks like a pirate? Clothes make the man
Don't judge a book by its cover
R
Forgive Steve and rescue him after he abandoned you? To err is human
Revenge is sweet
I
Tell the truth about a coin-flip to win some sustenance? Honesty is the best policy
The ends justify the means
C
Attack your captors even though you're outnumbered? Fortune favors the bold
Discretion is the better part of valor
A
Approach a camp of natives who look potentially hostile? Nothing ventured nothing gained
Better safe than sorry
L
Try to rescue your annoying friend whose been taken away? Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Out of sight out of mind
P
Call out for help from a passing ship? The squeaky wheel gets the grease
Silence is golden
A
Face a raging rapid with your eyes open or closed? Ignorance is bliss
Knowledge is power
I
Try to woo a mermaid who looks out of your league? Faint heart never won fair lady
The meek shall inherit the earth
R