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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Cyclops puzzle in Zork I: How does one solve it?
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Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:33:02 GMT
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Yeechang Lee (ylee@columbia.edu) wrote:
> ObInteractiveFiction: Yes, I'm one of the many who only "solved" the
> cyclops puzzle in Zork I through a walkthrough's help.  Can someone
> explain where the clue to the solution is found in the game itself?
> Or is it truly meant to be an unfathomable riddle?

(SPOILERS, yeah, for Zork 1.)

Speak you of the solution of giving the cyclops a sandwich, or saying 
"Odysseus"?

The sandwich seems to be just "feed the monster, maybe it'll help."

Saying "Odysseus" is hinted all over the place, if you know the Odyssey. 
First of all, Odysseus (or Ulysses, both names work) is a famous hero who 
defeated a cyclops -- *the* cyclops, in fact. If you have heard of a 
cyclops, you know the story of how Odysseus killed one. Or else you've 
just read the D&D monster manual, and should educate yourself better. :)

Furthermore, the prayer book in the temple *is* the story of the Odyssey, 
just to remind you. 

And finally, of course, the first letters of the poem in the prayer book 
spell out "ODYSSEUS". (Less obvious on the 40-column Apple screen that I 
played on, since the poem lines get split, but it's still visible. I 
think the alternate half-lines are indented.)

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
