The Riddle of the Guide

SPOILER ALERT. This section contains solutions.

There has been much speculation on who the Guide could be. In 2016, White Raven commented that Christopher Manson intended the Guide to be The Minotaur, fitting for such a location as a maze. That being said, the “final solution” given by White Raven was a hidden image of a bull head within the head of the sly face in Room 43. There is still debate as to the validity of this observation. The four-piece Youtube playlist at the bottom of this page contains discussions on this topic. Prior to this 2016 proclamation, the speculation was broad, and in some cases quite imaginative.

Pre-2016 Guide Contenders

  • Aeneas
  • Atlas
  • Charon
  • Christopher Manson
  • The Devil / a devil
  • Minotaur
  • Minos
  • Orpheus
  • Prometheus
  • Hades
  • Sisyphus
  • The Sun
  • Theseus
  • Virgil

Written Clues about the Guide

PROLOGUE
They never noticed my crown, my pain, the fire in my eyes.
They think I am some poet who will lead them through the symbols and spaces of this Underworld.
They should call me Cerberus… I am the lesson.

ROOM 6
If you think of all the deceptions practiced in my family, particularly on my father…

ROOM 7
“Weren’t you ever irresponsible?” I asked, thinking of my childhood and how wild I had been.

ROOM 11
I’ve always hated confinement.

ROOM 15
…sometimes I think, after all these years, that I don’t really know myself.

ROOM 16
…a stone chamber which reminded me of my old neighbors. Of course, that was a long time ago now, but would you believe their descendants are still telling stories about me and my family to their children? Even if most of the stories are lies and exaggerations, it is immortality of a sort.

ROOM 22
It’s true, I am by nature extremely critical. Although my life is a lonely one I have not spared any of my guests the rigor of my judgment.

ROOM 23
…looking over my shoulder, which is not easy to do.

ROOM 25
Though one of my parents might be lowborn, the other was close to a king.

ROOM 32
I have come to think of all the inhabitants of this House as members of my little kingdom.
…we are all animals, at least in part.

White Raven’s clues about The Guide

1) Manson confirmed my solution as to the identity of the Guide and clues that lead to this conclusion. I will say four things: 1. The Guide is a single individual. 2. The correct answer has been mentioned on this page. 3. The proof of the solution is in the book, it is a VERY difficult and elaborate puzzle and the puzzle itself has not yet been mentioned here or elsewhere online. 4. The solution to this puzzle leaves no doubt as to its correctness.

2) There are lots of pertinent hints to the identity of the Guide littered throughout MAZE but though they are suggestive of the correct conclusion the identity of the Guide would likely be debated forever it not for a separate Riddle of the Guide that settles the matter. The hints about the identity of the Guide that have been discussed thus far are not part of the Riddle of the Guide.

3) The Riddle of the Guide is a multi-location puzzle which does not indicate the nature of the Guide until you reach the solution. It is more like the Riddle of the Path except you don’t pick up letters – you follow clues (which have nothing to do with the identity of the Guide). Finally, at the end of the clues, BLAM, you know the identity of the Guide. So what are you searching for? Parts of MAZE not accounted for. This is MUCH easier to do once you have solved most of the rooms. I would suggest continuing to focus on the rooms and come back to this once MAZE is 75% solved.

4) The challenge is not in guessing the correct answer or having some debatable evidence for an answer. The prize of the VERY difficult multi-room previous unnoticed insanity puzzle is irrefutable proof. Like I said the correct answer is on this page somewhere, no one is going to be shocked by the answer, it’s not like it’s Curious George or anything.

5) The path is based on an single observation repeated in several rooms, so far no one has mentioned this observation and thus the path remains hidden. Because of the difficulty of this puzzle, when someone mentions this observation I will confirm it and the hunt can begin.

6) First, I just wanted to confirm that I have read all the comments and the observation that composes the path has yet to be mentioned. So to be clear, it’s not eyes, though eyes may be part of another trail I don’t know about. Second, certain rooms contain Guide information but are not necessarily part of the path and stand on their own, so not all leftover items are part of the trail. Lastly, a word of encouragement. Previous attempts have focused on identifying items which appear to be related to the Guide. The trail leads to a room which appears to have nothing to do with the Guide and is unsolvable without solving another related riddle in a different location…then the answer is laid plain. You are all thinking correctly looking for trails which appear to be unrelated to the Guide and based on simple observation. Looks like it’s just a matter of time…

7) Dave G wrote, “It’s not shading is it? I really don’t want to count pen stokes in shading or do and analysis on their direction or something.” Oh heavens no! The observation is large and plain in one room, partially hidden in other rooms, and cleverly (as in ingeniously, not microscopically) hidden in a few rooms. 515 wrote, “We also have a seemingly blind statue, and a totem whose “face” is wrapped in bandages. After all…WR said “to be clear, it’s not eyes.” Which means blindness has to be right!” To keep you all from going down this rabbit hole, I am not providing any hints or double meanings in my answers though I occasionally have to phrase things carefully so as to not give away hints, which could be taken as an unintentional hints. Also, somewhere it was mentioned that my moniker “White Raven” may be a hint. “White Raven” is a childhood nickname completely unrelated to MAZE.

9) White Raven on 10 April, 2015 at 3:54 pm said [Note: the time of this post is relevant, because it is the most recently that WR confirmed the observation had not been noted. Posts made after this time may include the observation.]: Dave G wrote, “I have to think somebody observed the large obvious one, and it is just the fact that it is repeated in other forms in other rooms that has not been noted.” Vewatkin wrote, “It may involve [some]thing that everyone has noticed and talked about, but an aspect of it that we have not.” I can see why you both would thinking along this line, it is the logical conclusion, but against all odds the observation has not been mentioned (on this site, or any where else I know of). And yes, I reread the comments on the room in which it is not hidden to be certain. So you may ask if in the non-hidden room is there something about the observation that defies notice. Answer: No, it has just been inexplicably overlooked.