While waiting for the next step of the Lost Isle Plot, I decide to share an article from the Neopets, The Official Magazine (Issue #22). {I really hope this will be soon because I will be going on a short holiday soon at the end of the month and I do not want to miss out anything}

How the Logic Puzzle Could be Solved!



On the 6th day of the month of Hiding, Y8 (August 6, 2006), a strange ship was found in the harbour of Krawk Island. Drawn by the ship's offer of exotic goods and an addictive game, those Neopians who first visited the Cyodrake's Gaze could hardly begin to imagine the adventure in which they were about to partake...

The Cyodrake's Gaze mini-plot, which introduced the land of Shenkuu, was a logic puzzle that did not openly call itself one. When the comic/plot had run its course, players were asked to answer the following five questions:

Who pushed Hoban?
Linae
Anshu
Bonju
Kentari

Where on the ship did he fall?
Helm
Starboard railing
Cargo crates
Port railing
Foremast
Aftdeck

When did he fall?
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
6:00

Where is Hoban now?
G19
F6
G14
I22
E3
G10

Do you like Hoban's hat?
Yes

I have forgotten the answer. Does anyone remember?

Here's the solution:

The final question regarding Hoban's hat only had one possible response, so eeryone who participated got at least one right answer! To earn at least the avatar and sidebar, however, players had to correctly choose two or more answer.



The story was told through a series of comics, which can still be seen at HERE.

The first chapter of the plot set the stage for what was to come, explaining what happened fromteh Captain's point of view. The clues would not start appearinguntil Chapter 2, though. In the second installment, the comic focused on Kentari, the Shoyru Weapons Master, and his description of what happened which unveiled these clues:
A couple of hours into the storm, Kentari was securing the forward topsail on the starboard (right) side of the ship. This is the only point when he mentions seeing Hoban.

Hoban spoke with Linae before Kentari. Next, it was Bonju the Blumaroo chef's turn to tell his tale, which gave these clues:
At an unmentioned time, Bonju saw Hoban by the starboard railing.
An hour later (4:00), he saw Hoban fuming by the port (left) railing.

An hour after that, he spoke to Hoban.

Next up was Linae, the Kougra Kou-Jong player. It was no secret that she thought Hoban was bad luck, but did she push him overboard? She offered these clues:
Right before the storm hit, Linae heard Anshu and Hoban arguing.
At the start of the stomr, Hoban was at the Wheel (helm). Anshu was below deck.
Just before the storm ended, Linae and Anshu were below deck.
Linae worked with Hoban on two occasions.
Anshu, the brown Ruki medic who was last to be interviewed, gave these clues:
He confrimed that he had been arguing with Hoban right before the storm struck and that he had gone below deck right when it hit.
An hour after the storm hit, he heard Hoban yelling at an undisclosed character.

Anshu and Bonju saw Hoban again at 5:00. This time he was ont eh aft deck arguing with another unmentioned character.

Other important clues in the story set outsdie the comics were: Captain Tuan mentioning that the stories didn't seems to add up, insinuating that one of the crew members may have been lying or withholding information, and asserting that Hoban's fall was no accident. He also noted that Hoban must have fallen during the storm.

Another clue was Hoban's map room, which contained a red herring map and this grid:



If one numbered the boxes horizontally from left to right, 1 through 25, and vertically A through J, one could match the coordinates to those listed on the guessing page with the Xs.

As the Captain suggested, the key to figuring out where, when, and at whose hand Hoban fell is to retrace Hoban's steps and produce a timeline. using the clues provided, it's possible to deduct that:

Hoban was with Captain Tuan at the wheel (Helm) just as the storm first began.


At three, Hoban was with Kentari by the starboard side. Then, an hour later, Hoban was on the port side, as Bonju said. Since Hoban had spoken with Linae previously to Ketanri and was with the Captain prior to that, the conclusion can be reached that he was with Linae at two o'clock. This is the argument that Anshu heard an hour after the storm hit. This was also the first of two tiems that Linae worked with him.

At five o'clock , Hoban was on the aft deck arguing with someone. it was neither Bonju nor Anshu. Since Kentari aonly interacted with Hoban once and Linae did so twice, she must have been working with him at five o'clock, since she was below deck with Anshu at six o'clock.

Therefore, the only missing interaction was Hoban with Anshu, whch must have occurred at four o'clock on the port side (where Bonju saw Hoban furming but did not interact with him).

The only clue that doesn't add up is Bonju claiming that he spoke to Hoban at five o'clock, which must be a lie.

This now confirms that Bonju never interacted with Hoban until at least six o'clock, with the only places left being the foremast or the cargo crates. This proved to be tricky to figure out unless one was paying close atttention to the art as well. As seen in multiple panels, during the first several hours of the storm, Linae was consistently working on the sails, therefore, in the middle of that time, when Hoban was working with her, they were at the foremast.



This leaves Hoban alone with Bonju at six o'clock by the cargo crates, where he must have been pushed over. Using the graph map, this means that he fell off at the final point, which would be I22.

Though this plot has long been over, Neopia can now rest assured in the knowledge of just how the mystery was solved!