You take your translation to the caterpillar and he looks to the mushrooms, giving a loud “HARUMPH”. You inquire how you might grow to your original size and leave through the door, but he just continues to grumble to himself and smoke a strange greenish liquid. The protege said that his passion for the craft was the reason for his departure, but you have a not-so-sneaking suspicion someone else’s attitude may have played a role as well…
You take a look at the mushroom grove, and think about the protege’s specific phrasing: “taken root”. Which mushroom should you eat to grow bigger and reach the door? Choose carefully! If you shrink more, you may not be able to reach other mushrooms and be stuck here forever!

Click on the mushroom you'd like to eat.

Enter a world of tea and madness

Use this Companion Guide to check your solutions as you play by selecting Check Solutions & Unlock the Story below. Sometimes, the story will progress as you check your solutions. The Companion Guide can also be used to view hints. Most players use at least a few hints to get through the entire game.

• Tea Party Clue #1

  The Tea Party Envelope should include a dialogue card, Tea Menu, and a clock composed of a colored base layer and two transparent layers that can rotate to set the time. If you are missing any of these components, please click here.

  Examine the front and back of the Tea Menu. The Grandfather Clock notes that you must “find what he desires”. You will be trying to discover a hidden phrase that answers this question.

  You’ll notice below the note, that there are several blank spaces with numbers underneath them. You may also notice that these numbers correspond exactly to the numbers on the front of the Menu. Simply taking the noted letters from the front and putting them in the blanks on the back doesn’t reveal a phrase that makes sense though. Is there a way you can translate the letters on the front to different letters that would then yield a phrase in the blanks?

• Tea Party Clue #2

  The back of the Tea Menu notes that “at each course time each letter does translate”. Notice that for each course, there is a specific time noted, as well as 2 letters that are indicated. For example, in the First Course, the “k” is indicated with the number 1, and “t” is noted with the number 2.

  Can you determine a way to translate these two letters into different letters using the clock?

• Tea Party Clue #3

  Set the clock to the time noted on the Menu - remember, the shorter hand is for the hour, and the longer hand is for the minute.

  Now look for a “K”. You’ll see at 1:25 that the “K” corresponds to an “A” on the clock, and the “T” corresponds to an “S”.

  

  Continue to translate the letters based on the times, and input your answers in the blanks on the back.

• Tea Party Solution

  The Grandfather Clock wasn’t too happy hearing the Mad Hatter’s opinion of his new second hand; he would like “A second opinion”. Input “A second opinion” in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown menu. You’ve solved this conundrum!

• Mushroom Grove Clue #1

  The Mushroom Grove envelope should contain a note from the caterpillar’s protege, as well as another sheet of paper with small butterflies next to groupings of letters. If you are missing either of these components, please click here.

  The caterpillar’s protege left a note in which part of the writing is replaced by colored mushrooms. Can you discover the word(s) that these mushrooms translate to?

  The additional sheet notes that “Below you’ll find an anagram or two, those are words whose letters have been switcher-ood!”. This is a great place to start! For example, if you switch the letters around in “OMM”, you can get the word “MOM”.

• Mushroom Grove Clue #2

  These are the answers to the anagrams: mom, hat, pop, deed, soft, down, card, kayak, whine, level, radar, rabbit.

  The note says that “the butterflies give a clue” and that there’s “a symmetrical pattern you may find”. Compare the words that have butterflies by them to the words that don’t have butterflies by them. Do you notice a similarity between the words with butterflies?

  Once you notice the similarity, does that help you fill in the blanks on the back of the paper?

• Mushroom Grove Clue #3

  All the words that have butterflies by them are palindromes (are read the same backwards as forwards): mom, pop, deed, kayak, level, radar.

  Notice that there is a large butterfly on the back of the sheet. There are also numbers on the back that correspond to numbers (and now letters!) on the front of the page. Can you use these two pieces of information to fill in the remaining blanks on the back?

• Mushroom Grove Clue #4

  Using the numbered letters from the front, the first phrase says: “R A _ E C A _“

  The big butterfly on the back hints that each boxed phrase is also a palindrome. Can you finish this phrase, and then the remaining phrases?

• Mushroom Grove Clue #5

  The first phrase is: “RACE CAR” (a palindrome - spelled the same forward and backward, not including the space). Can you do the remaining phrases? Then can you translate the colored mushroom phrase in the protege’s note?

• Mushroom Grove Clue #6

  The phrases on the back are as follows: Race car, taco cat, evil olive, step on no pets, never odd or even, mr owl ate my metal worm.

  Can you use these to find the encoded mushroom word(s)?

• Mushroom Grove Solution (first part)

  Taking the letters above the colored mushrooms in the coded palindrome phrases, we find the solution to be that the protege’s interest simply hasn’t “Taken root”.

  Input “Taken root” in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” in the dropdown menu. You still need to grow to get back out through the door!

• Mushroom Grove Post-Solution Hint

  After entering the solution “taken root”, you should have been presented with an image of the mushroom grove. Given the protege’s specific phrasing “taken root”, do you notice anything about these mushrooms that would lead you to believe some will make you bigger, and some would make you smaller if ingested? Click on a mushroom you think would make you larger. There are multiple correct options!

• Mushroom Grove Solution (second part)

  The roots of the mushrooms are either very small/fine or very thick/large. The mushrooms with the large roots will make you bigger if you eat them! Click on a mushroom with larger roots in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown.

• Duchess's House Clue #1

  The Duchess’s House envelope should contain a note from the Glazier, as well as a diagram of a stained glass window. If you are missing either of these components, please click here.

  The Glazier’s letter says that his puzzle encodes some sage advice. At the bottom of the window diagram you see a phrase with several blank spaces. When you can fill in these blanks, you will have the solution!

  The notes on the sides of the diagram tell you to carefully look at the numbers within the window spaces and see how they relate - then fill in the remaining numbers. When you are done, each blank window space should have a number in it. Try looking at the top of the window diagram first, and observe the numbers and arrows. Do you notice any pattern or rule? Can you use this pattern or rule to fill in other blanks?

• Duchess's House Clue #2

  You may notice that the window panes sum together using the arrows. For example, the topmost window space has the number “15” with two arrows pointing to it. These arrows come from window spaces with the numbers 9 and 6, which add together to 15. You can also see that the 4 and 6 window spaces sum to the central 10. Can you fill in the other spaces?

• Duchess's House Clue #3

  Try starting with the space just below the 10. We know that the pane to the right has the number 12, and this pane is the sum of 6 and the unknown space we’re trying to decipher. What must this space therefore be? Try using this type of logic to fill out the rest of the window diagram.

• Duchess's House Clue #4

  Below is an image of a partially solved window.

  
• Duchess's House Clue #5

  Below is an image of the fully solved window. The notes on the sides of the diagram say to “shade in sections determined by this puzzle’s namesake”. The title of the diagram is “A Prime Puzzle”. Which numbers should you shade in? The back of the sheet may be useful!

  

  Tip: If you’d like to keep your game materials pristine to pass on to a family or friend, you can put a separate sheet of paper on top and color in the regions via tracing.

• Duchess's House Clue #6

  You should shade in all regions that contain prime numbers - which are listed on the back of the sheet. Your final image should look like the one shown below. Do you see something? How might it allow you to finish the Glazier’s message?

  
• Duchess's House Clue #7

  The shaded areas create the number “8”. Try reading the phrase with blanks and putting the number “8” after the first letters of each word.

• Duchess's House Solution

  If you place the number “8” after the first letters of each word, you get the phrase “w8 for h8 to ab8”, or, “wait for hate to abate”. Enter this phrase into the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown in the online companion guide.

• Forest Clue #1

  The Forest envelope should contain three different transparent sheets, a note, assembly diagram, and a small bag with three mirrors and one paper piece. If you are missing any of these components, please e-mail us at support@puzzlingpursuits.com

  The note says that you need to “speak my language” to release the spell and reveal the door. You’ll be looking to decode a word that fits this description.

  The first step in the note is to “assemble the instrument that reflects color and space”. Open your bag and follow the instructions there.

• Forest Clue #2

  The completed “instrument” should be folded into a triangular prism with the mirrors on the inside and the tab through the slot. Does it look a bit like anything you’ve seen before? Notice that the triangular end of the device is the same size as the triangles on the transparent sheets. Can you use this to “examine the sky, each triangular space”?

• Forest Clue #3

  The “instrument” is a rudimentary kaleidoscope! Try placing one end of kaleidoscope over a triangular space with a design and looking in the other end. If it’s too dark to see anything, either back your eye up a bit to let light in, or you can hold the sheet up toward a light source.

  You are looking for the three triangular designs on the transparent sheets that, when looked at through your device, create the three images on the bottom of the note.

• Forest Clue #4

  The blue hexagon can be created by looking through your kaleidoscope at this triangular space. Can you find the other two?

  
• Forest Clue #5

  The other two stars/spaces are shown below. The next portion of the note says to “overlap the respective stars, you’ll reveal the unseen”. Can you overlap the three stars in the designs to create something? Make sure that the stars (and their tails) are aligned!

  
• Forest Clue #6

  Below is an image of the three sheets overlapped. Do you notice something? What is it? What word should you say to “speak my language”?

  
• Forest Solution

  The overlapped images create an image of a cat face, with the word “MEOW” in its mouth. Enter “Meow” in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown to progress the story.

• Croquet Grounds Clue #1

  The Croquet Grounds Envelope should contain a dialogue card, note, and image of the grounds. If you are missing any of these components, click here.

  To solve this puzzle, you will need to determine two things: which wicket is first, second, third etc. in the game, and also what the “winning phrase” is.

  Notice that each wicket has an image on it. Do you see similar things on the croquet course? The card you were subtly slipped by the gardeners says to “observe numbers and colors”. Are you able to notice any patterns by combining this information?

• Croquet Grounds Clue #2

  Each image on a croquet wicket corresponds to something within the setting. Moreover, each of these things has a different color, and there is a different number of them scattered throughout the scene. For example, there are three pink flamingos and five green turtles. Can you find all the things associated with the wickets, along with their corresponding numbers and colors? Do you notice anything?

• Croquet Grounds Clue #3

  You may notice that no two things in the scene have the same color or number, and the number of things goes from 1 to 9 - exactly the number of wickets you have! It’s a solid bet that the number of things associated with each wicket, determines that wicket number. The thing/color/number pairings are listed below. Can you now use this information to decode a winning phrase from the card given to you by the gardeners?

  1 blue bird, 2 yellow fish, 3 pink flamingos, 4 brown hedgehogs, 5 green turtles, 6 purple mushrooms, 7 red hearts, 8 white roses, 9 grey castle windows.

• Croquet Grounds Clue #4

  The card passed to you by the gardeners has exactly the same colors as the items in the scene. Try using your number/color pairings to identify a single letter in each column. For example, the first wicket is the blue bird. The blue letter in column 1 is “W”. Try this for the remaining wicket numbers.

• Croquet Grounds Solution

  Taking the number/color pairings, you get the letters: W-I-C-K-E-T F-U-N. Enter “wicket fun” in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown to progress the story!

• Royal Court Clue #1

  The Royal Courtroom Envelope should include a dialogue card, court testimony sheet, and a note from the thief. If you are missing any of these components, please click here.

  To solve this puzzle, you will need to find answers to the three questions posed by the Ace of Hearts. Start by trying to decipher who is lying and telling the truth between the Nine and Ten of Hearts. Are there any descriptions of the courtroom and the witnesses that don’t add up? Are there any words that are emphasized in some way?

• Royal Court Clue #2

  The Ten of Hearts says that they refuse to “sit here” (in bold letters). The Ace of Hearts noted that the witnesses were standing though, and the bottom of the testimony sheet also notes that the parties “continued to stand”. From this you know that the Ten of Hearts is lying, and the Nine of Hearts is telling the truth. Given that, can you tell who the culprit was? It will be a playing card.

• Royal Court Clue #3

  The Ten of Hearts (who is lying) says that the culprit is either a club or heart and could be either a King or Queen. Therefore, the card CANNOT be a club or heart, King or Queen.

  The Nine of Hearts (who is telling the truth) says that: the culprit's suit color is not red (a heart or diamond), and that the culprit is not a numbered card or Ace.

  Given these pieces of information, a single card can be identified.

• Royal Court Clue #4

  The card that stole the royal tarts is the Jack of Spades. Given this information, can you decode the thief’s note? You now know who signed the note.

• Royal Court Clue #5

  Notice that the number of colored shapes, and their spacing (after “I, The”), corresponds perfectly to “Jack of Spades”. Try writing these letters under the colored symbols.

  Now using the colored symbol/letter pairings, try translating the symbols in the note. For example, we know that the first blue club in the note, can be translated to “P”, because the blue club at the bottom corresponds to the “P” in “spades”. One symbol won’t be able to be directly translated, but you should still be able to decode the solution.

• Royal Court Solution

  The thief was really expecting this to be a “piece of cake”. Enter your discoveries into the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown to progress the story.

• Open When Instructed Clue #1

  The Open When Instructed envelope should include a final letter from The White Rabbit, as well as an image of a rabbit hole extending down into the earth.

  The White Rabbit’s note says that you need all the answers you’ve provided before, as well as the numbers above the respective doors. If you didn’t happen to write your answers down, you can find them below, along with the numbers above each respective door:

  The Tea Party: A SECOND OPINION (88)

  The Mushroom Grove: TAKEN ROOT (51)

  The Duchess’s House: WAIT FOR HATE TO ABATE (84)

  The Forest: MEOW (36)

  The Croquet Grounds: WICKET FUN (25)

  The Royal Court: PIECE OF CAKE (07)

  Do you notice anything about your answers, and the blank spaces in the rabbit hole?

• Open When Instructed Clue #2

  The answers from the previous puzzles fit perfectly into the blank spaces in the rabbit hole. You’ll notice that two letters are circled within each answer. The White Rabbit notes “2 digits each door, 2 letters each line, shift letter by number, then the answer you’ll find.”

• Open When Instructed Clue #3

  The first line of blanks corresponds to the answer “MEOW” with the “M” and “O” circled. The answer MEOW came from The Forest Envelope, whose door had the two digits “3” and “6”.

  If you shift “M” by 3 you get “P” (the same as the example on the right). If you shift “O” by 6 (start at O in the alphabet and count six letters down the alphabet), you get “U”.

  The next note from the White Rabbit says you need to read right to left, bottom to top to reveal the secret. Can you finish the translations and find the ultimate solution?

• Open When Instructed Solution

  Taking each circled letter and shifting it by the corresponding door digit, then reading right to left and bottom to top, the phrase: “Simply wake up” is revealed. An image of the full translations is below. Input “Simply wake up” in the “Check Solutions & Unlock the Story” dropdown to reveal the conclusion of the game!