Pg. 28—The Mysterious Case of
the Uneaten Banana
Mr. Muddle’s claim that he is missing a bag full of money is false. No sane man would carry around a bag full of money. If he had indeed lost a large bag of money, then upon losing the bag of money he would alert the police and not Dr. Brain-Wizard, who does not seem to have any discernible occupation.
Pg. 74—The Intriguing Case of
the Lollipop Eating Contest
Whether or not Grover Criminy won the Lollipop Eating Contest fairly is beside the point. It is clearly a contest for children, as the winner receives very little of value (“a bag full of lollipops” has an estimated value of $5). If Grover Criminy cheated, then that is for him to live with. It is not Dr. Brain-Wizard’s duty to arbitrate the games of children.
Pg. 117—The Befuddling Case of
the Ketchup Packets
This is not a logic puzzle as much as it is Dr. Brain-Wizard’s Andy Rooney-esque rant about his difficulties with ketchup packets. Although there is no “solution,” as such, the answers to Dr. Brain-Wizard’s three rhetorical questions are: to limit costs; someone made a mistake; and to limit costs.
Pg. 181—The Flummoxing Case of
the Purple Ox
The purple ox that Dr. Brain-Wizard observed was part of a dream. We at The House of Riddles Publishers realize that this is a lame solution: a bit of a cop-out. However, the truth remains as it always does. This entire “case” was merely the confused dream of Dr. Brain-Wizard, who is actually a bit of an opium addict.
Pg. 201—The Abstruse Case of Walkabout Sam; Pg. 214—The Furtive Case of the Identical Guitars; Pg. 227—The Recondite Case of the Cheesecake Bandit
Before we give the solutions to these three cases, we would like to chastise Dr. Brain-Wizard for his wandering use of adjectives. Although a word like “cryptic” can be fairly associated with a puzzle (or as Dr. Brain-Wizard inexplicably calls these momentary diversions, a “case”), words such as “furtive” cannot. Can a riddle be stealthy? So as to not add another puzzle inside the solution to a puzzle, we will say definitively: a riddle cannot be described as “furtive.” Adjectives such as “abstruse” and “recondite,” although apparently appropriate, indicate to those of us at The House of Riddles Publishers that Dr. Brain-Wizard is simply flipping through a thesaurus for words. The answers for the three puzzles are, respectively: it was a crosswalk; modern manufacturing techniques make it possible to create nearly identical items; and the bandit actually paid for the cheesecake with a credit card.
Pg. 292—The Confounding Case
of Geyser Coze-ay
“Talkative” Clint is really Geyser Coze-ay, as anyone who has seen The Usual Suspects would have easily guessed. In fact, this entire case is a direct rip off of the 1995 Brian Singer film, which has led some of us at The House of Riddles Publishers to believe that Dr. Brain-Wizard has not left the house much lately, and therefore is simply recycling plots from movies and TV shows and claiming that they are “cases.” Again, see the solution to “The Flummoxing Case of the Purple Ox,” re: opium addiction.
Pg. 314—The Inscrutable Case of
the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Dr. Brain-Wizard’s proposed solution to this puzzle, sent to us scrawled on the back of a Denny’s postcard, postage-due, was simply the word “Illuminati.” We, however, would like to suggest that a psychotic man in a book depository shot the then-President, as all verifiable evidence would seem to indicate.
Pg. 325—The Enigmatic Case of
the Missing Rent Check
The United States’ mail system, although occasionally faulty, is not to blame. Dr. Brain-Wizard did not “just mail the check,” as he claimed to his landlord. Dr. Brain-Wizard is a scam artist. We suggest you cut all ties with him immediately, even if he claims that he “is better” or that he “loves you.” He is also not a practicing doctor.