This was also my initial thought, but actually you won’t have to remove letters from any words for this one - it’s mainly a double definition type of clue.
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→ “Repel man…”
It helps if you think of another word for the men’s toilets in a restaurant.
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I was just coming here to say I (finally) just got it! Now I just have to crack the French leaves one…
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This game is so cool, I haven’t gotten into it yet but I’m hooked by the setup. I love that it has a real-time almost ARG nature to it in that it’s meant to be visited over a period of time
Uh, I just walked through a magickal door and I was looking for a water and some gum for the journey but…oh. You want me to run the place? Uh, okay…
I want to be good at cryptic crosswords but am frequently flummoxed so we’ll see how it goes. I guess the healthcare benefits are built in…
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Can anyone nudge me along on this violent bike? I keep falling off, it’s a harmful pattern.
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So “harmful pattern” is a synonym for the answer as a whole. “Violent” is a synonym for the first word, and “bike” is a synonym for the second. (Hopefully that is helpful without being too obvious!)
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Got it!
There’s a Calvin&Hobbes series of cartoons about Calvin’s killer bicycle that kept flashing through my mind.
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OH, I love the bike in Calvin and Hobbes. Some of the funniest strips IMO are his interactions with the bike. And most of that “It’s a Magical World” summer book near the end of C&H.
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I’ve had this idea for a little extra challenge to raise more money, and as we reach the 2-week mark I’d like to share it with you all. It’s fully optional, of course, but anyone interested is welcome to give it a go!
(I do love the ARG comparison and am eager to feed into it, haha)
Most of the characters found in the game are based on mythological creatures from real-world cultures. I wasn’t able to develop them quite as much as I would have liked in the comp version, but I did my best to integrate elements of their respective myths into their descriptions and characterization.
For each character, if someone can tell me what kind of creature they are before the end of the comp, an extra 1$ will go to a predetermined organization. They’ve all been randomly assigned to charities in an equal spread.
Below is the list of names (not including non-mythological characters), which will be updated if there are any correct guesses.
List with individual names in spoiler tags
Apothecary: Aïssatou
Monday regular: Minviluz
Tuesday regular: Weetamoo
Thursday regular: Matsu
Friday regular: Åsmund
Saturday regular: Echekrates
Sunday regular: Kauê
Irregular customer 1: Irmgard
Irregular customer 2: Hau-tōrua
Special visitor 1: Suādurīx
Special visitor 2: Ovidia
Special visitor 3: Valens
List with all names revealed
Apothecary: Aïssatou
Monday regular: Minviluz
Tuesday regular: Weetamoo
Thursday regular: Matsu
Friday regular: Åsmund
Saturday regular: Echekrates
Sunday regular: Kauê
Irregular customer 1: Irmgard
Irregular customer 2: Hau-tōrua
Special visitor 1: Suādurīx
Special visitor 2: Ovidia
Special visitor 3: Valens
The special visitors are worth 3$ each!
The answers to most (but not all) of these can be found written plainly in the source code, so it would seem fair that if you found them in this way, maybe limit your “guess” contributions to a single character?
In any case, please don’t feel the need to spoil yourself over this — I can always drop additional hints as the weeks go on, if people are interested at all.
For now I’ll say that there is at least one character from each of these continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa. Admittedly most of them ended up coming from one continent in particular!
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Have you (or anyone else) succeeded in cracking the French leaves? If so, I could use a little push in the right direction.
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Have you re-read the previous hints? I think between them they should get you pretty close, but… hmmm. Yeah, I’m not sure I can hint it more strongly without just giving it away but here goes:
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“leaves” is about the wordplay
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So where might the definition be (the meaning of the answer word)?
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You don’t use “French” quite as-is.
- “Idleness” is the definition.
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“after” is kind of filler.
- Full solution: Remove “fr” from “infraction” to get…
I still think it would be funny to work fr fr into a hint for this one but I really don’t see any good way to do that without giving it away…
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I invented a new story for Bayani!
Once upon a time, in the distant land of Shangri La, there was a princess who disguised herself as an animal to escape her tyrannical parents — unfortunately, the castle guards easily saw through her Marsipulami costume. While on the run, she sought refuge in a humble inn, where she was hired as a cook. One day a foreign prince visited the inn, and to signal her true identity to him she hid her royal scarf in his blackberry yoghurt. Sensing her true beauty underneath the Marsipulami costume, he proposed to her on the spot. They lived happily ever after and had 2 children…
For those of you who are wondering, the creature mentioned in the story is a very clever animal from a comic strip by Belgian artist and writer Franquin. Click to see it.
Marsupilami is a monkey-like animal. It has yellow black-spotted short fur, large eyes and a bare tummy. Its tail is several times its bodylength, and Marsupilami uses it as a jumping spring-catapult to get away from danger, to get at the good berries high up in the trees, or just for good fun. It says “Hoeba!”
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I love Spirou y Fantasio! (I would read it in Spanish instead of French, since I’m technically also Spanish. Doesn’t mean I’m good at reading it… 
)
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I hadn’t looked at your first clue here before, hoping to solve it without needing to, but I looked just now after continued fruitlessness and I finally got it! Have now solved all the cryptics. 
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Ok, swallowing my pride, I would appreciate further hinting on the following clues:
- Small demon exposed to oxygen is weakened (8)
My first thought was that the whole or part had something to do with “exposed to oxygen is weakened” (“rusts”? “corrodes”?) but I couldn’t think of a way to combine that with any small demons (or find a small demon inside?)
Then I thought maybe “exposed to oxygen” mean we were adding (or removing?) an O (or two?) from the “small demon” and the overall result meant “weakened” but I also didn’t think of anything for that.
- Small demon performs hits (7)
I’m not sure what kind of clue this is. Thinking of synonyms for “performs hits” (“plays” “tours”?) I’m not coming up with anything that can be combined with a word for a small demon or that includes a word for a small demon.
- Spooner’s gift shears make a change (5,5)
I don’t know what “Spooner’s gift” is (if literal, “a sip”? if eponymous, “ism”?), but it sounds like it’s something I’m putting in the middle of a word that means “make a change” (“alter” “adjust”?). But putting anything in between another word like that seems unlikely to lead to a nice 5, 5 phrase.
- Mental confusion leads to loud sorrow (6)
The “leads to” made me think we are combining two words, one for “mental confusion” and one for “loud sorrow”? Or else perhaps we are combining a word for “mental” with a word for “confusion” and together it means “loud sorrow”? And they all have to be pretty short if the result is only 6 letters?
Either way I don’t have any real candidates. Using only short words, “mental confusion” makes me think of “fog” maybe, and loud sorrow makes me think of “cry” or “moan” . . .
I put in some of my thinking behind the spoiler tags. I’m not a cryptic crossword enthusiast, so not sure if I am understanding the clues correctly. Help appreciated!
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Small demon exposed to oxygen is weakened
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“exposed to” is sort of filler?
- So try (structure of the clue, big hint?) Small demon + oxygen = weakened
Small demon performs hits
- You’re on the right track here: just need to find the right synonym.
- Hint for this whole set: they’re all double-word clues: find two words to stick together.
- and a BIG one for these three, though possibly (?) not a surprise: “small demon” is always the same thing
Spooner’s gift shears make a change
- Ah, this one you probably either know the name of the kind of wordplay it’s referencing or you don’t
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“Spooner” is a wordplay-type clue
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A Spoonerism is when you switch sounds on two words (usually the first sounds), like “blushing crow” instead of “crushing blow”.
Mental confusion leads to loud sorrow
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This one also has a word that tells the type of wordplay.
- Hrm. I’m not sure where else to go from there so I’ll just point out the word: confusion
- Which refers to anagramming
- So you’re looking for a 6-letter word you can anagram, and another word or phrase that could be its new meaning
- Full clue structure mental / confusion leads to / loud sorrow
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Will add to this one, “performs” is a synonym for one half of the clue, and “hits” is a synonym for the whole thing.
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Thanks! This was very helpful, and I have now successfully solved them. Esp thanks for doing it invisiclues style!
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I’m really loving this game! Just to confirm, do we only get a reward when all the cryptic crosswords are solved? I haven’t noticed getting acorns for finishing a single clue or page, but I could have just not paid attention.
Currently resisting the urge to click spoilers for cryptic crossword clues, but I did want to share my incorrect answer for “Small demon exposed to oxygen is weakened (8)” that I thought fit pretty well: IMPOTENT
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Yeah, IIRC the cryptic crossword clues are only an event and a big reward when you get them all…
Though you also get 50 (?) for each day you work the shop, right?
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