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This is an entry to the 12th fortnightly challenge

You and your party realize that you possibly shouldn't have crossed the mad wizard at the black tower when all your vision goes pink and pale. When you come to your senses again, you are standing in a black corridor with a solid wall behind you and white marble floor stretching straight ahead into the darkness. The floor is tiled in large, white squares and the ceiling and all walls are pitch-black. Suddenly, you hear a voice coming from everywhere and nowhere.

"Ha! You thought you could escape me? Not in a thousand years! Welcome to my maze of eternal frustration. Know that these halls may seem to have several exits, but none behind you. There is only a single path across the tiles which you can safely walk, and if you step on a single wrong tile, well, you do not really want to know it..."

You glance with a worried frown to the floor. All tiles seem quite equal to you, offering no clue of which would be as treacherous as the wizard claims.

"I'm cruel but not unfair. Do you see the little map in front of you?"

You pick up a scroll form the floor, which just seconds ago definitely has not existed there!

"This is the map of these halls and the only clue I give you. Just remember: You may only step one tile at a time and if you step on an incorrect one, well, ... Ha Ha Ha Ha.... "

The maze

Starting from the little arrow at the bottom (the entrance), find a single path to any of the other openings, but beware: Your path may not touch a single 'forbidden' tile (and neither can you jump over one or walk through walls). A correct solution consists of two things: The (correct) path and a detailed explanation why this is the (only) correct path.

Some particulars:

  • No word with less than 4 letters is used in this puzzle.
  • You may find more than you need. Remember: There has to be a single, valid set of 'instructions' which would guide you through the maze.
  • Beware of too quickly drawn conclusions, as every misstep is, well....
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    $\begingroup$ @Jasen: The point is that we have to figure out what to do. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 11:15
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    $\begingroup$ @Jason I'm not giving out more hints/instructions at this stage. Find a self-consistent method which brings you from start to any exit and is wordsearch-related. $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 11:15
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    $\begingroup$ I'm starting a Google sheet to work on this - I'd appreciate any help transcribing if you have the time. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/… $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 11:19
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    $\begingroup$ Just filling the spreadsheet is so much fun ;-) $\endgroup$
    – skymningen
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 11:40
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    $\begingroup$ When you say each "word" has four or more letters, what does that mean for phrases? Would "GO TO BED" be a valid entry? $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 11:50

1 Answer 1

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The solution is this path:

![enter image description here

The clues that give it to us:

Directions are hidden throughout the grid. Not just north/south/east/west/up/down/left/right, but the same in several other languages that are entries in the grid. There is only one way to orient "north" so you can follow the directions fully. Then, you can turn off of each word in the way it tells you to (go right off of "RIGHT", go north off of "NORTH"...); this leaves a unique path leading to an exit.

The complete list of connections is:

Bold letters indicate the connection point to the next word.

ENTER
RIGHT
LEFT
LEFT
RIGHT
SOUTH
UPWARD
WEST
RIGHT
RIGHT
NORTH
ORIENTUL - (Romanian for East)
POHJOINEN - (Finnish for North)
OSTEN - (German for East)
WESTEN - (German for West) --> this basically a turn-around on the spot!
NORTH
LEWO - (Polish for left)
LINKS - (German for left)
RECHTS - (German for right)
NORTH
SJEVERNO - (Croatian for North)
LINKS - (German for left)
NORTH
WEST
EXIT

Here's the spreadsheet where we all figured this out; I've made copies at various times so you can see our progress. Many of the words are also highlighted in the sheet (though I'm sure we've missed some).

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  • $\begingroup$ (I'm not quite sure exactly who contributed, since most of you were anonymous. Feel free to edit my answer and add in your username. Also, should I make this CW?) $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 13:34
  • $\begingroup$ +1 to all of you. The solution is correct. If this was a team-effort, I think making it into a community wiki is best. Also, one might add a few more "explaination" to it as comments, but overall: WELL DONE. (And soo quickly. For sure, faster than it took me to built this... I hope it was fun...) $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 13:36
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    $\begingroup$ A comment to grid position V26 in your spread-sheet (at the end of OSTEN [East]): You are supposed to turn right at that stage, but actually you trun left. This is correct because when you look closely... If you turn right, you enter the section WESTEN (west) which is bascially a "turn-around" so that you continue upwards (along NORTH). Your spreadsheat only marks "WEST" in green, not "WESTEN", so it is not so clear... $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 14:08
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    $\begingroup$ So my first attempt that had me hit a dead end a few words in is way off... :( (Enter-Right-To-Go-Get-Tea) I like tea... $\endgroup$
    – Spacemonkey
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 17:36
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    $\begingroup$ It definitely was fun. Thanks to everyone for the fun, Deusovi for organising the spreadsheet and compiling the answer and BmyGuest for the cool maze. $\endgroup$
    – skymningen
    Commented Jul 15, 2016 at 9:16

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