It's for You

by John Michael Talbot

Every spread of this book presents a puzzle to the reader - one that must be solved in order to progress to the next puzzle. Starting with a boy who has a box to unwrap, each spread reveals another layer of the parcel, with a route through it that the reader must discover.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Talbot was born into a Methodist family with a musical background in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and started learning to play the guitar at an early age. At age 15 he dropped out of school and was performing as a guitarist for Mason Proffit, a country folk-rock band formed with his older brother Terry.

Talbot embarked on a spiritual journey that led him through Native American religion and Buddhism to Christianity. At this point he and his brother, Terry, joined the Jesus Movement, recording the album Reborn which was re-released by Sparrow Records (originally released as "The Talbot Bros." on the Warner Brothers label).

Two solo albums followed for Talbot: John Michael Talbot (1976) and The New Earth (1977). Both of these were produced by Billy Ray Hearn. Reading the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, he was inspired to begin studying at a Franciscan center in Indianapolis. He became a Roman Catholic and joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1978. He started a house of prayer, The Little Portion.

Talbot moved The Little Portion to Eureka Springs, Arkansas on land he had purchased during his Mason Proffit days. He formed his own community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, at Little Portion Hermitage as an "integrated monastic community" with celibate brothers and sisters, singles, and families. By 1989, Talbot had married Viola Pratka (with the permission of the Catholic Church). Pratka was a former Incarnate Word Sister who had come to the community in 1986.

Talbot's title is General Minister and Spiritual Father. For many years, he has promoted the work of Mercy Corps.

The hermitage suffered a fire in April 2008 in which the library and many common areas were destroyed.

Reviews

[David Schwenker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it astounding that this book has less than 20 ratings whereas Graeme Base's The Eleventh Hour has nearly 10,000 ratings - both are comparable in their artistry and cryptic puzzles, but while one is properly praised the other is unjustly ignored

My guess as to the obscurity of It's For You (outside of production factors such as size of print run, advertising, lack of author notoriety, etc.) is that the puzzles are a bit ambiguous and there aren't always clear solutions or explanations provided. As a result, sometimes you wonder if you solved the puzzle correctly - and sometimes you're not even sure what puzzle is to be solved in the first place.

Indeed, the New York Times review of the book upon its release states, "the puzzles are uniformly disappointing... verses provide little guidance on the point of the puzzles or how to proceed. In some cases, as in the snakes-and-ladders game, the puzzles have no instructions at all. While lack of clarity is sometimes appealing in riddles and mysteries... when the puzzles are mathematical and task-oriented it's very annoying."

While I find the review a bit harsh and think there is an intriguing quality to the ambiguity of the puzzles, I will also confess that it can take its an enigmatic nature a bit too far and lose the reader.

As such, to help others who may come across this book and prevent them from being entirely lost, I will provide what I think are potential solutions for each:

Puzzle 01 - "Combination Lock" - In the description text, we see "Right" and "Left" capitalized and alternating which informs us that the sequence of directions to turn is Right - Left - Right - Left. Furthermore, we are told "four numbers are SENT" and that they add up to "34". The letters "SENT" are the names of each number in order - Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten - and these four values do indeed add up to 34. This is confirmed on the following page which features a scrap of paper that states "R7 L8 R9 L10".

Puzzle 02 - "Gorilla" - After holding the text to a mirror, you simply need to follow the directions given - the magnet (4) is attached to the fishing pole (10) which lifts the ring off the hook (17) to allow the gorilla (20) to move. Then hang the bananas (5) on the fishing pole (10) and lure the gorilla (20) to the cage (14), making your escape through the trap door (1) and locking the gorilla (20) inside by taking the lock (11) on the cage door (2).

Puzzle 03 - "Snakes and Ladders" - This puzzle is simply the game "Snakes and Ladders" - you are directed to use a "coin" and roll "dice". The only wrinkle is that if you land on a "puzzle" you can solve it to move six spaces forward. The puzzles are only difficult in that they don't tell you what you are attempting to solve. The puzzles on 14 and 32 have solutions in the back of the book. The "puzzle" on 49 may not be a puzzle at all but flavorful symbology. It appears to have the "pyramid" in its center and the overlapping triangles make it appear to be the "Star of David". This interpretation may be valid as there are Hebrew letters written on the wall along with Roman numerals - a motif that is carried throughout most of the book and is discussed more within the "Overarching Puzzle" section below.

Puzzle 04 - "Math Maze" - Whereas the previous puzzle was simply a game, this is simply a maze with the only wrinkle being junction points where solution to math problems will point you in the correct directions. Most of the problems are elementary. If stuck, just work backwards from the exit to obtain the correct solution to a problem.

Puzzle 05 - "Octopus" - Of all the puzzles, this one is probably the most ambiguous as it's fairly open ended with scant directions. We know that we need to get "safely down the hatch" and "escape alive" which we assume is through the pipe. We also know that the crafts are involved in achieving this goal, each with a different function - "one fits, one twists, one holds up plugs, one snips, and one red herring tugs". The one that "fits" is the copper spherical craft as it's the only one with a shape that can fit down the pipe (the others have extensions that would block its entry.) We know this is the solution as this craft is depicted on the following page. As such, we need to free this craft from the octopus' grip without plugging the exit. However, the order of operations to achieve this goal isn't entirely clear. To operate the other subs, one assumes you need to raise them to the surface to open their hatches. The only one you can free with the initial craft we enter (the brown one with the mechanical arms) is the one that "snips" (the blue craft with the scissors) - its cord is not twisted with the others and has a point which you can unravel with the mechanical arms. With "snips" floating to the surface, this can be commandeered and we can now snip any cord we want. The one that "twists" (the yellowish craft with the hook) is desirable as its hook can be used to snag the metal ring on the cord with the stopper, but it's not apparent how this trade off can be achieved. One possibility is to snip the cords on both "twists" and "fits" (ensuring to snip to the left of the metal ring) and allow the metal ring to get snagged within the pulley system (assuming this would happen). Commandeering "twists", you can venture to the metal ring, snag it, and pull it upwards. Then "fits" can be commandeered and our exit is made through the pipe. The other craft with the periscope and red star is the "red herring" ("red" as in "communist" and the craft is shaped like a "herring") and we know red herrings simply mislead and therefore is not needed here. I don't have too much confidence in this solution as the phrase "go up four times (you've been down five)" implies you need to descend five times into the waters, but the solution I've outlined necessitates only four.

Puzzle 06 - "Stacking Blocks" - In contrast to the prior puzzle, this one is blessedly straight forward. Starting with the block with a square foundation, we simply find the block with a complementary surface and stack it on top, repeating the process for the new "top" of our slowly forming tower. We are also instructed to solve the puzzles on each block as we stack them, the solutions of which are in the back of the book.

Puzzle 07 - "Arranging Balls" - This puzzle combines a simple maze with a more challenging puzzle of rearranging balls to have them ordered 1 to 5. The phrase "come from behind and push them down" seems to suggest we cannot push any of the balls "up" the track so how do we move 5 back to come after 1 to 4? Curiously, the following page shows 5 entirely absent as well as in the subsequent page after that, implying it's removed altogether rather than included in the count, which seems contrary to the phrase "the balls must finish 1 to 5" (as 5 would not "finish"). Furthermore, the mechanics of the balls aren't entirely clear - could we move 3 to the other side and then push it so that it stops in the corner closest to the dragon (and not continue down to 5)? Could we then push 1, bring it over the gap with the magnet, and then push it down and have it stop next to 5 without it pushing 5 forward? If this is possible, then it's a simple matter of moving 2 over and pushing it down next to 1, then pushing 3 next to 2, and then moving 4 over and pushing it next to 4. With the 1 to 4 lined up behind 5, we could push 5 entirely off the track (which I assume is possible since it's absent in the following page but seems odd) and have 1 through 4 open the gate and move the platform. Having them lined up will also allow us to immediately run to the exit without delay (i.e., not needing to stop and use the magnet) to escape the encroaching dragon. I don't have too much confidence in this proposed solution, but it does seem to meet the criteria.

Puzzle 08 - "Pinball" - Another straight forward game in which "coin" and "dice" are used to move around the outer pinball track. I am assuming there is no larger puzzle to be solved, though I am unsure if there is a specific number you are seeking to achieve with the phrase "get yourself a MONSTER score".

Puzzle 09 - "Spiral Staircase" - Like the "Math Maze" puzzle, these are simple problems that either require elementary math (in the case of witch and ghost) or just following directions (in the case of the vampire). The solutions for these are in the back of the book.

Puzzle 10 - "Map Room" - The simplicity of the problems continues with another straightforward puzzle. To find the exit, we are told to start at the "ladder" upon which coordinates are etched. A coordinate (e.g., 13B) is simply the intersection of a column number (13) and a row letter (B). Most locations contain webbing, which we can dismiss as the exit since we are told that "the secret door is webless". As you progress through each location, we will run into additional sets of coordinates (e.g., on the plane, in the spotlight, on the floor) until eventually we're led to the only location (as suggested by the coordinates) with neither webbing nor coordinates which is 18C. This is confirmed by the following page which features the ship with the red cross depicted on this location.

Puzzle 11 - "Space Puzzle" - And the "final" puzzle is also blessedly straight forward. If we first assemble the puzzle pieces of the red spaceship, we will see the time "4:50" indicated on its side. Subsequently, if we observe the clock above the entrance, we see that it also indicates the same time as 4:50 (albeit mirrored). From this we see that white circle encompassing the entrance mimics a clock and the location where the hour hand would point indicates a key with a jagged bit (this is directly below a puzzle piece for the red spaceship). If we examine the locked box, we see the jagged bit would indeed fit into the keyhole and we have found the appropriate key.

Puzzle 12 - "Search and Find" - In an epilogue of sorts, several objects that are hidden (or plainly visible, in some cases) in the previous puzzles, leaving us with and "search and find" activity. The boomerang is in the "Map Room" puzzle, the bottle is in "Stacking Blocks" puzzle, the playing card is in "Snakes and Ladder" puzzle, the mirror is in the "Gorilla" puzzle, the envelope is in the"Gorilla" puzzle as well, the spy glass is in "Spiral Staircase" puzzle, the key is in the "Space Puzzle", the compass is in the "Octopus" puzzle, the chess knight is the "Arranging Balls" puzzle, the rose is in the "Pinball" puzzle, the banana peel is in the "Snakes and Ladder" puzzle, and finally the pyramid is in the "Math Maze" puzzle (though note it's NOT the large one at the center).

Overarching Puzzle - There seems to be an overarching puzzle involving Hebrew letters and Roman numerals. They appear on every puzzle with the curious exceptions of 1 (the combination lock) and 8 (the pinball machine). What is also curious is that the second puzzle seems to have invalid Roman numerals with IXXX IXXX - if we flipped it, we would get XXXI XXXI (valid) but then the Hebrew letters would be upside (invalid) - otherwise all the other instances seem valid. I am anticipating that Hebrew "Gematria" is necessary to translate the letters to numeric values as that would be fitting for this type of book, but the lettering has a cursive style which makes it difficult to determine exactly which letter is being depicted in every case (for a non-Hebrew reader like me, at least). Furthermore, there are many different "methods" within Hebrew Gematria so even if we had confidence in the letters we wouldn't have confidence in the method. Of course, perhaps we do just read the Hebrew directly, but my brief attempts at translation didn't yield obvious connections. All to say, I am leaving this one for others on the internet to solve.

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An escape room for the housebound

And one you can do without electricity, though if you don't have a random number generator on hand, you'll need a die (dice, but singular; or I suppose you could write the numbers 1 -6 on scraps of paper and draw them from a hat) and something to use as a game piece (coin, button, loose nut or bolt, popcorn kernel, etc.). Maybe useful for us in Europe to have on hand (along with candles and matches) for a long, dark winter with rolling electrical blackouts. Grim.

Rounding up from 4.5 because of a geometry puzzle error (pentagonal shape, not the 'house' shape shown. Answer key shows what should have been depicted).

Admittedly, I didn't bother to solve all the puzzles myself - bought this as a gift for some young relatives. I hope they'll have sufficient attention spans in order to enjoy it.

Only real complaint is that, as clever as the rhymes are, I always wanted a non-verse explanatory line of clear instructions to go along with it, i.e. "Solve the sequence of submarines, by piloting one at a time". Figuring the instructions out is part of the puzzles, but it's not the fun bit, I don't think.

Lots of mathematics (arithmetic, geometry) involved, and fun little logic puzzles. Again, really hoping the recipients have the requisite attention span...

EDIT: As I think I have written the sole review, I'll try to bolster it with more useful info!

- Age range here would likely be later elementary/primary school and into middle school and perhaps even into high school, depending on the math proficiency. I would guess grades 5-7 would be a good general target. (I'm not an educator - my assessment might be way off!). You can work around or skip puzzles, but there's one where you need to solve the square root (of 36). There are also cubes (2 to the power of 3, for example), and fractions, but easy examples of each of these. Roman numerals, as well. All good stuff. ;)

- It's sort of designed to be shared. Backcover says:

URGENT - SPECIAL DELIVERY
Delivered just for you is this intriguing book of puzzles and games for the whole family to enjoy. Each fascinating picture is like a different layer of a parcel, but before you can unwrap it, you need to solve the puzzle, or play the game, to find the way onto the next page. Some of the puzzles are simple, others appear baffling but combined with the astonishingly detailed illustrations this book is sure to be engrossing, whatever your age.

There's a Snakes and Ladders games with additional puzzles within it (hence the need for a die and some markers), which I'm sure is more fun with at least one additional player.

- It's good at reinforcing spacial awareness - there are puzzles (2D jigsaws, 3D stacks) that you have to solve visually/in your mind. Some people just don't have this ability, and so pooling resources by employing a pal might be a safer bet. I keep thinking this would be a fun nerdy-kid sleepover challenge - you know, after re-watching The Wrath of Khan for the umpteenth time and making sure the retainers have been well sterilized ahead of insertion prior to sleep. ;)

- Because it's not just low-tech (no-tech?), this would make a good accompaniment on a camping or road trip. Or maybe something to have on hand for a rainy day or the next Corona lockdown...

I have also purchased Maze: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle, and have yet to review that legendary puzzle book, as well as A Puzzling Day at Castle MacPelican and The 9 Tasks of Mistry: An Adventure in the World of Illusion. :) Will review these as well. All are, ttbomk, out of print. But Abebooks had them all, and for cheap. ;)

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