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A Puzzle Limerick
About 25,000 words into my fantasy novel, The Locksmiths,” I needed a secret hiding place. It had to be well hidden yet findable and figure-out-able by both the master thief and the reader. I don’t like clues to a puzzle that a character pulls from thin air to solve.That’s cheating imo.
I like it when readers could at least possibly figure it out, or have some idea how to do it.
So, picture a master thief, Brilusse, looking around an office. The father’s been sent to prison and Brilusse is helping the family find the father’s money and papers. He notices a shamat set on an inlaid table top.
Brilusse figures that the table has a secret compartment. But how to open it? Forcing it triggers a fail safe destroying the contents. Long story short, he needs to place certain pieces in the right configuration on the 64-square tabletop board to trigger a mechanical lock to open.
The only clue to the configuration is a limerick.
Soldiers surround the king at sea
Meanwhile the queen wins victory
The battle done
The king sails on
His secret safe abides with…
