Desert Diplomacy Plot Guide

Answers

The final answers were as follows:

Below, a possible solution is outlined:

Clue 1

The Illuminated Menuscript was either stolen using invisibility or by bribing a guard.

This provides a straightforward deduction:

• Every method except for Invisibility and Bribing methods are marked as X's for the Illuminated Menuscript item.

Clue 2

The Oasis Runners stole an item sometime before the guild who bribed a guard.

Three different deductions can be made from this one:

• Oasis Runners and the "Bribing" guild are not one and the same since they commit their thefts at different times
• Oasis Runners did not steal last since the "Bribing" guild stole their item afterward
• The "Bribing" guild did not steal first since the Oasis Runners committed the theft beforehand

Clue 3

Of the guild that used distraction and the Sun Chasers, one stole the Wedding Ring and the other committed the theft at 5:00 a.m.

At this point, only two deductions can be made:

• Sun Chasers and the "Distraction" guild are not one in the same since they commit their thefts at different times
• The Wedding Ring was not stolen at 5:00 AM

Clue 4

The guild that climbed the palace walls committed the theft sometime after the Wedding Ring was stolen.

A "dormant" clue, for now:

• The "Climbing" guild did not steal the Wedding Ring
• The "Climbing" guild did not steal first
• The Wedding Ring was not stolen last (at this point, this would still be considered 5:00 AM for this item)

So far, the solution grid looks like this:

Clue 5

Of the guild that bribed a guard and the Pyramid Prowlers, one stole Pocket Chess and the other committed the theft at midnight.

This clue is incredibly helpful at this point:

• Right off the bat, we can mark off Pyramid Prowlers as not using the "Bribing" method.
• Based on Clue #2, we can determine that the "Bribing" guild stole the Pocket Chess since they did not steal their item first (Midnight) - let's cross-fill those X's!
• Process of elimination leaves us with Pyramid Prowlers as the midnight marauders! (cross-fill with X's)
• Oasis Runners did not steal the Pocket Chess since it was determined in Clue #2 they did not use the "Bribing" method
• Let's also mark off "Climbing" for Pyramid Prowlers since "Climbing" was determined not to been used at Midnight
• Pocket Chess is also marked off for Midnight since it's now tied to the "Bribing" guild.
• Now that the Pyramid Prowlers have claimed the Midnight spot, Oasis Runners are now only possibly thieving between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM - which means the "Bribing" guild couldn't have stolen the Pocket Chess at 1:00 AM (Clue #2)

After all that, our solution grid now looks like this:

Clue 5 - continued

There is now one last thing to glean from Clue #5:

• With the revelation of the "Bribing" guild's stolen item - we're left with Illuminated Menuscript having been stolen using Invisibility. (cross-fill with X's)

Clue 6

Neither the guild that committed the theft at 3:00 a.m. nor the guild that bribed a guard stole the Magical Blue Amulet.

This "this nor that" clue allows us to deduce:

• The "3:00 AM" guild is not the "Bribing" guild
• The "3:00 AM" guild did not steal the Magical Blue Amulet or Pocket Chess
• The "Bribing" guild did not steal the Magical Blue Amulet (of course)

Clue 7

The Royal Telescope was not stolen at 3:00 a.m., nor was it stolen by the Desert Scarabs.

Another "this nor that" clue which gives us:

• The "3:00 AM" guild is not the Desert Scarabs
• The "3:00 AM" guild did not steal the Royal Telescope
• The Desert Scarabs did not steal the Royal Telescope

Clue 8

The guild that used invisibility committed the theft one hour before the Dagger Clan.

This is another useful, but dormant clue.

• The Dagger Clan did not use Invisibility (and therefore did not steal the Illuminated Menuscript)
• The Dagger Clan did not steal first - Midnight is already marked off.
• The "Invisibility" guild did not steal last (and therefore, Illuminated Menuscript was not stolen at 5:00 AM)

And now our solution grid looks like this:

Clue 9

Pocket Chess was not stolen by the Sun Chasers, nor was it stolen at 2:00 a.m.

This clue gives us a surprising amount of info to work with:

• The Sun Chasers did not steal at 2:00 AM
• The Sun Chasers is not the "Bribing" guild nor Pocket Chess thieves
• "Bribing" guild did not steal the Pocket Chess at 2:00 AM
• If the "Bribing" guild is not the Sun Chasers, then based on Clue #3, the "Bribing" guild did not steal at 5:00 AM. Therefore, the "Bribing" guild stole the Pocket Chess at 4:00 AM (cross-fill with X's)
• Based on their relationship to the "Bribing" guild, Oasis Runners and Sun Chasers can be marked off for 4:00 AM.

Clue 10

The guild that committed the theft at 1:00 a.m. did not use a disguise.

This clue gives us just a single self-explanatory X.

Clue 11

The Illuminated Menuscript was stolen by the Pyramid Prowlers.

This helpful clue directly provides multiple check marks!

• Pyramid Prowlers stole the Illuminated Menuscript at Midnight using Invisibility. (cross-fill with X's)
• The earliest possible time for the Wedding Ring theft is now at 1:00 AM. Therefore, the "Climbing" guild is marked off for 1:00 AM based on Clue #4

The solution grid now looks like this:

Clue 11 - continued

We're not done with Clue #11 yet:

• Now that the time of theft for the "Invisibility" guild has been determined, Clue #8 helps to reveal the Dagger Clan's time of theft to be 1:00 AM. (cross-fill with X's)
• Based on the 1:00 AM clues, Dagger Clan can be marked off for "Bribing," "Climbing," "Disguise," and Pocket Chess.

The solution grid after Clue #11 is:

Revisiting Clues 3 and 4

As a reminder, Clue #3 was:

Of the guild that used distraction and the Sun Chasers, one stole the Wedding Ring and the other committed the theft at 5:00 a.m.

And Clue #4 was:

The guild that climbed the palace walls committed the theft sometime after the Wedding Ring was stolen.

These clues are far more helpful now that we have more information!

• Sun Chasers are now narrowed down to thieving at either 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM. If we take a look at Clues #3 and #4 we can determine that Sun Chasers could only have possibly stolen their item at 5:00 AM. (cross-fill with X's)
  • According to Clue #3, if the "Distraction" guild had been the 5:00 AM thieves, then the Sun Chasers would have stolen the Wedding Ring at 3:00 AM.
  • Clue #4 states that the "Climbing" guild would have stolen their item after the Wedding Ring's theft - however the only possible time the "Climbing" guild would have after 3:00 AM is 5:00 AM - which in this example is held by the "Distraction" guild. Therefore, the scenario where the "Distraction" guild are the 5:00 AM thieves is not possible.
• Ergo, "Distraction" guild stole the Wedding Ring (cross-fill with X's)
• Sun Chasers did not steal the Wedding Ring
• The "Distraction" guild did not steal at 5:00 AM

And now our solution grid looks like this:

Clue 12

The Hand of the Anubis committed the theft one hour after the guild that used a disguise.

This yields a few pieces of new information:

• The Hand of the Anubis did not steal using a disguise
• The Hand of the Anubis did not steal at 2:00 AM as the earliest possible time the "Disguise" guild stole their item is at 2:00 AM.
• The "Disguise" guild did not steal last, nor at 4:00 AM. Therefore, the Hand of the Anubis could not have stolen their item at 5:00 AM. (already marked)
• Sun Chasers did not use a disguise
• The Hand of the Anubis stole at either 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM. 4:00 AM is known to be the time the "Bribing" guild stole. Therefore, based on Clue #6, we can determine that The Hand of the Anubis did not steal the Magical Blue Amulet.

Clue 13

The Grand Speech Scroll was either stolen at 4:00 a.m. or via the sewers.

This clue gives us a lot:

• Since we know that the Pocket Chess was sniped at 4:00 AM, Grand Speech Scroll is now revealed to be stolen Via the Sewers. (cross-fill with X's)
• The "Climbing" and "Disguise" guilds each stole either the Magical Blue Amulet or Royal Telescope. Therefore, neither of these items could have been stolen at 1:00 AM nor 3:00 AM for both parties.
• This reveals the "Disguise" guild as the 2:00 AM thieves. (cross-fill with X's)

And now our solution grid looks like this:

Clue 13 - continued

We're not done with Clue #13:

• In turn, the Sun Chasers is revealed to have stolen their item by "Climbing" at 5:00 AM (cross-fill)
• Based on previous clues, Grand Speech Scroll can be marked off for Sun Chasers and 5:00 AM.
• Wedding Ring and Grand Speech Scroll can be marked off for 2:00 AM since it's only possible for either the Magical Blue Amulet or Royal Telescope to be stolen at this time.

And now our solution grid looks like this:

Backtracking

At this point we can get a lot of information by backtracking:

• Now that the time for the 'Disguise' guild is revealed, Clue #12 can now help us conclude the time of theft for The Hand of the Anubis to be 3:00 AM. (cross-fill with X's)
• This reveals that the Desert Scarabs is the "Bribing" guild who stole the Pocket Chess at 4:00 AM! (cross-fill with X's)
• Finally, the Oasis Runners is revealed to be the 2:00 AM thieves who used a disguise. (cross-fill with X's)
• As the "Disguise" guild was determined to have stolen either the Magical Blue Amulet or the Royal Telescope, the Oasis Runners is marked off for the Wedding Ring and Grand Speech Scroll
• Likewise, as the identities of both of the 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM thieves have been revealed, the Dagger Clan and Hand of the Anubis can be marked off for the Magical Blue Amulet and Royal Telescope.

Our solution grid now looks like this:

Clue 14

The guild that used the sewers committed the theft sometime after the Royal Telescope was stolen.

This final clue gives us everything we need to solve the puzzle once and for all!

• With this simple phrase, the time constraints reveal the Magical Blue Amulet to be stolen by the Sun Chasers at 5:00 AM and the Royal Telescope by the Oasis Runners at 2:00 AM. (cross-fill with X's)
• The "Sewer" guild is revealed to be the Hand of the Anubis, the 3:00 AM thieves.
• Finally, the Dagger Clan is revealed to be the 1:00 AM Wedding Ring thieves.

And finally our solution grid is completely filled: