Another old puzzle I dug up from my creations: this time I'll try and add in a bit of story, too. I'll try my best not to throw in any undue red herrings.
"Hello?"
"Hey, [insert name here]! It's me, Gwen! Remember me?"
Your mind races momentarily, then it clicks. Gwen, the daughter of one of the world's richest men, is a famous socialite who you once met at a party. What on earth could she possibly want with you? "Uh... yeah, of course. Hi!"
"I remember you told me that you solve puzzles. Well, I could really use your help right now. I'm going to email you a couple of photos..." You hear some clicking in the background, and you call up your inbox immediately. Opening her email, you see these:
She continues, "My dad gave me these solid gold zodiac coins for my 21st birthday, and told me that if I managed to uncover their secret, I would be able to access the family vault! I tried but failed to do so, but if you can help me out then these coins are yours!"
It is true you are good at puzzles, but that isn't the most lucrative career option and a collection of 12 solid gold coins is too hard to resist. You resolve to unlock whatever secrets these coins hold...
Notes:
1. The pictures are really all you need for the puzzle. There are no hidden clues or hints in the story-line.
2. The back of the coins match the front in alignment, i.e. "Libra knew he would never beat the Twins." is on the back of the Capricorn coin, etc.
3. Some basic knowledge of the 12 zodiac signs will be required.
Answer
The order of signs in the race has already been found by Dennis. Building on his findings, the password is:
Gwen
From the clues on the coins we know that ...
... the count of the letters in the names of the signs is important. We also know which clue belongs to which sign.
The password can be found by taking the letter from the clue that corresponds to the length of the name. For example, Capricorn has nine letters and the clue starts with "Libra knew that ...". The important letter here is the 9th letter from the clue, w.
This yields:
Sagittarius: Taurus saw speedy Cancer pass at the last minute
Cancer: The Crab lost only to the archer
Taurus: A clue sometimes offers more than one hint
Virgo: Slow steady Pisces won four others
Aries: Even winning Aries did not make Virgo happy
Gemini: The shortest name came last
Libra: Waterbearer narrowly beat the Lion
Pisces: The mad Bull beat the virgin easily
Scorpio: Running all the way, the Twins almost caught the Ram
Capricorn: Libra knew he would never beat the twins
Aquarius: Count the letters in the names
Leo: Lonely Capricorn was between Scorpio and Aquarius
Put this together and get:
Password Gwen
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