Room Escape Artist

If you’re a little stuck on the RECON ’21 Phoenix puzzle, here are a few hints courtesy of Rita Orlov of PostCurious.

She is co-delivering a session on the art of hinting called Fun Insurance. You should absolutely watch it. These hints are part of her demo.

These hints escalate in detail:

[spoiler title=’Hint 1′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] Do you notice anything that stands out in the phoenix’s flames? [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Hint 2′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] Among the sparks, there are also 8 distinct shapes. [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Hint 3′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] The shapes are analogous to ones found in a common cipher. [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Hint 4′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] The 8 shapes represent letters in semaphore. [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Hint 5′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] Imagine the semaphore shapes without the flags. [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Hint 6′ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] Read the letters from left to right (clockwise). The first letter is R. [/spoiler]

[spoiler title=’Solution’ style=’steelblue’ collapse_link=’true’] The semaphore translates to: “REIGNITE” [/spoiler]

Update 9/21/21: For more on the subject of hinting we hope you’ll check out our interview with Rita Orlov on The Reality Escape Pod.