Stage 3 of Twelve — Lock 3 · The Handcuff Lock

The Handler's Memo

This door is misdirectionseries.com, one of the twelve doors of the test hunt. The trunk itself waits at test.tenwordcipher.com.

Test build. No account is needed at the doors. This page holds exactly one clue; solving it reveals the key word for Lock 3. Carry the word back to the trunk and type it at Lock 3 to turn the lock.

[ The Bill ]

Every great act runs on a handler nobody applauds: the one who counts the links, oils the cuffs, and writes everything down. The new handler is being tested the only fair way — with a memo written in the house shorthand. Read it the way it was written, and it will deal you the key.

[ The Clue ]

The memo below is written in house shorthand. Take every third word — the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and so on to the very end — and read only the first letter of each one. The letters spell the key word.

The night Clerk keeps two Open books, one Public, one for Private hands. Every Entry timed and Read.

— the handler's memo, found folded inside a cuff-link case.

Type the key word

[ Hint ]

The first three letters come from three words in a row of the count: Clerk, Open, Public.