Puzzles

Old Coin Desk Puzzle (Apartments)

Location: Blue Creek Apartments, Room 105 1F
Requires:

  • Coin [Old Man]: Outside at the bottom of Wood Side's west entrance garbage chute after knocking the garbage loose with the Canned Juicefrom 2F.
  • Coin [Snake]: Inside the carriage in the Wood Side courtyard's empty pool.
  • Coin [Prisoner]: On the nightstand in the mirror room of room 109, Blue Creek 1F.
Contents

Intro

Examining the desk, you'll find an engraving of a riddle and five circular slots approximately one-inch wide, similar in size to your three coins. Therefore you must insert your three coins into the correct slots as described in the riddle.

To get a better understating of how to coins correspond to the riddle, enter your inventory and examine each coin. You'll notice the following images on the coins:

Old Man - an old man
Snake - a snake
Prisoner - a woman

To insert a coin into a slot, stand in front of the desk and use one from your inventory. You will then be able to select a slot to insert the coin. To remove an inserted coin, examine the desk, skip the riddle to view the five holes, and then you will be able to select a coin to remove.

How complex the riddle is depends on your riddle level. View all riddles and their solutions below.

Easy

To the right is the lady.
To the left is the old one.

In the center drawls the other.

Now just two spaces remain,
But fear not for now,
The puzzle is done.
The puzzle is done.

This couldn't be any simpler. The first line, "To the right is the lady", explains that the Prisoner, who is a woman as shown on the coin and the only woman here, sits in the right end slot.

The next line, "To the left is the old one", clearly states that the Old Man sits in the left end slot. Lastly, "In the center crawls the other" explains that the Snake, the only one remaining and a creature that naturally crawls, sits in the middle slot. The rest of the riddle just explains that only three coins are needed for this puzzle, not five.

Now that you have the solution, put the Coin [Old Man] in the left end slot, the Coin [Snake] in the middle slot, and the Coin [Prisoner] in the right end slot as shown below.

Old Man Empty Snake Empty Prisoner
Normal

Three bright coins in five holes be

At one end sits
the Seducer of she

The wind from behind
the woman doth play

The Formless One,
Null, lies furthest from they

The Old One beside
the Serpent sits not.

Tis to the Prisoner's left
that he doth rot

The first line, "Three bright coins in five holes be", simply describes that three coins fit into the five slots and no more are needed. "At one end sits the seducer of she" tells us that the Snake sits in one of the two end slots. It was the Snake who seduced Eve to eat the apple in the Garden of Eden after all.

The next line, "The wind from behind the woman doth play", describes which end the Snake sits at, and the Prisoner in relation to it. If you take a look at the Prisoner coin (which is the woman), you'll notice that she faces to the right. If the woman is causing the wind and is behind the Snake, she has to be on the Snake's left. And to clarify the English, it's the "wind from behind" that the woman is playing, not wind that is behind the woman. Moreover, the wind could be interpreted as a slot in itself, between the Snake and the Prisoner.

"The formless one, null, lies furthest from they" signifies that the slot furthest from the Prisoner and Snake is empty (formless). This has to be the leftmost slot as the Snake has already taken the right end slot in order for the right-facing woman to play the wind behind it.

"The old one beside the serpent sits not" states that the Old Man doesn't sit immediately left of the Snake, which we've already interpreted as the slot that occupies the wind the woman is playing anyway.

"Tis to the prisoner's left that he doth rot" explains the rest. So the Old Man sits in the slot to the left of the Prisoner, and thus to the right of the formless one (empty) that occupies the left end slot.

Now that you have the solution, place the Coin [Old Man] in the second slot, the Coin [Prisoner] in the middle slot, and the Coin [Snake] in the fifth slot as shown below.

Empty Old Man Prisoner Empty Snake
Hard

First lies the seat of
He who is Peerless
Silent and empty,
heartless and fearless
Beside him sits one who knows
The place of the servant is
next to throne

Dozens of feet,
yet not a single toe
The One that is Hidden
beside him doth go
Seducer of dreams,
creature of Hades
Lying further from
Man and closer to Lady

Man and Woman seeing all
Heedless to the Raven's call

Silent and Hidden the two may be
They be not there for you to see

Return them to whence
they would be
And blessing shall
descend on thee

I speak thus with
the North Star behind me
The birth of the sun is
the start of the story

This riddle plays out a little differently and like a story, listing all the slots in order as it goes. Whether the first slot lies on the left or right we'll have to wait for the end to find out, so we'll keep the order in mind as numbers until then.

"First lies the seat of He who is Peerless; Silent and empty, heartless and fearless" explains that the first slot is empty. Silent, empty, heartless, fearless – this cannot be the Old Man, Prisoner or Snake. They all have hearts for one, the humans likely have fears, perhaps the Snake cannot be silent, and none of them are empty. Therefore the first slot is empty and not a coin.

"Beside him sits one who knows The place of the servant is next to the throne" is somewhat difficult to interpret. "One who knows" seems to signify an Old Man, who has come to know because of his age. The entire sentence together eliminates the Snake, which under normal thinking could not possibly know where a servant belongs. Further, the Prisoner isn't likely to know this either since she's locked away, so this appears to fit the Old Man the best, putting him in the second slot.

"Dozens of feet, yet not a single toe" clarifies that there is no human (but possibly the Snake) between the second and fourth slots – "feet" being a unit of measure and "toe" simply serving as a pun. "The One that is Hidden beside him doth go" applies to the same slot, being hidden and beside "him" (Old Man). So the third slot is the "One that is Hidden" and not a coin.

"Seducer of dreams, creature of Hades" may be somewhat misleading, as the creature of Hades should be a three-headed dog named Cerberus. However Hades has been portrayed while holding or accompanied by snakes in various portraits. Further, "Seducer of dreams" could signify the Snake in the Garden of Eden, seducing Eve to eat the apple. The Snake could also be interpreted as the only "creature" in this riddle, amongst men and women as humans, and silent or hidden ones. Therefore, the Snake appears to take the fourth slot.

The meaning of "Lying further from Man and closer to Lady" is rather clear in placing the Snake relative to the (Old) Man and Lady (Prisoner). At the moment, the Old Man sits in the second slot and the Snake in the fourth. Taking this into account, the Prisoner can't be placed in the first or third slots, which would make her closer to the Man or equal distance to the Man and the Snake, and not correct. These two slots are already taken anyway by silent and hidden ones as we're about to shortly confirm, but if placed in the fifth slot, the Prisoner (Lady) is now closer to the Snake and further from Man as described. It also follows the format so far of listing every slot in order.

"Man and Woman seeing all Heedless to the Raven's call" tells us that between the man (Old Man) and woman (Prisoner), they must see all five slots, perhaps directly. With the arrangement we currently have, this works out. The Prisoner sees the Snake's slot and her own, and the Old Man sees the two slots on his sides and his own. Man and Woman see all.

The riddle goes on, stating that "Silent and Hidden the two may be They be not there for you to see". This confirms that the two slots mentioned earlier as being empty are in fact empty – the first slot, which is "silent", and the middle slot, which is "hidden".

While we've only determined slot numbers so far, we don't yet know if the first slot starts on the left or right, so we turn to the final paragraph to clarify. "I speak thus with the North Star behind me; The birth of the sun is the start of the story". If the author speaks with the North Star behind them, then they'd be facing the south. And the birth of the sun? Well, it rises from the east every day. If facing south, the east is to the left. So the start of the story, the first slot, is on the left.

Now that you have the solution, put the Coin [Old Man] in the second slot, the Coin [Snake] in the fourth slot, and the Coin [Prisoner] in the fifth slot as demonstrated below.

Empty Old Man Empty Snake Prisoner
Extra

Like coins in the hazy
aether tossed
Our souls must by
their sinful weight
Descend to earth
with lightness lost

To "right" the sins
that they hath laid
When thrice in falling they intone
The Happiness shall be thy own

The first note be not by
the Horned One rung
Though it be there that
all sins be sprung

The Bringer of Life and
the Bringer of Shame
The sins of the latter be
even more tame

Though coming
in the Aged One's wake
The Formless One's soul
in fear doth quake

The Needless One, silent,
with hungers all sated
Is least then in sin
with his lusts all abated

For the gravest of sinners
His place be appointed
And if he be lucky
May his soul be anointed

This riddle is very complex and requires very deep examining and thinking. The sentence, "Our souls must by their sinful weight; Descend to earth with lightness lost" seems to imply that the sins become greater as they descend to the earth.

The next verse clarifies how that pertains to the coins. "To 'right' the sins that they hath laid" serves as a pun, signifying that the more sinful one is, the farther to the right of the five holes they belong.

"When thrice in falling they intone The Happiness shall be thy own" just implies that three (thrice) coins fit into the five slots and that you shall be happy once you place them correctly and receive the prize.

"The first note be not by the Horned One rung though it be there that all sins be sprung" determines that the Snake does not hold the first slot, however it is because of the Snake that "all sins be sprung". The key here is the Snake being represented as the Devil, the "Horned One", and the first sin. To connect the Devil (Horned One) to the Snake, there is what James describes as a crescent moon on the back of the Snake coin if you examine it, which can also appear to be a horn.

Elaborating on the first sin, in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the Devil took the form of a Snake to seduce Eve to eat the apple, and from there sprung all sins – that's the context.

"The Bringer of Life and the Bringer of Shame; the sins of the latter be ever more tame" says that the Snake, the Bringer of Shame, is less sinful (more tame) than the Prisoner (woman), the Bringer of Life. Women give birth to children and thus life, furthered by an image of eggs on the back of the Prisoner coin.

Additionally, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked naked and felt no shame, until the snake convinced Eve to eat the apple. After this, Adam and Eve covered themselves up with fig leaves, ashamed of their nakedness but also for disobeying their God and sinning. Thus, the Snake is the Bringer of Shame. The word "latter" in this case signifies the second of two things mentioned, so the sins of the Bringer of Shame (Snake) are lesser than the Bringer of Life (Woman/Prisoner). Therefore the Prisoner lies farther right than the Snake.

"Though coming in the Aged One's wake the Formless One's soul in fear doth quake" mentions that there is an empty slot beside the Old Man, but we don't yet know where and on which side either will be placed. One could think being in the wake of (behind) the Aged One (Old Man), similar to being in the wake behind a ship passing through the water, puts the Formless One (empty slot) behind the Old Man. In the coin photo, the Old Man faces to the right, which would put the Formless One to its left in that case.

However, as we'll shortly find out, this doesn't work, so perhaps it's simply referring to the Formless One attending the wake of the Old Man. A wake is a social gathering associated with death, usually held before a funeral, and serves as a celebration of the life of the dead. Further, there is a gravestone located on the back of the Old Man coin, signifying death, so this fits. Even more to the point, the verse signifies that the Formless One is trembling in fear of the Old Man. Why? Well, perhaps because he's looking at a dead man. One could suggest even further that the Formless One is fearful because he is more sinful than the Old Man, possibly placing him to his right, but we'll wait before we lock that in.

"The Needless One, silent, with hungers all sated Is least then in sin with his lusts all abated" states that the Old Man is the least sinful of them all, with all his lusts removed. This is furthered by the idea of him being dead with the gravestone on the back of the coin. No longer alive, he is silent, his hungers satisfied and his lusts all gone, and thus it is impossible for him to sin any more. So that situates the Old Man at the left end as the least sinful and an empty slot (the Formless One quaking in fear) beside him.

Otherwise, we know that the Snake will be farther left than the Prisoner since it is less sinful, but we don't know in which slots they fit just yet. So onto the final verse.

"For the gravest of sinners His place be appointed And if he be lucky May his soul be anointed" states that a new person fits in the right end slot since they are the most serious and greatest sinner of them all. Although it is a "he", it cannot be the Old Man who is already the least sinful. Further it cannot be the Snake or the Prisoner (woman), nor the Formless One who is already situated beside the Old Man at the left. Thus the fifth and final slot is empty.

Now we have the first, second, and fifth slots set into stone, leaving only the third and fourth slots left for the Snake and Prisoner. The Snake is less sinful than the Prisoner and therefore belongs in the third slot with the Prisoner in the fourth beside it.

Now that you have the solution, put the Coin [Old Man] in the first slot, the Coin [Snake] in the middle slot, and the Coin [Prisoner] in the fourth slot like below.

Old Man Empty Snake Prisoner Empty

by Andrew Haffenden aka Conquerer (Silent Hill 2 Puzzle Guide)