<!--
	Title: Eight Tails of New Cryptics
	Subtitle: Infocom's New "Liebrary" of Short Stories
	Author: Roy Wagner
	Source: Computer Gaming World, v7(8)
	Date: November 1987
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<div class="float-left article-sidebar-dark">
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>TITLE:</td><td>Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It</td><tr>
<tr><td>SYSTEMS:</td><td>Many</td></tr>
<tr><td>PRICE:</td><td>$39.95</td></tr>
<tr><td>DESIGNER:</td><td>Jeff O'Neill</td></tr>
<tr><td>PUBLISHER:</td><td>Infocom<br>Cambridge, MA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>

*Roy Wagner served as our Commodore specific columnist for
several years. Now, he is serving as a "critic-at-large." In this article,
he offers an overview of Infocom's recent release.*

I'll try to "hold my tongue" and get this article write, but after the "sun's
gone down" (I've finished with this game) that won't be easy. I'll just
shake a elbow, put my hand down, and get an arm up to tell you all about this.
The game is a knee (thanks Sherlock) and time will tell.

The game is comprised of eight relatively short text stories which take
about one to three hours to complete. Each story involves various types of
word play: puns, synonyms, homonyms, spoonerism, or other word
tricks. Seven of the stories can be completed individually and totally independent
from the others. To get to the eighth story, you must complete or
know the passwords that are provided upon completion of the other seven.
This game is not your typical **Infocom** interactive fiction. **Infocom** is branching
out into new areas and this is one of them.

Some new game play concepts appear in this game that may appear in
other new games from Infocom. Mapping is easier because of a "Status" line
at the top of the screen which displays the places to which you can move. Play
is also accelerated by removal of the "Examine Item" command. Now, you
simply enter the name of the object to obtain details about it. A big plus with
this game is that hints are readily available when you need them (and you will
need them). Enter "Hint" or "Help" and the game display will be replaced
with a list of subjects relating to objects you must use in completing a task
and gaining points to carry on.

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-eight-tails-of-new-cryptics/nord-and-bert-cover.jpg" alt="Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It cover">

## Welcome to Punster

The stories take place in the fictional town of PUNSTER. You have
arrived to rescue this town from the verbal abuse to which it is victim.

**"Go To The Shopping Bizarre":** This story involves a shopping trip to the
grocery store. You go to various aisles in the store substituting new words for
the descriptions or names of the various items you find. Most of this is
quite easy, except for the fellow in the cereal section and the final end of the
story task. Remember, once an item is changed to something else, it can be
changed back by entering what it was.

**"Play Jacks":** This story takes place at the house that Jack built and involves
various objects with "jack" in their name. The house is almost bare inside
except for a contraption that is somewhat like a very large Swiss Army
knife. Note that almost everything on it has the syllable "jack" as part of its
name and that these various items can be quite useful "out in the cold" where
there are more problems to solve than inside. Once you determine what these
objects are, you must determine how to use them to solve the various
problems that exist in the story.

Assume there was a bristly kind of tail on the contraption and pulling it
brings some kind of mule/donkey right there before you. Then, you could get
on this animal and ride out into the cold forest. That isn't a real puzzle in
the story, but it is similar to those in the story.

**"Buy The Farm":** This story takes place at a blighted farm where the resident
family can no longer perform even the simplest of tasks. The situation
brings to mind common expressions and proverbs. You'll find several
barnyard animals such as a tired, old dog and a horse with a nearby trough.
Put the phrases to use in the correct order to complete the story.

**"Shake A Tower":** This story uses spoonerisms such as "munching
lobsters" being turned into "lunching mobsters". You'll find lots of these in
this story which involves escaping through a strange stand-alone door in
the midst of a forest.

**"Eat Your Words":** In this story you are dining in a very interesting town
cafe with a very annoying waitress. You do everything conceivable to get
her to leave you alone. Then, you finally get away from her by going in the
kitchen, but you go up against the cook who also takes most of what you
can feed him. Getting details on each object offers some fairly good clues,
but arriving at the correct phrase may not be so easy.

**"Act The Part":** In this one, you take on the role of an actor in a situation
comedy and are required to perform various humorous practical jokes on
your brother-in-law. Figuring out the correct gags is somewhat difficult.

<figure class="float-right-half">
<img src="/public/img/articles/cgw-eight-tails-of-new-cryptics/nord-and-bert-book-cover.jpg" alt="Nord and Bert cartoon book cover">
<figcaption>A Sample of the Type of Wordplay Found in Nord & Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It.</figcaption>
</figure>

**"Visit The Manor Of Speaking":** This story revolves around a house in which
the attic is actually below the other rooms and these rooms are, in turn,
very strange themselves. By finding certain objects in the rooms and using
them properly, you will be able to right the house in the correct manner.

**"Meet The Mayor":** This final story can only be accessed if you have completed
the seven stories or know the passwords from them (a coded list is
provided at the end of this article). You need to take the official decree to
the mayor of Punster to be signed and outlaw the types of word play that got
the town into such trouble.

You start off in the town square, do a few things outside, and enter the
townhouse wherein the mayor resides. After picking up a six-pack
downstairs, you go upstairs and find an interesting bathroom with lots of possibilities.
Once you finally get the mayor to sign the decree, you may rest
on your laurels. This successfully returns Punster to its normal complacency.

## In Conclusion

I can't say that I really liked this Infocom game as much as I have liked
their more complete interactive fictions. Though the stories were both
funny and challenging, I felt that something was missing. Perhaps, the concept,
though good, was difficult to interact with. In a game that is so involved
with word play, more ideas come to mind than each individual
story can handle. Sometimes, there was an excellent comeback to an unused
twist of wording or phase, but too often my input went unnoticed.

Also, having eight separate stories has both its advantages (short and relatively
easy to complete) and its disadvantages (losing flow and continuity).
However, this game can probably serve quite well in an educational environment
to "teach" about the various ways in which words can be used.
Various types of word play could be discussed before the story is attempted,
making the story much funnier and less frustrating.

## Password, Please

THE PASS KEYS (Coded in ASCII decimal equivalent)

Shopping Bizarre:<br>
83/85/80/69/82/83/65/86/69/82

Play Jacks:<br>
74/65/67/75/83/84/69/82

Buy the Farm:<br>
83/79/68/66/85/83/84/69/82

Eat Your Words:<br>
83/65/84/73/83/70/73/69/68<br>
67/85/83/84/79/77/69/82

Act the Part:<br>
75/73/78/71/79/70 67/79/77/69/68/89

Visit the Manor:<br>
72/79/78/79/82/69/68/71/85/69/83/84

Shake a Tower:<br>
75/73/78/75/69/82/73/78/71/67/79/78/71
