GK1 The Glyphery

Normal solution

Hints are given below when you expand the boxes.

Spoiler: Hint 1 (what to do)
This level has no new tricks - it's just a very tough block puzzle. You only have to close a few bridges if you only want to beat the level, though. Your first job is to figure out what bridges those are.

Spoiler: Hint 2
Get a pencil and some paper and note down what blocks you have. This will help you figure out what bridges you can cross right now.

Spoiler: Hint 3
The blocks you have give you the letters AACEEEELNNORUVVY. What can you make?

Spoiler: Hint 4
You always have to make the first YOU bridge. Since you don't have a T, the next bridge must be CAN (since you can't form the CANT bridge). That leaves you with AEEEELNRVV.

Spoiler: Hint 5
You can't make ALWAYS (no W or S), so the next bridge is NEVER. You have five blocks left after this.

Spoiler: Hint 6
You need to use your blocks to spell YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE so you can cross the appropriate bridges. Those bridges will lead you to the level exit.

Spoiler: Hint 7 (general advice)
This level is very open-ended, and the hints here offer just one way of solving it. If you think your method will work, it probably will with enough effort. Be persistent! And don't forget, you can step on grass - there isn't even a Beard in this level to tell you otherwise.

Spoiler: Hint 8
You can beat this level without doing anything fancy with crossing words. That is, you don't have to have one block doing double duty for two words.

Spoiler: Hint 9
You don't ever need to use one block as an obstacle for another in this level. (At least, not when you're just exiting the level.)

Spoiler: Hint 10
A lot of the level is organised for people who are planning to search for the hidden present, and who will need to build every bridge. It might help to solve this level as if you're planning to search for the present - building "permanent" words like the YOU in locations where they won't get in the way of other blocks, for example.

Spoiler: Hint 11 (the first bridge)
Start with the YOU. Look for a good place to build it. Since you'll always need to have this word available if you want to cross every bridge (since you always start by crossing the YOU bridge, that is), the YOU blocks should be somewhere where you won't need to disturb them again.

Spoiler: Hint 12
There's a good alcove near the southeast of the level where you can build the YOU without it getting in the way of any other blocks.

Spoiler: Hint 13
Do you see that dead-end formed by the turning of the raised path just north of the STAY bridge and south of the DEFENESTRATE? Tuck the YOU in there. You'll need to put the U in first. (If you don't see what I'm talking about, check the next hint, where we'll put the U in the correct location - that should demonstrate it.)

Spoiler: Hint 14
Push the U north, west, south and east to slot it in place. It should be in that dead-end, and the O and Y won't be much harder to slot in!

Spoiler: Hint 15
Slot the YOU into this dead-end The O goes north, west, north, east, north, east. The Y should be easy - there's only one sensible direction to push it.

Spoiler: Hint 16 (the second bridge)
The CAN is surprisingly difficult to place! Try as you might, you will never get the N to the open areas in the northern half of the level (not without a lot of block arranging to make obstacles for the N, but let's keep this level as simple as possible). So look for an alcove in the south half that you can bring the C and A to.

Spoiler: Hint 17
Imagine you're going to build all the bridges and look for the present. At some point, you'd need to add the T to change CAN into CANT. Where would you want to build the CAN to make this transformation easy?

Spoiler: Hint 18
See that other alcove north of your YOU and west of the T blockpad? Try to build CAN there. (If you were going for all the bridges, you'd then be able to push the T (when you find it) west onto the end of CAN.)

Spoiler: Hint 19
The C is hard to get into place. You'll need to bring it north around the egg.

Spoiler: Hint 20
Push the C north, east, north, east, south, east, south (onto the T pad) and west. The A and the N should go east of the C.

Spoiler: Hint 21
Slot CAN in above the YOU The A can go exactly the same way as the C (although it's simpler to push it south and east to start). The N will start by going north, east and south.

Spoiler: Hint 22 (the third bridge)
The next word is NEVER. This is open-ended and there are probably a few viable places to put it, but the N will restrict your options again. Look in the south half for a convenient spot.

Spoiler: Hint 23
There's a lovely space in the southwest, directly west of the N and lit up by purple light. That space is south of your stack of Es, too. This is the easiest spot I found to build NEVER.

Spoiler: Hint 24
Push the N west and south to tuck it into the corner. Both the Es will go east, south and west.

Spoiler: Hint 25
NEVER goes into the SW corner and stays out of trouble Although the V is far away, it takes a pretty direct line; south, west and south will slot it neatly into place. The R is the trickiest of the bunch, but still pretty simple - just keep trying to push it west, shifting it north or south as necessary, and it should become clear.

Spoiler: Hint 26 (the fourth bridge)
That just leaves, er, LEAVE. You can actually build this next to the NEVER if you want, although getting the A into position will be a pain. But there's an easier spot.

Spoiler: Hint 27
I think the northwest corner of the level is the easiest place for LEAVE.

Spoiler: Hint 28
Push the L east, north, west, and north. You want the rest of the word reading south from here. Working with the Es will be a little tricky, but the A and V will be simple.

Spoiler: Hint 29
Having trouble getting the Es into position? Pushing the Es north or west from their blockpad traps them in spaces too small to write LEAVE, and east will take them on the path to where you built NEVER, so try pushing an E south instead. This is more useful than it looks!

Spoiler: Hint 30
If you then push the E west, it will be directly south of the L, which is exactly where you want it. Just push it north! (You'll have to circle around that pillar with the guy standing in it to get to the south of the E.)

Spoiler: Hint 31
LEAVE goes in the NW to close the final bridge to the exit Push each E south, west, and north. The A should be trivial for you, and the V goes south and west first (remember, there's a grass square south of the V blockpad, but it's under the NEVER bridge so it may be hidden if you've closed that bridge). That closes the last bridge to the exit. Congratulations on beating this nasty, nasty puzzle!

Spoiler: Hint 32 (full solution)

Build YOU: Push the U north, west, south and east; push the O north, west, north, east, north and east; push the Y south and east. (See Hint 15 for a diagram.) Build CAN: push the C north, east, north, east, south, east, south and west; push one of the As south, east, south and west; push an N north, east, south, east, north and west. (See Hint 21 for a diagram.) Build NEVER: Push the N west and south; push an E east, south and west; push a V south, west and south; push another E east, south and west; push the R west, north, west, south and west. (See Hint 25 for a diagram.) Build LEAVE: Push the L east, north, west and north; push an E south, west and north; push the A west; push the V south and west; push an E south, west and north. (See Hint 31 for a diagram.) Cross the YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE bridges and follow the stairs and catwalks to the exit.

Present solution

Spoiler: Hint 1
This is a complicated one. You can't see the present but presumably it's across one of bridges. Presumably the longest bridge (DEFENESTRATE).

Spoiler: Hint 2
I'm not sure if it's strictly necessary to form every bridge but for the purposes of these hints, I'll assume it's necessary to do so. It will be useful to make a list of all bridges and note which ones you CAN or CAN'T make.

Spoiler: Hint 3

From the ground, you can find: YOU CANT DOUBT gives EF YOU CANT BELIEVE gives AER YOU CANT WIN gives OAT YOU CANT LOSE gives ??? (tall tower out of sight) YOU CAN {NEVER/ALWAYS} DIE gives S YOU CAN {NEVER/ALWAYS} STAY gives ??? (tall tower out of sight) YOU CAN {NEVER/ALWAYS} DEFENESTRATE gives ??? (tall tower out of sight) YOU CAN {NEVER/ALWAYS} LEAVE gives STY (and the exit) Note that NEVER and ALWAYS lead to the same location. You begin with AACEEEELNNORUVVY letters.

Spoiler: Hint 4
For every bridge to an end-point you make, you can collect more letters, allowing access to more bridges. Try making YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE first, since you know that one must be possible to get to the exit (see normal solution hints above). This gives you the letters S, T, Y. We are done with LEAVE so you can potentially smash that.

At this point, there are many possible ways forward. Below are two methods. Alex P wrote the first method directly below. Then Alex H made a bunch of diagrams without checking what Alex P had written, and had to write the second method to have somewhere to put them. Alex P's method is cleverer and more efficient, but if you're struggling with the block-pushing and need the step-by-step diagrams, try Alex H's method.

First method (the clever way)

Spoiler: Hint 5 (bridge building 1)

Current letter pool: AACEEEELNNORSTUVVYY Next bridge: YOU CANT LOSE Details: If you followed the walkthrough above, the T is right next to CAN, making an easy CANT. I built YOU and LOSE in the NW corner using a couple blocks as spacers. (YOU and LOSE cross on the O.) (There may be a way to hold off building this until you get another O.) Acquire: B, U. We are done with LOSE so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 6 (bridge building 2)
Current letter pool: AABCEEEELNNORSTUUVVYY Next bridge: YOU CAN NEVER STAY Details: I built it along the north wall near the center, and stole the T from CANT. Acquire: D, W, I. We are done with STAY so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 7 (bridge building 3)
Current letter pool: AABCDEEEELINNORSTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CAN NEVER DIE Details: Easy to build, just push D, I, E letters east. Acquire: S. We are done with DIE so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 8 (bridge building 4)
Current letter pool: AABCDEEEELINNORSSTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT WIN Details: Build vertically in the SW corner, sharing the N with NEVER (assuming you spelled NEVER as described in normal solution). Acquire: O, A, T. We are done with WIN so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 9 (bridge building 5)
Current letter pool: AAABCDEEEELINNOORSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT DOUBT Details: I built it along the north wall near the center. Acquire: E, F. We are done with DOUBT so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 10 (bridge building 6)
Current letter pool: AAABCDEEEEEFLINNOORSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT BELIEVE Details: I built it along the north wall near the center. Acquire: A, E, R. We are done with BELIEVE so you can potentially smash that.

Spoiler: Hint 11 (bridge building 7)
Current letter pool: AAABCDEEEEEFLINNOORSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CAN ALWAYS DEFENESTRATE Details: I built it along the north wall near the center. Acquire: A present! (and check the pit down the stairs for additional dialog)

Second method (illustrated)

Spoiler: Hint 5 (bridge building 1)

STAY goes in the little corridor in the NE Current letter pool: AACEEEELNNORSTUVVYY Next bridge: YOU CAN NEVER STAY Details: After smashing the S, T and Y, push them into the NE corner in backwards order (Y first, then an A, etc.) (If you're feeling clever you can shove some of the letters directly down from the philosopher's platform instead of smashing them first.) Acquire: D, W, I. Smash the new blocks and smash STAY.

Spoiler: Hint 6 (bridge building 2)
You probably didn't need the diagram for this one Current letter pool: AACDEEEEILNNORSTUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CAN NEVER DIE Details: Now that you have a D, DIE is formed trivially by pushing a D, an I and an E east from their starts. Acquire: S. Smash the new S. We're done with NEVER and DIE, so smash those too.

Spoiler: Hint 7 (bridge building 3)

Form CANT by pushing the T west, and use a spare R to get the W on the right path Current letter pool: AACDEEEEILNNORSSTUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT WIN Details: If you've built CAN near the T as advised in the normal hints, just shove the T west to make CANT. Now bring the W down south and west into the SW corner near the I and N, so you can spell WIN. The W will hit an R and push it a little south, but that's fine - the R will act as a spacer to keep the W on course. (If it doesn't hit the R, have you smashed the word NEVER? You don't need it anymore, so get rid of it.) Acquire: O, A, T. Smash the new blocks and the WIN.

Spoiler: Hint 8 (bridge building 4)
Bring the blocks into the SW corner again Current letter pool: AAACDEEEEILNNOORSSTTUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT LOSE Details: LOSE goes in the same corner that WIN did. You'll even use the same R as a spacer again (this time to keep the S on track). Acquire: B, U. Smash the new blocks and LOSE.

Spoiler: Hint 9 (bridge building 5)

DOUBT goes in the same corner yet again Current letter pool: AAABCDEEEEILNNOORSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT DOUBT Details: Same corner again! A little trickier this time. The D and B start by going south, but the D will probably carry an E block with it as it goes over the E pad. You can either let that happen and use the E as a spacer (this is what the diagram shows), or you can clear all the Es on the E pad out of the way first so that the D can follow roughly the same path as the B. Keep the same R spacer in place for the U and T. Acquire: F, E. Smash the new blocks and DOUBT. If you have any E blocks off their blockpad, smash those too.

Spoiler: Hint 10 (bridge building 6)

Unbelievably, BELIEVE goes in the NW corner instead of the SW. Use a spare E block as a spacer for the other three Es. Current letter pool: AAABCDEEEEEFILNNOORSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CANT BELIEVE Details: This time we'll use the NW corner since it's within easy reach of all the letters. You'll need to shove an E west to act as a spacer so that all the Es of BELIEVE can go west and north. Remember that there's a grass square south of the V, which is very helpful here. Every other block should be obvious enough. Acquire: A, E, R. Smash the new blocks, BELIEVE, the T of CANT, and any other block that's not being used. The only blocks that should be off their pads are the ones forming YOU and CAN.

Spoiler: Hint 11 (bridge building 7)

This is the hard bit. Take your time. Use a spacer in the marked space if you need to. Once you're done with DEFENESTRATE, ALWAYS should feel way easier Current letter pool: AAAABCDEEEEEEFILNNOORRSSTTUUVVWYY Next bridge: YOU CAN ALWAYS DEFENESTRATE Details: There is a gap of 12 spaces between two grass squares along the north wall. We'll fit DEFENESTRATE in here. Start by building TRATE by the eastern grass square, working backwards (placing the final E first, then T, then A...). Then build DEFEN by the western grass square, writing forwards from the D. By doing it this way, you'll leave two spaces in the middle where the central E and S will go. You can use this space to shove blocks east and west as needed. Most blocks will touch the east edge of the egg platform, but if you need to stop a block a bit further east, you can use the Y as a spacer by pushing it north, then west. Once you have DEFEN and TRATE in place, the central ES can be placed easily (you'll probably need to use that Y spacer for the S). Finally, ALWAYS can be easily made directly south of DEFENESTRATE. Acquire: A present, a secret conversation, an enormous sense of satisfaction and wellbeing.

Extras

Spoiler: Achievements

There is 1 achievement available for this level: Illiterate: Beat the Glyphery and collect the present without spelling words. Spoiler: Hint 1  If you are not spelling any words, you can't use any of the bridges. How else can you get to the exit area? Spoiler: Hint 2  The platforms in the level are only two blocks tall. Maybe you could build your own bridges out of blocks? Spoiler: Hint 3  You can't step up from the ground on to a block (you will push or smash it instead), but you can step up from a block on to a platform. Spoiler: Hint 4  You don't need any additional blocks from the philosophers. Spoiler: Hint 5  There is only one staircase from the ground floor that will give you the elevation you need - near the egg. Spoiler: Hint 6  There are a few ways to do this. You can't ever put blocks on grass so that limits your options somewhat. A relatively simple way is to put two blocks under the letters in the YO bridge, and a path of letters east of there connecting the exit platform to the present tower (where the DEFENESTRATE bridge leads to). Spoiler: Hint 7  Here's my solution: Put two blocks under the YO letters in the YOU bridge. (You need 3 temporary spacer blocks each to the east of those to get them into place.). I found the N and L blocks hardest to extract into useful positions so I positioned those first. From there, you need a block against the east wall so you can fling and catch yourself without falling to the ground. Most of the A, C, E blocks can be pushed north around the egg without running into too many obstacles. I had two spare blocks so there's a little bit of wiggle room. Make sure to not accidentally spell any words while you are doing this!

Spoiler: View squares
There are 2 view squares on this level: One near the starting egg. One more near the top of the LOSE tower.

Spoiler: Hanging men
There are 0 hanging men on this level.

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