Post by benzado in Quid Pro Quo comments

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I really enjoyed this, the art, the sound, the atmosphere, everything!

I basically solved it without resorting to hints, which is to say, I figured out what had happened. But I couldn't figure out the right combination of words in the blanks to solve the puzzle, until I looked at the hints. I am glad I did, because my mistake was that I did not think that "passkey" referred to a physical object!

Maybe it should have been obvious, I know they weren't using digital encryption in 1934, I guess I was just primed by reading "password" and thinking "passkey" was just a term the alarm company used to sound more secure.

mausimus5 days ago

Thanks a lot, that's awesome! I did think about the possible confusion with modern passkeys, but eventually decided that shedding contamination with 21st century knowledge is fair as part of the puzzle.

benzado5 days ago

Apparently “passkey” appears in exactly two movie titles (according to IMDB): The Devil’s Passkey (1920) and Passkey to Danger (1946). So it was probably more frequently used in 1934 than now. The poster for the latter implies that a passkey is an enormous six-foot long key. (jk)

Citations are thin, but the original definition (a skeleton key, opens multiple locks) seems at odds with WebAuthn (an individual user’s key for a single website).

Why the heck did “skeleton key” stick around and “passkey” fall into disuse? Sure, it sounds way cooler, but I would assume people who carry skeleton keys would prefer boring, professional terms for things.

It’s good to know you considered it. At the time it didn’t feel fair. But I guess that’s just how it goes with puzzles. There’s not much point to this comment other than maybe it will help someone else avoid the spoilers on the hints page.

itch.io

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