GRG's Miscellany

I led my first educational workshop today, on invisible ink and ciphers. Developing lemon juice ink with an iron is a FAFF. Shalln't be bothering with that one again. It worked, but took for EVER. It became a serious timing problem with a group of 30. However, Sodium Bicarbonate dissolved in water worked well. I developed that with red cabbage water, which turned the paper violet, and green where the ink had been painted. Very pleasing colours, and it even generated a few 'wow!'s. :D Through a happy accident, it turns out that lemon juice is also developed with red cabbage water, turning quite a fetching magenta-pink. Not as clear as the green, but visible nevertheless. If I were to do this again, I would try both lemon juice and sodium bicarbonate with red cabbage juice, and try to find another ink for a second one. Or possibly use white candles/wax to draw a message and wash over the cabbage water. Anyway, I'm shattered, but I had fun. It seemed like...

Well, I enjoyed it. I'll probably play it some more to complete some of the missions. The problem is that the missions are the worst part. The raids are fairly random, as are the defend-the-area-from-the-baddies missions, and the demolition experts are puzzley but aren't really satisfying as puzzles. It's very pretty though, and knocking buildings down with a hammer, or by driving through them, or by blowing them to itty bits never ceases to be immensely satisfying. All in all, a worthwhile experience, but with many frustrating wtfs.