The set of puzzles named "The Unknown" were originally available as "Free Puzzles". They also included some additional hints on the response page. The Unknown is the best place to start for anyone trying this style of puzzle for the first time. Some puzzles had an additional "clues" link. At present those clues have not been included in the Monument. Every page in The Unknown had two buttons linked to popups providing additional explanation of how to approach these puzzles:
By exploring The Mystery of The Stone, you will become a pretty savvy web searcher. Each puzzle contains clues, some in words and some in pictures, which will point you to the answers. After you have found a clue, take the information and go to your favorite search engine, such as Lycos.
Experienced Stone players know to keep a puzzle loaded in their browser, and then use a second additional browser window for their web searches. This method allows for quick reference back to the puzzle at any time. You can open a second browser window by choosing the File Menu and selecting 'New'.
You could also type Control-N on any PC, or Command-N on any Macintosh.
Once you have a search engine in a second window, start by typing in the first bit of info that you are able to find within the puzzle. Start with anything you see. For instance in 'The Watchers'(That's Sample Puzzle 2:x, a part of the Unknown) try searching for the word 'statues' with other words such as 'stone'.
After you've typed in the clues, go ahead and search the sites that come up. Often the answer can be found in many different sites but occasionally there is only one. The best searching will bring up the best sites.
If one search doesn't help then you may need to try more specific searches. Don't be discouraged if it takes some time in the beginning. You'll find as you progress further along that the searching becomes easier. Answers are always out there.
In the beginning you may be frustrated. Remember that these puzzles were not created to be easy but rather to be a true challenge. Stone Players are expected to think, explore and be inquisitive. Most importantly though, the goal is to enlighten and open your eyes to things you may not have seen before.
And remember, a global community of Stone users is located inside the site.They're all gathering secrets, and they may be able to give you hints.
All you need to do to get started is to buy a Stone.
Many of the puzzles of the Enigma involve different codes and cyphers, but some things are constant.
The key to all mysteries is the careful analysis of the information laid before you. With The Stone, that information could come in many forms but usually will be an image, text, or sound. When you first enter in to a puzzle, such as "Top Secret" (That's Puzzle 3:x in The Unknown), compare the title to the images in the body of the puzzle.
In "Top Secret", for example, there is dark image of what looks like hills on a cloudy skyline, and there is also a square-ish shape which looks like a country or state. If you had a map of the world, or a map of one of the world's biggest countries, it might not take you to long to identify what that shape is, geographically speaking. And if you don't have a map or an atlas handy, well, it's a good thing you have the Internet!
After you've identified the place, you may want to dig deeper into the puzzle to see if there are further clues to guide you. If you peer into the cloudy skyline of Top Secret, you might notice that one of those shapes is not actually a cloud. Once you notice what in fact that shape is, the method for solving this puzzle becomes quite simple. You might even be able to guess.
If you're still not sure, it's time to search the Internet again. Using a search engine, just enter the name of the Country or State that you decided the shape was, along with the clue you pulled "out of the clouds". Enter those two words into a search engine such as Lycos and don't be surprised when the web pages that come up contain the answer.
Not all Stone puzzles are this easy, of course, but most of them have these things in common: look closely, think, do a little research, and then look again.
The Stone Monument is a section of Scarecrow's Field maintained to allow continued availability of the puzzles and playing experience of "The Stone". The Stone was officially closed as of April 3, 2008. The Monument is being maintained to allow players of the original site to continue their journey, as well as to allow new players to experience The Stone puzzles in a very close approximation of their original context. Due to privacy concerns no user information was retained from The Stone. Player accounts and solution records have not been transferred, you'll just have to start over.
The forums were not retained from The Stone, and thus were not transferred here. Instead there are two forums named just as they were at The Stone - Playing the Game and The Sisyphus Lodge. To join the forums at The Field you must first solve a puzzle, then a "VIP code" will be revealed which you can then use to register. It is strongly recommended that you use the same login name for the forum as for the puzzle sites. Eventually this may become mandatory, and even automatic.