The 11th Hour

The 11th Hour is the sequel to the 7th Guest.  I've owned it for a while but I haven't played it before.  It takes place in the same place, the Stauf mansion, only now it's in disrepair.  The internal maps are basically the same, which is nice.  I'm thinking of the Shadow Hearts series, which had different maps for Naemeton Monastery in different games, so it didn't feel like the same place even though it was supposed to be.  In this game, Carl, a producer, heads into the mansion to rescue his reporter, Robin, who's been investigating.  The main backbone of the game is a series of what are basically cryptic crossword clues, leading you to different items.  When you click on the right item, you get another clue which is indicated by your cursor flashing blue when you leave the area, an effect that remains until you consult Carl's mini computer thing, something like an early 90s smartphone.  You also, usually, unlock a video clip.  The game is split into 5 chapters - the 7th hour through to the 11th hour - and the breaks between chapters include a longer video, made up of the clips you've found and some extra bits.  Basically, you unlock an entire movie as you play.

Personally, I found the clues a little too cryptic for my tastes, especially since they indicate a random item in the house, an item you may or may not have come across while exploring, and which may or may not be an actual item or just a painting.  Luckily, you can ask for as many hints as you like, and, after a few, you'll be given the answer.  In-story, this is Carl communicating with his helper, Samantha.  There are also puzzles, like in the 7th Guest, and games, some of them exactly the same.  You can ask Samantha for help with these, either just by telling you the rules, or by solving the puzzle or playing the game for you.  This is an improvement on the first one, where you had to go to the book in the library to reach that feature.  I still found some puzzles too abstract after Samantha had explained the rules, but there are lots of guides online.  Tbh, I followed this guide because I was more interested in working my way through the story than being stumped over the puzzles or searching every inch of the mansion for an abstract item while Stauf continually insulted my intelligence.  The in-game map is better than the one from the first game, which is nice, and it indicates when a formerly locked room is available.

I said in the first paragraph that many of the clues you're given are basically crossword clues.  To prove this, I turned them into a crossword using this website.  There are a few I missed - "Modern art flourishes under the sun" and "A desserted Arthropod" - since they refer to specific, in-game items, and I also decoded the clues that were given in code.  Et, voila!  This isn't really a guide, but it's another way of hinting at the answers, if you don't want to check a walkthrough or use the game hints.

ACROSS
	1	Light piece from great orchestra.
	5	You might hear a well-mannered Cockney with a 60's hairstyle.
	8	Libation for an affectionate puppy called Sounder
	9	Part of the body examined in doctors office
	12	Instrument is sharp, but is missing its head.
	14	Slyness holding shipment in choppe?
	17	SkedAddled
	19	Dreams abound of arming the rebels. What of nocturnal horses' schedules?
	21	Poor drainage could still produce a flower.
	22	My first is not bent around. My second means lift her up or cut her to the ground.
	24	What kind of jewellery is angrier?
	29	Look at key missing first misprinted label.
	32	Unreasonable reason.
	34	A defective truck with a crane makes for a ball-busting ballet.
	35	Snake, baby, trap
	36	A heart attack could put you into the ground
	37	Drink left at sea
	38	Paper used in unreasonable theses.
	DOWN
	2	Adroit holding a sharp instrument
	3	A letter from Greece is quite a number in Rome
	4	Read my face, but do not watch. I have hands with which to count but have no crotch. I have no legs and yet I run. If we were related, you'd be the son of my son.
	6	This eight letter word has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end.
	7	Rolling rock, bottle cap
	10	Fruit loop on stove
	11	Winter coat worn for a mixer
	13	Sounds like it got higher from wine.
	14	A distant, ancient Castle Keep, This famous Prince a place to sleep, To sleep, perchance to dream, Of an upset teagarden indochine.
	15	Put an olive in a stein, mix it up, and get the equivalent of a fool's London subway.
	16	Artsy, excited lecher
	18	A man-horse on the fly, sounds like a wounded bull's eye.
	20	Blend a teapot shot and the pearlies won't rot.
	23	A vital, instrumental part.
	25	Bars deter cuckoo bird.
	26	Animal sullied street
	27	Disabled cutting edge
	28	BattleGround
	30	Cheesy gadget that sounds larger.
	31	One animal in a million
	33	500 = 100 = 0

The solution is here. 

I've been playing through the 11th Hour for the past two days, and I've finished it today.  I'm annoyed that I didn't realise until right near the end that you can use the map to zoom you to wherever you need to go, rather than slowly walking through the mansion.  The game will disable saving after you answer the last clue - "This eight letter word has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end" - so make sure you save first.  The final puzzle - which you will have to beat at least three times if you want to see all the endings - is a game of Pente.  If you don't want to become a master of Pente, you can use this site to play.  If you create an account you can choose to play against the computer.  You input Stauf's moves and then repeat the move the computer made on the game.  It's a bit time-consuming, since the game can't be windowed (or, rather, it can, but the only way I found makes the videos fail to play, which ruins the points a bit), but if you set it to level 6 or so it should be able to beat Stauf almost every time.