Got godlike from just plugging in all the letters for an anagram first. Had to use the clues next but when I mapped it against the original square going first come first served and skipping letters I already used (3x for a sanity check) I got "made" plus a version of "godlike" but with 2 O's and no I's. This threw me off. I didn't know what I'm doing wrong given that I've mapped it that many times.

I got to the correct solving method but lost confidence due to some of the letters having two options then worked backwards noticing the answer was likely a seven letter palindrome and arrived by bruteforce based on theming, but was annoyed that the weirdness in the design of the puzzle introduced the early uncertainty.

Also the theory that the SATOR square has Christian roots is largely disproven ever since examples were found in Pompei, where there were few Christians, they would have likely spelled it in Greek, not Latin, the cross symbol didn't arise until a few decades later, and hidden forms of the cross didn't arise further until 3rd century persecution of Christians.

I'm sorry, M but this was my least favorite puzzle yet. I used two hints and it seems the method to find the solution is arbitrary. Had to Google the sator square but the solution is so specific and not clear. How were we supposed to know about the first come first serve basis?

I’m beginning to think google is more of a hindrance than a help. When I googled Sator Square , nowhere did it show me the cruciform pattern so the instructions made no sense to me. I am sasly becoming disenchanted. I’m running through hints just to have to look up the answer anyway

My favourite so far! Really enjoyed it.

There's some cool concepts here, but this was a miss for me. I like most of the puzzles here, so I'll keep going.

In particular, there were several common letters with the sator square and the printed square, which made it seem like that was the right track. I also didn't realize pater noster would play as major of a role as the square itself -- it seemed more like a side thought

I'll type it in again, but I typed it in 3 times, both minuscule and majuscule.

Thanks!

Are you sure that answer you came up with isn’t accepted by the website? Maybe try it again.

I used hint #2 and found I was on the right track. It told what order to arrange the letters in. I found that a bit disappointing, especially as simply knowing that I was doing the right thing by trying to solve the anagram could have kept me going. Also, there was another particularly good one. Demigod Lake.

I'm sticking with "deified" as my answer even though the solution box doesn't accept it. It fits all the criteria.

Interesting. There's an Orpheus Lake, but that's not the answer. Several lakes named after 7-letter greek demigods, but none of them are the answer. Time, perhaps to move on from this line of inquiry. Also, no famous person, Lake, I can find with the first name of a demigod

the anagram also spells demigodlake. searching for lake names that might fit.

Following the tack that finding the anagram and answering that riddle would be a reasonable 7-letter solution.

Devilishly clever puzzle!

I had to look up 7 letter palindromes, but I managed to get that far on my own at least

I thought for sure the solution would be to make the letters into a Sator Square and then find the common theme between those words to find the solution word. The format for this puzzle felt a bit random. I hesitated using clues because I didn't want that "oh, duh!" moment, but I'm glad I did. Not sure I would have figured this one out without them. (With that said, I am /loving/ this book, so I don't mean to sound overly critical.)

The premise of the Sator square is a red herring. The letter frequencies in M’s make a symmetrical square impossible. That’s so unsatisfying! Methinks you have the basis for a much better puzzle, but this one felt like you phone it in, M.