Entry exam on the night desk

Covers: journalist, engineer, courier.
Cities: Starbase, Adelaide, Cape.
Jobs: static-fire watch, paper drop, rail survey.

Clues:

• The courier is not in Adelaide.
• The engineer runs the static-fire watch.
• The paper drop is in Adelaide.
• The journalist is not at Cape.
• Rail survey is not Starbase.

Who does what, and where?

2. Crossword — medium–hard

Spy and paper lexicon. Blocked grid. Numbering is across-first.

C A T C H ■
O ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
U ■ G O L D
C ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
H ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Across

1. What the chopsticks did (5)
2. The paper's short name (4)

Down

1. Living-room line, first word (5)

Fill what the grid already shows is a free peek. Prove the three answers.

3. Find-a-word — medium

Twelve by twelve. Words run in any of eight directions. Paper lexicon.

U B O O S T E R C T R S
U F R X H F G O H M A T
I U W R H O V C K Y I A
Y B H B L T T Z N K L R
M I C D G A E A S W K S
G U P M C U T S O E I H
E H X R R I I X L S N I
S M L H O E Q A G A M P
P C Y N B D E U F Z V N
T C M M T O Q I R A V X
D V R Y I R E B Y C Y U
K D J N F O A X D A P X

List: STARSHIP, BOOSTER, NATION, CATCH, TESLA, CYBER, RAIL, GOLD, MAGA, PAD

4. Playfair — hard

Keyword STARSHIP. Five-by-five, I and J share. Digraphs. Spaces stripped. Terminal X if needed.

Square, row-major after the key:

S T A R H
I P B C D
E F G K L
M N O Q U
V W X Y Z

Ciphertext:

LFFIASFEBESAAMOW

Four words restored. Lights included.

5. Grille — hard

Cardano. Four-by-four. Holes at (row, column), one-based: (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2,2). Fill those four in reading order, rotate the grille ninety degrees clockwise, repeat, three more times. Read the finished square left to right, top to bottom for the ciphertext you already have. Work backwards.

Ciphertext (row-major):

CATHGCTHOLSEDHIP

Sixteen letters. Plain is CATCH THE SHIP GOLD with spaces restored by you.

That's the set. Leave the fold alone if you still want the work.

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That's the set. Leave the fold alone if you still want the work.