Game 29: Leisure Suit Larry III - A Taste of Cherri Tart

Larry Laffer Journal Entry 3: “I haven’t got laid since I last wrote! However, I have laid the groundwork for what I figure will be an awesome score! Cherri Tart is a seriously hot performer, and she totally dug me. She invited me backstage and all I have to do to get some of that fine booty is hand over a piece of my land! OK, that does seem a little bit excessive, but I'm sure it will be totally worth it! Plus I'm feeling more than a little bit horny after my activities with Tawni were crustaceanally interrupted. Speaking of Tawni, I managed to scam the last twenty dollar bill off her, which I used to bribe my way into Cherri's show. I'm not going to say that my actions are all entirely honourable, but I’ll do what it takes to find myself a woman!”

Where we left off: The Comedy Hut

So I'm coming to the end of my initial exploration of Nontoonyt Island. By the end of my last post, the only place I knew I hadn't visited yet was the cave near Chip ‘n’ Dales. That would obviously be my next location, but I also felt like there was quite a bit of unfinished business. I’d not yet been able to do anything at Fat City, the Casino, Chip ‘n’ Dales, the Comedy Hut or the park with the TV. As for outstanding tasks, I was feeling pretty certain that sharpening the knife was going to be key to getting the grass, and that in turn would allow me to disguise myself as a salesman to trick Tawni. I couldn't think of why I might do that though (surely not to have sex with her again), but I didn't really have anything else to go off. First thing first though, I set off to see where this cave entrance led.

The downside of open adventure environments is locations that are inexplicably closed until needed to push the story forward

The answer turned out to be nowhere! While at first it looked like I’d gained access to a lovely looking beach, any attempts to walk over to it resulted in me falling off a ledge to my death (depth perception wasn't one of the highlights of the SCI0 engine). I tried looking around in the cave and eventually hit on the fact there were wild orchids growing on the walls. When I tried to pick them I was told to “move closer to the flowers near the cave opening (presumably it saved time to create the flower picking animation in one spot only), so that’s what I did. Larry then picked several of the flowers and put them away with the ginsu knife, the soap-on-a-rope, and the granadilla wood shaped like a giant black penis. (25 points) With the map fully explored, I set out to find something to sharpen the knife on.

Ooooohhhh....boooootifuuulll

While I expected it to take a long time to find the correct place to do this, it actually took about a minute. My first thought was that the fountain might be a good place to sharpen it, but “the fountain’s rough surface would only dull your knife.” At least it proved to me that I was on the right track!  I then tried sharpening it on the stairs to the casino, not really expecting it work, but it did! (50 points) I bee-lined back to the grassy patch near Chip ‘n’ Dales and successfully used the knife to collect some of the native grass. (20 points) Things were starting to move along at a rapid rate, and I hoped my instincts would continue to work for me. I typed “make skirt”, and was thrilled when Larry weaved “the wild grass into what you hope will pass for a primitive, island native outfit.” (30 points) I’d literally gone from 128 to 253 points in under five minutes and was on a roll! I knew exactly what I’d need to do next as well, so set out for the cabana.

Patrick Bateman knew someone was watching him...

I entered the first cubicle and typed “wear skirt”, which did indeed cause Larry to strip out of his leisure suit and put on the makeshift native skirt. (10 points) I then realised that I might also be able to carve the granadilla wood with the sharpened knife too, and this train of thought also turned out to be correct. (50 points) I wasn't certain if I would need anything else to complete the native salesman disguise, but I decided to go back to the beach where Tawni was to see what would happen. As soon as I arrived, Larry started calling out “souvenirs” and Tawni was completely fooled. “Genuine native-islander designer-labelled erotic carvings for only twenty dollars!” As you can tell by Tawni’s response below, she was fairly impressed by the small statue with the huge phallus, and she handed over her last twenty bucks. (25 points)

She knows what she likes!

I had a think about what I might do next, and figured the twenty dollars would likely play a role. Where better to spend some cash than the casino! I went to the cabana and changed back into my suit, with Larry throwing the skirt away in the process. I then made my way to the casino and I actually spent a bit more time trying to use the lift at this point. When I was once again unsuccessful, I made my way up to the showroom to see whether I would now be able to get into the show with my free pass. I still wasn't able to, but tried giving the maître d’ the twenty dollars. “Well, well, look at this! I seem to have found a nice, front row seat available here. Allow me to show you to your seat!” (50 points) My roll continued and I’d now gained 270 points in a little over fifteen minutes! Part of me wondered whether that twenty dollars might have had an alternate use elsewhere, but the Leisure Suit Larry series isn't really known for alternate puzzle solution. Bonus points for sure, but not alternate solutions.

I see how it works around here!

The view I had of the show certainly didn't suggest that I had a front row seat, but I could see well enough. After a few dancing girls did their stuff on stage, they made way for the real attraction. “And now, lady and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for: the star of our show, Miss Cherri Tart!” The lights went out and then a spotlight fell upon a scantily dressed woman with feathers attached, gyrating and spinning on a pedestal. The audience showed their appreciation for Cherri by throwing dollar bills on-stage  After mere seconds, the pedestal was lowered into the stage and the lights came back on. “That concludes tonight’s two-hour spectacle, “Nontoonyt For You!” You must clear the auditorium now, as our second show begins shortly.” I was then informed that I’d come in late, so had only witnessed the last minute of what was a two hour show all up.

"Lady" and gentlemen! I didn't even notice that while I was playing!

I knew that Cherri would play a further role in the game, since she is mentioned a few times in the tourist manual, but I couldn't think of how I might benefit from having witnessed the show. While I was standing outside the showroom, the answer became very obvious. A woman came out of the locked door and made a phone call. I walked over to her and introduced myself. “Hello yourself, Larry, I'm Cherri Tart.” (5 points) I was then given the close up view of the “bathrobed beauty”, and began the usual “talk” in an attempt to find out what she might respond to. Larry asked her what she wanted to do with her life, to which she responded “I’d love to quit show business, get a little farm some place far out in the country where I could be alone, and raise organically-grown vegetables, fruits and herbs.” Larry then joked that he was in the opposite situation: “I have hundreds of acres of land coming into mu possession but I’d love to be in show business.”

I'm not sure whether Cherri is hot, or whether she looks like Linda Blair at the peak of her possession

This of course made the solution obvious. I typed “give land to Cherri” and got the result I expected. “Why, Larry, I’d do ANYTHING for a little piece of land.” (25 points) Unfortunately, Cherri had to run to another show, so she excused herself, telling me to come back and knock on the door when I have the deed to the land. OK, so I needed to get the deed to the land. How exactly was I going to do that? I looked over my map, wondering who might be able to assist with such a thing. My first thought was that there might be something in the mailbox at Larry’s old house, so that’s where I went. There wasn't anything there, so I had a good long think about it. I picked up the Tourist Manual and took a look through for anything that might give me a hint. There was an article on page 16 for “Attorneys at Law” named Dewey, Cheatem and Howe! The address listed on the ad was 555 Hibiscus, but of course that didn't mean anything to me. Had I missed a location entirely???

Oh, Cherri, I can just picture your naked body on top of me!

The map I’d produced looked pretty complete, and there were really only a few locations where I might have missed something. I began by visiting the strange park with the hanging lights and TV. I couldn't find any paths out of there that I’d missed, but there was a newspaper sitting on the side table that wasn't there previously. I picked it up and read it: “Coming Soon! Here! At our own Lounge and Piano Bar! Passionate Patti at the Keyboard. Watch for her – you won’t regret it!” Maybe this meant that Patti could now be seen at the bar in the casino? That wasn't my goal right now, but I was keen to find out whether I was right. I made my way to the bar in the casino, and was disappointed to find it was still completely empty. I did figure something out while I was standing in the foyer though. The manual described making leis (native flower arrangement), and since I had some flowers in my inventory, I tried typing “make lei”. It worked, and Larry weaved the wild orchards into a lei. (50 points)

Here! As in right here!?

I continued on my search for a hidden location. I walked from screen to screen, looking for any hidden pathways that I might have missed. When I reached the beach screen where Tawni had previously been, she surprisingly wasn't there any more  Her towel was still lying on the beach though, so I picked it up. (2 points) Interestingly, I noticed that as soon as I picked up the towel, a red lizard began scampering back and forth on the rocks in the foreground. I wasn't able to pick it up or do anything with it that I could figure out, but it can’t have just appeared for no reason. I started just trying things, and eventually came across the solution by blind luck. When I typed “use towel on lizard”, Larry said “OK”, then lay the towel down on the sand, took all his clothes off, and lay down to sunbake. This was all done in such a way that no private parts were shown, and once he was completely horizontal, the lizard stood up on the rock in a way to appear...well...just take a look at the image below! (30 points) While this gave me one of the biggest belly laughs in the game so far, I couldn't help feeling like I’d merely fluked it.

Seriously...who came up with this visual joke!

I can only assume that the tan will be necessary for something (or someone) later on, but I'm not sure what. So I wasn’t having much luck finding the lawyer I needed, but my exploration was bearing fruit. I made my way back to the two jungle areas, as they seemed to be the most likely places for a hidden pathway. It’s here that I found what I was after! In the top right corner of one of the jungle screens, I was able to twist my way upwards and to the right until I came out on a new screen. I have to say that the pathway is pretty much indiscernible unless you know it’s there, which is only partly due to the low quality graphics in the jungle. I thought I’d been pretty thorough while map-making and I know I'm not the only person to struggle to find it. Anyway, the company logo outside the building on the new screen was DCH. Dewey, Cheatem and Howe! I’d found the lawyer I needed and could now get the deed to the land and most likely score with Cherri! Despite having so much trouble finding DCH, this session was an incredibly productive one. I guess it was really just the pay-off session after completing (well almost) the early introduction and exploratory part of the game, but I enjoyed it a lot!

I wonder how many players never found this place and gave up?

Session Time: 1 hours 00 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!