We've come a long way! We've found ways to get the contract, to sign it, and to skip the battery ingredients by quantum-swapping the contract. We've got so many tools! Surely making a route where you can skip all this will be easy, right?

Right?

Welcome to the most complex problem in modern Day of the Tentacle routing.

Just for fun, let's look at some dead-ends you might reach while trying this out. But first, there are a couple of important things we haven't mentioned yet.

Dr. Fred, the contract, and back to the basement

When you pick up the contract before giving Dr. Fred the decaf, you can give the contract to Dr. Fred... and Dr. Fred will not sign it. The game checks that you haven't given the decaf coffee to Dr. Fred, so Bernard won't start the conversation about signing the contract.

On the other hand, when you quantum-swap the plans, the game puts Dr. Fred back in the basement, no matter where he is. If you do so before giving him the decaf coffee, nothing special happens. He was there before you quantum-swapped the plans, and he's still there after you do so.

Luckily, if you give him the decaf coffee, and you quantum-swap the plans after that, when he goes back to the basement, he'll be unconscious. You can use the funnel and the coffee on him, he'll wake up, and if you've got the contract and you talk to him, he'll sign it.

Dead ends

Now, let's get to the dead ends. You can't get the contract when Dr. Fred is in his office, because he'll close the safe door when you try to do so. And you can't sign the contract using Jefferson's conversation before giving the decaf to Dr. Fred. For unknown reasons, you won't be able to continue Jefferson's conversation as Bernard in the basement unless you've given Dr. Fred the decaf coffee.

So, what to do?

Dead end 1: the canary and the cigar salesman

This looks simple enough. You use Hancock's conversation about the canary (see part 2) to get the contract, and then you give Dr. Fred the decaf. Then, you use the gum glitch with the cigar salesman (see part 6), get to the basement, and use the conversation with Jefferson to sign the contract.

The problem is, Hancock's conversation about the canary can only start after you've built the fire. And, to build the fire, you need the chattering teeth, the cigar, and the lighter. And, for that, you need to get to the salesman.

Which means you can't use the cigar salesman glitch after you've talked to Hancock about the canary.

Dead end 2: quantum-swapping the hammer

If you quantum-swap the hammer in the living room in the past, Hoagie will offer the chattering teeth to Washington. So, maybe you could use that to build the fire before getting to the salesman?

Unfortunately, the game will check whether Washington's still's got his false teeth, so Washington will reject your offer. And, if you somehow manage to make Hoagie give Washington the cigar before picking up the cigar (theoretically possible, but there's no known way to do so), it wouldn't work either because the game would check whether you've got the lighter. And, for the lighter, you need to get close to the cigar salesman.

The only way this would work is if we managed to make Bernard get the lighter without getting close to the cigar salesman, and then we managed to make Hoagie offer Washington the cigar. There are no known ways to do either.

Dead end 3: getting the contract the intended way

OK, so you first decaf Dr. Fred. Then, you use the gum glitch to sign the contract, you push Edna down the stairs, get the safe combination, and get the contract.

Now you go to the past, and quantum-swap the contract to get the battery ingredients.

And... it won't work. Quantum-swapping the contract to get the battery ingredients will only work when Dr. Fred is in his office. So, for the battery ingredients skip, you have to get the contract before giving Dr. Fred the decaf coffee.

Dead end 4: Laverne gets the contract and tele-swaps it in the kennel

So, swapping the plans, you get Bernard to the future and Laverne to the present. Then Laverne gets the contract (see part 9). And then you use Bernard to summon Laverne to the kennel and tele-swap the contract (see part 10).

And... nothing will happen. Dr. Fred isn't in his office, so tele-swapping the contract won't work.

So, maybe Laverne can give Dr. Fred the decaf before you summon her to the future? No, she can't. Bernard can't flush the decaf to her. And if she gets the decaf in the present, she will summon Bernard to the present when exiting the kitchen, as explained in part 9. So Bernard won't be able to summon her to the future.

So, maybe Hoagie could go to the future instead of Bernard, at the end of the plans cutscene? However, if Hoagie is in the future, nobody can talk to Hancock, which is what makes it possible for Laverne to get the contract in the present.

This would only work with Laverne in the present, Bernard in the past, and Hoagie in the future. There's no known way to accomplish all that.

Dead end 5: I don't have the plans!

Hmmm... how about this? You get Laverne to the present, use her to get the contract (see part 9), and then you use the gum glitch to sign the contract. Dr. Fred is now in his office, so now you go to the past, quantum-swap the contract to give the battery ingredients to Red, and then send the contract.

This one sounds soooo reasonable. However, you can't send the contract while Dr. Fred is in his office. Just like you can't pick up the contract when Dr. Fred is in his office, you can't use the contract while Dr. Fred is in his office. So, if you try to send the contract, nothing will happen.

So, maybe we can quantum-swap the battery plans at this point? Then Dr. Fred will be back in the basement, and we'll be able to send the contract.

The only problem is, we no longer have the battery plans. We've given them to Red; otherwise he won't accept the battery ingredients.

You might be thinking: "so, then, we use the cigar salesman glitch to give the plans to Red and keep them". Unfortunately, the cigar salesman glitch can only be used once, and we've already used it in order to sign the contract.

No, the only way to proceed from here is to push Edna down the stairs and use the tape so the IRS takes Dr. Fred to the attic. Now you'll be able to send the contract.

Well, this one wasn't a dead end after all! But getting there was certainly hard.

Situation summary

• To get the contract, Dr. Fred can't be in the office.
• To use the contract with the stamp, Dr. Fred can't be in the office.
• To mail the contract, Dr. Fred can't be in the office.
• To sign the contract the regular way, Dr. Fred has to be back in the basement.
• To sign the contract using Jefferson, Dr. Fred can't be in the basement.
• To quantum swap the contract and give battery ingredients, Dr. Fred must be in the office.
• To give battery ingredients, you have to give the plans to Red first.
• To send Dr. Fred back to the basement, you need the plans.
• To give the plans to Red and keep them, you need to use the cigar salesman glitch.
• Once you've sent Dr. Fred back to the basement, there's no way to get him out of there again (unless an unknown glitch allows that).

Conclusion: to give the battery ingredients, you need to get the contract before giving the decaf to Dr. Fred.

Now, to get the contract, there are a few options:

1. Gum glitch to the office when Dr. Fred isn't there.
2. Hancock conversation about the canary.
3. Hancock conversation with Laverne in the present.

And to sign the contract, there are also a few options:

1. Gum glitch to the basement when Dr. Fred isn't there.
2. Jefferson conversation with Laverne in the present when Dr. Fred isn't there.
3. Decaf Dr. Fred to the office and send him back to the basement.

Important note: you can't use the gum glitch in the present after starting the fire (unless there's a way to start the fire without the cigar/gun/teeth or there's a way to use the gum glitch without the cigar salesman).

Successful routes

We've already mentioned one possible route:

1. Get Laverne to the present.
2. Use Laverne to get the contract.
3. Give the decaf to Dr. Fred.
4. Use the gum glitch to sign the contract.
5. Get Laverne to the past.
6. Give the plans to Red.
7. Quantum-swap the contract to give the battery ingredients to Red.
8. Push Edna down the stairs.
9. Send the contract.

So far, this route has only been used in swimfan's 13:50 run.

Here's another one:

1. Use the cigar salesman glitch to give the plans to Red and keep them.
2. Build the fire, and use the canary conversation to get the contract.
3. Give the decaf to Dr. Fred.
4. Get Bernard to the past.
5. Quantum-swap the contract to give the battery ingredients to Red.
6. Quantum-swap the plans to send Dr. Fred back to the basement.
7. Give the regular coffee to Dr. Fred, and talk to him so he signs the contract.
8. Send the contract.

This route was first used in my 9:41 run.

There might be other possible routes. There's a good chance they'll become dead ends, though :).