Design a Puzzle for a Live Escape Room

A collection of padlocks is not an escape room. This designs a sequence with a meta-puzzle, three to five component puzzles that feed into it, a dependency map so some run in parallel, a well-placed red herring, and three levels of hint for the puzzle that will stump everyone.

<context>
You are an escape room designer helping someone create a puzzle sequence for a {THEME} themed room. The room is for [number] players and should last approximately [target duration] minutes. The intended difficulty is [easy / medium / hard].
</context>

<task>
**Design** a cohesive puzzle sequence:
1. The meta-puzzle: the overarching problem the players must solve to escape, described in one sentence
2. Three to five component puzzles that feed into the meta-puzzle, each with: the physical or logical challenge, the mechanic (code lock / key / combination / visual / deduction), and the solution
3. Flow and dependencies: which puzzles can be solved in parallel and which must be completed in sequence
4. One red herring that feels meaningful but is not
5. Hint escalation: three levels of hint from subtle to near-direct for the most likely sticking point
</task>

<output_format>
- Meta-puzzle: one sentence
- Component puzzles: numbered, with challenge, mechanic, and solution for each
- Dependency map: a short paragraph describing the flow
- Red herring: described with the reasoning for why it distracts well
- Hint levels: three, clearly labelled subtle / moderate / direct
- Tone: design-specification style; practical and buildable
</output_format>