Stardew Valley v. 1.5 - How to Solve The Ginger Island Mermaid Puzzle | TechRaptor (2024)

Stardew Valley version 1.5 offers lots of tricky puzzles for players to solve on Ginger Island, the game's newly released tropical paradise. Many of these puzzles reward players with Golden Walnuts, a new currency which is used to unlock new areas and features of the Island.

One of the trickiest puzzles to complete is the Mermaid Puzzle. It is so difficult because it requires visiting a specific location during certain weather and involves clues connected to other seasonal events which happen in the Valley. However, it is an extremely rewarding puzzle, as a successful farmer will be able to collect 5 Golden Walnuts for solving it.

Here's how to solve the Mermaid Puzzle on Ginger Island:

How to Find Journal Scrap #9 on Ginger Island

Journal Scraps are a new collectible item added with the Version 1.5 update of Stardew Valley. They are logs left behind by a sailor who shipwrecked on Ginger Island many years ago. These Journal Scraps provide hints and clues to many of the puzzles located around the Island, including the Mermaid Puzzle.

Journal Scraps are found randomly when breaking rocks, fishing, killing monsters, cutting down trees or weeds, or digging up Artifact Spots (which appear as three roots or "worms" sticking up from the ground.) The Scraps will always be found in order, from #1 to #11. Journal Scrap #9 is the one which contains information about the Mermaid Puzzle, meaning you will have to spend quite a bit of time exploring Ginger Island to find it.

Journal Scrap #9 reads:

'Twas a rain-drenched day, and upon a lonely rock a beautiful maiden saw I.

Tales I'd heard of sea-born maidens singing siren's songs,

Yet nary a note could she muster...

The next morning I spied an arrangement of stones upon the foamy bank...

Aye...stones as big as pennies and stones as big as nickels were they...

If but this harried sea dog a tune could howl, perhaps to Blackgull's treasure would she lead...

How to Unlock the Ginger Island Pirate's Cove

Before you can go about solving this puzzle, you will need to unlock the area of Ginger Island where this mysterious mermaid can be found: the Pirate's Cove. The Pirate's Cove is not available immediately upon visiting Ginger Island.

First, you must pay 20 Golden Walnuts to a parrot sitting among some ruins on the beach where you first disembark on Ginger Island. The parrot and its friends will then convert the ruins into a gorgeous beach resort, which NPCs from Stardew Valley can visit and relax while wearing unique swimsuit outfits.

Once the beach resort is open, you can travel to the Pirate's Cove. The path is located directly to the east of the boat docks at the southernmost part of the beach. It is a mostly barren stretch of beach with a star-shaped pattern of rocks in the middle.

Other Golden Walnuts can be found in this area by fishing in the small pond in the middle of the star-shaped rocks and by digging in the sand near the palm trees. To the east of the Cove is a cave where the rare Stingray fish can be caught and where pirates sometimes hang out. (They'll challenge your farmer to a game of darts - with Golden Walnuts as the prize!)

How to Solve the Ginger Island Mermaid Puzzle

To solve the puzzle mentioned in Journal Scrap #9, you'll first need five of the "Flute Block" item. Flute Blocks can be placed on the ground and interacted with to make a noise at various pitches.

You can obtain the recipe for a Flute Block after reaching 6 hearts of friendship with Robin the carpenter. She will send you the recipe in the mail. The recipe for crafting a Flute Block is:

• 10 Wood
• 2 Copper Ore
• 20 Fiber

Bring the five Flute Blocks to the Pirate's Cove on a rainy day. (You can check Ginger Island's weather via the Weather Channel on the TV in your farmhouse. The Island has different weather from the main Stardew Valley area.) You will see a pattern of rocks on the ground and a blue-haired mermaid sitting on a rock in the sea.

Place a Flute Block next to each pile of rock. Then, hit each block the correct number of times to adjust its pitch. The correct pitch of each Flute Block is indicated by the piles of rocks - small rocks mean one hit ("pennies") while large rocks mean five hits ("nickels").

• Hit the left-most block one time
• Hit the next block eleven times
• Hit the middle block nine times
• Hit the next block five times
• Hit the right-most block seven times

You can tell that you are on the right track because the mermaid will begin to dance when she hears the correct notes. Additionally, the correct pitches match the song that you can hear a mermaid (possibly the very same one?) sing during the Night Market event in Winter if you visit her boat and watch her perform.

Once the five Flute Blocks are pitched correctly, hit them once each from left to right. Flute Blocks will make a noise if hit by almost any tool, including the Axe, Pickaxe, and Hoe.

If you've solved the puzzle correctly, the mermaid will wave to you and reward you with five Golden Walnuts.

After solving the puzzle, the mermaid will still continue to appear in Pirate's Cove on rainy days. However, she cannot be interacted with anymore. Hopefully, a future update will help her find her song again so that farmers visiting Ginger Island can hear her beautiful voice!

The Pirate's Cove mermaid and her missing voice is just one of the many puzzles available for players to solve on Ginger Island. Check out TechRaptor's other guides to learn about what else can be done on this beautiful new tropical paradise!