>3. The hints
I kind of figured as much. It would have Things make a lot more Sense if you've actually interacted with it before, seen it before, etc.
Generally it seems most of the Issues with the Puzzles, the Solutions, etc. stem from the rest of the Game missing. I'll try this out again when there's a proper start to a Case for this. Are you planning on only having a single case, or multiple smaller ones, or start with one and then deliver multiple additional ones later on?