咨
=
口
+
次
:
Zorro (z) got a puzzle toy and has been puzzling it all day in front of the space station (Ø1). It consists of a cube (次) in which a mandarin (口) is locked. There should be a simple mechanism to unlock the mandarin, but Zorro finally gives up and consults (咨) a hostess (咨) floating by for tips.
next in sequence / second / the second (day, time etc) / secondary / vice- / sub- / infra- / inferior quality / substandard / order / sequence / hypo- (chemistry) / classifier for enumerated events: time
次
=
冫
+
欠
:
Mnemonic symbol: the cube, as in words involving 三次 relate to "cubic equations" or "cube (third power)". The King of Chu (c) pulls a popsicle (冫) out of the cube (次) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and leaves an IOU note (欠) on the cube.