*blink* Begod, that sounds like something out of The Face in the Frost.

Well, the first thing that occurs to me is that the sixteen (4 sets of four) dials are telephone dials. Have you ever seen one? Just as with a push-button phone, the letters of the alphabet are printed on the dial and associated with certain numbers. I wonder does this have something to do with the idea of a "clue phone", but I'm probably reaching there.

Andy