Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Ghoulish Boo-shit > Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

allta: Mar 28, 2011

If your new here scroll down to the second post :siren:

If you post a hint/clue/idea please in bold list the cask# its about at the top of the post, this way we can organize idea's alot more easily!

:siren:

We now have a not-dead wiki :siren:

Thank You Meat Street
You'll need to make an account to edit it though but it should eventually save you from having to read through all the thread and/or post idea's that have already been posted!

:siren:

Before you post anything read this post :siren:

Flewdefur posted:

Desperation and lack of progress have driven everyone to more and more radical solutions that may become too clever for our own good. It�s only natural that if we can�t find something obvious we look for something more obscure. I want to help lay down some guiding principles for anyone starting the hunt or laying down theories.

1. The best clue is a treasure found and we have two. If you haven�t started by looking at those, then you�re at a serious disadvantage.

2. Locations of the last two were parks, near walls or barriers, buried approximately 3.5 feet deep. The cask is very small, and the North American continent is not. If you don�t have a terrific idea of where it is, don�t bother breaking ground.

3. Don�t put too much stake in a theory unless it has resulted in treasure. It doesn�t matter if the theory was made by someone who spent a decade searching, it can still be total bunk. You can evaluate the evidence they used. For example, I can see that while many have pointed to Golden Gate Park, the only evidence is that the dress sort of resembles the shape. The shape is a rectangle, and it�s not a great match. Unless there�s some other compelling reason, that�s a theory without much weight. The Fort Sumter map on the other hand has the weight of a thousand elephants.

4. The two successful treasures both have been found entirely by clues that are one layer deep. There has always been some sort of silhouette of a recognizable building or object. In fact, there were several in each image. These are images of objects you can find and point to that match the images exactly. Sometimes it includes statues that are not even very well obscured. There has not yet been a clue which has relied on a ton of depth.

5. Not all theories are created equal. Simple and direct is better than a convoluted mess. Theories relying on fewer layers and more direct meanings are better. Theories that are deep and convoluted sound fantastic and brilliant and can lure us in, but that does not mean they are good in the context of this puzzle. Evidence points to the contrary.

Example
Good Theory: That outline is an exact match of this streetlight.

Bad Theory: The eleven moons in the San Francisco picture represent Apollo 11. The president at the time was Nixon. Nixon went to China, and the opera house in San Francisco once had a play called Nixon in China. The treasure is at the opera house.

5. A valuable clue has to be distinct and eminently recognizable as such. Circles, rectangles, spirals, or pillars are not distinct. There are billions of them in any city. There are billions of things named after Lincoln or Twain, and even more things that caught their attention at some point.

6. The picture is the key to it all. In both of the found treasures, the evidence pointing to the location was almost entirely in the picture. To stay on the right path, you should not even look at the poems until there is substantial evidence from the picture relating a few landmarks or objects.

7. The poems are almost more of a fine tuning to the treasure location that uses descriptions of objects and things in the immediate vicinity. They do not tend to be deep, broad clues. These are poetic or somewhat abstract representations of specific concrete objects.

8. Check the date. If it wasn�t around in 1980, then that�s your cue to let it be.

9. Check reality. The author wasn�t some sort of brilliant puzzle making genius who wanted to make the most radically difficult and clever puzzles in the universe. In one of his poems he said �L sits and left beyond his shoulder� and L was used to refer to Lincoln. That�s not clever; it�s really sort of lazy. And remember he also didn�t have Google satellite imagery and an absolute knowledge of the history of every city he visited.

10. In thirty years, a lot can change and has changed. The best clues may have been destroyed or moved.

Note: Feel free to correct any of my assumptions here.

Need something to do? here you go!
TO DO List
1. Confirm all the locations with clues from the pictures (IE the coordinates for new Orleans in the cask 7 picture).
-Still need proof for 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
2. Organize goons who live nearby to go and take scouting pictures to help either confirm or deny our current theories.
- I'll make a list of all the theory locations and link it here.
- Link will be here
3. Begin ruling out theories that don't fit so we can better focus our efforts.
- There will be a theory list in each summary post.
4. Work on getting permissions to dig once we've confirmed the park and/or general area for the cask.
- We wont be able to do this until we have a reasonable confirmed working theory for a location.
- Getting permission to dig is also key.
5. Help convert data from the Q4T forums to ours and help narrow down theories.
- If you need access I have PM's.
- There are 10 years worth of posts so the more people willing to help with this the easier it will be!
6. Mock up the photo's and dissect for clues.
- If you need an example of what I'm talking about HERE is one.
- You can cross post from the wiki, there's a few of them on there but not one for every picture.
- We still need them from casks: 2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
7. Match all of the verses to each of the pictures.
- There are still a few mis-matched and a few where we just don't plain know.
8. Obtain better resolution picture scans from the book.
- A few goons have book copies ordered so I'm in no hurry for this one.
9. Figure out a reasonable method for Determining if a casket is there that's not "dig a hole here".
10.Find a cask.
-Literally if we can find just 1 it will be a huge success, out of the 10 left 1 of them has to be still accessible...right?

Cask summary posts(clickable as soon as I finish submitting them):
Cask 1
Cask 2
Cask 3
Cask 6
Cask 7
Cask 8
Cask 9
Cask 10
Cask 11
Cask 12

allta fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Jul 1, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 06:15

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# ? Oct 13, 2024 11:32

allta: Mar 28, 2011

In 1982 author Byron Preiss, working with a few others published this little gem.

The Secret: A Hidden Treasure
At some point prior to this he secretly traveled around the united states, to 12 locations, and at each location he visited he buried a casket of sorts.

Shortly after the books hit the shelf he proudly boasted, and spread the word that he had hidden 12 caskets in the ground around the united states, and that each casket contained a key which opened a safety deposit box at a Bank in NewYork City. The box contained one of 12 gemstones, one for each of the 12 riddles to be solved.

Originally he'd though that the riddles were way too easy, that they would be solved within a month and that no one would buy his book anymore because there would be no reason to! He was wrong.

To this day only 2 have been found, one in 1984 and another in 2004. That means there are 10 more buried in various places around the united states

credit to the wiki

These locations are only approximate
Byron didn't write the book himself. He hired 2 National Lampoon editors that covered the parody and story portion of the book, and then an artist to do the 12 pictures. He wrote the 12 riddles that pair with the pictures to give the location to the casks himself, which means he was the only one to know the full locations to each cask. Even years after the fact, people who somehow rediscovered the treasure hunt asking for the locations, which he refused to give up.

Unfortunately, Byron died in 2005, in an automobile accident and a few years after his publishing company went into bankruptcy and the contents of the safety deposit box, they had been paying to keep there for all those years, were auctioned off.

So If the gems are gone, whats the point of all of this?
Aside from the bragging rights of solving a 3-decade old mystery that other people have spent hours only fantasizing about, the casks themselves were valued at 500 in 1982, plugging that into an inflation calculator we get the rough approximate value of the casks at around 1200 usd. Each. They also look pretty cool!

Each cask has a clock of sorts on the inside of the lid, the time its set to refers to the month of the year, and the corresponding gem the puzzle was supposed to be rewarded with. In this case it's 5, or may, which would yield an emerald.

So if all this started in 1982 why has there only been 2 of these things found?
There have been several attempts by various online groups to track down the locations of the remaining 10 casks, but only one of them in 2004 was able to find the second ever cask and then the board, from what it seems, slowly died out. There is also a wiki that I'm trying not to barrow too heavily from while I wait for a response from the webmaster. The wiki was started 8 years ago, but has all but died, likely form the lack of support, which seems to be a common thing with this whole treasure hunt. Knock on wood I guess.

On top of all of that, the internet didn't exist in 1982, the contest hardly got an publicity as it is, and Byron never expected it to go on for longer than a month.

So, how does this work?
There are 10 pictures that still need solving. Each one and the accompanying riddle are, together, a map that will lead to the cask location, here is where we run into our first issue. Things have changed considerably in the 3 decades sense the treasure hunt began. When Byron was designing this he didn't expect it to last that long and as such its likely that many of the clues from the riddle may very well be a thing of the past.

The past 2 casks were buried in parks, so for the time being, I'm going to assume that the rest are as well, or you know, at the very least something that was a park 30 years ago.

I'd also like to start an irc and/or not dead wiki for this, but I know next to nothing about setting up or maintaining either so if you do, feel free to PM me, or email me at alltasa@yahoo.com

Information gathered will get updated in a text document for the time being until I find a better/more permanent method for organizing thoughts/idea's/solutions. I'll also post and update a summary post every so often so we don't go in circles.

If you live near/can and don�t mind going to potential locations for picture taking/reference by all means post in the thread and I'll start assembling a list of who is available to go where so were not scrambling after solving something to get to the location.

So let's take a look at one of the examples so we can see what were up against:
Every picture has a number of things in it that are supposed to, when paired with the verse, lead you to the location of the cask. This the the 2004 cask find:

As mentioned above, they also contain a verse(riddle) which we know and in most cases can connect it to a picture but there are still a few that don't appear to have an apparent link, but more on that later.

This is the verse(4) that lead to the cask:
Beneath two countries
As the road curves
In a rectangular plot
Beneath the tenth stone
From right to left
Beneath the ninth row from the top
Of the wall including small bricks
Seven steps up you can hop
From the bottom level
Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
Free speech, couplet, birch
To find casque's destination
Seek the columns
For the search.

Here is the story from 2004 and it explains pretty much everything in the op to this point, think of it as a tldr. It also goes into the specifics of the guy who apparently spent nearly 2 decades searching for a cask.

Anyways, there are clues from the photos, both latitude and longitude and specific clues to the location as well, the verse is the second part meant to zero in on the location.

An interesting note is that sense the casks are ceramic metal detectors cant pick them up, and most of these places are parks so permission might potentially be needed unless you can be persuasive enough to inform the police officers that are asking you why your digging holes in the middle of a city park with a better answer than �a treasure hunt�

This particular cask was found in Cleveland. In the Cleveland cultural gardens. And below is a rough put-together of the notes/clues found in the image that lead him to the cask.

I apologize for the poor quality, I tried combining the fragments from the magazine and apparently there different sizes. If anyone wants to take a better attempt at it I'll swap them out.

Well now that you have a rough idea of the sort of thing were doing I'll post the rest of the pictures and the verse that is supposed to match it!

Cask 1:

The location for this one is San Francisco. The verse for this one is unknown so check the unmatched verse at the bottom and see if there's any way to connect it!

Cask 2:

The location for this one is Charleston, SC
The verse associated is either 5 or 6 (see the list at the bottom)

Cask 3:

The location for this one is thought to be, Roanok island.
Verse 11
Pass two friends of octave
In December
Ride the man of oz
To the land near the window
There's a road that leads to
Dark forest
Where white is in color
With two maps
After circle and square
In July and August
A path beckons
To mica and driftwood
Under that
Which may be last touched
Or first seen standing
Look north at the wing
And dig
To achieve
By dauntless and inconquerable
Determination
Your goal.

Cask 4:
SEE OP

Cask 5:
This is the only other cask that has been found. It was found in Grant Park, in Chicago.
Here is the associated picture:

verse 12
Where M and B are set in stone
And to Congress, R is known
L sits and left
Beyond his shoulder
Is the Fair Folks'
Treasure holder
The end of ten by thirteen
Is your clue
Fence and fixture
Central too
For finding jewel casque
Seek the sounds
Of rumble
Brush and music
Hush.

Cask 6:

The location is thought to be Saint Augustine, FL
Verse 9
The first chapter
Written in water
Near men
With wind rose
Behind bending branches
And a green picket fence
At the base of a tall tree
You can still hear the honking
Shell, limestone, silver, salt
Stars move by day
Sails pass by night
Even in darkness
Like moonlight in teardrops
Over the tall grass
Years pass, rain falls.

Cask 7:

The location for this cask is thought to be, New Orleans.
Verse is 2 or 7, see below.

Cask 8:

The location for this cask is thought to be Houston.
Verse 1
Fortress north
Cold as glass
Friendship south
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There's the spout!
A whistle sounds.

Cask 9:

The location for this cask is either, Montreal or possibly Saint Louis. This is easily the hardest puzzle. The pucture is vague and it is unknown which verse aligns with the picture.

Cask 10:

The Location for this cask is thought to be Milwaukee
Verse 8
View the three stories of Mitchell
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distance in time
From three who lived there
At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
Step on nature
Cast in copper
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass and reach
The foot of the culvert
Below the bridge
Walk 100 paces
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young birch
Pass three, staying west
You'll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone's hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.

Cask 11:

The location for this cask is thought to be, Boston.
Verse 3
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
With metal walls
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
Feel at home
All the letters
Are here to see
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.

Cask 12

The location of this cask is thought to be New York
Verse 10
In the shadow
Of the grey giant
Find the arm that
Extends over the slender path
In summer
You'll often hear a whirring sound
Cars abound
Although the sign
Nearby
Speaks of Indies native
The natives still speak
Of him of Hard word in 3 Vols.
Take twice as many east steps as the hour
Or more
From the middle of one branch
Of the v
Look down
And see simple roots
In rhapsodic man's soil
Or gaze north
Toward the isle of B.
As you might have noticed in the verses there are several spelling errors, I figured they were important so I left them in, and I did my best to preserve the original spacing.

Not used/Not known verse:

Verse 2
At the place where jewels abound
Fifteen rows down to the ground
In the middle of twenty-one
From end to end
Only three stand watch
As the sound of friends
Fills the afternoon hours
Here is a sovereign people
Who build palaces to shelter
Their heads for a night!
Gnomes admire
Fays delight
The namesakes meeting
Near this site.

Verse 5
Lane Two twenty two
You'll see an arc of lights
Weight and roots extended
Together saved the site
Of granite walls
Wind swept halls
Citadel in the night
A wingless bird ascended
Born of ancient dreams of flight
Beneath the only standing member
Of a forest
To the south
White stone closest
At twelve paces
From the west side
Get permission
To dig out.

Verse 6
Of all the romance retold
Men of tales and tunes
Cruel and bold
Seen here
By eyes of old
Stand and listen to the birds
Hear the cool, clear song of water
Harken to the words:
Freedom at the birth of a century
Or May 1913
Edwin and Edwina named after him
Or on the eighth a scene
Where law defended
Between two arms extended
Below the bar that binds
Beside the long palm's shadow
Embedded in the sand
Waits the Fair remuneration
White house close at hand.

Verse 7
At stone wall's door
The air smells sweet
Not far away
High posts are three
Education and Justice
For all to see
Sounds from the sky
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
In jewel's direction
Is an object
Of Twain's attention
Giant pole
Giant step
To the place
The casque is kept.

# ? May 31, 2013 06:15

allta: Mar 28, 2011

Well the wiki is officially dead by the looks of it, I've given the webmaster a decent amount of time to get back to me and he hasn't. Truthfully there isn't much on there that we couldn't figure out in about an hours work, so I'll just improvise a bit.

Here is are all the notes/mock up's of the pictures based on what we know so far. If anything is missing just let me know!

Cask 1

-37 and 38 are that lat.
-122 and 123 long.
-For sure this location is in the golden gate park we just need to narrow down where!
-There's probably something with the moons.
-I'm going to move verse 7 into the second post for cask 1 because it sounds like it fits, let me know though!
-Can someone more familiar with the park(assuming verse 7 is correct) help narrow it down a bit?

Velvet Sparrow posted:

Verse #7 may go with San Francisco. It mentions 'Twain's attention' with 'Twain' capitalized (Mark Twain spent time in San Francisco), that may refer to Calaveras County from his story, 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'. The 'giant pole' may refer to Coit Tower.

In the picture for San Francisco, the post that the rose sits on looks like the shape of something--the Coit Tower or a cannon, possibly referring to The Presidio...?

-Is there possibly a hint or clue around the writting/story within 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'
-Any of the stuff referenced appear around Golden Gate Park?
-Are there any goons willing to go to golden gate park this weekend and take some pictures(lots of pictures?)

gogobunny posted:

Anyway, I got really fixated on that "sweet smell" clue, and the first things that came to mind were either the rose garden in Golden Gate Park, or Ghirardelli Square. Ghirardelli Square has the added bonus of being right across the water from Alcatraz, since I do think that's supposed to be Alcatraz in the background there, plus it's close to several parks. Golden Gate park kinda fits with the Asian motif of the illustration, though, since it's got a Japanese garden and a Chinese style gazebo. Most of the other clues in the verse I have no idea about.

(Golden Gate Park conformation)

auPHE posted:

This is so fascinating. I live nowhere near any of the locations, and I'm poo poo at solving location-based riddles, but I'll be following along!

As far as this goes, I think that Ghirardelli Square makes a huge amount of sense--in addition to having a view of Alcatraz (which many were reminded of by the window in the picture), there's an urban legend (that even I heard about on a short trip there) saying that inmates of Alcatraz could, on particularly windy days, smell chocolate across the water from the square. So I would say it's likely that #1 is buried in either Fort Mason Green or SF Maritime National Historic Park, both located nearby Ghirardelli Square and with a view of Alcatraz.

(location speculation)

Occams taser posted:

Verse 6 is for the one in San Francisco.

(i'm in rhode island, so no chance of me going to look for it, but i digress)

Using the discovered casks as a baseline, it can be assumed that the image COULD include a hidden latitude and longitude for the city. Reading down the column of figures on the right of the dress, we see:

I
II
II

The finger of her right hand divides the boxes below into:

3
7

which results in the coordinates 122 and 37, which are coincidentally the coordinates for San Francisco.

Of all the romance retold
Men of tales and tunes
Cruel and bold
Seen here
By eyes of old

This is a paraphrase of the introduction to Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, which suggests that it is also in SF, as the RLS memorial is in portsmouth square, chinatown (doesn't the oriental looking woman and the dragon in the picture make sense now?).

Stand and listen to the birds
Hear the cool, clear song of water

This could be a description of the spot by the fountain.

Harken to the words:
Freedom at the birth of a century
Or May 1913

These lines recall Lincoln�s Emancipation Proclamation; its legislation to free slaves at the beginning
of a century, and its 50th anniversary celebration in 1913. Looking at the map of Portsmouth square, there's a "Clay st" and a man named Cassius Clay helped draft the proclamation, and assuming this is relative, it could be referencing Clay St.

Edwin and Edwina named after him

The actor Edwin Booth (yes john wilkes booth's brother), whose daughter Edwina was named after him, is commemorated on a nearby plaque at 440 Bush St (the site of the old California Theater). INCIDENTALLY. there's also a plaque commemorating Robert Louis Stevenson (on the house where he lived.)

Or on the eighth a scene
Where law defended

If you follow Clay west, you come to Lafayette Tennis court (�a scene where law defended�) on Octavia (which means eighth).

Embedded in the sand
Waits the Fair remuneration

I'm assuming this is a literal hint as to where the cask is buried.

White house close at hand.

I'm assuming there's a white house nearby.

Did some quick googling to find most of this stuff out, but it makes a shitload of sense.

shoemonkey posted:

Edit: This goes with what occam's taser said above.

From the wiki mentioned in the OP I found this.

http://www.lemontiger.co.uk/images/misc/thesecret/sftrail.pdf

This guy seems to think verse 6 goes with San Francisco, and has a very well thought out explanation pointing to some tennis courts by Lafayette park. I might go check out that park and look around.

That being said, I think it could be verse 7 instead

High posts are three
Education and Justice
For all to see

This part kind of sounds like Civic Center, which has City, State and Federal buildings all next to each other, as well as a law school and a court house.

Is an object
Of Twain's attention
Giant pole
Giant step

Could refer to the Dewey statue in union park, which commemorates the Spanish-American War. Mark Twain was pretty pissed about the Spanish American war, so that could be the connection. There's also a Mark Twain hotel nearby.

Occams taser posted:

this......

- picture of where it's supposed to be

- picture of the surrounding streets (gough street is right near by), the "white" house is actually ON gough street, it looks like.

M42 posted:

Bad news, looks like Lafayette Park in SF was renovated starting last May. Apparently it's not even open to the public yet, opens next weekend.

Cask 2

Adiabatic posted:

Charleston

Fort Sumter?

Cask 3

Strongylocentrotus posted:

Well, here's how I just (as in minutes ago) reached my conclusion about Roanoke being the locale of #3:

Painting on left, satellite shot and map of Roanoke on right.

As for exactly where the cask can be found on the island, that's going to be a lot tougher to work out. Going by what the OP said about these things tending to be in parks, that narrows the possibilities down a bit, and like I said in my first post, my kneejerk reaction is to think it's the Elizabethan Gardens.

Premeditated Toast posted:

I grew up on the Outer Banks, and I think they may in fact be referring to it STARTING at Roanoke Island:

"Verse 11
Pass two friends of octave (The towns of Manteo and Wanchese on the island)
In December
Ride the man of oz (Go over the Washington Baum Bridge)
To the land near the window
There's a road that leads to
Dark forest (Oceanside Drive to Nagshead Woods, our local "haunted forest" park. Oh and look, the armor in the picture is sporting the helmet of an old horse's head!)"

The rest would then seem to indicate specific directions inside the park perhaps (which has indeed changed a lot since the 80's). I don't live there anymore but my sister does, maybe I can get her to scope it out. It could be the Elizabethen Gardens, but the "Ride the Man of Oz" line makes me think otherwise.

Sham I Am posted:

That the first line could be referring to Octave Chanute, who was friends with and helped out the Wright brothers. That would start you at kill devil hills. If that is the case I think you'd be going across the Baum bridge the opposite way than you are saying here, right? If you take The Window in "the land near The Window" to mean the Lost Colony Amphitheater, then it could still be the Elizabethan gardens.

ETA: and this line �From this hallowed ground they walked away through the dark forest and into history.� is apparently on a plaque at the entrance of the gardens.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:

Well spank me silly: this is the lat and Long of Louis Armstrong park:
29.962708,-90.069019

Occams taser posted:

Cask 3
Verse 11

Look north at the wing
And dig

Cask 4
Cask 5
Cask 6

Way Strong Pimphand posted:

So this thread has officially eaten up a majority of my night, but I think I may have finally gotten somewhere with Cask #6.

According to the wiki, the coordinates within the image seem to be placed at 41 or 44 and 82 or 83. These coordinates don't exactly lead to anything significant. I analyzed the picture a bit more and, for me, the coordinates seem to place the cask somewhere in the Florida Keys at 24, 83. More specifically the coordinates lead to Dry Tortugas National Park which, shockingly enough, was first discovered by Ponce de Leon. People can't seem to disassociate de Leon with St. Augustine, which I'm assuming is why people think the cask is hidden somewhere in that area.

The verse containing information about water most likely references the park's nature, which is comprised primarily of water. According to the wiki, the park has been heavily associated with sunken treasure. And drat that tree in the picture can be found everywhere in official park photos.

http://www.nps.gov/akr/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm?id=89404A1F-1DD8-B71C-07C25C8631876288

And while I might be going mad, seeing as it's 4 AM and I'm analyzing a 30 year old buried treasure map, I swear it looks like a turtle and tern appear within the image as well. (both of which are tied to regional wildlife)

Stars move by day
Sails pass by night

Could this be referencing transportation to and from the island? During the daytime: planes (stars move by day) and at night: boats. (sails pass by night) I LITERALLY HAVE NO loving IDEA

I'll work on this more tomorrow.

Cask 7
-Assuming verse 7 aligns with cask 1 in San Francisco, that would mean the verse for this cask would have to be verse 2.
-Assuming verse 2 and assuming Katrina didn't destroy it can we narrow it down a bit more?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:

As for Cask 7, could Preservation in the picture mean Preservation Hall in New Orleans? Located at 726 St Peter St. I'm a bit stumped because verse 7 seems to go better with it than verse 2.

Huh, so typing in that address gets me this latitude and longitude: 29.958199,-90.065488 All numbers that match

Maguro posted:

I would assume New Orleans is verse 7, and that it's hidden somewhere in Armstrong Park. It's the closest "big" park to the river (except for Audobon Park uptown). And because of the mask imagery and the word "Preservation" I think it's close to the French Quarter.

EDIT: Preservation hall is at 726 st. peter St.

I bet the jewel is hidden on the corner of st. peter and N rampart., right where the park starts.

"Preservation Hall. Now that's where you'll find all of the greats." � Louis Armstrong

GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:

Good catch on the tree branches, I also see a "95" or a "957" in the branches just to the right of the ball pillar.

Edit: The park is at Longitude -95.3, but the latitude is 29.7. I'm not sure what the 96 symbolizes.

Cask 8

Disco Nixon posted:

I think the Houston one is referring to Hermann Park. Hermann is the only park with a train which matches up with the riddle. It also has a pond with a fountain that shoots water up. The zoo is nearby, and I think it used to have columns like that around the entrance, but it's gone through many remodels. I can't find a picture of it from the 80s unfortunately. I'm not sure where in the park the treasure would be, I don't know it that well, and don't live in Houston anymore so other Houston goons would have to investigate further.

Edit: I found train 982!!! I think it MUST be in Hermann park.

-This is a distinct possibility, and it would be nice if someone could clarify this!
-Hermann park issues

Nathilus posted:

Good luck finding anything from the 80s by landmark in Hermann Park, though. That's assuming it hasn't been destroyed or made inaccessible by the renovations that have occurred in the meantime. Some kind of archived visual record of the park during that period would be the best you could hope for, and given the area's size I doubt it would be complete. Even learning if that sort of record exists would involve bull-rushing your way past Harris County bureaucracy or having county archives access via professional means. Or, this being Houston we're talking about, perhaps via the Good Old Boy And Money network.

GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:

Are there animals on the monument? From the Houston picture I'm noticing that the camel pillar doesn't have a shadow.

Also could the line

Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night

Be referring to where the shadow of the central tower falls pointing to where to dig? Like some National Treasure poo poo?

Raccoon Leaf posted:

I'm willing to bet that the tower (Pioneer Monument) has something to do with those lines, but here's a picture showing that things have been paved over and that the fountains are a new addition.

If only we could find more old pictures...

-Can anyone in the area or with time on their hands scour for some Older photos?

Raccoon Leaf posted:

Houston, Hermann Park.

(more park pictures)

GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:

Here are all the numbers I can find in the Houston picture so far. 30, -95 are really close to the Houston area so I think we're on the right track. Clicking straight on McGovern Lake at http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html doesn't really help with any of the other numbers.

Looking at this aerial view of McGovern Lake, I was trying to find a leaf that looked similar to it for confirmation. Too bad pretty much every leaf looks similar to it. The Pioneer's Monument is at the right hand side of the picture.

aricoarena posted:

It also looks to me like there is a 2 under that 4.

I'm interested in this one because I'm going to Boston this weekend, and I have an idea. Granted I've never been there before and don't know much about the city. Just going from the Verse, if the MIT Green building is the green tower of lights you could stand facing the water with the steps of Morss hall at your back. Morss Hall's address is 142, but I'm only confident that there are a 4 and a 2 in the picture, and that's really the only relation I could find to it. On second though there are balls on top of the Green Building, I'm having trouble finding out when they were put on the building.

Street view of the steps to Morss Hall https://maps.google.com/maps?q=mit+green+building&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&ei=EM2oUcTJOrXA4API-4H4Bw&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAg

Picture of Green Building Looking kind of tower-ish with balls on top.

Cask 9

ChesterJT posted:

Seems really clear from that wiki that #9 is St Louis and Verse #2 would go with it referring to the Jewel Box in Forest Park.

MassaShowtime posted:

I'm pretty sure the Montreal one is somewhere in Fletcher's Field or at the base of Mount Royal if its paired with Verse 2. The image has the Montreal Flower in it, refers to Pie IX station (the square with PX1), and if you count that to the end of the green line (21 stops) you get off basically at Mount Royal. The Mount Stephen club has the same weird statue as on the pope dude as well which is right outside the same station. The three stand watch could refer to the three peaks, and the sound of friends in the afternoon would be the tam tam players that surround the George Etienne Cartier statue. The palace could refer to the Crystal Palace that was in Fletcher's Field. I just can't figure out what the gnomes and fays are about but its been a while since I've been there.

-Cask 9 is very vague, it could be either at this point im just going to leave both here.

stab posted:

not really possible for the 21 stop thing as you need to transfer at berri for that and technically it can go in any direction. the gnomes thing might have something to do with la parc olympique or botanical gardens, who had a gnomes display in 1983.

(more speculation)

Tesa Fox posted:

Hi Just thought I'd drop a note saying that I full support this but will probably not be able to help much sadly. I will say that I'm more inclined to think the Montreal / St. Louis in in St. Louis as otherwise it would be the only one outside of the US. not much reason I know, just my gut feeling on it.

Also I'm going to see if I can find out if my family has any 1980's pictures of these areas though I doubt since we weren't traveling a lot then. Might be a good idea for anyone with family in those areas in or with families traveling in the 80's to see if we can get some old photo's of those areas.

Cask 10

Abugadu posted:

More info on the Milwaukee one:

http://www.lemontiger.co.uk/images/misc/thesecret/milwaukee.pdf

Will transcribe when I get a chance. And thanks!

Neutrino posted:

I don't think the interpretation of Mitchell is correct. I would guess the Domes - Mitchell Park.

(More Speculation)
Cask 11

Reciprocator posted:

Green tower of lights in the middle section - The Green Monster at Fenway Park
"Feel at home" - Reference to "Dirty Water" by the Standells?
Eighteenth day, Twelfth hour, lit by lamplight - Paul Revere at midnight before the battle of Lexington and Concord (April 19th 1775)
You can also easily see the letters (the large S on woven into the design on the woman's skirt). I'm not sure if that's a b at the top of the circular stone arch or a flag.
Does her hair show the outline of the waterfront? Not sure.
The gem is an emerald - the emerald necklace series of parks in Boston

It also looks like that might be a tiny shamrock inside the fairy's wings.

Edit: Also, check out the (Boston) Globe helpfully included in the image.

-stuff to consider for boston:

got dat wmd posted:

If that Boston location really is in Boston, I don't see it existing anymore because of the Big Dig. All them green and tower things make me think of the torn down elevated T and 'colosseum' possibly being the old Boston Garden, which is now a parking light. Even Fenway is under construction right now, so who knows.

Rondette posted:

Ok, I think cask 11 is possibly in COPLEY SQUARE

If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon

Going by that Lemontiger's reasoning RE the names above the library

Thucydides is above Xenophon- posibly meaning North?

Take five steps
In the area of his direction
A green tower of lights
In the middle section

I don't know

Near Those
Who pass the coliseum

[i]With metal walls
Just next to Cobley Square.
Face the water

[i]Your back to the stairs
Feel at home
All the letters
Are here to see

Boston Library. And Stairs.

Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.

...look who painted Paul Revere......????!?!?!

Possible clues from the painting
The building next to the library could pass for a stylised version of what is on that box she's holding..

OOh and look, that cuff is also suspiciously like a bit of the road next to the library

The Falcon could refer to the 'Black Falcon Cruise Terminal' which is nearby.

...there is also a small fountain and grassy area inside the library that might have something to do with it? That square at the top of the arch is bothering me.

Does that top square represent the library court?

Anyway I am in the UK and have looked at all this with Google maps and stuff so I don't know....it all seems quite plausible to me. From what I've read Copley Square has had a lot of refurbishing done so the casket (if there at all) may be under concrete by now.

M42 posted:

Oh, also, regarding Boston - I lived there since 99 and they haven't done anything to the copley square park since at least then. However, I wouldn't recommend someone go dig around and look suspicious in that area for a long time.

Cask 12

SteeVeeDee posted:

For the new york one: The Bird in the illustration, I think, is an eagle ornament from the Chrystler Building, which could be the "gray giant" referred to in the verse. However, the lower left panel also shows something like rectangular monolith, which means the "gray giant" could also be one of the old World Trade Towers (previously the grayest and squarest of all buildings in New York).

Edit: The Island of B could be Staten Island.

(more specualation)

Pepslexic posted:

Seems to be what makes these so tricky, so many interpretations. I'm getting a Queens vibe from this. For one, Staten Island would never be north unless your referring to Grant's Tomb. However the Broad Channel Island is north of Jamaica in queens, which would be the
"Cars abound
Although the sign
Nearby
Speaks of Indies natives"
Queens is also full of Greek Orthadox, with the only church being St. Demetrios south of the botanical gardens. I'd assume the grey arms would be part of the World's Fair exhibit left over, but kinda eh on that.

100YrsofAttitude posted:

The Indies mention in the New York riddle made me think Jamaica, Queens for two reasons. First, the real Jamaica is in the West Indies and second the name of the area in Queens is actually comes from an indigenous (Indian in less pc terms) for Beaver. I'm trying to figure out the Island of B but I don't see why it'd be Staten Island.

If I was still in Connecticut I would've totally gone to NYC for this but I'm too far at the moment.

Just previewed and I agree with Pepslexic

Dreddlocks posted:

I'm probably totally off the mark but perhaps the New York verse could refer to somewhere around the Verrazano-Narrows bridge? It extends over a slender (narrow) path. The bridge is supported by two massive grey towers. Giovanni Verrazano explored the West Indies. If you look north you would see the Manhattan island? Maybe that's the isle of B ?

e: Maybe Fort Wadsworth?

Kingnothing posted:

If we go by the park theory....

There are lots of arches here!

Washington Square park is just about the most famous arched park in the City.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Park

It also happens to have a very famous tree (one of the oldest in NYC) that has a branch hanging out over a small side path.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman%27s_Elm

"Find the arm that
Extends over the slender path"

The entire park (especially near that tree) is encircled by fairly heavily trafficked roads.

"In summer You'll often hear a whirring sound Cars abound"

Oh, I almost forgot! The park used to be a burial ground, thought to be a native American burial ground.

"Speaks of Indies native
The natives still speak"

I haven't gotten a chance to look more closely at the arch, but I bet if this is the place some of the art would be referenced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Square_Arch

I do live right near this park. So if anyone gets ideas, I can hop on over.

Edit:

This looks suspiciously like the three towers in the tiny image near the top...

There's also a very popular fountain that people like to go into during the summer.

Oyak posted:

That was an interesting idea for Verse 10...personally, I think the New York box is in Battery Park for a few reasons: one is that it was in the shadow of the World Trade Center (the grey giant), and the other is that it's next to the American Indian Museum (the reference to the Indians). Not quite sure how to place the box now that the WTC has been gone for 10 years, though. Also, if you look North from Battery Park, you will see Brooklyn (the Isle of B?).

Kingnothing posted:

While Brooklyn is on an island, it is not an island by itself. That would be Long Island.

But..

There does seem to be a small island located off the coast near battery park that is part of Brooklyn.

It's called Governor's Island. The Battery Park tunnel runs right next to it.

Edit: Well according to Google Maps the address is in brooklyn, but according to wikipedia it's part of Manhattan.

And if it was supposed to be the WTC, wouldn't it be grey giants?

Verse 2
-It's a distinct possibility the either Cask 9(Montreal) or Cask 7(New Orleans) line up with this verse. Can any goons confirm one or the other? Also if cask 7 isn't Verse 2 what's the 3rd possibility?

allta fucked around with this message at 23:22 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 06:16

Chinatown: Sep 11, 2001; by Fluffdaddy; Fun Shoe

drat, I need to watch The Ninth Gate again.

# ? May 31, 2013 06:20

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

This looks really cool and I'll be following it but I took a look at those riddles and those pictures and my brain pretty much went "nope NOPE gently caress that."

# ? May 31, 2013 06:21

Way Strong Pimphand: Feb 19, 2010

This just has me excited beyond words. I'll be checking out the St. Augustine riddle myself within the coming weeks. (even if I have no idea what the riddle or corresponding picture actually represent :shrug:

)

e:
I'm pretty sure this might be tied to Ponce de Leon and The Fountain of Youth, so in keeping up with the park suggestion I'll be hitting up the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park first.

Wiki for a little bit of info.

Way Strong Pimphand fucked around with this message at 06:55 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 06:35

Inevitable: Jul 27, 2007; by Ralp

Well, I give up.

# ? May 31, 2013 06:37

a bone to pick: Sep 14, 2011; by FactsAreUseless

I'm in love with all of those pictures.

# ? May 31, 2013 06:40

Shooting Blanks: Jun 6, 2007; Real bullets mess up how cool this thing looks.

-Blade

Did you mean Houston for Cask #8? And how do people know which verse lines up with which picture?

Edit: And why do people assume #8 is Houston?

Shooting Blanks fucked around with this message at 06:51 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 06:48

Devyl: Mar 27, 2005; It slices!

It dices!

It makes Julienne fries!

If there WAS one in New Orleans, I'm willing to bet Katrina got to it

# ? May 31, 2013 06:53

Mnemosyne: Jun 11, 2002; There's no safe way to put a cat in a paper bag!!

In the one that's supposed to be New York, one element of the picture appears to be a Russian Orthodox church, but it's not like New York has a shortage of those.

# ? May 31, 2013 07:36

Velvet Sparrow: May 15, 2006; 'Hope' is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune, without the words, and never stops--at all.

Verse #7 may go with San Francisco. It mentions 'Twain's attention' with 'Twain' capitalized (Mark Twain spent time in San Francisco), that may refer to Calaveras County from his story, 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'. The 'giant pole' may refer to Coit Tower.

In the picture for San Francisco, the post that the rose sits on looks like the shape of something--the Coit Tower or a cannon, possibly referring to The Presidio...?

# ? May 31, 2013 07:41

hypoallergenic cat breed: Dec 16, 2010

I think the Houston one is referring to Hermann Park. Hermann is the only park with a train which matches up with the riddle. It also has a pond with a fountain that shoots water up. The zoo is nearby, and I think it used to have columns like that around the entrance, but it's gone through many remodels. I can't find a picture of it from the 80s unfortunately. I'm not sure where in the park the treasure would be, I don't know it that well, and don't live in Houston anymore so other Houston goons would have to investigate further.

Edit: I found train 982!!! I think it MUST be in Hermann park.

hypoallergenic cat breed fucked around with this message at 07:55 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 07:42

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Devyl posted:

If there WAS one in New Orleans, I'm willing to bet Katrina got to it

Yeah, I wonder how many of these have been effectively removed from an average person's reach? How many are paved over or have just sunk 100s of feet below where they started due to weather/seismological events or whatever?

If he buried the ones found in parks maybe he thought about that beforehand and only put them in places he was reasonably sure would remain diggable. I don't know how he'd predict earthquakes or stuff like that though.

# ? May 31, 2013 07:47

Highbrow Slick: Jul 1, 2007; it is a fool who stays alive - but such fools are we.

DO. NOT. SEEK. THE TREASURE.

# ? May 31, 2013 07:49

ChesterJT: Dec 28, 2003; Mounty Pumper's Flying Circus

Megadace posted:

I'm in love with all of those pictures.

Seriously, that's some awesome artwork. But yeah also curious what the format of the original book or whatever was if they weren't lined up picture/verse/picture/verse/etc. And what is it that is helping people tie pictures to verses?

Edit: Found some pdfs of the book and I see it now.

ChesterJT fucked around with this message at 07:59 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 07:49

DUNCAN DONUTS: Mar 27, 2010; by XyloJW

Disco Nixon posted:

I think the Houston one is referring to Herman Park. Herman is the only park with a train which matches up with the riddle. It also has a pond with a fountain that shoots water up. The zoo is nearby, and I think it used to have columns like that around the entrance, but it's gone through many remodels. I can't find a picture of it from the 80s unfortunately. I'm not sure where in the park the treasure would be, I don't know it that well, and don't live in Houston anymore so other Houston goons would have to investigate further.

I live near the park, and I would be willing to take a stroll there Saturday. How long has that train been running? I'd like to figure out what "982" signifies, too. And does that look like a "96" in the tree branches to anyone else? Far right edge of the picture, at the very low end of the tree limb.

# ? May 31, 2013 07:52

Abugadu: Jul 12, 2004; 1st Sgt. Matthews and the men have Procured for me a cummerbund from a traveling gypsy, who screeched Victory shall come at a Terrible price. i am Honored.

More info on the Milwaukee one:

http://www.lemontiger.co.uk/images/misc/thesecret/milwaukee.pdf

# ? May 31, 2013 07:53

DUNCAN DONUTS: Mar 27, 2010; by XyloJW

Soother Pacific engine 982 dedicated at Herman park. Holy poo poo!

# ? May 31, 2013 08:00

hypoallergenic cat breed: Dec 16, 2010

That train has been moved to Minute Maid park, it would be good to know where it used to be.

# ? May 31, 2013 08:00

Strongylocentrotus: Jan 24, 2007; Nab him, jab him, tab him, grab him - stop that pigeon NOW!

Cask 3 clarification question: the map you posted at the top indicates Kill Devil Hills as the supposed site, but in your second post you say it is thought to be on Roanoke Island. There's a pretty significant difference between the two places, and it would help to know which one people think it is and why.

e: Assuming it is indeed supposed to be in Roanoke and not Kill Devil Hills, then

Verse 11 posted:

There's a road that leads to
Dark forest
Where white is in color
With two maps

May refer to the colonist and artist John White, who made maps of the Roanoke area.

e2: Okay, it's Roanoke, not Kill Devil Hills. There's a silhouette of Roanoke Island in the stones to the right of the armored man. Given that plus the white carnation imagery, I suspect that the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo may be the site. Part of the garden has a "circle and a square" with a path that leads from it to the coast - that is, presumably to driftwood. No idea what the "mica" is, though.

Strongylocentrotus fucked around with this message at 08:49 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 08:03

ChesterJT: Dec 28, 2003; Mounty Pumper's Flying Circus

Seems really clear from that wiki that #9 is St Louis and Verse #2 would go with it referring to the Jewel Box in Forest Park.

# ? May 31, 2013 08:10

Number_6: Jul 23, 2006; BAN ALL GAS GUZZLERS

(except for mine); Pillbug

Velvet Sparrow posted:

Verse #7 may go with San Francisco. It mentions 'Twain's attention' with 'Twain' capitalized (Mark Twain spent time in San Francisco), that may refer to Calaveras County from his story, 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'. The 'giant pole' may refer to Coit Tower.

In the picture for San Francisco, the post that the rose sits on looks like the shape of something--the Coit Tower or a cannon, possibly referring to The Presidio...?

I can't add anything to the interpretation of Verse #7, but as a mere tourist to San Francisco several times, something about the image for Cask 1 just shouts "Coit Tower" or "Alcatraz" to me.

# ? May 31, 2013 08:11

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

How do you know what city goes with each picture? Was that part of the book? The map at the top just says confident.

# ? May 31, 2013 08:30

Sucrose: Dec 9, 2009

What are the reasons people are confident they've matched up the pictures with a city? Is it just from latitude/longitude coordinates hidden in each one? Like, how do you get "Boston" out of #11?

Sucrose fucked around with this message at 08:41 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 08:37

Sucrose: Dec 9, 2009

Number_6 posted:

I can't add anything to the interpretation of Verse #7, but as a mere tourist to San Francisco several times, something about the image for Cask 1 just shouts "Coit Tower" or "Alcatraz" to me.

If the city is definitely San Francisco, then that's got to be Alcatraz referenced in the picture. Unless the only reason people think it's San Francisco is because of that background image. *shrug*

# ? May 31, 2013 08:40

Strongylocentrotus: Jan 24, 2007; Nab him, jab him, tab him, grab him - stop that pigeon NOW!

Sucrose posted:

What are the reasons people are confident they've matched up the pictures with a city? Is it just from latitude/longitude coordinates hidden in each one?

Well, here's how I just (as in minutes ago) reached my conclusion about Roanoke being the locale of #3:

Painting on left, satellite shot and map of Roanoke on right.

As for exactly where the cask can be found on the island, that's going to be a lot tougher to work out. Going by what the OP said about these things tending to be in parks, that narrows the possibilities down a bit, and like I said in my first post, my kneejerk reaction is to think it's the Elizabethan Gardens.

# ? May 31, 2013 08:48

Mandaryn: Sep 4, 2004; COCK SNAKE!

Number_6 posted:

I can't add anything to the interpretation of Verse #7, but as a mere tourist to San Francisco several times, something about the image for Cask 1 just shouts "Coit Tower" or "Alcatraz" to me.

This is what I'm thinking too... I live across the bay from SF.

The pedestal that the rose is on looks very lamp-post ish... Or possibly the watch tower on Alcatraz?

Mandaryn fucked around with this message at 09:04 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 08:59

Devyl: Mar 27, 2005; It slices!

It dices!

It makes Julienne fries!

Another little thought about the picture for cask 7... It's the only one without a gemstone in the picture.

# ? May 31, 2013 09:15

Way Strong Pimphand: Feb 19, 2010

So this thread has officially eaten up a majority of my night, but I think I may have finally gotten somewhere with Cask #6.

According to the wiki, the coordinates within the image seem to be placed at 41 or 44 and 82 or 83. These coordinates don't exactly lead to anything significant. I analyzed the picture a bit more and, for me, the coordinates seem to place the cask somewhere in the Florida Keys at 24, 83. More specifically the coordinates lead to Dry Tortugas National Park which, shockingly enough, was first discovered by Ponce de Leon. People can't seem to disassociate de Leon with St. Augustine, which I'm assuming is why people think the cask is hidden somewhere in that area.

The verse containing information about water most likely references the park's nature, which is comprised primarily of water. According to the wiki, the park has been heavily associated with sunken treasure. And drat that tree in the picture can be found everywhere in official park photos.

http://www.nps.gov/akr/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm?id=89404A1F-1DD8-B71C-07C25C8631876288

And while I might be going mad, seeing as it's 4 AM and I'm analyzing a 30 year old buried treasure map, I swear it looks like a turtle and tern appear within the image as well. (both of which are tied to regional wildlife)

Stars move by day
Sails pass by night

Could this be referencing transportation to and from the island? During the daytime: planes (stars move by day) and at night: boats. (sails pass by night) I LITERALLY HAVE NO loving IDEA

I'll work on this more tomorrow. :effort:

Way Strong Pimphand fucked around with this message at 09:24 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 09:17

Son of Thunderbeast: Sep 21, 2002

These would make amazing Dixit cards.

# ? May 31, 2013 09:25

UrbanLabyrinth: Jan 28, 2009; When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence; College Slice

Devyl posted:

Another little thought about the picture for cask 7... It's the only one without a gemstone in the picture.

I think the gemstone is the half-circle above the XII.

UrbanLabyrinth fucked around with this message at 09:38 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 09:34

MeLKoR: Dec 23, 2004; by FactsAreUseless

Strongylocentrotus posted:

No idea what the "mica" is, though.

Probably the mineral.

# ? May 31, 2013 09:36

olaf2022: Feb 19, 2003; Fun Shoe

The cryptic clues contained within the imagery and the real, valuable prizes kinda remind me of Atari's SwordQuest contest from back in the early 80's. The AVGN did a neat episode about it, if anyone hasn't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWltQ9UN5vE&t=54s

# ? May 31, 2013 09:42

Reciprocator: Jun 26, 2002; You're not taking drugs are you? I only ask because there is a zero-tolerance policy on the island, and I wouldn't want you to have to punch yourself in the face.

Sucrose posted:

What are the reasons people are confident they've matched up the pictures with a city? Is it just from latitude/longitude coordinates hidden in each one? Like, how do you get "Boston" out of #11?

quote:

If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
With metal walls
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
Feel at home
All the letters
Are here to see
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.

Green tower of lights in the middle section - The Green Monster at Fenway Park
"Feel at home" - Reference to "Dirty Water" by the Standells?
Eighteenth day, Twelfth hour, lit by lamplight - Paul Revere at midnight before the battle of Lexington and Concord (April 19th 1775)
You can also easily see the letters (the large S on woven into the design on the woman's skirt). I'm not sure if that's a b at the top of the circular stone arch or a flag.
Does her hair show the outline of the waterfront? Not sure.
The gem is an emerald - the emerald necklace series of parks in Boston

It also looks like that might be a tiny shamrock inside the fairy's wings.

Edit: Also, check out the (Boston) Globe helpfully included in the image.

Reciprocator fucked around with this message at 09:47 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 09:42

gogobunny: Mar 31, 2005; going places

I also live across the bay from SF so I'm really interested in #1. Plus it looks like it's supposed to be the June one and that's my birth month, so it's doubly attractive to me.

Anyway, I got really fixated on that "sweet smell" clue, and the first things that came to mind were either the rose garden in Golden Gate Park, or Ghirardelli Square. Ghirardelli Square has the added bonus of being right across the water from Alcatraz, since I do think that's supposed to be Alcatraz in the background there, plus it's close to several parks. Golden Gate park kinda fits with the Asian motif of the illustration, though, since it's got a Japanese garden and a Chinese style gazebo. Most of the other clues in the verse I have no idea about.

# ? May 31, 2013 10:00

gogobunny: Mar 31, 2005; going places

UrbanLabyrinth posted:

I think the gemstone is the half-circle above the XII.

Kinda looks like a turquoise, and a quick wiki-ing tells me that's associated with December, and the flower for December is a narcissus, which looks like what's on the clock there.

# ? May 31, 2013 10:04

3 DONG HORSE: May 22, 2008; I'd like to thank Satan for everything he's done for this organization

Alcatraz Gardens on Angel Island maybe? I have no idea if that was a park back then but it fits the picture. Dragon (immigration), rose (garden), big rear end island (Angel Island), towers (missile batteries, watch towers, etc). Rocks in the back over the horizon could be the SF skyline as seen from across the bay.

Edit: my phone hosed up.

I'm looking at the little blue blob to the left of the lady's head in the SF pic...does anyone else feel like that's supposed to be an outline? I can't place it even though my dumb brain keeps thinking "Blue Park" (hurr)

3 DONG HORSE fucked around with this message at 10:28 on May 31, 2013

# ? May 31, 2013 10:19

Nathilus: Apr 4, 2002; I alone can see through the media bias.

I'm also stupid on a scale that can only be measured in Reddits.

I love those illustrations. They're like tarot cards with the meanings obscured, symbols without the requisite means to decipher them. That combined with the 80s fantasy art kitsch is just awesome. The fact that they hold the key to a real if manufactured and mostly defunct mystery makes them incredibly tasty, as well.

Good luck finding anything from the 80s by landmark in Hermann Park, though. That's assuming it hasn't been destroyed or made inaccessible by the renovations that have occurred in the meantime. Some kind of archived visual record of the park during that period would be the best you could hope for, and given the area's size I doubt it would be complete. Even learning if that sort of record exists would involve bull-rushing your way past Harris County bureaucracy or having county archives access via professional means. Or, this being Houston we're talking about, perhaps via the Good Old Boy And Money network.

# ? May 31, 2013 10:24

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# ? Oct 13, 2024 11:32

Darude - Adam Sandstorm: Aug 16, 2012

I'm pretty sure the Montreal one is somewhere in Fletcher's Field or at the base of Mount Royal if its paired with Verse 2. The image has the Montreal Flower in it, refers to Pie IX station (the square with PX1), and if you count that to the end of the green line (21 stops) you get off basically at Mount Royal. The Mount Stephen club has the same weird statue as on the pope dude as well which is right outside the same station. The three stand watch could refer to the three peaks, and the sound of friends in the afternoon would be the tam tam players that surround the George Etienne Cartier statue. The palace could refer to the Crystal Palace that was in Fletcher's Field. I just can't figure out what the gnomes and fays are about but its been a while since I've been there.

# ? May 31, 2013 10:36

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Ghoulish Boo-shit > Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

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