Grand Poobah posted:

Found this thread interesting despite me not being in a position to give much advice. I figured I would take a look at one of them, and see if I could make any connections. Maybe it spurs some thought...

New York, Verse 10

I zeroed in on Bryant Park. Unfortunately, I think it was completely dug up in the 80's, so the treasure would be gone, but maybe the clues pointed there. Bryant Park is on top of/next to the New York Public Library.

Here is a photo of the library with the New York image superimposed, the dimensions of the image appear to match the arches on the front of the library


"Shadow of the grey giant" - The park is 7 blocks north of the Empire State Building

Other stuff, that is a big stretch
-poem could be taken to referencing William Cullen Bryant or other subjects of statues in the park

einTier posted:

It would seem safe to say that this verse matches with the New Orleans, Louisiana picture.

Guuse posted:

This horse is literally running north. Follow it to the cask!

quote:

Andrew Jackson was the name of the dog that Jim Smiley had...His name, of course, reminds us of the seventh American president of the same name.

Nesetril posted:

Let's go over the current consensus for verse matchings. So, wait... nothing changed in 50 pages?

code:

CASK  CITY            MONTH   VERSE      BEGINS
C1  - San Francisco   JUN     5,6,7
C2  - Charleston      APR     5,6,7
C3  - Roanoke         JAN     11         Pass two friends of octave
C4  - Cleveland       MAR     4          Beneath two countries
C5  - Chicago         MAY     12         Where M and B are set in stone
C6  - St. Augustine   SEP     9          The first chapter
C7  - New Orleans     DEC     2,7          
C8  - Houston         JUL     1          Fortress north
C9  - Montreal        OCT     5,6,7
C10 - Milwaukee       FEB     8          View the three stories of Mitchell
C11 - Boston          AUG     3          If Thucydides is
C12 - NYC             NOV     10         In the shadow


unmatched
2             At the place where jewels abound
5             Lane Two twenty two
6             Of all the romance retold
7             At stone wall's door

xie posted:

edit: It's pouring today, but I'll see what I can do about getting over to Cambridge Common Park.

Guuse posted:

Autumn2May posted:

NYC

I was thinking. If we have the right picture for NYC, maybe the window at the top is a map. The top panes look like long blocks. So maybe there is a church on one block, something rectangular on another, maybe something with a clock on the bottom right, and the something to do with the lady next to it? Then once you find where that area is you use the verse to narrow in on where the box is buried?

stab posted:

there was a turkish protest (wtf) outside the church so didnt feel like going around there too much.

homullus posted:

I did a quick forum search but maybe did it wrong. Has anyone pointed out that those look like runes?

xie posted:

I'm at work today in the square, so if you get over there this morning you'll probably beat me anyway.

einTier posted:

It would seem safe to say that this verse matches with the New Orleans, Louisiana picture.

GWBBQ posted:

I've gone over street maps and historical imagery as far back as I can for NYC and just about every city in the US with a significant Russian-American population; I haven't found anything past a vague resemblance, especially going on the assumption that the irregularities in the panels behind the bird are significant.

No idea why it would be outside the church, but this is why
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3552249

Yes, it's been discussed repeatedly.

HoboZero posted:

If you're posting from work and you work right on the square, there's only a couple buildings that have offices and I'm one of them right now... Just curious if you might work for a certain publishing company.

Neutrino posted:

The quickest way to get shut down and/or arrested is to start digging 3-foot deep trenches in parks. I would hope everyone is going to get the location narrowed down to a few feet, do some test probes and then make a subtle hole until they are absolutely sure the box is there.

When people get to that stage, a good cover will be with a metal detector. Most people don't pay too much attention to some guy with a metal detector looking for pennies in the public park. Another good cover is wearing a safety vest and with a few small seedlings and shovel. You might be able to dig a good sized hole in a park if it looks like you are planting a tree in the hole. If you generally look like a parks employee and have a matching cover story you should be able to dig in broad daylight with a steady stream of passersby without anybody questioning you. Answering any questions by saying you are looking for treasure is most likely going to draw an unwelcome crowd.

einTier posted:

Because everyone is so interested in the "aquamarine" jewel, here's what the finder of the Cleveland cask had to say about it over at Q4T:

Egbert posted:

When Siskel and I finally met BP, he ended up taking us to the bank vault in NYC where the jewels were kept. He also said the solutions to the puzzle were in the same drawer.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

WHERE WOULD THESE "SOLUTIONS" BE NOW, PRAY TELL???

Strongylocentrotus posted:

Any news on Roanoke? That feels like the one we're closest to finding, just need to get some brave soul on the ground to start rooting around for it.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

I'm pretty sure the owner(s) of the land you dig at can legally claim to have ownership of anything you dig up if you don't have the proper permit to dig there. Meaning that if your name ends up in a newspaper for finding a cask, you could be sued by the landowner for theft of property, or otherwise be forced to give it over to someone else. If you do your digging at a public place, you could also be sued by the city/park owners/etc. for damage of public property, meaning that you might be forced to pay a fine or spend a night in the clink or something.

joshtothemaxx posted:

I'm convinced the Roanoke one is buried next to one of the ends of the Lost Colony playhouse. I'm in Tennessee though and have no idea when I'll get to go and break some laws digging up their property. Maybe I'll just plan an OBX vacation.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

WHERE WOULD THESE "SOLUTIONS" BE NOW, PRAY TELL???

Bloke posted:

Great I can forget audubon park.

http://goo.gl/maps/3dHGO

The place where jewels abound has a park called harlequin park, that figure in the clock is a harlequin.

I have a feeling this is going to involve reading up on gemology.

Maguro posted:

That park is waaaaay on the other side of town. There is no way it's hidden there. It's not even a notable or large park.

einTier posted:

The "absent-minded professor" Preiss lost them at some point. He thought they were in the vault, but they weren't. He assumed them must be in the closet at home. His widow says she didn't find anything.

Still, that doesn't mean they don't exist. Too bad she won't let a bunch of internet goons go treasure hunting in her house. It's gotta be easier than figuring out these puzzles.

Very Nice Eraser posted:

Cask 6 / Saint Augustine

Today I spoke with John Fraser, the owner of the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park property, who has owned the grounds since the 80s and is very familiar with The Secret.

First, the bad news. He has had people inquiring about The Secret on and off since the 80s. Many people have come with probes and gone over every interesting part of the park over the years. The most promising sites were investigated with metal detectors and quite a bit of official digging was even conducted in the exact area I suggested, back when they happened to be doing some pipe work nearby. Nothing has ever been found.

Now the worse news. In recent times he has only had two people nicely ask permission to explore/dig: myself and somebody else. Many other people have showed up unannounced, without permission, and started tearing up the ground. This is a problem, because the site has actual historical artifacts, including Indian remains. Additionally, the park borders residential property and neighbors complained about folks sneaking around. It got bad enough that the park had to spend a lot of money installing security cameras and hiring a night watchman, but people still show up. Therefore he will not be granting anyone permission to probe or dig in the near future.

Finally, some good news. Given his familiarity with the park and The Secret, he says he is 99% sure he knows where the cask is buried. He may at some point try digging in that area, if he decides its not a risk to the grounds or any historical artifacts. If so, he said he'll give me word so I can come participate.

Additionally, I asked him if he'd be willing to put together a short write-up on the effort he's put into it for this thread, so that (1) we can more-or-less put Cask 6 to bed, and (2) to discourage folks from doing illicit digging. He said he'd be happy to, and I'm going to follow up with him via email. Does anyone have any specific questions they want me to pass on to him?

einTier posted:

One of my friends is a trained, college educated archeologist. I can say they aren't well paid and work is scarce. If ensuring a "proper" dig in the area he suspects is the only thing holding him back, I can't imagine that we couldn't put together a fund to send someone out there to oversee it.

Plus, if it could be found, that would stop everyone from digging in his park entirely.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

Ask him if I can come along with you. I can even bring some equipment and/or help you guys pay for gas if you want.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

If my name is mentioned in an article saying I found one cask and assisted in finding another, I might be able to put that poo poo on my resume.


"Yeah so these riddles were going unsolved for like three decades and so I just kinda like solved one and helped out on another in like 2 weeks cuz I'm creamy smooth like that, no big deal no big whoop also I can start tomorrow."

Peenigrippe posted:

Even if Dr. Gitmo does have a spiffy resume (complete with a successful Secret find) to apply working for Capt. Jack Sparrow as a treasure-finderer, I think the pirate industry tends to go off references when considering applicants.

TotalHell posted:

I suppose you could, but I think this is supposed to be fun, not resume-building.

Bloke posted:

Great I can forget audubon park.

http://goo.gl/maps/3dHGO

The place where jewels abound has a park called harlequin park, that figure in the clock is a harlequin.

Very Nice Eraser posted:

awesome info

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

If my name is mentioned in an article saying I found one cask and assisted in finding another, I might be able to put that poo poo on my resume.

Pick posted:

You should sell it to him as a way to stop unauthorized diggers. Find the cask and they'll have no reason to come back.