Here's my disclaimer- this diary really has nothing to do with politics. Over it? Moving on...
For those not familiar with the Herald Hunt, it's a giant multi-part puzzle created by Dave Barry for the express purpose of driving everyone who takes part in it completely MAD.
The diary I wrote yesterday detailed a play-along-at-home version of the Hunt. If you haven't read that one yet, go do so now. I'll wait. Seriously, unless you do, this diary won't make any sense at all.
Done? Are you stumped? Then join me over the fold for a review of how each puzzle was solved, and how the endgame was played out.
The first puzzle was the Unity Party polititians, who were all exhorting players to reject the extreme left and the extreme right and find real solutions in the center. The trick here was to read the signs, not seperately, but continuously, and find the hidden message written in the center.
74 - 9 = 65
* * * * *
The second puzzle was the signs and the Do-Re-Mi song. Did you figure out the phone number and get your prize redemption code? Read this comment, if you missed it.
Okay, so what do you do with the 927 prize code, then? Go back to your telephone dial.
9 = LA
2 = FA
7 = RE
LA FA RE, or, LA fare. Remember the ad for the J. Andrews Travel Agency? (And do you think it would be safe to guess that the "J" stands for Julie, wink wink?)
What's the fare to LA? 385
* * * * *
This next puzzle was the toughest. I don't think ANYBODY got this one. Seriously. Nobody actually won the Hunt this year until Dave Barry started giving out the solutions to the five starter puzzles. Here's how it worked.
At K-5, you were given a small hand.
At D-4.5, you were asked to give a big hand.
On the map, there were two tiny roman numerals.
And, as any child might tell you, when the small hand is on the six, and the big hand is on the twelve, it's 6 o'clock.
6
If at this point you're thinking of great places to hide Dave Barry's body, I know a few thousand irate Hunters that would all be willing to lend you a shovel.
* * * * *
The concert only made sense if you actually knew which songs were playing, and if you could decipher the odd occurances at the end.
First, a saxiphone played "Sixteen Tons"
Then, a tuba played "Three Blind Mice"
Then, a trumpet played "Eight Days A Week"
Then, a clarinet played "When I'm Sixty-Four"
Then, a trombone played "Seventy-Six Trombones"
At the last, a sheep flew over the band and said "Baa" twice, and a woman named Claire got netted.
Two Baa's and a Claire-net. Tuba and Clarinet. 364 was the answer.
* * * * *
On to the ING Marathon, where K came in first place, BL came in second, and FL came in third. How many people got KING, BLING, FLING? Good! How many knew where to go from there?
That's right, back to the J. Andrews Travel Agency. Weren't they offering some nifty package trips? Which one of them was for the King's Bling Fling?
A date is a number, too- December 8th gave you 128
* * * * *
So, to sum up, here are the five puzzle solutions and their matching clues as listed in the Herald Hunt puzzle section, in numerical order:
- Magnetism, as you recall from physics class, is a powerful force that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators.
- I'm astounded you think you can find unending Nirvana when you can't even find your way around Opa-Locka.
- The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.
- You're a resourceful person, but you don't understand how thoroughly you upset people when you cause trouble. If you would only use common sense instead of continually -- and quite obviously -- confusing the issue by pushing for useless solutions, knowing full well they could never truly be successful.
- "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." -- Abraham Lincoln in a letter to a journalist, Aug. 22, 1862
Of course, none of that means anything, really... not without the final clue. At 3pm sharp, Dave Barry announced the final clue with great pomp and circumstance, gesturing grandly to the DJ, who played a short sound clip... of a toilet flushing.
Get it?
No?
Here's where your train of thought should have travelled...
A flush is a poker hand- five of the same suit. Suit... like a bathing suit?
Quick, back to the map!
There are a whole bunch of different color bathing suits on the map- but the only color for which there are five suits is RED. What coordinates are they at? From left to right, they're at A-3, E-5, H-2, L-4, and W-1. Put them in numerical order, and you get: WHALE
Quick, back to the map!
Look, there's a whale at W-3. Let's go there and see what's going on. There's some people in "Save the Whales" T-shirts giving out more little pieces of paper.
Now let's see how we can put this together with the clues we've already gathered:
- Magnetism, as you recall from physics class, is a powerful force that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators.
- I'm astounded you think you can find unending Nirvana when you can't even find your way around Opa-Locka.
- The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.
- You're a resourceful person, but you don't understand how thoroughly you upset people when you cause trouble. If you would only use common sense instead of continually -- and quite obviously -- confusing the issue by pushing for useless solutions, knowing full well they could never truly be successful.
- "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." -- Abraham Lincoln in a letter to a journalist, Aug. 22, 1862
Clue 6 had 3 U's
Clue 65 had 7 U's
Clue 128 had 6 U's
Clue 364 had 28 U's
Clue 385 had 13 U's
3-7-6-2-8-1-3. Tack on a local area code in front of it and you've got (305) 376-2813. When you called the number, you got this recording:
"Write your team captain's name and cell number on a piece of paper, plus the coordinates that spelled out the location where you got this phone number. To figure out where to deliver it, you're going to have to go back to square one. Figuratively speaking."
Not sure where square one is? At 4pm, when no one had yet solved the hunt, Dave Barry gave a hint: "The square is on the dial"
Which was square one on the telephone dial from the Do-Re-Mi puzzle? The flamingo?
Quick, back to the map!
Upon arrival at U-6, you were met with this charming woman who accepted your card with a smile.
Hope you had the right coordinates listed on your card! They were:
W-1 H-2 A-3 L-4 E-5
And that's how the 2008 Herald Hunt was solved. On a difficulty scale of 1-10, this hunt was an 11. Don't worry if you were stumped- you're not the only one. And if you bear a grudge against Dave Barry, you're not alone either.