The only problem is that when funsun was questioned, she and St. Michael threw a temper tantrum and went home instead of taking the criticism and reflecting on the theory….
Regards,
Mac

Just wondering, how does Austin fit into to immigration history of the book? Clearly image 2 is about African immigrants so how does that fit?

funsun

I have noticed that there is a MR EZ that posts malicious posts on 100% of my threads. I, amongst others that have messaged me, have him on the blocked list and have asked to have his account shut down. We were able to get one of the posts removed.

malicious? And you blocked him? Like….he actually pm you that kinda malicious?
I gotta be honest, if not because of his comments, you actually think this thread could reach 6 pages?
You should thank him. He’s keeping you active.

Spiritr

malicious? And you blocked him? Like….he actually pm you that kinda malicious?
I gotta be honest, if not because of his comments, you actually think this thread could reach 6 pages?
You should thank him. He’s keeping you active.

Nope…I didn’t pm her.
I usually only pm people who pm me, first…usually.
She’s referring to the good natured, tongue-in-cheek way that I point out the absurdity (in my opinion) of some of her suggestions. But, if you notice, she doesn’t like being told, “I disagree’ in a ‘normal’ way…..and, completely ignores what others have to say. (Such as, “image 2 points to Charleston because ….redirecting it to Austin the way that Wicket would use numerology, imagined ciphers and word association based on loose connections to old AC/DC songs is….absurd. In my opinion.)

I can see that, besides…
Regardless any other inages, this particular one, it’s obviously referring to Afican Americans history, so unless you’re pointing to Atl or Memphis because of MLK.Jr, or California because of….2pac, otherwise it has to be Charleston, SC.
It’s elementary history, come on

I have noticed that there is a MR EZ that posts malicious posts on 100% of my threads. I, amongst others that have messaged me, have him on the blocked list and have asked to have his account shut down. We were able to get one of the posts removed.

funsun

I have noticed that there is a MR EZ that posts malicious posts on 100% of my threads. I, amongst others that have messaged me, have him on the blocked list and have asked to have his account shut down. We were able to get one of the posts removed.

Perhaps, you should grow a thicker skin.

GG….I was about to write, “Don’t do it….it’s a trap…”
But, now that I think about it, this is a perfect match for Austin.
If not Charleston.

Congrats to White Rabbit for finding this indisputable connection:
Lynda Carter was born in Austin.
If not Phoenix.

that’s not Katy Perry?

Goldengate

Remember Stretch Armstrong?
He’d be great at this thread.
Sincere credit to Funsun for putting a lot of work into this, and putting it up there for criticism. I’m still of the mind it will be new blood here with new theories who may just find the next casque. That said… considering the bravado of the thread title and the theory… there’s a lot to this one that’s a big…

GGate, what about it is a stretch? I attached a link with pictures before… they match perfectly. Can you be more specific? Oh and if you provide a reasonable reply thank you. If you post a pic from the Mattel collection, you only waste your time.

Spiritr

that’s not Katy Perry?

Not sure if the treasure is buried under Katy perry, SpiritR. But you should check…it’s as goo of a location as any other put up here.
… on a more serious note some people say he puts a lion in the red herring obvious clues. For example every person and their neighbor think the cask is in Montreal. It is not. The leg eater is in front of the mount st. Stephens club… hello it it buried in the park at mount Stephens… that is why they say ask for permission to dig it up…. yoho park doesn’t usually let me just go dig.
see the top of the guys hat on the right side..that is the outline of the mount Stephens yoho club. When I try to attach a file here it says the pic is too big… but believe me I will try. I’m kicking myself about not screen saving it earlier.
The location is not the obvious answer in the harder puzzles. All of st. Augustine has been dug up… its not there. A few of the places/cities are not necessarily correct with the exception of Milwaukee and Houston and a few others.

Ah yes.
Mount Stephens….Nevada.
Would you believe, Mount Stephens….Wyoming?
How about…..Mount Stevens….Antarctica?
(That’s where drunknerds says it it….)

Unknown

Unknown:
In this specific example, the exact map of Charleston, the exact outline of Fort Sumter, the exact coordinate box for Charleston, not to mention the the more contentious “matches” that aren’t necessarily universally accepted (the flower looks like a Palmetto, the highway in the branches, the Pear meaning Pearman bridge, et al), but all point to Charleston are just red herrings? I’m not telling anyone to blindly follow anything, but nobody needs to reinvent the wheel given the solid working theory that latitude and longitude are in the images and a map of Charleston is a map of Charleston which means the clue is pointing you to Charleston.

Unknown

Unknown:
Go wild trying out different verses. I am in the minority around here (I think), when I say there may be some (very small) give to the established verse order in a couple of cases. Do I think that’s likely? Meh. Personally, there’s nothing in Verse 10 that outright screams New York to me. I was never a huge fan of the assumption that “Grey giant” = Gray Lady(NYT) assumption. Google “George Grey Barnard” and tell me if his Great God Pan Sculpture or the Cloisters (both in Manhattan) stir anything in you. The Japanese hint for “rhapsodic” seem to reinforce the Gershwin theory, but even if Verse 10 isn’t New York, you have to replace it with something else that isn’t solidly deduced and also find somewhere else that Verse 10 can fit.

Unknown

Unknown:
So realistically, if you are going to ditch Verse 10 for New York, you’re only “not solid as a rock in their current position” options are, what? Verses 2/5/6/7? Each of those has a very compelling reason for being assigned where they are as far as the consensus is concerned. We obviously can’t know with 100% certainty, but I would suggest something like verse 1 is beyond speculation given the 982, the Herman Melville quote, etc. so if I really stretch it out and use my imagination, I could give you those 5 verses as not being able to necessarily get a guilty verdict in front of a jury, but lets look closer:

Unknown

Unknown:
Verse 2 has the Sarmiento quote directly relating to a hotel in New Orleans. Granted, the Melville clue/quote in Verse 1 has nothing to do with the quote itself, but the “Herman” as it relates to the man who made the quote. So perhaps (big perhaps) some people miss the point by thinking it must be New Orleans because that is what Sarmiento is talking about in his quote. Plenty of people have exhausted other “Sarmiento” options (a street name, a monument in a non-New Orleans city, etc). Once again though, if you move this off New Orleans, you replace it with…. what?

Unknown

Unknown:
Verse 5 – This one is interesting because the Japanese Clue says “weight and roots” should be used to think of “construction” of whatever is being talked about. This verse was paired with Charleston once upon a time because the “weight and roots” was thought by some to be something to do with Fort Moultrie/Sullivan’s Island. But alternately, verse 6 has a ton of stuff in it that would make you think Charleston (USS Maine, etc). But in order to make that work you have to find a new “Edwin and Edwina” to shift Verse 6 off of Charleston. Are Edwin and Edwina actually a reference to Edwin Booth? Ok, so is that New York? Where do you shift Verse 10 if it is?

Unknown

Unknown:
Verse 7 – Again, once you move it, you need another place for it, and once you do that, you need replace what you took from where you moved Verse 7 to. I have more to add, but you get the points I’m making about the other verses and this typing is a lot of work so you get my point.

Unknown

Unknown:
I’m really giving a big benefit of the doubt to “uncertainty” with my above speculation. And that’s all that is. I admit I’m mostly a consensus guy on the verses/images, but I approach the hunt with an open mind to reasonable, evidence-based theories and can certainly be convinced. I want active, meaningful input from intelligent people who have thoughtful approaches to their theories based upon consideration of the information available to them. I do not want active, white noise from intelligent people who also have thoughtful approaches, but base their theories on “knowing 100%” where a cask is buried because they spent 10 minutes looking into 2% of the available information on a cask.
The only bad analogy I can think of is an enthusiastic fan approaching an MLB player and trying to tell him “I 100% for sure know how to hit more home runs, you just need to use a metal bat”. That doesn’t help anyone if the dispenser of the sage wisdom doesn’t understand you can’t use metal bats in Major League Baseball.
However, there are certain things that are mostly beyond argument, I would think. You’ll never be able to convince me
the verse with the “Dauntless and unconquerable” quote directly from the wright bros monument, which is shaped like a wing and later reference in the versem, (and octave, and Oz/Baum, and Dark forest, etc, etc), or the image with the map of Roanoke Island are anything other than an indisputable image/verse pairing for a cask buried in the greater Manteo/Roanoke Island area.

first of all, thank you, for using over a thousand words to alter just 1 line of 7 words that I wrote.
so the image contains clues….and?
…………when did I ever said anything about Verse 10 goes with NYC?
I’m a Verse 10 and Image 1 guy,
why ditching NY would make me not solid? And what about those 5 Verses? so switching=delete to you???
again, Verse 2/Image 7 is what I believe a correct pair. No need to replace.
….shift v10 to i1
pair this one with image 8. Yes, you get the points I’m making now right?
open mind to reasonable, evidence based theories but however, there’s certain things you’ll never be convinced….
OK, what more can I say?

I do remember the speech… ended his run and then he admitted to needing mental help… He needed mental help??? No kidding. Maybe he has a solve.. lol
Regards,
Mac

Fyi – that is just humor. Need to keep some things fun. Not intended as a jab at ANYONE. Seriously… lets all remember to have some humor.
Best ti all.
Regards,
Mac

Euhirudinea

Yes they are. And now that we agree on that, can we agree that there should be a way to measure how far along the continuum we are in any given situation? Otherwise, there really is no difference, and we are right back where we started from. In this case, looking for a casque in Austin, Texas (almost wholly inaccurate) when all the available information suggests that we should be looking in Charleston, South Carolina (as close to accurate as we can get at the moment).

Sir there isn’t a “we”. “We” are not providing a solution. Also there are not continuums in true false game theory answers.

Unknown

Unknown:
Also there are not continuums in true false game theory answers.

Possibly true, possibly false, depending on the complexity of the situation. But “we” were talking about “accurate” versus “inaccurate”. As in accurate information moves the puzzle along, and inaccurate information (of which there seems to be an inordinate amount again lately) does not.

Euhirudinea

We’re not asking anyone to blindly do anything. Rather, we are expecting that they will read the thread and do their own homework.

Yeah, Renovator, when I joined this hunt last year I started by doing exactly that, reading through every post on Q4T, Twelve, the Wiki site, and even that “interesting” 167-page thread over on Something Awful (shudder). Admittedly, that same step in the process has gotten a lot more difficult for anyone who joined the hunt after the “Expedition Unknown” episode aired in January.
I fully agree with the idea of doing your homework, particularly when you consider all the awesome research and legwork that’s already been done on this puzzle over the past 30 years. As an I2/V5 advocate I respectfully disagree that all of the Image/Verse pairings have been locked in, and I remain suspicious of at least one of the “established” cities.
My intent wasn’t to start an argument with any old hands, but rather to promote more creative thinking by all these new sets of eyes. Just my 2 cents but there’s room in this hunt for everyone… even the occasional internet troll. While I personally think the Austin, TX is way off base, many crazier ideas have been posted here before. And who knows? Maybe that one new, offbeat thought could be all it takes to spur an “a-ha” moment for somebody who’s been working on this puzzle for years, helping them to plug in a missing puzzle piece and unearth a casque. And isn’t that why we’re all here?

Unknown

Unknown:
My intent wasn’t to start an argument with any old hands

Fair enough. Let me know when you are. That’s the only reason I’m still here.*
*And before anyone accuses me of being snarky and rude, let me reiterate that it is my opinion that informed and reasoned debate is the only way this puzzle is going to be solved.

Euhirudinea

I don’t know how others do it, but I argue about them until consensus is reached. At that point, they become worthy of consideration in the larger picture, and nothing more. I can’t tell you how many “good to great” ideas have led to empty holes, but unfortunately, that’s the nature of this puzzle now that Preiss is no longer around to facilitate Step 5.

With no reference made to any proposed locations…
There will never be a time in when consensus is necessary when finding out a true false question. If something is right, it is right. If something is wrong, it is wrong. Accurate and inaccurate are finite terminal equations.

drunknerds

For instance, in my opinion, the first thing to do before proposing a site other than Houston is to explain why this image would diverge from the 3-point latitude/longitude established in both solved puzzles and seemingly every other image except 10 (which has no known numbers so far detected):
Why would they have this seemingly obvious marker to Houston (and not Austin which is between 97 and 98 latitude), that follows the set rules in at least 2 (and probably 11 of the 12) puzzles? That’s not us hating on new theories for being different, that’s us hating on new theories for ignoring fundamental aspects of the puzzle that are overwhelming and yet to be disproven.
I mean, technically gravity is just a theory. But if I’m going to come out and say “gravity doesn’t exist as we think it does” I’d better start by explaining why objects fall at a measurable and predictable rate of acceleration

Sir… can you let me know who is proposing a site different that Houston. (The Houston guys got it right and should be rewarded. Austin is for image 2 verse 6…. not related to the Houston puzzle. Let me know if I misread you.)

Euhirudinea

I don’t know how others do it, but I argue about them until consensus is reached. At that point, they become worthy of consideration in the larger picture, and nothing more. I can’t tell you how many “good to great” ideas have led to empty holes, but unfortunately, that’s the nature of this puzzle now that Preiss is no longer around to facilitate Step 5.

If you are arguing with people, you only get good at arguing. The puzzle can be solved with intelligence. The most forceful bully doesn’t locate the cask. The most accurate one finds it.

There is no possibly true or possibly false. It is true or false. Response to Renovator.

Merlot Brougham

No the joke is Howard Dean is telling us where the casks are really buried if we just listed to his speech. Makes about as much sense as someone saying Image 2 isn’t Charleston. That was a long time ago, maybe some people don’t remember the “I have a scream speech” ?

For the most part, I’m horribly repulsed by a few of the people and their comments… but you have to admit a few of the others are pretty funny. Hopefully Dean will pick up my casque soon, lol. Just kidding.

Peace and good luck. See my original post. I may do an instagram update for easy reference. Bye.

Additional information has been added below. Additional clues will not be provided.
1. Verse, The opening 5 lines mimic a book preface by Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island and Beau Austin. The hint is Austin.
2. Image, The song is the 12 days of Christmas by Fredrick Austin. The image has 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
2.1 The home plate string is an ornimate hanging from an evergreen Christmas tree.
3. Image, it has a lion and Austin has the Founder’s club for Lions Club, the oldest still running Lions Club in the US.
4. Image, The Lady is for Lady Bird Johnson. Her garden is at the state Capitol Building.
5. The home original country is Greece. The image is said to reference Athena the Goddess.
6. Image, The bikini ladybird is wearing is a cut out of the Goddess of Liberty sash and tie bow.
7. Image, The Goddess of liberty is on top of the state Capital building.
8. Verse, The Austin Museum of History has a feature exhibit of the statue “Organizing for Equal Opportunity”. The Goddess is protesting for Fair Remuneration, equal work equal pay. The verse states, “Embedded in the sand awaits Fair remuneration”.
9. Verse, “Freedom at the birth of the century” verse takes from the History Museum Goddess of Liberty board stating, “As the 19th century gave way to the 20th”.
10. Verse, “Stand and listen to the birds”. The Capitol has many noisy birds.
11. Verse, “Hear the cool, clear song of water”. There is an Artesian well and drinking fountain, along with 2 other water fountains right along the path where the treasure is.
12. Verse, “Harken to the words”, is the poetic reference.
13. Verse, “Or May 1913”. The marker in front of the Austin Library, facing the Capital, says the Library was approved 1913.
14. Verse, “Edwin and Edwina” is the Charleston reference matching the map on the skullish figure displaying that area by Sullivan’s Island, an immigration point. (At one point Austin was noted as having 30% of their population in indentured servitude.
There is an Unfair Labor African American History Memorial on the Capitol lawn.
15. Verse, “Or on the 8th” this is a reference to the Texas Rangers 8th calverly who saved the day.
16. Verse, “Where Law Defended” is between the Alamo statue and the Texas Rangers statue.
17. Lady Bird’s arms are the outline of the Capitol Building lawn campus. If overlayed against the Capitol campus.
18. Verse, “Between two arms extended” are the two cannons on either side of the center path. The are between the extended arms of the Alamo statue and the Texas Rangers statue and their matching cannons.
19. Verse, “Below the bar that binds” is the dam a few yards north of Red Bud Trail. It controls water into Austin from the Colorado River.
20. Verse, “White House close at hand” is the Austin Archive Library to the left of the Capital.
More Image 2
21. Month, The clock is on 4 o’clock for the 4th month of April.
22. Jewel, Diamond, April birthstone
22.1 Flower, Daisy is the April flower
23. Home plate shaped object is the Austin seal in the center of the Capital entrance landing 4 home plates are embedded in the stone. One Home plate is dead center with a lone star in it.
24. State nick name, White star in home plate, this is the “Texas Lone Star State”.
25. Flag, The red, white and blue stripes with the lone white star is the Texas flag.
26. The eyes are an African sign of protection mask.
27. The black diamond pattern is the pattern of the main center path of the Capitol. They are referenced in the marker saying, Munro, the designer, wanted black and white diamonds.
28. The archs below the Charleston map are the two tablets of the Ten Commandments sculpture at the Capitol. The are on the Austin Library side and also resemble the Austin Library front arches. Also the cross in the lion hair may be for the marker noting that St. Mark’s Lutheran church used to be on the Capitol property.
29. Longitude, there is a 79 in the lion hair. The Longitude of Austin is 97 degrees. (Preiss often inverts numbers.)
30. Latitude, there is a 30 on the other side of the lion hair. The Latitude of Austin is 30 degrees.

Fenix. From your response, I bet you aced a few IQ tests. Best of luck to you and yours.

Macfos

So how do we choose what new ideas are acceptable and which ones are not? Seems that the very theory we are discussing is shaped by pre disposirioned ideas of what new information is acceptable and which is not, which only puts us farther down the rabbit hole in a pre determined direction…

For me, it’s people who post their theories, then react to negativity by accepting the validity of the criticism then modifying their theory to try to incorporate it. You know, a discussion, which is what a messageboard is for.
The “ideas” I deem unacceptable are the ones whose author gets standoffish about, and tries to paint things in and “us versus them” way… If they can’t see that their theory is just one of thousands of “valid” solutions then there’s no point in engaging them because they neither have the communication skills nor self-reflection to contribute to a methodological-based discussion

Also, in general, I reject any theories that use “association” like “Ace is high refers to someone named jack because there’s an Ace in Blackjack.”
Not only have the two solved puzzles not used any of this kind of transcendental method, no successful puzzle ever has because it’s possible to free associate anything with anything, so there’s no real method that can be followed and anyone can come up with a solution that “works”

For instance, in my opinion, the first thing to do before proposing a site other than Houston is to explain why this image would diverge from the 3-point latitude/longitude established in both solved puzzles and seemingly every other image except 10 (which has no known numbers so far detected):
Why would they have this seemingly obvious marker to Houston (and not Austin which is between 97 and 98 latitude), that follows the set rules in at least 2 (and probably 11 of the 12) puzzles? That’s not us hating on new theories for being different, that’s us hating on new theories for ignoring fundamental aspects of the puzzle that are overwhelming and yet to be disproven.
I mean, technically gravity is just a theory. But if I’m going to come out and say “gravity doesn’t exist as we think it does” I’d better start by explaining why objects fall at a measurable and predictable rate of acceleration

Unknown

Unknown:
Accurate and inaccurate are finite terminal equations.

Yes they are. And now that we agree on that, can we agree that there should be a way to measure how far along the continuum we are in any given situation? Otherwise, there really is no difference, and we are right back where we started from. In this case, looking for a casque in Austin, Texas (almost wholly inaccurate) when all the available information suggests that we should be looking in Charleston, South Carolina (as close to accurate as we can get at the moment).

Merlot Brougham

In this specific example, the exact map of Charleston, the exact outline of Fort Sumter, the exact coordinate box for Charleston, not to mention the the more contentious “matches” that aren’t necessarily universally accepted (the flower looks like a Palmetto, the highway in the branches, the Pear meaning Pearman bridge, et al), but all point to Charleston are just red herrings? I’m not telling anyone to blindly follow anything, but nobody needs to reinvent the wheel given the solid working theory that latitude and longitude are in the images and a map of Charleston is a map of Charleston which means the clue is pointing you to Charleston.
Go wild trying out different verses. I am in the minority around here (I think), when I say there may be some (very small) give to the established verse order in a couple of cases. Do I think that’s likely? Meh. Personally, there’s nothing in Verse 10 that outright screams New York to me. I was never a huge fan of the assumption that “Grey giant” = Gray Lady(NYT) assumption. Google “George Grey Barnard” and tell me if his Great God Pan Sculpture or the Cloisters (both in Manhattan) stir anything in you. The Japanese hint for “rhapsodic” seem to reinforce the Gershwin theory, but even if Verse 10 isn’t New York, you have to replace it with something else that isn’t solidly deduced and also find somewhere else that Verse 10 can fit.
So realistically, if you are going to ditch Verse 10 for New York, you’re only “not solid as a rock in their current position” options are, what? Verses 2/5/6/7? Each of those has a very compelling reason for being assigned where they are as far as the consensus is concerned. We obviously can’t know with 100% certainty, but I would suggest something like verse 1 is beyond speculation given the 982, the Herman Melville quote, etc. so if I really stretch it out and use my imagination, I could give you those 5 verses as not being able to necessarily get a guilty verdict in front of a jury, but lets look closer:
Verse 2 has the Sarmiento quote directly relating to a hotel in New Orleans. Granted, the Melville clue/quote in Verse 1 has nothing to do with the quote itself, but the “Herman” as it relates to the man who made the quote. So perhaps (big perhaps) some people miss the point by thinking it must be New Orleans because that is what Sarmiento is talking about in his quote. Plenty of people have exhausted other “Sarmiento” options (a street name, a monument in a non-New Orleans city, etc). Once again though, if you move this off New Orleans, you replace it with…. what?
Verse 5 – This one is interesting because the Japanese Clue says “weight and roots” should be used to think of “construction” of whatever is being talked about. This verse was paired with Charleston once upon a time because the “weight and roots” was thought by some to be something to do with Fort Moultrie/Sullivan’s Island. But alternately, verse 6 has a ton of stuff in it that would make you think Charleston (USS Maine, etc). But in order to make that work you have to find a new “Edwin and Edwina” to shift Verse 6 off of Charleston. Are Edwin and Edwina actually a reference to Edwin Booth? Ok, so is that New York? Where do you shift Verse 10 if it is?
Verse 6 – See above about Verse 5. Verse 6 has a paraphrased quote from Treasure Island. The Japanese hints always called out a quote where it was a quote (that we know of or have previously speculated). The Japanese hint does not call the beginning of verse 6 a quote, it just says to think about what types of people these are (pirates?). But if we use the same logic with Herman Melville’s quote, why do we just assume that the verse 2 quote’s hint is about the subject of the quote and not a clue to “Domingo Park” or “Sarmiento Blvd”? Again though, you start down those rabbit holes, you need to start shifting verses around. Sarmiento’s quote was about a hotel in New Orleans that happened to be a scale model of St. Peter’s Cathedral. Since Montreal has a scale model of St. Peter’s (Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral), and a good Dutch connection (Boer War Monument in Dorchester Square), do we put it there? Where does that verse shift to make any sense?
Verse 7 – Again, once you move it, you need another place for it, and once you do that, you need replace what you took from where you moved Verse 7 to. I have more to add, but you get the points I’m making about the other verses and this typing is a lot of work so you get my point.
I’m really giving a big benefit of the doubt to “uncertainty” with my above speculation. And that’s all that is. I admit I’m mostly a consensus guy on the verses/images, but I approach the hunt with an open mind to reasonable, evidence-based theories and can certainly be convinced. I want active, meaningful input from intelligent people who have thoughtful approaches to their theories based upon consideration of the information available to them. I do not want active, white noise from intelligent people who also have thoughtful approaches, but base their theories on “knowing 100%” where a cask is buried because they spent 10 minutes looking into 2% of the available information on a cask.
The only bad analogy I can think of is an enthusiastic fan approaching an MLB player and trying to tell him “I 100% for sure know how to hit more home runs, you just need to use a metal bat”. That doesn’t help anyone if the dispenser of the sage wisdom doesn’t understand you can’t use metal bats in Major League Baseball.
However, there are certain things that are mostly beyond argument, I would think. You’ll never be able to convince me
the verse with the “Dauntless and unconquerable” quote directly from the wright bros monument, which is shaped like a wing and later reference in the versem, (and octave, and Oz/Baum, and Dark forest, etc, etc), or the image with the map of Roanoke Island are anything other than an indisputable image/verse pairing for a cask buried in the greater Manteo/Roanoke Island area.

Unknown

Unknown:
I am, however, of the opinion that there are some methods that people do not understand and will help further progress. Potentially moving closer to the abstract but still remaining clear, concise, and logical.

I’m sure there are. But if Step 1 and Step 2 are any indication, there will be nothing abstract about them at that point. That is to say, once they are revealed, everyone who has even the most basic understanding of the puzzle will be able to understand how they work, and how they fit into the larger picture.

JamesV. You are really wise. If over 36 years everyone hundreds of thousands research and tens of thousands dig up Charleston and dont find it, it is not there. (This includes really smart experienced treasure hunters looking.)
It is not that I think that people who are looking there are off. They are smart and tens of thousands did not find it. Therefore I came to the conclusion it is not there.
Also there were thousands that looked there in the 1980’s well before the landscapes were disrupted. Those people were not stupid or bad hunters. I have great self respect and therefore I have respect for those that went before me and did an exceptional thorough job.

To ID name SpiritR, your notes indicate you are not a blind follower kneeling to anyone with a keyboard. Have a great day. Peace.

20 of the 30 clues I listed have been there for 36 years. Thanks to St. Michael, I found them. My work here is done. The End.

funsun

To ID name SpiritR, your notes indicate you are not a blind follower kneeling to anyone with a keyboard. Have a great day. Peace.

….my notes???
should I take it as a compliment? thanks.

Another thing not brought up regarding Austin as a location is why would Byron put 2 casques in 1 state, especially 165 miles apart when the plan was to put them around the country.
That would like be like putting one in Charleston and another in Greenville or Columbia.
Just sayin’
Regards,
Mac

31. The Lion is said to have a ‘lazy eye’. But, looking closely you can see circuitry in the iris, indicating that it’s a ‘bionic’ eye. In the ’70’s, the television show, “The Six Million Dollar Man” had a character named Steve ‘Austin’ who had a bionic eye, further pointing us towards the capital of Texas.
———————————
Hey…..this whole method of solving the puzzles by making up cah-rap is….fun.
Who knew.
=]

Fenix

Great job funsun. The lion is actually referencing lyin'(think Texas accent). The interpretation here is clear and completely indisputable. The diamond is the gem and it is a hard stone, so this is a hard puzzle. Byron was lyin’ about all of the logical things that point to Charleston, SC.

https://www.teepublic.com/sticker/833597-youre-lion

Fenix

Good luck with your new hobby. You will be missed.

I guess you did not see the link of 48 pictures previously attached. My employment contracts, common courtesy and general human sensitivity, prevent me from making any comments regarding race or creed on line.

funsun

I guess you did not see the link of 48 pictures previously attached. My employment contracts, common courtesy and general human sensitivity, prevent me from making any comments regarding race or creed on line.

Read the book.
And, the forum.
As a start, head over to the wiki, for the ‘Immigration References 101’ class:
“Africa’s Diamond, earth-bom star,
Bright harvest of the midnight rock.”
Maybe then, you’ll understand what Spiritr was referring to with regards to image 2, without any sort of racism implied in his post. (Including his ‘joke’ about 2pac)
=/
Then again, it’s good that I’m blocked and you won’t see this…..wouldn’t want this post to be considered as ‘malicious’.
8]

Goldengate

“They match perfectly” is a subjective rather than definitive statement, don’t you think? IMO, you take a long road connecting clues and many of your points feel too strained to make that perfect match.
I understand you want to make it work… and that’s cool, go and dig — but don’t be the kind of person who shows up in a forum, immediately, starts a new thread exclaiming that you SOLVED it, (when you haven’t), then get snippy when you receive criticism. Declaring SOLVED when you haven’t solved anything (and clearly haven’t done much research**) isn’t exactly the best way to ingratiate yourself to a new group…
The puzzle is solved when the casque comes out of the ground, until then it’s your theory to prove, and that’s great — it’s just that the kind of stretches you’re making (which are many) historically don’t seem to be the way the puzzle works. This forum is littered with old posts from new hunters who declare victory with “perfectly matched” solutions in a multitude of cities. Guess how every one of them turned out?
Go and SOLVE your THEORY — but perhaps it would be best to save “SOLVED” threads for other forums (or this one when you actually solved it).
** if you had researched this hunt, you’d know that sending the letter to the publisher won’t get you anywhere, since the solutions disappeared when BP passed and the new publisher has made it clear multiple times they don’t have the solution.
Best of luck — go out there and dig! I’d be happy to be wrong!

I knew what I was doing when I emailed the publisher… The publisher would be smart to give out prizes… Prizes get free publicity… They are the only free publicity this will get outside of the EU episode. (The publisher should put EU in his will or Christmas list for making this relevant again.) The $1k gem prizes got (in Chicago) this story coverage on most major TV stations and all of the city and suburb papers for hundreds of miles alone. If purchased that would cost hundreds of thousands to pay cash for that advertising if not more. As a result new people were interested. Otherwise the book had no on-going major market publicity. He should have let them be found and then done a series of “The Secret” treasure hunts. The first series (this one) could have been a bit easier, to gain public interest. Also now that there is the internet, more people can join the hunt on a whim, more easily. Also the publisher can number the books and say when a person joins the hunt they are to register their receipt and book number to their name. Thus they are the only person who can claim the prize and will have to have a book registered on line under their name within two weeks of it’s purchase. Also they will have to have purchased it at least a month in advance of claiming the prize. In the event anyone in their search party does not have a book registered to them within a the time periods mentioned, they will not receive a prize. All hunters must register their separate book before any known documentation of their participation in the event, ie. Also they should have a separate chatboard for registered hunters only.
This post is too long. Time for a new hobby.

Here is another clue… there is a Christmas ornament (home plate) hanging from a Christmas type evergreen. 2 turtle doves… the lower bird feathers have a partridge in a pear tree. Fredrick Austin wrote the 12 days of Christmas and Robert Louis Stevenson additionally wrote Beau Austin.

Unknown

Unknown:
IMHO, advising new hunters to blindly follow the “established” knowledge…

The knowledge is “established” because it makes sense and is accessible to anyone who cares to read the “Slow Spill” thread. There is nothing subjective or particularly difficult about it. It just is what it is. We’re not asking anyone to blindly do anything. Rather, we are expecting that they will read the thread and do their own homework. And if they do, we are expecting that they will arrive at the same conclusion as almost everyone else (i.e. the “established” knowledge). And if they don’t, then we are expecting that they will have valid reasons for disagreeing with the consensus and be willing to argue their position accordingly. So far, and almost 4.6K views in, not a single person has done that.

Spiritr

Yes, that’s the biggest factor. No joke.

In this specific example, the exact map of Charleston, the exact outline of Fort Sumter, the exact coordinate box for Charleston, not to mention the the more contentious “matches” that aren’t necessarily universally accepted (the flower looks like a Palmetto, the highway in the branches, the Pear meaning Pearman bridge, et al), but all point to Charleston are just red herrings? I’m not telling anyone to blindly follow anything, but nobody needs to reinvent the wheel given the solid working theory that latitude and longitude are in the images and a map of Charleston is a map of Charleston which means the clue is pointing you to Charleston.
Go wild trying out different verses. I am in the minority around here (I think), when I say there may be some (very small) give to the established verse order in a couple of cases. Do I think that’s likely? Meh. Personally, there’s nothing in Verse 10 that outright screams New York to me. I was never a huge fan of the assumption that “Grey giant” = Gray Lady(NYT) assumption. Google “George Grey Barnard” and tell me if his Great God Pan Sculpture or the Cloisters (both in Manhattan) stir anything in you. The Japanese hint for “rhapsodic” seem to reinforce the Gershwin theory, but even if Verse 10 isn’t New York, you have to replace it with something else that isn’t solidly deduced and also find somewhere else that Verse 10 can fit.
So realistically, if you are going to ditch Verse 10 for New York, you’re only “not solid as a rock in their current position” options are, what? Verses 2/5/6/7? Each of those has a very compelling reason for being assigned where they are as far as the consensus is concerned. We obviously can’t know with 100% certainty, but I would suggest something like verse 1 is beyond speculation given the 982, the Herman Melville quote, etc. so if I really stretch it out and use my imagination, I could give you those 5 verses as not being able to necessarily get a guilty verdict in front of a jury, but lets look closer:
Verse 2 has the Sarmiento quote directly relating to a hotel in New Orleans. Granted, the Melville clue/quote in Verse 1 has nothing to do with the quote itself, but the “Herman” as it relates to the man who made the quote. So perhaps (big perhaps) some people miss the point by thinking it must be New Orleans because that is what Sarmiento is talking about in his quote. Plenty of people have exhausted other “Sarmiento” options (a street name, a monument in a non-New Orleans city, etc). Once again though, if you move this off New Orleans, you replace it with…. what?
Verse 5 – This one is interesting because the Japanese Clue says “weight and roots” should be used to think of “construction” of whatever is being talked about. This verse was paired with Charleston once upon a time because the “weight and roots” was thought by some to be something to do with Fort Moultrie/Sullivan’s Island. But alternately, verse 6 has a ton of stuff in it that would make you think Charleston (USS Maine, etc). But in order to make that work you have to find a new “Edwin and Edwina” to shift Verse 6 off of Charleston. Are Edwin and Edwina actually a reference to Edwin Booth? Ok, so is that New York? Where do you shift Verse 10 if it is?
Verse 6 – See above about Verse 5. Verse 6 has a paraphrased quote from Treasure Island. The Japanese hints always called out a quote where it was a quote (that we know of or have previously speculated). The Japanese hint does not call the beginning of verse 6 a quote, it just says to think about what types of people these are (pirates?). But if we use the same logic with Herman Melville’s quote, why do we just assume that the verse 2 quote’s hint is about the subject of the quote and not a clue to “Domingo Park” or “Sarmiento Blvd”? Again though, you start down those rabbit holes, you need to start shifting verses around. Sarmiento’s quote was about a hotel in New Orleans that happened to be a scale model of St. Peter’s Cathedral. Since Montreal has a scale model of St. Peter’s (Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral), and a good Dutch connection (Boer War Monument in Dorchester Square), do we put it there? Where does that verse shift to make any sense?
Verse 7 – Again, once you move it, you need another place for it, and once you do that, you need replace what you took from where you moved Verse 7 to. I have more to add, but you get the points I’m making about the other verses and this typing is a lot of work so you get my point.
I’m really giving a big benefit of the doubt to “uncertainty” with my above speculation. And that’s all that is. I admit I’m mostly a consensus guy on the verses/images, but I approach the hunt with an open mind to reasonable, evidence-based theories and can certainly be convinced. I want active, meaningful input from intelligent people who have thoughtful approaches to their theories based upon consideration of the information available to them. I do not want active, white noise from intelligent people who also have thoughtful approaches, but base their theories on “knowing 100%” where a cask is buried because they spent 10 minutes looking into 2% of the available information on a cask.
The only bad analogy I can think of is an enthusiastic fan approaching an MLB player and trying to tell him “I 100% for sure know how to hit more home runs, you just need to use a metal bat”. That doesn’t help anyone if the dispenser of the sage wisdom doesn’t understand you can’t use metal bats in Major League Baseball.
However, there are certain things that are mostly beyond argument, I would think. You’ll never be able to convince me
the verse with the “Dauntless and unconquerable” quote directly from the wright bros monument, which is shaped like a wing and later reference in the versem, (and octave, and Oz/Baum, and Dark forest, etc, etc), or the image with the map of Roanoke Island are anything other than an indisputable image/verse pairing for a cask buried in the greater Manteo/Roanoke Island area.

So how do we choose what new ideas are acceptable and which ones are not? Seems that the very theory we are discussing is shaped by pre disposirioned ideas of what new information is acceptable and which is not, which only puts us farther down the rabbit hole in a pre determined direction…
Point being that some have offered new ideas on clues which have been completly ignored while othets with long drawn “solves” get the most notice or are asked to morph to a certain train of thought.
I have seen multiple ideas and clues on image 2 which appear very relavant, completly ignored.
Thoughts?
Regards,
Mac

Also, Merlot… we you serious about having to go all those places??? I like to travel but I dont think I can get that kind of time off…
Regards,
Mac

Euhirudinea

The knowledge is “established” because it makes sense and is accessible to anyone who cares to read the “Slow Spill” thread. There is nothing subjective or particularly difficult about it. It just is what it is. We’re not asking anyone to blindly do anything. Rather, we are expecting that they will read the thread and do their own homework. And if they do, we are expecting that they will arrive at the same conclusion as almost everyone else (i.e. the “established” knowledge). And if they don’t, then we are expecting that they will have valid reasons for disagreeing with the consensus and be willing to argue their position accordingly. So far, and almost 4.6K views in, not a single person has done that.

Look at this bigshot who says what I want to say in 1/12th the keystrokes
You proved I couldn’t have said it better myself. My only small disagreement is, I realize the Hurculean task of reading every thread and the vast amount of information accumulated on this hunt and people want to get involved. I do appreciate the enthusiasm but I wish it would be channeled more into absorbing all of the details of the hunt instead of being channeled into harassing local governments, tracking down and harassing anyone who was ever remotely involved with producing the book, or having the bravado to be “100% certain of my solve in this cemetery because I didn’t even read the most basic set of rules Preiss put in the book” .

Euhirudinea

Not exactly. We know (by rule) that all the casques were buried in North America. So as entertaining as it was, there can be no casque in Antarctica and that alone is enough to make funsun’s solve more valid than DN’s.
Details matter.

In the lower right quadrant, you can see seven swans a swimming…..fur realzabub…

Unknown

Unknown:
However, there are certain things that are mostly beyond argument, I would think.

There are. Find those things, and disregard the rest, no matter how compelling they are to you personally. If it’s an honest puzzle, that’s the only way it’s going to be solved.

Macfos

Also, Merlot… we you serious about having to go all those places??? I like to travel but I dont think I can get that kind of time off…
Regards,
Mac

No the joke is Howard Dean is telling us where the casks are really buried if we just listed to his speech. Makes about as much sense as someone saying Image 2 isn’t Charleston. That was a long time ago, maybe some people don’t remember the “I have a scream speech” ?

Unknown

Unknown:
So how do we choose what new ideas are acceptable and which ones are not?

I don’t know how others do it, but I argue about them until consensus is reached. At that point, they become worthy of consideration in the larger picture, and nothing more. I can’t tell you how many “good to great” ideas have led to empty holes, but unfortunately, that’s the nature of this puzzle now that Preiss is no longer around to facilitate Step 5.

Hey wilhouse, get your bulldozer. WE’RE GOING TO AUSTIN!

funsun

4. Image, The Lady is for Lady Bird Johnson.

Lady Bird and the Prez are…..speechless…. and amazed..
Y’all shoulda seen her in a bikini.
Rwar*cough*rrrrr

burnstyle

Hey wilhouse, get your bulldozer. WE’RE GOING TO AUSTIN!

Party at the capital.
w0oT!

funsun

3. Image, it has a lion and Austin has the Founder’s club for Lions Club, the oldest still running Lions Club in the US.

funsun, in all seriousness, drunknerd’s signature is a quote from Mr. Seabass for a reason.
“No no no no no. A vague reference to a vague reference to a vague reference to a vague reference to a vague reference to a vague reference to a vague reference is meaningless.
Don’t do that
.”
For example:
That could read, as a leap:
3. Image, it has a lion and Chicago is home to the Harris Bank whose mascot is Hubert the Lion.
Please…..go read the slow spill thread.
Then read the threads for image 2 and verse 6.
Stop making erroneous connections to things that pop into your head.
Please.

There is a 30 in the image????
Regards,
Mac

There is a black diamond pattern in the image????
Regards,
Mac

You sent a letter to the publisher that doesn’t even know where anything is buried because there are no solutions????
Regards,
Mac

You didn’t mention ANYTHING about the big white flower!! What does it mean????
Regards,
Mac

There are noisy birds in the park????
There are noisy birds in my backyard!!!
Regards,
Mac

Oh!! Another clue you forgot. The ladybird has wings and ST. MICHAEL HAD WINGS!!!
Regards,
Mac

burnstyle

Hey wilhouse, get your bulldozer. WE’RE GOING TO AUSTIN!

Not only are we going to Austin…
https://youtu.be/KDwODbl3muE

Unknown

Unknown:
Stop making erroneous connections to things that pop into your head.

The connections that funsun makes are not erroneous for the most part. In many cases, they are perfectly valid and logical. The problem, as I see it, is that they are not relevant. Because, as we should know by now, Image 2 and Verse 6 will lead you to the casque that is buried in Charleston, South Carolina.
That’s the way the puzzle works. All the way through. No matter how much some people want to believe otherwise.

But… wait a second. I am so confused. Burnstyle and wilhouse are going to Austin with a bulldozer and Merlot is going to the White House, but the casque is in Charleston?

Macfos

But… wait a second. I am so confused. Burnstyle and wilhouse are going to Austin with a bulldozer and Merlot is going to the White House, but the casque is in Charleston?

Secretly this forum is filled with people who dont actually care about the treasures, we just like to travel.

Unknown

Unknown:
Burnstyle and wilhouse are going to Austin with a bulldozer

There are lots of reasons to go to Austin for fun:
https://www.austintexas.org
Very few of them (or any part of this puzzle) require a bulldozer.

Euhirudinea

There are lots of reasons to go to Austin for fun:
https://www.austintexas.org
Very few of them (or any part of this puzzle) require a bulldozer.

Yeah but the bulldozer makes it more fun.

Euhirudinea

The connections that funsun makes are not erroneous for the most part. In many cases, they are perfectly valid and logical. The problem, as I see it, is that they are not relevant. Because, as we should know by now, Image 2 and Verse 6 will lead you to the casque that is buried in Charleston, South Carolina.
That’s the way the puzzle works. All the way through. No matter how much some people want to believe otherwise.

Not erroneous, but valid…as valid as drunknerd’s solution for Antarctica.
Yup. Of course.
=]

Unknown

Unknown:
as valid as drunknerd’s solution for Antarctica

Not exactly. We know (by rule) that all the casques were buried in North America. So as entertaining as it was, there can be no casque in Antarctica and that alone is enough to make funsun’s solve more valid than DN’s.
Details matter.

Euhirudinea

The problem, as I see it, is that they are not relevant. Because, as we should know by now, Image 2 and Verse 6 will lead you to the casque that is buried in Charleston, South Carolina.
That’s the way the puzzle works. All the way through. No matter how much some people want to believe otherwise.

So you say.
IMHO, advising new hunters to blindly follow the “established” knowledge, especially the most popularly accepted Image/Verse pairings, is a big factor in why these things haven’t been found yet.

JamesV

So you say.
IMHO, advising new hunters to blindly follow the “established” knowledge, especially the most popularly accepted Image/Verse pairings, is a big factor in why these things haven’t been found yet.

Yes, that’s the biggest factor. No joke.

This is part of the explanation letter I sent to the publisher.
I have the solution to the Image 2 and Verse 6. I am unable to retrieve the box because it is in the lawn of the Austin Texas State Capitol Building. I solved this in a week with the help of St. Michael.
1. Verse, The opening 5 lines mimic a book preface by Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island and Beau Austin. The hint is Austin.
2. Image, The song is the 12 days of Christmas by Fredrick Austin. The image has 2 turtle doves and a pear tree.
3. Image, it has a lion and Austin has the Founder’s club for Lions Club, the oldest still running Lions Club in the US.
4. Image, The Lady is for Lady Bird Johnson. Her garden is at the state Capitol Building.
5. The home original country is Greece. The image is said to reference Athena the Goddess.
6. Image, The bikini ladybird is wearing is a cut out of the Goddess of Liberty sash and tie bow.
7. Image, The Goddess of liberty is on top of the state Capital building.
8. Verse, The Austin Museum of History has a feature exhibit of the statue “Organizing for Equal Opportunity”. The Goddess is protesting for Fair Remuneration, equal work equal pay. The verse states, “Embedded in the sand awaits Fair remuneration”.
9. Verse, “Freedom at the birth of the century” verse takes from the History Museum Goddess of Liberty board stating, “As the 19th century gave way to the 20th”.
10. Verse, “Stand and listen to the birds”. The Capitol has many noisy birds.
11. Verse, “Hear the cool, clear song of water”. There is an Artesian well and drinking fountain, along with 2 other water fountains right along the path where the treasure is.
12. Verse, “Harken to the words”, is the poetic reference.
13. Verse, “Or May 1913”. The marker in front of the Austin Library, facing the Capital, says the Library was approved 1913.
14. Verse, “Edwin and Edwina” is the Charleston reference matching the map on the skullish figure displaying that area by Sullivan’s Island, an immigration point. (At one point Austin was noted as having 30% of their population in indentured servitude.
There is an Unfair Labor African American History Memorial on the Capitol lawn.
15. Verse, “Or on the 8th” this is a reference to the Texas Rangers 8th calverly who saved the day.
16. Verse, “Where Law Defended” is between the Alamo statue and the Texas Rangers statue.
17. THE CASQUE IS IN THE DIRT/SANDY, NON LAWN, BROWN AREA in the shadow (Lady Bird’s arms are folded. Her body and arms are the outline of the Capitol Building lawn campus. If overlayed against the campus, the treasure is just below by the side of the palm of her hand on the right side of the picture. It is exactly by the cannons in the sand there.
18. Verse, “Between two arms extended” are the two cannons on either side of the center path. The are between the extended arms of the Alamo statue and the Texas Rangers statue.
19. Verse, “Below the bar that binds” is the dam a few yards north of Red Bud Trail. It controls water into Austin from the Colorado River.
20. Verse, “White House close at hand” is the Austin Archive Library to the left of the Capital.
More Image 2
21. Month, The clock is on 4 o’clock for the 4th month of April.
22. Jewel, Diamond, April birthstone
23. Home plate shaped object is the Austin seal in the center of the Capital entrance landing 4 home plates are embedded in the stone. One Home plate is dead center with a lone star in it.
24. State nick name, White star in home plate, this is the “Texas Lone Star State”.
25. Flag, The red, white and blue stripes with the lone white star is the Texas flag.
26. The eyes are an African sign of protection mask.
27. The black diamond pattern is the pattern of the main center path of the Capitol. They are referenced in the marker saying, Munro, the designer, wanted black and white diamonds.
28. The archs below the Charleston map are the two tablets of the Ten Commandments sculpture at the Capitol. The are on the Austin Library side and also resemble the Austin Library front arches. Also the cross in the lion hair may be for the marker noting that St. Mark’s Lutheran church used to be on the Capitol property.
29. Longitude, there is a 79 in the lion hair. The Longitude of Austin is 97 degrees.
30. Latitude, there is a 30 on the other side of the lion hair. The Latitude of Austin is 30 degrees.
https://www.facebook.com/Cathy-Fisher-A … _todo_tour

The sports team is the Texas Rangers baseball MLB