Unknown

Unknown:
But here it is, as improbable as it may seem.

Given how prolific Shakespeare was, it would be improbable only if you couldn’t make a connection.
In many ways, it’s like Mark Twain and the mysterious object of his attention. Nobody knows what that is. And until the casque is dug up in SF, nobody can know what that is. Seemingly, that’s the way the puzzle works. Which makes random association just about the worst way to try and solve it.

From far Cathay, the dragon’s Pearl:
Chaste, perfect as the silver moon.
I noticed the moon can be considered similar to the yin-yang symbol. It’s perpetually light on one side and dark on the other. Perhaps it’s the 11 moons in the sky that has me gravitating to this idea.
The other thing I noticed is the yin-yang symbol also looks like a 6-9. Interestingly, “pure” silver is stamped with a “999”. If you flip that, you have 666, giving this a “number of the beast” vibe. I’ve mentioned this before, wondering if Diablo Point is a place of any consideration.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B_Osma_117v.jpg

erexere

From far Cathay, the dragon’s Pearl:
Chaste, perfect as the silver moon.
I noticed the moon can be considered similar to the yin-yang symbol. It’s perpetually light on one side and dark on the other. Perhaps it’s the 11 moons in the sky that has me gravitating to this idea.
The other thing I noticed is the yin-yang symbol also looks like a 6-9. Interestingly, “pure” silver is stamped with a “999”. If you flip that, you have 666, giving this a “number of the beast” vibe. I’ve mentioned this before, wondering if Diablo Point is a place of any consideration.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B_Osma_117v.jpg

The research I have done suggests that the 11 moons are associated to the Apollo space missions. Apollo 11 was the mission that landed a man on the moon “Giant step” JFK was president that backed the missions and made it possible for the Apollo program to be created. This ties in JFK to the puzzle (face in the rocks) and reconfirms that the Road in the park JFK is significant to the puzzle. IMO.

Why would you need an abstract series of connections to tie in JFK, when his face is right there in the picture?
This whole “x is associated with y which is associated with z, therefore z is relevant to the solve” has not been a viable method for any puzzle I’ve ever made, solved, or even heard of, plus it wasn’t in the two known solutions. So this whole free association trend, which is a quite popular method for Secret hunters, baffles me.
As always, I’d love to be wrong.

if there are 11 moons…what are the other two things??? UFOS? been pondering this and im not really sure…

oh shit! i just figured it out lmao!!!!!!!

that actually didnt take too much pondering haha.

the other two are Venus, but this is a symbolic representation for something else and major clue going forward into rest of the puzzles. so. fucking. epic. that would make Homer jizz in his pants a little.

see, this is why you guys need to stop talking shit and listen to me. that took me like 2 minutes!

f**k ken burns. preiss is america’s greatest historian!

LOL

drunknerds

Why would you need an abstract series of connections to tie in JFK, when his face is right there in the picture?
This whole “x is associated with y which is associated with z, therefore z is relevant to the solve” has not been a viable method for any puzzle I’ve ever made, solved, or even heard of, plus it wasn’t in the two known solutions. So this whole free association trend, which is a quite popular method for Secret hunters, baffles me.
As always, I’d love to be wrong.

Because people cant agree on what face it is, Ronald Regan? Fred Flinston? Lincoln? So this is the reason why it would be important to tie it in, so that it’s no mistake that you are looking at JFK.

anus905

f**k ken burns. preiss is america’s greatest historian!

Do you always hold conversations with yourself?

I have not worked on SF but I read how there may be a Shakespeare connection. I am a huge fan/student of his works. There is a website,
http://www.shakespeareswords.com/Search.aspx
that has catalogued all of the words in his plays, sonnets, etc. I plugged in the word ROSE and came up with a few hits in plays like Romeo and Juliet, obviously. One of his poems is Passionate Pilgrim. This reminded me of the Pill Grim character in the book, and she hates passion. The word ROSE is used in Passionate Pilgrim X. Here is the text:
X
Sweet rose, fair flower, untimely plucked, soon vaded,
Plucked in the bud, and vaded in the spring;
BRIGHT ORIENT PEARL, alack, too timely shaded,
Fair creature, killed too soon by death’s sharp sting;
Like a green plum that hangs upon a tree,
And falls through wind before the fall should be.
The notes on word meaning says that ORIENT means lustrous, brilliant, bright
I had seen Shakespeare connections in other verses but everyone insisted that this wasn’t so. But here it is, as improbable as it may seem. You can look it up for yourself. So the X could be related to the Shakespeare memorial. Maybe this is just a confirmation of the connection or the verse X could give clues.

Goldengate

You live an hour away. Why don’t you go and find out?
(Also, others have dug there.)

I originally asked if anyone poked around back there and no one cared to respond. So I assumed it wasn’t explored from lack of participation including you. Now why should I go dig there if it’s already been dug? Make sense and please don’t PM me your vacation pics again like Hannibal Lecter.

If you’re so concerned about my post count then stop trolling me so I don’t have to rebuff you and the rest of the frustrated clowns. That probably accounts for half of my posts.

A rumor started on the wiki that Josh Gates will be digging in San Fran soon. Any one heard about this?

Dominick

A rumor started on the wiki that Josh Gates will be digging in San Fran soon. Any one heard about this?

A reporter on KPIX did a story about the hoax and mentioned that someone “assured” him that they know where the casque is buried, but they were under contract with a cable channel so they weren’t talking to him. That could be what he was talking about, he didn’t give any other details.

Goonie68

I think this could of been more of an inspiration for the Gal.

Looking at the gal’s mouth you can see she’s mouthing something that ends in “O”.
She may be Juliet standing on a balcony with railing and arched window.
“Rooo meooo… Rooo meooo”

Choice

Looking at the gal’s mouth you can see she’s mouthing something that ends in “O”.
She may be Juliet standing on a balcony with railing and arched window.
“Rooo meooo… Rooo meooo”

https://brobible.files.wordpress.com/20 … y=90&w=650

I have never tried to lip read a painting before.

lol, well her mouth is semi-open. It’s somewhat safe to assume that the artist is trying to convey a message.

Choice

lol, well her mouth is semi-open. It’s somewhat safe to assume that the artist is trying to convey a message.

no it is not safe to assume that. please stop posting every moronic thought the enters you head

That was not nice.

Dominick

That was not nice.

I am truly sorry but he is worse than Josh Cornell in is rapid posting of nonsense

Everyone is a critic as usual. But if the cask turns out to be behind the Shakespeare wall a lot of people will look like fools.

I see nothing wrong with stirring the pot with fresh ideas, specially when a puzzle has been stagnate for decades. Yes, some ideas might seen dumb but they still draw attention to something that some one might have missed. Did I laugh when Choice proposed that the lady in the image was mouthing something? Yes, yes I did. I even posted about it. But I did not insult or demean the poster. I never really looked at the mouth of the lady in detail before. I have now. Did it help, I don’t know.
Your negative comment is less helpful then Choices strange post. At leased after reading Choice’s post I wanted to look at the image again.
French doctors are faking finds! Lets work together and not insult each other.

The bottom symbol is two semi-circles, and the bottom right symbol looks to be a cross (crucifix-shape) inside a rectangle.

Wow, you guys are awesome… just read the thread for image 1 after I studied it and had some ideas jotted.  Most of it has been discussed (Alcatraz, Ghirardelli Square).
A bit has not.  I didn’t see anything on the other symbols on the bottom of the robe.  Lower left appears to be three circles (one on top of two) and two triangles (equilateral with 2 sides adjacent to one another).  Is the bottom image 2 semi-circles next to each other?  On the right, as Egbert mentioned, “A” or possibly upside down “V”.  ?Below that a ‘bell’ like image (imagine a triangular Liberty Bell).  Lower right corner, could this be a Chinese character? If so, which is it and what does it mean?  Could provide a clue for us.
I know Lombard street is not REALLY close to Ghirardelli (having participated in a number of “The Great San Francisco Treasure Hunt”s in my day), but the image of the dragon made me think of it (all the curves).
Also, the arms folded on one another… a simple indication for framing the 122/123?
Very rich imagery, maybe there are some more clues we’ve missed — anything on the distinct outline of the blue area adjacent to the cliffs on the right?  I liked the idea for the one on the left resembling the pond in GGP.
I plan to do some internet searching over the next week to get more ideas, but wanted to throw those out there for you all.
(a bit off topic, but “at stone wall’s door” from verse 7… could this refer to Stonewall Jackson?… I recall Jackson street in Pacific Heights neighborhood overlooks this general area)… ok, off to read the verse 7 thread… probably already been mentioned

Wow, you guys are awesome… just read the thread for image 1 after
I
studied it and had some ideas jotted.  Most
of
it has been discussed (Alcatraz, Ghirardelli Square).
A bit has not.
I
didn’t see anything on the other symbols on the bottom
of
the robe.  Lower left appears to be three circles (one on top
of
two) and two triangles (equilateral with 2 sides adjacent to one another).  Is the bottom image 2 semi-circles next to each other?  On the right, as Egbert mentioned, “A” or possibly upside down “V”.  ?Below that a ‘bell’ like image (imagine a triangular Liberty Bell).  Lower right corner, could this be a Chinese character? If so, which is it and what does it mean?  Could provide a clue for us.
I
know Lombard street is not REALLY close to Ghirardelli (having participated in a number
of
“The Great San Francisco Treasure Hunt”s in my day), but the image
of
the dragon made me think
of
it (all the curves).
Also, the arms folded on one another… a simple indication for framing the 122/123?
Very rich imagery, maybe there are some more clues we’ve missed — anything on the distinct outline
of
the blue area adjacent to the cliffs on the right?
I
liked the idea for the one on the left resembling the pond in GGP.
I
plan to do some internet searching over the next week to get more ideas, but wanted to throw those out there for you all.
(a bit off topic, but “at stone wall’s door” from verse 7… could this refer to Stonewall Jackson?…
I
recall Jackson street in Pacific Heights neighborhood overlooks this general area)… ok, off to read the verse 7 thread… probably already been mentioned

Chinoiserie Schminoiserie.  😉  What about May 1913? What about Edwin? What about RLS?
(Found a curious link between Edwin Booth and Lincoln today…he saved his son’s life.)
http://www.historynet.com/edwin-booth-s … s-life.htm

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-6022021 … cisco.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vicster/448803841/
look at the design on the head and the face and neck………i would look behind this
this looks like the hot tub on p. 65
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/sanfran6.html
“prince”
“bearing the great bow”
http://www.sanfranshuttletours.com/sigh … 709956.jpg
the bo tree or bodhi tree that buddha sits under……..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree
would like to find a good picture of the bottom of the statue to see if it has serpents or flowering vines, like the top and the base of lotus leaves
or fig leaves
i believe the table is a stone lantern, think the bottom is just reflection from a pond, and maybe it’s saying “tea” time, for the tea house (is the tea house the same as a temple?)
a “dragon”  protects buddhism:
“DRAGON MYTHOLOGY. A mythological animal of Chinese origin, and a member of the NAGA (Sanskrit) family of serpentine creatures who protect Buddhism.
e Chinese had incorporated the dragon into Buddhist thought and iconography as a protector of the various Buddha and the Buddhist law. These traditions were adopted by the Japanese (Buddhism did not arrive in Japan until the mid-6th century AD). In both China and Japan, the character for “dragon” (see orange-colored ideogram at top of page) is used often in temple names, and dragon carvings adorn many temple structures. Most Japanese Zen temples, moreover, have a dragon painted on the ceiling of their assembly halls. “
the gift shop was a two story house………home?  home loving
trying to get a better picture of this fountain, can’t tell if they are frogs (leap)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ojbyrne/17 … otostream/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: … e_Park.JPG
http://www.nakatanifamily.com/shinshich … build.html
the satori (?)  has flowering vines around it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davesf/117 … otostream/
rocks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edpuskas/4099776210/

lol, you’re working a different verse
if the dress is GGP, then her fingers are pointing across the road, one side fulton and the other side lincoln way, and they are on the 3 & 4, so either 34th street? or 43rd street?  or 3rd avenue or 4th avenue?
that’s around the golf courses……but haven’t seen anything that would be asian, except that dragon on the senior center………
i think jimerson posted this pic on stanyon, where it looks there is a giant pole (behind the table), and you could just leap over that gate:
http://www.cobbcrew.org/TheSecret/Stany … ages/0.jpg
i kind of like the idea of sunset blvd.
twain wanted to turn “don quixote” into a play:
http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000013.htm
and that is close to the japanese tea garden
twain wrote about shakespeare too
and he wrote “1601” and the senior center with the dragon (scroll way down) is 6101…………:
http://www.sanfranciscodays.com/golden- … ly-casting

I don’t think this will convince you, but here it is anyway. The blue house next to the Conan Doyle plaque, 2135 Sacramento. (I’ve been considering the line “Between two arms extended” and the pearl-like bulge on the curve of her wrist, more evident in the book than in this scan. Incidentally here’s the
Tsao-Shen
myth.)

the arms aren’t extended they are crossed  🙂
but hey thanks for that “zao shen” , that helps with the “home loving stuff”
but whiterabbit,   i think it fits with the guy who did the japanese tea room,  shinataka or whatever (see above post)
you’re gonna force me to find that place with the bars around the entrance to the golden gate, aren’t ya?
i think the buddha head looks like the design in the dress
i know malted is gonna fight it being anywhere inside the garden
………….but
everyone keeps saying keep it simple…………the park is in the image, japanese tea room is in the park………can’t get much simpler  🙂
oh was thinking “the air smells sweet”, could be baker street, and don’t forget object (something you can see or touch) can also be something you “ob ject” to (something you dislike or disapprove of………like twain said “golf is a good walk spoiled”)
long time ago forest posted a pic of “madonna of the rocks” or “virgin of the rocks”  which da vinci painted for san francesco church (temple)….and that would go with “chaste, perfect”:
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/rocks.html
the temple gate:
http://indospectrum.com/photo/cd018_gate_and_sculpture2
there is a door at the top there, can’t get a good look at it
wonder if the point about “honey” could be for “maple”  lane:
http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SF-photos … -lane.html
it kindof looks like the designs in the dress
http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SF-photos … ntern.html
look my FROG!  (leap) and the silver flowering vines!!
http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SF-photos … laque.html
an idea for the “high posts are three”——-the temple gate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanmon
here’s the bar door that i found before, it’s a landmark
http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf201.asp
couldn’t the largest lantern be considered a giant (and in the moon viewing garden), plus it says something about “peace” , ( i think it is like 9000 pounds)
http://sanfrancisco.about.com/od/photog … Garden.htm

See my post in the Verse 6 section…

3)
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
The foundation of many establishments in SF were ships buried in the sand.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/04/ … ld-rush-2/
An oar is a Palm. This statue in SF shows a lady holding a “long palm”. In the shadow of the Palm is the date 1850. In SF the year 1850 saw “three great fires”.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!An5iiS4FlLlEgzEbfiiffjLsNi7v
A historical society was established in 1850. It is a repository of the history of SF where one can look up very old archives.
I have no idea if this helps other than pointing to SF.

3)
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
i meant to quote white rabbit on this, sorry

Well, given the existence of a relatively famous Edwin and Edwina, it seems unlikely to me that BP would have chosen that obscure line from an obscure book without being aware of them. So whichever one leads to the casque, I’m pretty sure he was aware of both. From there, it’s not much of a leap to wonder which he ended up using. I also like the “fair remuneration” tie-in, and I’ve seen no other explanation for that.
“A scene where law defended” is also a pretty strange way to describe a hanging. The monument at the scene doesn’t mention the 8th, and its main subject, Stede Bonnet, wasn’t executed until the 10th Dec. It’s a bit of a stretch in more ways than one.

there were lots of crossovers from puzzle to puzzle to make it tougher to marry verses to the city (which is much harder to do than the paintings, for obvious reasons).

WhiteRabbit

Well, given the existence of a relatively famous Edwin and Edwina, it seems unlikely to me that BP would have chosen that obscure line from an obscure book without being aware of them. So whichever one leads to the casque, I’m pretty sure he was aware of both. From there, it’s not much of a leap to wonder which he ended up using. I also like the “fair remuneration” tie-in, and I’ve seen no other explanation for that.
“A scene where law defended” is also a pretty strange way to describe a hanging. The monument at the scene doesn’t mention the 8th, and its main subject, Stede Bonnet,
wasn’t executed until the 10th Dec. It’s a bit of a stretch in more ways than one.

“Bonnet’s own men had been hung at White Point two days before his trial and their bodies left dangling from the gallows before the bloated, decaying corpses were cut down and unceremoniously dumped in the marsh just off the point; marshes that would later be filled in for the building of homes.” (this spot is marked by a plaque about the building of the battery wall (on s battery wall w of wpg).
furthermore, because the 8th is NOT mentioned directly on the monument itself…we are GIVEN the EIGHTH as a clue earlier in the puzzle via the Harken to the words clue…which takes us to “Harken to the words of a patriot, 1840” (a historical document – pamphlet)…from this we discern that the EIGHTH will come into relevance later (at this point were standing at Hunley Monument…with the Pirate Monument being the next one down to the E).

really? lol

AGREE

No prevaricating. Only trying to alert people to Lincoln Highway in this area.

JoshCornell

theres a lot of clues man…a lot…
thing is…i already knew the answer…it just reinforced what i already knew…

so in the next few days, when you are here, you will be digging up the SF casque?

Go Carnac the Magnificent! Please post pictures of the casque when you dig it up. I want to see pictures please.
Also, while you’re in SF maybe you could visit (don’t dig) St. Mary’s Square and take some pictures of what things look like there. If it becomes obvious that the casque is in St. Mary’s Square please please please ask permission to dig first, then make a respectful attempt at recovery. And have an excellent day, of course. Adam

AlaskaCasqueFinder

Go Carnac the Magnificent! Please post pictures of the casque when you dig it up. I want to see pictures please.
Also, while you’re in SF maybe you could visit (don’t dig) St. Mary’s Square and take some pictures of what things look like there. If it becomes obvious that the casque is in St. Mary’s Square please please please ask permission to dig first, then make a respectful attempt at recovery. And have an excellent day, of course. Adam

People were looking there as far back as 2011 and never found anything promising besides the generalities you spotted too.

I recall seeing a statue or monument of some sort whilst strolling up and down the steps of SF on Google Maps the other day. The “arm extended” must be from that. Either Greenwich steps or Filbert Steps. In the “shadow” must mean the second definition of shadow, in the background, or taking second place. I was convinced it was the sun-related shadow. Also, a branch of the v, is some V word, not the shape of the letter v. Have an excellent day! Adam

AlaskaCasqueFinder

Go Carnac the Magnificent! Please post pictures of the casque when you dig it up. I want to see pictures please.
Also, while you’re in SF maybe you could visit (don’t dig) St. Mary’s Square and take some pictures of what things look like there. If it becomes obvious that the casque is in St. Mary’s Square please please please ask permission to dig first, then make a respectful attempt at recovery. And have an excellent day, of course. Adam

its obvious its not, but ill see what i can do lol.

JoshCornell

shit. just found the most important clue in the whole book tonight!!!

For a person who has claimed time and time and time and time again that he has definitely solved 100% of all the puzzles…..you seemed to have an awful lot of these moments as well as your tired old broken record *does a little dance* whilst patting yourself on the back.

theres a lot of clues man…a lot…
thing is…i already knew the answer…it just reinforced what i already knew…

Thanks Josh. And enjoy SF. Adam

Euhirudinea

As someone who works with power tools all the time, I’m merely suggesting that using one to find a casque isn’t the best idea. Not if you really care about preserving whatever condition it may be in after almost 40 years in the ground.

I disagree. With a good cordless drill you can adjust the speed and torque. Also, you can run the threaded rod into the ground as slow as you’d like. I say it’s a much better method than jumping up and down on a probe.
Having said that, there is some risk of damage whether you probe or dig.

Unknown

Unknown:
I say it’s a much better method than jumping up and down on a probe.

As methods go, this is about as dumb as it gets. Of course, most of my professional experience probing is for things that can, if not handled carefully, kill you. Or at the very least, seriously ruin your day. A probe has one function and that is to tell you that something is there, and approximately how deep down it is. If you want any more information than that, you usually have to dig…carefully.
Not for nothing, but I believe that BP probably used one before he buried these things. Probing the area first to make sure he would have no trouble digging makes a lot of sense, attracts almost no attention, and guarantees that he could get in and out quickly when it came time to actually dig the hole and bury the casque.

Looks like you’re using a 3/4″ diameter probe from Amazon.
I couldn’t get much ground penetration with it either.
Walked on down to a 1/4″ diameter cold-rolled steel rod from local hardware store – more penetration but rod bent.
I went on Amazon again and got a 1/8″ diameter x 48″ length precipitation-hardened, 17-4 stainless steel rod.
UNSPSC Code 30102405
It works like a charm without bending.
You will need gloves though, no T-handle.

EvelynMDog

Looks like you’re using a 3/4″ diameter probe from Amazon.
I couldn’t get much ground penetration with it either.
Walked on down to a 1/4″ diameter cold-rolled steel rod from local hardware store – more penetration but rod bent.
I went on Amazon again and got a 1/8″ diameter x 48″ length precipitation-hardened, 17-4 stainless steel rod.
UNSPSC Code 30102405
It works like a charm without bending.
You will need gloves though, no T-handle.

Thanks for the tip. We are using a boroscope so we need it that wide. We may bring both next time though.
Has anyone ever used a drill?. I know that Home Depot has cordless power drills with drill bits that go to 21 inches and on their website they go up to 36 inches.

Rviewer1

Thanks for the tip. We are using a boroscope so we need it that wide. We may bring both next time though.
Has anyone ever used a drill?. I know that Home Depot has cordless power drills with drill bits that go to 21 inches and on their website they go up to 36 inches.

I have a probe, but I have found that using threaded rod in a cordless drill works great. 5/16″ threaded rod from Home Depot comes in 3 or 6 foot lengths, and it’s cheap. Take one end and files three flats to match the chuck of the drill. You can basically drill it into the ground and back out in 10 – 20 seconds. The chucked end will eventually break from the heat and torque, so bring the file with you. And spare batteries for the drill.
You can probe a huge area in no time.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/5-16-in-18- … /204274012

Thanks GMan,
Do you have a particular cordless drill brand name I can get? Is there one that has a 3/4 of an inch drill bit. Either way I think this sounds like a good way go.

Rviewer1

Thanks GMan,
Do you have a particular cordless drill brand name I can get? Is there one that has a 3/4 of an inch drill bit. Either way I think this sounds like a good way go.

I have a Milwaukee cordless drill and I love it. The batteries last forever. You really can get whatever 1/2″ cordless drill you want and the chuck should open up enough to accept the threaded rod.
If you can get the hammer option on the drill, it’s not a bad idea because sometimes you’ll have to work through some tough soil or obstructions. Also, get at least one spare battery. All of this stuff, including the file can easily fit in a backpack. You have to carry the threaded rod though. My advice is to get the 6 foot length and cut it down to 4 – 4.5 feet with a hacksaw.
If you need the hole to be 3/4″ for the boroscope, drill first then chase the hole with the probe. Or you can get a smaller scope. I’ve seen small diameter ones that connect to your phone. I think they are pretty cheap on Amazon.

gManTexas

I have a Milwaukee cordless drill and I love it. The batteries last forever. You really can get whatever 1/2″ cordless drill you want and the chuck should open up enough to accept the threaded rod.
If you can get the hammer option on the drill, it’s not a bad idea because sometimes you’ll have to work through some tough soil or obstructions. Also, get at least one spare battery. All of this stuff, including the file can easily fit in a backpack. You have to carry the threaded rod though. My advice is to get the 6 foot length and cut it down to 4 – 4.5 feet with a hacksaw.
If you need the hole to be 3/4″ for the boroscope, drill first then chase the hole with the probe.

In addition you can paint the threaded rod white and the tip red, (Blind walking stick) and no one will bother you ( Gman’s idea) or you can just carry around a 4′ bright RED probe around the city and no one will notice you!!!

Goonie68

In addition you can paint the threaded rod white and the tip red, (Blind walking stick) and no one will bother you ( Gman’s idea) or you can just carry around a 4′ bright RED probe around the city and no one will notice you!!!

Don’t forget the Ray Charles glasses.

That’s a good way of drilling right through the cask. It could be moved up closer to the surface. Major earthquake in 89 could’ve done it.
1/8″ and 1/4″ probes also could poke right through the box and don’t feel it. Cracks may have weakened the box.

Only if you are an idiot. It’s called using finesse.

Yup, new season of Squidbillies has started!
Oooops, I wasn’t supposed to feed the troll!

Unknown

Unknown:
Only if you are an idiot. It’s called using finesse.

The truth is, you have no idea what’s required. The Chicago group didn’t probe, and there is plenty of evidence to conclude that while Andy did use a probe to find the Cleveland casque, it was already compromised. To what degree we will never know, but running a piece of rebar through it could not have helped its condition. These are fragile things, and the utmost care should be taken in their recovery IMO.

Unknown

Unknown:
Only if you are an idiot. It’s called using finesse.

The truth is, you have no idea what’s required. The Chicago group didn’t probe, and there is plenty of evidence to conclude that while Andy did use a probe to find the Cleveland casque, it was already compromised. To what degree we will never know, but
running
a piece of rebar through it could not have helped its condition. These are fragile things, and the utmost care should be taken in their recovery IMO.

Euhirudinea

The truth is, you have no idea what’s required. The Chicago group didn’t probe, and there is plenty of evidence to conclude that while Andy did use a probe to find the Cleveland casque, it was already compromised. To what degree we will never know, but running a piece of rebar through it could not have helped its condition. These are fragile things, and the utmost care should be taken in their recovery IMO.

And your point is what?

Euhirudinea

The truth is, you have no idea what’s required. The Chicago group didn’t probe, and there is plenty of evidence to conclude that while Andy did use a probe to find the Cleveland casque, it was already compromised. To what degree we will never know, but
running
a piece of rebar through it could not have helped its condition. These are fragile things, and the utmost care should be taken in their recovery IMO.

And your point is what?

The obvious point is, unless you want to dig out a pile of plastic and ceramic shards you must not drill or poke and probe if you don’t even know what depth the cask even is.

Unknown

Unknown:
And your point is what?

As someone who works with power tools all the time, I’m merely suggesting that using one to find a casque isn’t the best idea. Not if you really care about preserving whatever condition it may be in after almost 40 years in the ground.

I see now what the blue aura surrounding the female character in Image 1 is. The Golden Gate (before the bridge). Check this out:
http://tinypic.com/r/dcg5ub/9
http://tinypic.com/r/11skxat/9

Goldengate

…Or he’s been “rolled” seven times in the past six months… I know how you like to have your facts straight, so I added them up for you
And there was a good reason Josh Cornell was stopped so frequently in St. Augustine… what was it? What was it… oh, yeah:
Because digging up the roots of one of the city’s beloved Love trees is totally kosher. (and I’m happy to provide the link where he brags about trying to bust through those roots)
Also, unless I’m mistaken Josh also tried and failed to dig up the Boston and Milwaukee casques. That would make TEN locations in total, where he left town with no casques… only a load of excuses and fields of empty holes.
So all in all Josh “Anus905” Cornell is paying a pretty damn disrespectful tribute to Byron Preiss’ legacy — and in turn is giving this hunt (and us fellow hunters) a bad name.
I’m honestly hoping Josh drops the lame excuses, applies for a dig permit AND has a good dig in San Francisco! Because if things go sideways and he gets busted digging recklessly (as it’s obvious he does), that will not bode well for any of us who wish to do future digs in the city.

What is wrong with some people, you dont go around digging holes without permission. He was lucky that the cops were called. I live in St Augustine. The locals here are proud of their city. Just like everyone is proud of their city also. I’m just shocked that some people can’t do things the right way.

MrBackstop

Reviewer, could you show what you are talking about with the batter/golfer image. I can’t find it and I’ve never seen this brought up. I would love to check it out.

I had been using a version of image 1 that did not have a very good resolution. I found a version of image 1 on Facebook that a much better resolution. In the first version I could barely make out the palace of fine arts up in the top left hand corner. With the new image I can see a whole new world of images over there. If you look at the palace of fine arts and then move out into the sky directly to the left a little bit and then move downward you will see the a shadow out line of a person with a very thin looking golf club or bat cocked in the position ready to hit the ball.
When I first saw this I thought it may have been the windmill with the bat or golf club being mistaken for one of the windmill fan blades. But as I looked at it I could see the faint golf club or bat with the person in the classical pose. Work with it and let your eyes guide you in.

Spiritr

I live in SF most of the time, if you’re good at digging or have experience if gardening, and you wanted to help, that would be great, that’s all I need.
I don’t need anyone’s solve, because I have this

.
Well I don’t have any gardening or digging experience but I wouldn’t mind coming along for the experience.

I was looking at an old photo from I think 1980 or 81 at the De Young Museum and I noticed that the Asian Art Museam was connected to that version museum. There was a “Twain” out in front of it in the form of a “pair” of those Chinese spinx/lions siting there in much the same way the the Spinxes now sit at the new De Young Museum.
Can anyone confirm that this was the case with Asian Art Museum. Because if that was the case then the attention of their “Twain” was interesting.

ummm…..
are you good at at crossword puzzles? I need someone who’s really good at crossword puzzles

Rviewer1

I was looking at an old photo from I think 1980 or 81 at the De Young Museum and I noticed that the Asian Art Museam was connected to that version museum. There was a “Twain” out in front of it in the form of a “pair” of those Chinese spinx/lions siting there in much the same way the the Spinxes now sit at the new De Young Museum.
Can anyone confirm that this was the case with Asian Art Museum. Because if that was the case then the attention of their “Twain” was interesting.

Yes in front of the museum was a pair of Chinese lions, they are male and female,( Yin and Yang)

You serious?

Are you thinking the wharf sign wasn’t a valid option?
I could only image the number of wooden posts to rise and fall over several decades. May never know

At the end of the translation this note is given:
Mr. Preiss received special advice from Japanese readers. That is, “Starting from the picture first, for that purpose it is to understand the combination of figures written in the poem”.
If the barred window in image 1 is Alcatraz would it also be represented in the verse? Could it be the stone wall and the wharf at its “door?”
Air smells sweet – largely thought to be (G H) Ghirardelli square
Not far away. – all in the same area of telegraph hill
High posts are three -this is a wooden post- (wharf sign)
Education and justice
For all to see. – from the translation it suggests where would you expect or like to see them- another Alcatraz reference?
Sounds from the sky
Near Ace is high. -translation says sounds from airplane-
Running North but first across.
In jewels direction
An object of Twain’s attention – too many choices on this one but the paddle wheel steamer mostly been docked around that area wasn’t it?

Wonder if running North but first across is leave wharf head across to hwy 101 then North over the GG bridge.
One of the other notes from the Japanese translation was in the verses a thing can be referenced multiple times in the verse but may be lines apart. It would be hard to know which references were about each other. One example the translator commented on was the if ‘the water veers’ is a water feature or some sort, ‘there’s the spout’ may be a reference to the same water feature.

I just submitted the application
my second attempt is on it’s way

Good luck Spiritr. Hope you find it!
Adam

thank you.

Yes, good luck Spiritr. What city are you from. I live in Walnut Creek.
I have a solve that includes Joan of Arc at legion of Honor. I know through reading through the threads that the el cid was either dug or was looked at. Was the Joan of arc monument dug up?
Also I have a solve that includes the one of the windmills. I know that there was extensive digging and landscaping there. Is there any part at either windmill that has been untouched since 1981.
Has anyone considered what the baseball batter in in image 1 in the far left upper hand corner of the image to the left of the palace of fine arts. It’s either a golfer at the very top of his back swing or it’s a batter with the bat cocked waiting for a pitch.

Reviewer, could you show what you are talking about with the batter/golfer image. I can’t find it and I’ve never seen this brought up. I would love to check it out.

Rviewer1

Yes, good luck Spiritr. What city are you from. I live in Walnut Creek.
I have a solve that includes Joan of Arc at legion of Honor. I know through reading through the threads that the el cid was either dug or was looked at. Was the Joan of arc monument dug up?
Also I have a solve that includes the one of the windmills. I know that there was extensive digging and landscaping there. Is there any part at either windmill that has been untouched since 1981.
Has anyone considered what the baseball batter in in image 1 in the far left upper hand corner of the image to the left of the palace of fine arts. It’s either a golfer at the very top of his back swing or it’s a batter with the bat cocked waiting for a pitch.

I live in SF most of the time, if you’re good at digging or have experience if gardening, and you wanted to help, that would be great, that’s all I need.
I don’t need anyone’s solve, because I have this

Fenix

I am sure the table has drove those of you close to this cask crazy.

nobody liked my firehose theory?  oh well

Fenix

I
am sure the table has drove those
of
you close to this cask crazy.

nobody liked my firehose theory?  oh well

Hi,
I’d like to just add to the turntable part. I’ve had several scans from 3 different original copies of the book. They all seem to have their own printing differences, but there is a faint arrow at the end of the rose stem curl. Which would lead one to interpret as an action such as “Turn”.
As the curl stem is sitting on top of the table with the cablecar below it could be used to concatenate the three images into “Cable Car” + “Turn” + “Table”. Likewise with the clock “Cable Car” + “Time” + “Table”
Heres a close up from the original scan used in the 2015 re-print. If you look at the end of the curl you should see a darker angle shape that forms the arrow.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v5e6J … NmSTTYhvg0
Thanks,

Hi,
I
‘d like to just add to the turntable part.
I
‘ve had several scans from 3 different original copies
of
the book. They all seem to have their own printing differences, but there is a faint arrow at the end
of
the rose stem curl. Which would lead one to interpret as an action such as “Turn”.
As the curl stem is sitting on top
of
the table with the cablecar below it could be used to concatenate the three images into “Cable Car” + “Turn” + “Table”. Likewise with the clock “Cable Car” + “Time” + “Table”
Heres a close up from the original scan used in the 2015 re-print. If you look at the end
of
the curl you should see a darker angle shape that forms the arrow.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v5e6J … NmSTTYhvg0
Thanks,

bbi

Hi,
I’d like to just add to the turntable part. I’ve had several scans from 3 different original copies of the book. They all seem to have their own printing differences, but there is a faint arrow at the end of the rose stem curl. Which would lead one to interpret as an action such as “Turn”.
As the curl stem is sitting on top of the table with the cablecar below it could be used to concatenate the three images into “Cable Car” + “Turn” + “Table”. Likewise with the clock “Cable Car” + “Time” + “Table”
Heres a close up from the original scan used in the 2015 re-print. If you look at the end of the curl you should see a darker angle shape that forms the arrow.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v5e6J … NmSTTYhvg0
Thanks,

I always translated that as under the rose.

bbi

Hi,
I
‘d like to just add to the turntable part.
I
‘ve had several scans from 3 different original copies
of
the book. They all seem to have their own printing differences, but there is a faint arrow at the end
of
the rose stem curl. Which would lead one to interpret as an action such as “Turn”.
As the curl stem is sitting on top
of
the table with the cablecar below it could be used to concatenate the three images into “Cable Car” + “Turn” + “Table”. Likewise with the clock “Cable Car” + “Time” + “Table”
Heres a close up from the original scan used in the 2015 re-print. If you look at the end
of
the curl you should see a darker angle shape that forms the arrow.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v5e6J … NmSTTYhvg0
Thanks,

I
always translated that as under the rose.

The spiral indicates the spinning motion. In case of cable car turn-around it doesn’t matter. It can go either way. However, in case of the clock it points to my counter clock-wise running clock explained prior.

The spiral indicates the spinning motion. In case
of
cable car turn-around it doesn’t matter. It can go either way. However, in case
of
the clock it points to my counter clock-wise running clock explained prior.

Choice

The spiral indicates the spinning motion. In case of cable car turn-around it doesn’t matter. It can go either way. However, in case of the clock it points to my counter clock-wise running clock explained prior.

Exactly, I just wanted to back up your theory of the spiral indicating an action/motion i.e. with a clearer image you can see the arrow at the end of the spiral, which indicates some form of movement/direction. Current scans/images available just show the spiral which is largely being linked to a physical object in GGP (The end of a hand-rail).

Choice

The spiral indicates the spinning motion. In case
of
cable car turn-around it doesn’t matter. It can go either way. However, in case
of
the clock it points to my counter clock-wise running clock explained prior.

Exactly,
I
just wanted to back up your theory
of
the spiral indicating an action/motion
i
.e. with a clearer image you can see the arrow at the end
of
the spiral, which indicates some form
of
movement/direction. Current scans/images available just show the spiral which is largely being linked to a physical object in GGP (The end
of
a hand-rail).

More references to Ghirardelli and Angel island:
• Ellis is written in cursive
• Angel Island is often referred to as west-coast’s Ellis Island.
• Also can be decoded as G-Delli

Possible map of the area the reader needs to be in:

Scrappy929

What does all of this mean? Start at the clock tower? Just my best interpretation of the symbols. I believe they have something to do with solving the puzzle.

I have the starting point at Chinatown’s Dragon’s Gate:
• If the puzzle is about the plight of Chinese then Chinatown makes sense.
• “At stone wall’s door The air smells sweet; in the painting, the dragon IS the stonewall. Perhaps reference to the great wall of china. So simple word substitution and you get dragon’s door, dragon’s gate.
• The air smells sweet with fortune cookies being baked
• Nearby there’s a fortune cookie factory at Jackson St. (Stonewall Jackson reference too far fetched)
• Dragon’s gate looks similar in design to her robe pattern.
• There are two fish on top of the gate. There’re two puddles of water on her shoulders.
• Curled-up fish present in the middle of dragon, similar to the gate.

Choice

https://i.imgur.com/a65pbLH.jpg
click on it to expand.
This is the highest res. image I have. Starting to pixelate

Thank you Choice!

Choice

https://
i
.imgur.com/a65pbLH.jpg
click on it to expand.
This is the highest res. image
I
have. Starting to pixelate

Thank you Choice!

A few observations, Rose table:
Plight of Chinese immigrants after Chinese exclusion act
• Holding facility at Angel island immigration station (north east of island)
• Two possible entry points to san Francisco: Hyde st Pier or port of San Francisco
• Both locations have clock towers nearby. Ghirardelli tower matches the clock shadow.
• The rose stem spiral indicates spinning motion clockwise.
• That would make table a turn table turning counter clockwise.
• Cable car/lamp post table leg.
• Table may represent cable car turn-around present at both locations.
• Nose of dragon at Lombard and Hyde, Hyde st turn around, Alcatraz and Angel island immigration station line up
• Both Hyde st and Columbus st (when extended) meet at corner of Aquatic park in front of Ghirardelli square where cable car turn around is.
Green leaf next to spiral is Golden gate park or Presidio
Location:
https://tinyurl.com/ya7zw85r

A few observations, Rose table:
Plight
of
Chinese immigrants after Chinese exclusion act
• Holding facility at Angel island immigration station (north east
of
island)
• Two possible entry points to san Francisco: Hyde st Pier or port
of
San Francisco
• Both locations have clock towers nearby. Ghirardelli tower matches the clock shadow.
• The rose stem spiral indicates spinning motion clockwise.
• That would make table a turn table turning counter clockwise.
• Cable car/lamp post table leg.
• Table may represent cable car turn-around present at both locations.
• Nose
of
dragon at Lombard and Hyde, Hyde st turn around, Alcatraz and Angel island immigration station line up
• Both Hyde st and Columbus st (when extended) meet at corner
of
Aquatic park in front
of
Ghirardelli square where cable car turn around is.
Green leaf next to spiral is Golden gate park or Presidio
Location:
https://tinyurl.com/ya7zw85r

Blue Genie Lamp
courtesy of:
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/313-a … ncisco-bay

Blue Genie Lamp
courtesy
of
:
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/313-a … ncisco-bay

Choice

• The rose stem spiral indicates spinning motion clockwise.
• That would make table a turn table turning counter clockwise.

Please elaborate

Possible solution to the symbols:
Most know that the Roman numerals on a clock do not face the correct direction. 5 & 6 o’clock appear upside down on a clock. The hand on Roman clocks stayed pointing up while the face rotated in a CCW direction. In our image, we can see the Roman numerals 5 & 6 upside down.
I had an epiphany around 1:30am this morning… what if the 3 symbols along the right side were meant to be combined as 1 symbol. The first symbol resembling an A has a straight line underneath, and the second symbol has a straight line on top and underneath, same with the third symbol. These straight lines are what brought me to combine all three. I used Photoshop to enhance image 1 to be more clear so I could see the shapes of the symbols better. I drew these images on top of each other on a piece of paper and began to search if I could find something on a well know clock tower in the area that would match. And I did… The Ghirardelli Clock Tower. The images from image 1 here are not the high res I have. I will upload those a bit later.
I then looked at the symbols on the left side of the image to match those. I noticed that on the clock tower, 2 opposing sides come to a point at the peak, and the 2 other opposing sides do not quite meet at the peek. If you look at a top down view of the Ghirardelli Clock Tower, it resembles an X as we see below. Not saying BP would have used a top down aerial photo for this, but you can draw the shapes and infer the same thing.
The next shape down from the X, is the circular shape. It closely resembles decor around the base of the pyramid on top of the tower and at the very top on the sides where the peeks do not meet.
The lowest symbol on the left side looks as though it is illustrating the fact that the adjacent sides are not coming to a point. Image displays symbols as the bases aligning together with the right side up triangle being the clock tower side that does not meet at the peek, and the inverted triangle being the side that meets. Images below don’t quite align, but you get the point.
I have a really good view of what the lower center symbol looks like, but have not made a match.
If you read the symbols from top down…
Gh –> Ghiradelli
Upside down roman numerals –> Clock
Lower left & right symbols –> Tower
Ghirardelli Clock Tower.
What does all of this mean? Start at the clock tower? Just my best interpretation of the symbols. I believe they have something to do with solving the puzzle.

Possible solution to the symbols:
Most know that the Roman numerals on a clock do not face the correct direction. 5 & 6 o’clock appear upside down on a clock. The hand on Roman clocks stayed pointing up while the face rotated in a CCW direction. In our image, we can see the Roman numerals 5 & 6 upside down.
I
had an epiphany around 1:30am this morning… what if the 3 symbols along the right side were meant to be combined as 1 symbol. The first symbol resembling an A has a straight line underneath, and the second symbol has a straight line on top and underneath, same with the third symbol. These straight lines are what brought me to combine all three.
I
used Photoshop to enhance image 1 to be more clear so
I
could see the shapes
of
the symbols better.
I
drew these images on top
of
each other on a piece
of
paper and began to search if
I
could find something on a well know clock tower in the area that would match. And
I
did… The Ghirardelli Clock Tower. The images from image 1 here are not the high res
I
have.
I
will upload those a bit later.
I
then looked at the symbols on the left side
of
the image to match those.
I
noticed that on the clock tower, 2 opposing sides come to a point at the peak, and the 2 other opposing sides do not quite meet at the peek. If you look at a top down view
of
the Ghirardelli Clock Tower, it resembles an X as we see below. Not saying BP would have used a top down aerial photo for this, but you can draw the shapes and infer the same thing.
The next shape down from the X, is the circular shape. It closely resembles decor around the base
of
the pyramid on top
of
the tower and at the very top on the sides where the peeks do not meet.
The lowest symbol on the left side looks as though it is illustrating the fact that the adjacent sides are not coming to a point. Image displays symbols as the bases aligning together with the right side up triangle being the clock tower side that does not meet at the peek, and the inverted triangle being the side that meets. Images below don’t quite align, but you get the point.
I
have a really good view
of
what the lower center symbol looks like, but have not made a match.
If you read the symbols from top down…
Gh –> Ghiradelli
Upside down roman numerals –> Clock
Lower left & right symbols –> Tower
Ghirardelli Clock Tower.
What does all
of
this mean? Start at the clock tower? Just my best interpretation
of
the symbols.
I
believe they have something to do with solving the puzzle.

drunknerds

Please elaborate

He is saying that the spiral of the rose stem shows the direction that the table top would be spinning if it were a turntable.
indicating the turntable at the beach st/hyde st intersection
but I’m pretty sure I have seen them spin in both directions.

drunknerds

Please elaborate

He is saying that the spiral
of
the rose stem shows the direction that the table top would be spinning if it were a turntable.
indicating the turntable at the beach st/hyde st intersection
but
I
‘m pretty sure
I
have seen them spin in both directions.

• Lombard, twisty road made of blocks (bricks, originally cobblestone)
• Blue and purple bubbles surrounding the road are Hydrangea blooms (plants used for soil erosion prevention)
• Top of the twisty part of Lombard ends up at Hyde, Russian hill where dragon’s nose pokes at (h-i-l-l spelled out)
• That section of Lombard is one way street going from top to bottom. Bottom of her robe has “Do Not Enter” sign (2 half circles)
• Look closely to the backward G. Has a dragon’s head inside. Look closely to dragon’s head; it’s a lions head, hence Galileo Lions.
• Ga-lil-eo Ga (purple) lil (green Lambda Iota Lambda) eo (red)

Relevant flashback
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&hilit=galileo&start=2599
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&hilit=galileo&start=2602

I read somewhere that the sign originally faced South and was turned around to face North as it does today. Also, I have the two symbols at the top of her robe, the gold circle with the purple center as the Gallileo Logo and the gold square with what appears to be a small letter (g perhaps) as a reference to Ghirardelli Square.

MrBackstop

I read somewhere that the sign originally faced South and was turned around to face North as it does today. Also, I have the two symbols at the top of her robe, the gold circle with the purple center as the Gallileo Logo and the gold square with what appears to be a small letter (g perhaps) as a reference to Ghirardelli Square.

MrBackstop, you are spot on with the connection to the Gold circle with the purple color in the middle, Galileo School colors. My theory uses GA and Polk street as a way points and sets you up towards Ghirardelli and the Warf. There is 3 clues that tells us this in the image. 1. In the image The Gold circle with purple color and Square with dot next to each other. Circle/Purple = Galileo(school colors), Square/dot = Ghirardelli Square. The dot in the middle is telling us this is a place. The two clues are next to each other as they are in that location. 2. Galileo was the Father of Observational Astronomy, this explains the moons above the rocks (astronomy) the number 11 (moons) is referring to Polk street, the 11th President. The dome from the observatory sits on the corner of Bay and Polk street. 3. the image supports the dome from GA and is confirming as a way point.
alumina al2o3

If one interpret the dragon as Lombard st then it’s nose is poking at the Russian hill (h-i-l-l is spelled out).
Also “Near high” school is the Russian hill park.
Russian hill park between Larkin stairs and Hyde, on the Bay st. side looks very close to the pattern Dragon’s nose makes on the hill. Looks freshly redone.
Also the Galileo observatory:

Choice

Oops, kind of read over that…
guess it was late and I didn’t sleep for 3 days because this puzzle’s on my mind…
just thought the picture didn’t look pre 1929, but I guess it must be since the Aquatic park pier isn’t there…

Here there are some good characteristics to suspect this match.  There’s a turn in the path right where the part of the hair terminates and there is a nub in the curve at the Y on both.

that is similar.
your lower arrow is basically pointing at the spot.but up near the parking lot.

there is no doubt in my mind this is the spot
I hope to here back today or tomorrow permission to dig.

Wait for it…wait for it… here’s my idea on how to pinpoint the spot, using door, fountain, lamp post top in the image to recreate a perspective, basically the white, yellow and blue lines are all suppose to be the same in both images, only one is overhead and one is funky 2D painting perspective based on one of BP’s polaroids.  This is only an example.  It’s hard to get it perfect from where I’m sitting.  Get on sight and do the visual math, you’ll have a casque before a seagull can paint a target on your head.
Notice that the Red Dot is arbitrarily chosen to be where the yin yang symbol is and is also where the casque might be.  Now I question what is the direction of Twain’s attention, downtown SF then, or perhaps the direction of the island of Hawaii where he next traveled after SF?

By my calculations you missed by about 30 – 40 yards.

the latest definite picture of the flagpole shows it stuck right into the  ground. no base or step.
The earliest picture of no flagpole shows the pole removed and it has been replaced by 3 or four parking spots.
So what you could be seeing there is two cars parked in that spot.
If it was the pole it would be almost invisible. That we are seeing something tells me there is something bigger than a pole there.

Maybe those aren’t moons or bubbles at all, they might be white golf balls hailing from above.

some of those do look like balls on tees

Maybe my previous theory on tea etiquette, thumb at 6 o’clock and pinky at 12 o’clock, is our “golf tee”
I sense the contrast here is possibly about etquette as about behaving correctly and prison as about behaving incorrectly.

So the shadow kinda looks like The Fountain.
What if the pearl on top is the pointer to the location in the sculpture.
Immediately below looking from the front is the Huntington park.
View from 3 sides:
Click on the images to expand
https://i.imgur.com/Mrr2kIj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/S1IwUqe.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Q7l15YO.jpg

So the shadow kinda looks like The
Fountain
.
What if the pearl on top is the pointer to the location in the sculpture.
Immediately below looking from the front is the Huntington park.
View from 3 sides:
Click on the images to expand
https://i.imgur.com/Mrr2kIj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/S1IwUqe.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Q7l15YO.jpg

Choice

So the shadow kinda looks like The Fountain.
What if the pearl on top is the pointer to the location in the sculpture.
Immediately below looking from the front is the Huntington park.

So you are saying this puzzle works totally differently from Chicago and Cleveland.
in which the gem in the image bears no discernable relation to the found casque locations.

Choice

So the shadow kinda looks like The
Fountain
.
What if the pearl on top is the pointer to the location in the sculpture.
Immediately below looking from the front is the Huntington park.

So you are saying this puzzle works totally differently from Chicago and Cleveland.
in which the gem in the image bears no discernable relation to the found casque locations.

maltedfalcon

So you are saying this puzzle works totally differently from Chicago and Cleveland.
in which the gem in the image bears no discernable relation to the found casque locations.

Point well taken. However there are puzzles that have clues in form of letters and numbers hidden in the jewel facets. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that there may be clues around it since a pearl is smooth and more difficult to hide clues on it. It may point to a general location and not the dig spot.

Choice

Point well taken. However there are puzzles that have clues in form of letters and numbers hidden in the jewel facets. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that there may be clues around it since a pearl is smooth and more difficult to hide clues on it. It may point to a general location and not the dig spot.

Fair enough. I can’t argue with that. I just don’t see how you get from anywhere referenced in the image, to that fountain on stockton, while still on track to get to a dig site

Choice

Point well taken. However there are puzzles that have clues in form of letters and numbers hidden in the jewel facets. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that there may be clues around it since a pearl is smooth and more difficult to hide clues on it. It may point to a general location and not the dig spot.

Fair enough. I can’t argue with that. I just don’t see how you get from anywhere referenced in the image, to that
fountain
on stockton, while still on track to get to a dig site

maltedfalcon

Fair enough. I can’t argue with that. I just don’t see how you get from anywhere referenced in the image, to that fountain on stockton, while still on track to get to a dig site

Well, most touristy route would be from Dragon’s Gate to Stockton south to Union square, west to Powell, either take the Powell cable car at Market turn-around or at Post-Powell. Hop on California cable car to Huntington park.
There are many clues to Huntington i.e. 1000 Mason and 2 triangles and circles, Grace/Huntington (G-H) or backward Huntington Hotel sign.
https://tinyurl.com/y9j3pak5
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7909793 … a=!3m1!1e3
Also the location of the two half circles is pointed out by the symbols next to the backward h (hexagon, square). Landmark #64, 1000 California.
Word Grace may be spelled out by the dragon.
Cathedral references all over the place.
Flashback:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&hilit=huntington&start=2765

inside to the right of the archway on the wall

Toasty

I always thought the hands and arms create the outline of the state of California.

Well spotted! espcially if the image is reversed!

Toasty

I
always thought the hands and arms create the outline
of
the state
of
California.

Well spotted! espcially if the image is reversed!

The California outline was noted in posts here as far back as 2007–I thought this was generally accepted. I definitely see the similarity.

The California outline was noted in posts here as far back as 2007–
I
thought this was generally accepted.
I
definitely see the similarity.

Frisco

The California outline was noted in posts here as far back as 2007–I thought this was generally accepted. I definitely see the similarity.

I said well spotted, not it’s new.

Frisco

The California outline was noted in posts here as far back as 2007–
I
thought this was generally accepted.
I
definitely see the similarity.

I
said well spotted, not it’s new.

my two cents worth after reading this thread, since Twain was mentioned at the end of the verse, which should help pinpoint the exact location:
“Mark Twain” (meaning “Mark number two”) was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—
twelve feet from something? or the number 2?
i didn’t recall anyone mentioning that

Rviewer1

I’m looking to buy the 1981 first edition. If anyone knows where to get one, I would appreciate a heads up. My price range is $300 or lower.
Thanks guys.

I hope you find one at that price. I haven’t seen any lately. I must say the paperback book is horrible. The images in it have little detail. I can’t believe they can sell such a crappy book for $30.00. I still bought it. I don’t think many copies of the first hardback edition were printed. Maybe someone else on this forum knows. I think I heard it was around 2,500 copies. And I don’t know it Byron Preiss did a book tour. That would be interesting to find out. If the book was released in the East and not many sent West then that may be another issue. The search for the book may be as difficult as looking for the treasure. Good luck in your search.

One sold for $25 a couple of month ago on eBay. I was late by a couple of mins.
https://tinyurl.com/y8mpfeb2

That is just too sad. I haven’t seen any that cheap. The last one I saw on eBay was in horrible condition.

thats the ground,
its obviously a circular hole in the cement, the kind they would leave to plant a small tree or shrub.
it looks like the bench was placed later above where the shrub used to be.

I’m not arguing against the large rectangular shape of Golden Gate Park, but I am very curious about this rectangle compared to this bench which is found located along a the line I’ve determined by settling on some answers to the riddles presented as being the Betsy Ross flag pole, the Lincoln Highway Marker, and the direction of Alcatraz on a map.  Choosing the point of origin to be The Thinker with direction to the parking lot and large circular fountain, then over the balustrade and across the golf course, down the small hillside and to the bench on the other side of the road facing the Golden Gate Bridge in the direction of Alcatraz.
Here’s some coordinated colored lines which need little imagination to see how they match the simple shape of the bench.  Easily a coincidence in most cases, but this spot works well enough to satisfy most of the verse and image thus making it a strong candidate.

Notice the rectangle in the middle of the bench.
it indicates this bench was placed as a memorial  or remembrance of someone.
Next time I am in SF I will get you a detailed photo of the plaque.
As always the question will be when was it place.

That miniplaque dedication might be a big deal.  At this point I only have a direction of investigation.  I don’t know whether digging to the left or right or behind the bench is justified.  Could be much ground beyond the bench to consider.  Something copper colored and circular beneath the bench…or is it a stain from someones spilled beverage…ice cream…vomit?
Just threw my back out something fierce…might cancel travel plans but I’m thinking I could go south to SF or north to Seattle area inba couple weeks.

Thanks bigmatt
Oh wait, I hope I am one of those smart folks you refer to
Those are good ideas indeed mattyL, but, without more tie ins…I find it VERY difficult to think that V8 goes anywhere except Milwaukee.
Welcome to the funhouse.

Thanks bigmatt
Oh wait,
I
hope
I
am one
of
those smart folks you refer to
Those are good ideas indeed mattyL, but, without more tie ins…
I
find it VERY difficult to think that V8 goes anywhere except Milwaukee.
Welcome to the funhouse.

There are 482 Filbert Steps…

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to catch up to the research done on this image and the pairing of it with the verse you’ve used, but I think this may be incorrect. I notice that you’ve dug in GG park a couple of times with no result. Perhaps the verse paired with Image 1 ought to be VErse 9 instead. To wit:
The latitude and longitude coordinates are 38N and 122W. These led me right to a very odd place–
not
Golden Gate park, as has been proposed–but actually, somewhat close by there–on Suisun Bay–the Point Edith State Waterfowl refuge.
Other markers:
It’s a salt marsh–a tidewater (First chapter written in water)
And it’s a park (public, accessible)
And it contains a bay called “HONKERS BAY” (you can still hear the honking)
And it’s a waterfowl refuge (geese, ducks)
And it’s near the Concord Naval weapons station (near men of wind rose–wind rose=compass=sailing; crossed arms of figure, crossed arms=weapons)
and it’s also within sight of Alcatraz (the jail window in the rock above her head)
And the waterway through the place looks pretty much like the dragon curled on her robe
And there is a land configuration that is almost identical to the lake pictured in the image at left–in the rocks
And it is
near
the Golden Gate bridge (crossed arms–look vaguely bridge-like)
And it’s near the Ghost Fleet  (GHost=
GH
— the flotilla of ships from WWII in the Pacific—the
Japanese
–war (figure looks Oriental)
And the area is a marsh so it has “tall grass”
Shell (gas company nearby)
Limestone (base of Siusun bay)
Silver (color of Naval ships)
Salt (water–salt water marsh)
Stars move by day (stars=admirals=Navy)
Sails pass by at night (it’s on the bay)
Years pass (the ghost fleet is mothballed)
Anyway, this is what I came up with. Since I can’t find any decent pictures of the place, it’s hard to figure out if the “bending branches” and the green picket fence are anywhere nearby–A green picket fence is pretty ubiquitous, and so are bending branches…but these may be special.
I haven’t seen anyone pair these up yet so I thought I’d throw it out there.
ck

“Giant step”

drunknerds

For me, it was a few differences:
The notch above the spiral is tilted on the rose, but not on the railing:
Why wouldn’t JJP just make those thorns horizontal, for a match.
Also, the railing spiral ends in a nice, thick circle. The rose ends by tapering off.
Throw in that the pole spiral is pretty thick whereas the rose stem is brushstroke-thin, I don’t think it’s a match at all.

Too obvious perhaps? Like the deleted fleur-de-lis in Image 9.

Spirals are a very common artistic shape. We’ve found a zillion spirals in SF, including ones around the Phoenix sculpture.
I see what you mean, but transforming a spiral makes it utterly unrecognizable. It’s like painting a square as a rectangle, to me.

Unknown

Unknown:
The card players’ shelter in Golden Gate Park, a favorite haunt of the street people of the Haight-Ashbury but an embarrassment to tourists and a headache for police, has been razed.
The three-sided brick structure near the park’s Stanyan Street entrance was leveled by a bulldozer this week.
It had been regarded by cops and park officials as an “eyesore” hangout for winos and petty criminals. But for Linda Simpson, it used to be the only home she had.
“My Jamaican husband, Tarzan, and I lived there three years,” said Simpson, a heavy-set woman who was drinking wine out of a bottle in a paper bag.
“Everything we owned was in shopping carts – one for clothes, another for cooking pots, another for food, another for empty beer cans and soda bottles. We used to sweep up the place every day, twice a day, in fact. Last December we even had a Christmas tree in there, with a beer can on top for a star. Nobody had any money, but there was a real Christmas feeling.”
“I’ve been coming here since ’63,” said her friend Dorothy Campbell, who wore a black beret and called herself a “hip-ette.”
“A lot of people who hung out there in the daytime were elderly white guys who played dominoes and pinochle. It was a safe place at night. People used to stay in groups, and nobody would bother you.”
Both women complained of increased police harassment in the past month, both in the park and on Haight Street.
“They called this place an `eyesore,’ but what the cops are really trying to do is get rid of folks like us,” said Campbell. “You notice how few people there are in the park today. They’re probably just sitting in doorways on Haight Street, with no place to go.”
In contrast, park gardener Mike Collins said he is glad to see the shelter go.
He said he was one of several workers who petitioned the Recreation and Park Commission to tear down the 53-year-old building after an assault on a gardener who was knocked unconscious and robbed.
“I wish you could have seen how filthy it was,” said Collins, wrinkling his nose. “The winos used it as a toilet, and the place stank of urine.”
Three other women, Linda, Myrna and Robin, all so financial ly strapped that they have been camping out in the park, said they avoided walking near the shelter for fear of rowdies.
“At night there was a lot of screaming and people throwing bottles at each other,” said Linda.
“I’m glad it’s gone,” said Robin. “Just a lot of riff raff, just winos and drug dealers.”
Police Sergeant James Pera of Park Station said 100 complaints had been received this year about thefts, assaults, concealed weapons, drunks, drug dealing and intimidation of tourists and children near the shelter.
“Those winos made a garbage can out of the whole area,” said Pera.
Jim Rogers, the park’s assistant superintendent, said the shelter was erected in April 1933 as a gift to the city from Domingo Ghirardelli, of the chocolate family.
Rogers said the area will be planted with rhododendrons and a few picnic tables will be installed. Plans call for a new gazebo-like shelter for card and dominoes players to be built about a mile away, near Fulton Street and Third Avenue.
“The cost will be about $47,000, and we’re going to recycle the original ironwork and the Ghirardelli plaque,” said Rogers.
Caption: PHOTOLinda Simpson pointed to former location of park shelter, where she lived for three years / BY DEANNE FITZMAURICE/THE CHRONICLE

Here’s what I’ve got so far, from an August 2, 1986 SF Chronicle article:
It looks like this former shelter was in a different part of the park even, at the extreme eastern end. As described in the article, it sounds like a place I hope Preiss would steer clear of as a burial site. It’s really a question of how much difference five years made.

Good detective work. I was thinking that the location probably ruled it out, but that article kinda seals the deal.

I am just curious how man people on these boards think that Shake spears Garden has a major role in this puzzle? I think it does but would like to hear from people in the hunt.

Goonie68

I am just curious how man people on these boards think that Shake spears Garden has a major role in this puzzle? I think it does but would like to hear from people in the hunt.

My gut is telling me no, but my head is saying that BP, being a literary guy, probably thought it was important. The watch on the pedestal sure looks like the sundial in the garden.

Shakespeare? No.
The Dragon from Far Cathay. His pearl. The strange people. I think it has some kind of far distance arragement of landmarks, but wherever it leads, I don’t see any parallels that would sensibly include Sir W.S.
In the past, I’ve gone full DaVinci Code with the SF map, but drawing a large upside down crucifix to connect to Diablo Point just doesn’t feel right either.

Ok how about the table and the clock does that represent the sun dial in the Garden?? Strong or weak??

Shouldn’t we expect the strength of a visual clue to depend largely on the reasons that brought you to the site in the first place?
One might approach the puzzle in the broadest sense to include all spaces in the SF area, but examples taken from puzzles in Cleveland and Chicago may have taught us to constrain our approaches. We(rather johann) considered the Greek Gardens for obvious cultural reasons. Chicago’s Grant Park makes sense in that the likeness of Ullyses Grant is merged with the giants face. Some clues were found at a good distance from the treasures but that seems to be more to do with iconic or familiar city references and than a straight sensible path connected those landmarks, i.e. Terminal Tower or Chicago Water Tower.
What obvious landmarks in SF might afford us the same opportunity? The Trans America Pyramid? The Golden Gate Bridge? The Ghirardelli sign? Coit Tower? If something like that gets you to look at a sundial in a park by a straightforward route, maybe you are on the right track.

Goonie68

Ok how about the table and the clock does that represent the sun dial in the Garden?? Strong or weak??

Frustrating, because it would have been so easy, and consistent with practice elsewhere in the book, to have the table base in image 1 match the sundial’s base, and it just doesn’t.
If someone can show that the sundial was replaced at the same time the gates and paving stones were installed, then maybe we’ll have something.

treetops

A few Golden Gate Park landmarks that were apparently there during the 80s, but have since been removed or significantly altered:
-The Ghirardelli Card Shelter used to have glass and brick walls; now just an open framework
-Haight Street gate was removed from 1979 through 1998
-Entrance to the Shakespeare Garden had walkway and the wrought-iron entrance gates replaced or added circa 1991; the original threshold stone was moved to the foot of the Shakespeare bust
Anyone have memories, or photos even, of what these looked like back then? The card shelter is especially interesting because of the whole “Ace is High” thing
(Source: Christopher Pollock,
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories
)

This whole Ghirardelli Card Shelter is quite intriguing yet I can find no information on it. I would sure love to see what it looked like in the 80’s.

This might be a shitpost, but I’d like to point out a couple things in Image 1 that I have been frustrated by and that I haven’t seen much discussion of. The two areas are circled in the image below:
1) The “hump” in the border of th design on the dress near the Dragon’s wings appears deliberate, maybe representing a hill. With its proximity to Strawberry Hill and the yin-yang symbol, perhaps it’s the other island to the east of the Strawberry Hill island in Stow Lake.
2) The lower circle is a portion of the dress where the border of the design slopes outward to make space for the twisting of the dragon’s tail. This too seems deliberate, since no where else on the dress does the tail impact the outside border of the design on the dress.
I haven’t been able to locate what either of these two things represent (if anything), but I’m hoping mentioning them here will maybe spark something for someone else. With as much detail as this Image has compared to many of the others, I’m hoping there’s plenty of things hiding in plain sight that we haven’t been able to piece together yet to give us a firm dig site.

Let me correct myself here, I was showing my solve for image 1 not
Image 8
—————–
Let’s start with the
white balls
in the sky. These are the unique round lights that are around the SF Maritime Park in pairs, in front of Ghiradelli and on the Friedel Klussmann sign when you enter to ride the Cable Car. Also notice the wrought iron decor wrapped around the ball at this location. This wrought iron is all over the city of SF but very noticeable around Hyde and Beach Streets as well.

jermajerm

The 3 ball symbol could have something to do with lombard, it appears.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnbroker

Interesting thought there, could be. I searched as best I could and nothing stood out.
The only other symbol I thought I might have solved is the one at the bottom with the two half-circles. It’s not totally clear in the Image 1 artwork I’m looking at but could represent the turntable.

I spent some time at the SFPL’s local history collections this afternoon and just posted a bunch of snaps of Preiss-era brochures, etc. to the Albums area of the San Francisco facebook group, including that ca. 1981 map of Golden Gate Park. Feel free to use the images however you like, or repost elsewhere.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1285391081604941/

I
spent some time at the SFPL’s local history collections this afternoon and just posted a bunch
of
snaps
of
Preiss-era brochures, etc. to the Albums area
of
the San Francisco facebook group, including that ca. 1981 map
of
Golden Gate Park. Feel free to use the images however you like, or repost elsewhere.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1285391081604941/

treetops

Just one note: you might want to revise the detail about the Balclutha after reading this. It was moved to its present location in the late 80s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balclutha_(1886
)

Why? The Barclutha used to be docked at Pier 41 right down the street. These posts can be seen from all over the SF area. Why would that change anything?
The Verse states :
Not far away
High posts are three
What am I missing?

treetops

Just one note: you might want to revise the detail about the Balclutha after reading this. It was moved to its present location in the late 80s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balclutha_(1886
)

Why? The Barclutha used to be docked at Pier 41 right down the street. These posts can be seen from all over the SF area. Why would that change anything?
The Verse states :
Not far away
High posts are three
What am
I
missing?

But you are right treetops, I did mention the Aquatic Park because that’s where I saw it a few years back. I should have clarified that it used to be at Pier 41.

But you are right treetops,
I
did mention the Aquatic Park because that’s where
I
saw it a few years back.
I
should have clarified that it used to be at Pier 41.

treetops

Feel free to use the images however you like, or repost elsewhere.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1285391081604941/

I hope someone feels free to curate a few of these and repost to an open image-hosting site. I am not a member of Facebook, and the group is asking for a login.

treetops

Feel free to use the images however you like, or repost elsewhere.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1285391081604941/

I
hope someone feels free to curate a few
of
these and repost to an open image-hosting site.
I
am not a member
of
Facebook, and the group is asking for a login.

Unknown

Unknown:
The other symbols at the bottom have me baffled. Help me out here if anyone has any ideas, I’m stumped on these.

The 3 ball symbol could have something to do with lombard, it appears.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnbroker

Alright, you all probably remember gman and I have been working on a solve that uses pretty much every image (except lincoln/reagan) and gets us to a dig site with several close matches (in our opinion).
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&start=1230
Our issues were A. We had no idea how to step in relation to the giant pole, and B. We found it weird that the pole wouldn’t be represented at all in the image.
Well, I sent some boots on the ground to take pictures of the highly unusual molding around the base of the flagpost:
Well, hey, is that our rose stem spiral? We don’t even need to rotate it:
The base rises up to this design.
Not sure what to do with that eagle, maybe some sharp-eyed people can spot it in the image. Speaking of which, look at the eagle molding from the side:
Okay so we’ve found some images that might be a match for the flagpole, although they aren’t super exact. That still leaves the question of where to dig…
Check out the flagpole base from this angle:
It’s an X. A cross…
Running north, but first across
It’s that misfit piece of verse we thought was either a redundant reference to Highway 1 or a Prayerbook cross point-out. But it’s not, it’s the final step.
Stand at the cross at the base of the flagpole, take a step North (straight toward Fulton street), and dig. Note that the giant step is needed to get you off of the cement base.
Alternately, Gman theorizes the molding around the eagle is in the clock’s shadow, and the shadow posts East. So take a step East (towards Spreckels lake, which has two objects of Twain’s attention) and dig.
Also above the eagle is this weird thing:
I’m hoping someone can spot a more exact match in the image for some of this stuff. There’s a lot for Preiss to have worked with.

No, I did not get to see this info yet. I was working on the Boston Image and have not looked back on all the info you guys put up. That is awesome work you guys did. Very cool to see so many possibilities and how they line up with Verse. I look forward to someone hopefully poking around and digging this thing up. Incredible solve work.

I believe a rubbing of that painted-over circle above the eagle would allow us to make out the words.

treetops

I believe a rubbing of that painted-over circle above the eagle would allow us to make out the words.

Or maybe a straight on photo.

gManTexas

Or maybe a straight on photo.

My friend who took the picture says its 8-12 feet in the air. Although, she’s tiny, so maybe a better perspective is all we need.
Currently asking my 6ft+ friends in the area to check it out

Tell them to bring a selfie stick

Ah, I did forget about that.
I like that they are both turning their heads to the side.
I don’t like that nothing else really seems to match
Is this even an eagle in the photo? I’m not a bird guy

I mean, it works for me.
Brings into question the other seemingly-random circles which also seem like they could be printing errors: Red circle below the X on her smock, and the circle on the rock outcropping on the far left right about the height of the top of her head

Goldengate

There are definitely circles, mostly reddish that are printing errors, this one, being the eye, I do not believe is one. Also it’s worth freeze framing Expedition Unknown where you can see a wide shot of this illustration on an easel. While some details are hard to make out, I can see an eye in the original on TV.
There’s also another similar eye like circle on the face many believe to be JFK/Reagan/Fred Flintstone… but if you just turn the page to the other side, you can see an entirely different face. (IMO, it looks like a mustachioed samurai mask that is in the permanent collection of the Asian Art museum (housed in the de young in 82) and may also be represented somewhere in the tea garden).

This is probably super- tunneling, and humorous, but I can see the face as just being an angled view of the flagpole base

fox

what the heck is Sidiothorpe?

Language filter replaced “see you in tea” with idiot

I’ve found another match with the base of the flagpole:

gManTexas

I must be working with the Cliff Notes version. No wonder I can’t solve anything!

“Team Spirits” are described on page 88 of the original book, with the accompanying photo of “Mr.Irvin” on page 89. Many of the black-and-white photos look like a bad Xerox copy of a color original, not a proper snapsnot made with B&W film. If someone made a reproduction of these, the quality must be horrible, if the so-called OCR edition even contains these images.

Ok back to the hunt! After looking at my research again and again, lol I have to agree with Gman on then end of my theory “is a little loose” I started to take a look at the verse of ” in jewel’s direction” which I find that many people skip, seems like what all I have read is that people just jump to Twains object or attention. Going over the book it’s kind of hard to ignore the page with Team Spirit, which is a picture of Monte Irvin in a Giants uniform and other players in the back ground with NY (Giants) uniforms. The baseball connection is just to good to pass up, because of the Giants connection to SF. So looking at the verse and then at the illustration, I believe that in jewel’s direction is the Big Rec Ball field. I know this theory has been brought up before and there has been digs in this area, but I don’t believe that the clues stop there. There are 2 baseball diamond’s, which if you look at the two loops at the end of the tail, they are almost 100% match with the infield pitching mounds. The loops have a light blue tear drop shape that match’s these fields. One diamond is larger then the other and this shows up in the illustration with the first loop larger then the second loop. I have to believe that jewel’s is referring to diamond’s…plain and simple. If you look at a map of the field you will see the tear drop pitchers mound. I was in the park on Sunday to verify that from ground level you could make out the tear drop shape and it was 100% match. I believe the clue in the book points to this part of the park and it is verified by verse and illustration with help from the book. Now here is what else I found going in that direction. The object of twain’s is baseball, he was a huge baseball fan and was involved with a pro team back in the 1800″s ,this among the other clues tells you that you are going in the right direction. If you look at the three loops at the end of the dragon’s tail there is a smaller loop at the end, that is closed by the small line at the very end of the tail. This is a complete circle with a smaller circle in the middle. I believe this to be the Carousel in the children’s playground. Twain’s attention would be children, since he wrote very famous novels about children’s books make good senses that this would be the clue. Bringing you to this part of the park, which if you look at the illustration, the top of the dragon’s head (senior center) move down to crossover drive, (arms) then to strawberry hill (strawberry in the middle) then to the 6 like shape (music note) below the strawberry ( music concourse) to the baseball diamonds ( big rec ball field) two loops at the bottom of the tail, to the third loop ( Carousel) puts you at the children’s playground and with the cable car identifier from the picture I posted earlier. This route brings you through almost the whole park from west to east passing all the major landmarks that Priess wanted us to see. Looking at the two solves in Chicago and Cleveland, both has a man made structure to identify the casques location. In the SF puzzle there is not much to go on, I look at the pattern in the dragon and it appears that they are stone or bricks and that this is going to be the identifier when you reach the casque location. I found two indicators of this around the children’s playground. So Giant Pole could be the Carousel, the middle of the carouse is connected to a very large pole that turns the base of the carousel, and directly behind the carousel is a building with a stone pattern and on the side of it has a large concrete barrier that you would have to take a large step up and over too. Once you have stepped up on this concert barrier it leads you to a stair case made out of stone. ( I will post pictures later tonight of my finds) The other location is what would of been right behind the cable car or behind the slide with the wood steps,(in the picture) is a stair case made out of stone. This stair case has 2 levels and curves like the dragons tail. The stair case has a rail that is attached from top to bottom. The stones in the stair case are a good match to the blocks that make up the dragons body. I think we need to be looking for some sort of stone for indicator of the location of the casque. I think the Giant pole ( flag pole) is not correct. Digging up at the base of flag poles would not be a good idea and I don’t think Priess would want people destroying areas around a flag pole since they are very special place. Thoughts?? I will post pictures later tonight of the stone areas.

Interesting, Giant step meaning the baseball fields seems good.
The theory tunnels just a bit in the middle for me.
For instance, I can’t imagine Preiss or anyone looking at a children’s park and thinking, “I’ll reference an author not directly associated with this park, AND I’ll choose Mark Twain over the thousands of authors more associated with children.” Anyone can look anywhere, find an object they think fits the solve, then link Mark Twain to that object.
I’d like to see a picture of these stones that resemble the dragon scales, as well as the trolley car. I like that you take pictures on the ground and share them, thanks.
Also, if you’re taking a giant step away from the flagpole base, you can’t be “digging up at the base,” so I found that argument fundamentally flawed. Also, while digging at the base of most flagpoles would seem a bit sacrilege, it’s quite reasonable that it could have been a flagpole without a flag outside a building that was being transitioned at the time, and thus vacant. I don’t think digging a few feet away from there would be weird. However, even though you didn’t mention this, I personally would be afraid to dig too near a flagpole base because I’d be afraid it would fall over on me. So there’s a point there.

Well Twain did have an infatuation with children, there are so many Twain references to everything in the city it’s hard to say yes or no, but the loops in the tail show us something and the third loops also is telling us something and leads to that part of the park. Maybe there was play structures that had a boat or a frog or something that is not there anymore. Well even with no actual flag on a pole I still think he wouldn’t of wanted people to be digging up near a base (or giant step) of these types of poles. I mean if you look at where these are in the park they are well manicured places and digging around it would not be a good thing, for the park or a pole that once held a flag? Just my opinion. Also with the cable car picture reinforces that area.

Thanks Dnerds I try and bring light to information I find or share so that we can peal back the layers to this onion!

this is the chinatown – portsmouth square streetlights.
posted here for davinci4

Unknown

Unknown:
I personally would be afraid to dig too near a flagpole base because I’d be afraid it would fall over on me.

I can not imagine. I will say, however, that if your hole is big enough and deep enough to destabilize a flagpole, then more than likely you are digging in the wrong spot. Just to be clear, I have never been a fan of the Senior Center flagpole as a dig spot (it is not a new theory), but there is one very compelling reason to consider that it may be the starting point for the search.

Goonies, great wall of text.
renovator, are you keeping track of peoples theories? which one do you favor? There’s so many…Coit Tower, Strawberry Hill, Russian Hill, Legion, Goldengate Park…
I’m kind of interested in whether the USS San Francisco monument ties in. It was docked at Pearl Harbor, so I like that little pearl connection.
I don’t think the senior center is at all part of this puzzle.

Euhirudinea

I can not imagine. I will say, however, that if your hole is big enough and deep enough to destabilize a flagpole, then more than likely you are digging in the wrong spot. Just to be clear, I have never been a fan of the Senior Center flagpole as a dig spot (it is not a new theory), but there is one very compelling reason to consider that it may be the starting point for the search.

I have always believed that the senior center is the starting point.

GG, I believe that both NY and SF represent both baseball diamonds in GGP, if you will. I mean why take the trouble of putting in a page that contains ball players with NY and SF jerseys? Plus if we are looking in the park, we have baseball fields which connects the book to the location. Not sure if this makes senses but to me it’s connects lol. I haven’t heard a better connection for jewel’s direction and baseball diamonds, jewel’s go hand in hand I think, but I could be way out of the ball park here LOL!! As far as the cable car, It’s hard for me to remember A cable car because my father worked for Gallo Salami off of Bryant st and the main logo is a cable car and we used to go to many events that had a cable car in it! I did find a link that has people talking about the cable car in the playground in the 70’s I will try and find it. I am going to message the parks super that I meet and see if he knows when the cable car was taken out of the park. Maybe he knows somebody that can recall that information?

Unknown

Unknown:
renovator, are you keeping track of peoples theories?

Not consciously E. It’s just a byproduct of following the forum for all these years, reading all the posts, keeping an open mind, and having a pretty decent memory. Here’s hoping that one day, one of us will find the right combination of things, and crack this puzzle. Not for nothing, but I think the dragon at the SC is one of those things.

The ball fields are also home to the vintage baseball league and the diamonds are off of 7th and Ivring….Monte Irving ?? book, coincidence ? I think not lol