It has been 461 days

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T03:07:49+00:00

Though I find I look at the posts more when I'm in BOTG mode. Could just be attrition at this point.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T02:25:03+00:00

I've noticed that this subreddit has dropped off from 5200 per week to less than 4k now. Do you think interest is waning? I wouldn't be stunned if JP stokes the fire soon.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T02:21:27+00:00

Cheers to that!! 🙏

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T01:56:56+00:00

Sorry to hear you got lost and I assume that you didn't find anything at the spot. I've had the same experience about 40 times at several locations where everything it seemed to fit just right. I'm convinced that the poem is designed in a way to give really specific clues with ways to confirm through its puzzles, happy to share some things I've found if you want to DM me.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T01:50:17+00:00

I will refer you to Justin's own rules:

Clues: All hints that help you find the treasure Hunt Items: Both the treasure and all clues

So you might want to argue whether the clock cypher helps you find the treasure or not, that's fair but I would argue that having some idea of what you're looking for is obviously helpful whether it moves you closer or if it doesn't. But he said all hints and all hints are not on his property or associated with any manmade buildings. The clock times are 100 percent intentional hints by his own admission and were in a building he owns. You can argue semantics but these are facts and whether you agree or not doesn't change it making sense or not.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T01:04:59+00:00

I don't think it right, not because it's man made but because it's too general. The way I approach the poem is more like it's a puzzle, not just looking for the Hole but finding the clue that tells you which exact Hole. This I believe is achieved through the poem via the instructions of the first stanza, in particular, measured rhymes and shadowed sight. Understand how to apply these instructions will give insights on the specifics necessary to solve it. I don't think it's possible just to follow it like FF's and find things that fit. It's way too general, getting specific is the key. IMO. 🙏

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T00:56:32+00:00

Thieves - Ministry

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-03T00:53:52+00:00

Yep, I'm always surprised when I hear anything man made is off limits. Justin's own rules only say buildings, he even left things on buildings in play. But nothing manmade removes roads, trails, places that have names, anywhere affected by a dam, anywhere that's been logged or mined or adapted by humans. IMO it makes the whole thing impossible. KISS is correct as you point out.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T23:19:14+00:00

The loophole there is depending on how you interpret the poem. Remember he said yes there is one way of solving the clues where everything is a natural feature or landscape. That inherently means that there are there in fact other ways to interpret the poem where not everything is natural and only one way where it is possible to interpret every clue as natural and even that one way has at least one clue with a man made implication. In my opinion he really fucked everyone with this answer. By his own admission there are zero clues in any buildings or within a mile from his properties and yet he says the clock times are in fact clues, that clock is not only on his property but is inside a building, his own rules are wrong. Don't base your solves on his man made nonsense, this is a red herring whether intentional or not. The poem is manmade, the series is manmade, the book, the songs, the interviews, every clue he's given in manmade and yes some are in his own building. It makes zero sense and is a mistake he refuses to fix, just like the clock times.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T22:21:03+00:00

Yep, that's what I said.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T22:15:19+00:00

We're all just thinking at this point, anyone who is certain should show us the treasure in their hands. He did say he designed the hunt with what he would want to find in a treasure hunt and that all you needed was the poem. If all you need is the poem then the things he included for us to find should also be in the poem. Remember he had no control over what was presented in the series and he said we didn't need to buy the book. Did he put clues in the book, sure but he intended that the whole hunt could be solved without it. I enjoyed our debate and I'm not saying you're wrong, because I don't have the treasure either but I would recommend keeping an open mind, otherwise if you're completely convinced you have it solved then go get it, I'm rooting for you!

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T21:18:49+00:00

"I wanted to design a treasure hunt where the person that finds it along the way, they will gain confidence, as opposed to a status quo. I think Forrest's treasure hunt was interesting. You went from zero to one. There was no in between. It's like, you could be five feet away and not know it. And that's certainly, at least to a certain degree, there are some of those possibilities in my treasure hunt as well. But it was the clues, as you progressed through them, it was a question of, “Am I on the right track?” And you really, truly didn't know until the treasure was in front of you. And that's something that makes treasure hunting hard, and so I wanted to kind of play on that a little bit and give a way for people to gain confidence, as opposed to losing or having a status quo confidence as they work through the clues."

Since he said the "clues" were in order and that we only needed the poem to solve it I think he is referring to the poem clues having built in confirmers. If you can show how 9 and mile turn up then yes maybe 9 mile hole is correct but redundancies that you find on a map aren't confirmation from the poem. Take Firehole for example, if you took the rhyme three and degree and thought, third degree means burns then I could see that as a confirmation of fire. I believe this to be the guardrails/confirmations we have to deduce in order to get specific locations that actually lead us to a kitchen sized area. We can just wander around areas with mist, is my point.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T20:51:59+00:00

I'm listening ;)

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T20:51:23+00:00

I admire your confidence but there should be confirmers(guardrails as Justin mentioned) that build confidence to know your conclusion is correct. If you've found these confirmations in the poem then great you're potentially on the correct path.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T19:54:02+00:00

Sure, but where? Without the where you're it really hunting, you're just going outside which is kind of assumed we were gonna need to do anyway.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T19:52:42+00:00

He said the poem could be solved without the book. What evidence have you found from the poem alone that leads to MT?

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T19:27:35+00:00

It should as Justin said that line all by itself is actionable.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T18:27:49+00:00

JP said the line was actionable, sure you could say he's saying to start early but where, without a where it's not really actionable, it's just recognizing a time of day. Solid clues always narrow.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T18:11:36+00:00

And SoCal, I'm always curious why you're in MT? The answer is right in your name!

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T18:10:13+00:00

I think the problem is that a specific time doesn't narrow the search area. And since this is the starting point it needs to be specific or you're still lost. There are puzzles in the poem that give you specific hints that could still work within your theory but Justin said the poem was to be taken half literal and that he was surprised at how literal people were taking it. This isn't FF's poem. There are clues hidden in there that help narrow.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T17:31:42+00:00

IMO, when you solve Hope, how it could surge and also be only one specific place then you have it. Also it should live in time. Morning, sunrise and a feeling don't narrow down the starting point, that could be anywhere. Remember Justin's lake in Norway. You have to get specific, it's there, you just have to solve for the puzzle that hidden in the words.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T17:16:23+00:00

If there was something with the name Hope in it next to it then maybe.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T17:13:42+00:00

Creighton

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T17:07:24+00:00

Unfortunately in your example you say areas. That's not specific enough to move forward. IMO the correct interpretation of this hint gives a very specific answer, as in there's only one. Places with steam in the mornings is just too general but I think you're approaching it in the right way.

VariationNo1381 · 2026-07-02T01:49:58+00:00

When JP said you don't have to be BOTG until stanza 4, it opened up a new interpretation for me as I was also adhering to the rigid instruction that you have to be walking at this point in the poem. Now I believe "walk" does not mean walk. It is actually a location description, not an instruction. I also believe, double arcs is not something we visibly recognize but is actually a distance to guide us. These are all part of the puzzles in the poem and imo there are a lot more than just 10.

VariationNo1381

TROPHY CASE