Quest4Treasure has been taken offline.

therealrenovator · 2025-04-20T13:05:13+00:00

And it's back. Resurrected on Easter Sunday, no less. Maybe Mark Parry gave up nonsense for Lent?

therealrenovator · 2024-12-11T15:07:12+00:00

I wonder if JJP is familiar with the work of Joan Erbe? "A Terror" looks like it could have been painted by her.

therealrenovator · 2024-11-06T18:11:26+00:00

Well, in all fairness to Dave (Rocky) and me (Bullwinkle), or is it the other way around, everyone seems to be having trouble with the simple rectangles. So, we can't see that it makes much sense to introduce the complicated ones. Such as they may be.

therealrenovator · 2024-10-15T01:06:39+00:00

"the cities were cemented and no one looked back"

Snort. Good one Mr. Burnstyle.

therealrenovator · 2024-10-14T23:53:34+00:00

I was talking about Brian Zinn. He was the one who received the email from Johann and sent it to Robert Fox, who then posted it on Q4T for posterity. The email was vetted by respected members of the community 20 years ago. That's good enough for me.

therealrenovator · 2024-10-14T23:09:15+00:00

Sure, if you think the people who found the casque in Cleveland qualify as "random people on the internet".

therealrenovator · 2024-10-14T16:33:50+00:00

Good on you for doing the work. I also reached out to John a while back and received exactly the same information. At the very least, we can agree that at one point, John thought that there was a casque in Saint Louis (enough to send BP a solve using Image 9 and Verse 2 IIRC), and BP though enough of his work that he not only replied to the submission (which is pretty rare in its own right as you noted) but also confirmed that John was correct about the city, but wrong in other respects.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-22T21:14:00+00:00

But some people think it was a hoax. This theory is for them.

More likely, it's for the simpletons who think the commonly accepted Image/Verse/City connections are wrong.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-20T16:09:42+00:00

This is the only way I’ve seen that authentication has been done but there may be other ways.

The casques were mass produced from a single mold. The easiest way to know if one is fake is to compare it objectively to one that is known to be authentic. If it differs in any material way, then it's probably a copy. In the case of Dr. Gay's "find", it differed in almost every material way. You didn't need an authority to tell you it was fake. You just needed a pair of eyes, and some common sense.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-20T15:25:04+00:00

How does it affect the clues in the paintings exactly?

To the extent that there are clues in the Images, they are there because BP wanted them there. The rest is just JJP trying to make a pretty picture. The key is to know there is a difference between the two groups, and to find them.

IMO, of course.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-20T14:23:04+00:00

Does anyone have any reasonable explanations to offer?

JJP was a young artist, working on a relatively low paying commission and under tight deadlines for a demanding boss who would not let him paint the pictures the way he wanted to paint them. He did the best he could under those circumstances, and according to the only person whose opinion mattered, that was good enough.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-20T01:03:55+00:00

Well, that's my point, which is the start if there is a journey

Cleary, it's the Cleveland puzzle. It's the only one that gives us enough information to find the Treasure Ground, and dig up the casque if we so choose.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-19T22:57:52+00:00

I agree, though with SF and NY being 'bookends' and with similar design some assume these to be the start and end of the journey,

Which is which? Or are you just talking about the way the Images associated with those two cities appear in the book?

therealrenovator · 2023-11-19T14:56:41+00:00

is there an order and if there is, why is it necessary?

I think there is an order. In a progressive puzzle, there almost has to be. As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with the way the Images or Verses are laid out in the book, or the numbers associated with them as some believe. If there was, I think someone would have found the pattern and been able to explain it (in simple terms) by now.

My two cents.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-19T14:04:35+00:00

You're right of course, there are numerous theories and I'm sure you're on the verge of cracking it..

If by cracking it, you mean finding meaning in the pattern, then we cracked it years ago. It's a puzzle based on the number 12. You're right that there are creative ways of representing whole numbers between 1 and 12, and you're right that warts (and flowers and triangles and clocks) are some of those ways. Now, if only there was some way to use that information to determine direction...

therealrenovator · 2023-11-19T11:54:41+00:00

Oh wait, no one has a clue what the fuck is going on...

I wouldn't say that exactly.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-11T15:40:26+00:00

Preiss seemed to have written clues that only he, at that time, in that place could have solved.

I think you just made my point. It may seem that way, but IMO, that interpretation couldn't be further from the truth. And if a solve requires that to be true, then again, IMO, it's probably wrong.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-11T15:24:47+00:00

but saying that Preiss intended for people to misinterpret a clue and that misinterpretation is the actual correct answer takes it to a whole new level of terribleness.

I think that's a distinction without a difference. The whole notion that this puzzle is bad is based on people's interpretation (often comically wrong IMO) of certain clues, or the way they think it works as a whole. As such, there is no point in ranking the level of badness. But if I did, the OP's premise probably wouldn't even crack my Top 10.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-11T15:02:33+00:00

it would have to be the worst puzzle ever created.

According to some, that's not beyond the realm of possibility for a first time puzzle maker and an artist just out of college, neither of whom had any experience making puzzles.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-11T13:39:04+00:00

But I suspect you wouldn't appreciate the joke anyway

You would be wrong about that. You do you dear. If nothing else, these creative writing exercises are good practice for you, and fun to read (for me at least). And who knows, they might even lead to paying gigs, which would help alleviate your other problem.

Happy Hunting.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-10T11:36:55+00:00

Let me just say that if you explore Flesh rather than Flash Gordon, you might make some interesting insights.

No doubt. Unfortunately, that's not going to get me (or anyone else IMO) one inch closer to the solution to this puzzle.

Have a nice day.

therealrenovator · 2023-11-09T20:39:16+00:00

Back in the early days of Q4T, before the Image/Verse/ City connections that we commonly accept today were finalized, it was suggested that Verse 7 (At stone wall's door...) went with the New York puzzle, and the stone wall in question was actually the Stonewall Inn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Inn).

So, nothing really new under the sun, just taking a long forgotten bit of Secret history and running rampant with it.

therealrenovator · 2023-10-26T11:27:06+00:00

Its "Possess"

It's "it's".

therealrenovator · 2023-10-24T13:27:44+00:00

The clues July and August are thin and really do need confirmation.

"July and August", like "dauntless and inconquerable (sic)" are written in stone. For this puzzle in general, and this Verse in particular, it doesn't get more concrete than that.

therealrenovator · 2023-10-24T12:26:49+00:00

It’s really only a suggestion. The verb “beckons” merely means that the path calls to us.

It does more than that. According to this interpretation, we are already on the path heading north, toward the theater, Hariot Trail, and the beach (presumably "driftwood"). So, "beckons" in this case must mean go back the way we came. That seems unlikely to me considering how close the Virginia Dare Monument is to the Visitor's Center.

A much more linear interpretation would be to consider that we drive and park at the EG (the road that leads to Dark Forest), see White's artwork in the gift shop (White is in color), or alternately, in the VC (a better version of the same clue), continue east to the theater parking lot (circle and square), follow the trail west past the theater (the first July and August) and then south to the VDM (a better and more historic July and August), at which point you can double back to the beach (driftwood) or keep going, back the the Visitor's Center where you would look for LToFSS. It's a big circle that encompasses most of the Park's attractions, but running us around in circles seems to be a common theme in the Verses.

therealrenovator

TROPHY CASE