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It is the start of the Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt! The first clue will come out tonight at 5pm with additional clues daily, up to 12 clues. It will be posted here and elsewhere. The prize is $250 and no registration is necessary so anyone is perfectly eligible to find it if you're willing to look for it. Certainly Nicholas R Casci will be looking for a repeat. I'm sure other past finders like Jake Ingebrigtson, Steven Sanftner,  and Josh Ellingson will be out to prove they are really the best. But really anyone has a chance if they're willing to try and can decipher the clues.   The medallion (the same 2 inch disc from past years) has been hidden in St. Paul somewhere on public land. It is not in water or on ice. Nor is it up a tree, on or in a building, on a steep hillside, inside anything electric, buried underground, or anywhere else that might seem like a bad idea (landscaping bushes excepted!) I do reserve the right to end the hunt if unforeseen circumstances dictate.   There will be a kickoff party tonight at 6:30 at Joseph's Grill. Wednesday is their pasta bar night though you can certainly order off the regular menu as well. Look for a large table in the main dining room. Hope to see you there!

Just in case anyone thought the end of the hunt meant the end of the Winter Carnival, it does not! There are still plenty of activities tonight. Tomorrow I have my event, The Four Winds Quest, a kind of relaxed, party-like escape room. You can check that out at bradenlodge.org/wc It's also the day of the Torchlight Parade with some decent weather if you want to check that out.   But mostly I want to talk about the Rehash Bash which is on Sunday. We'll be at a new location this year, the Frogtown Community Center. It is at 230 Como Ave. in St. Paul which is near where Como meets Rice St. The parking lot is a bit small, but there is also street parking.    This is a potluck event and we encourage people (if they want to) to try and match their items to a clue from this year. It officially starts at noon, though some people usually come a bit earlier to help with setup. We generally have a program including various presentations, initiations of new members, and door prizes. It usually lasts a couple of hours and is a great chance to connect with fellow hunters and see them one last time before we go our separate ways again. So come out and join us!

I will say it is very unusual for the cluewriter to just flat out give you the undisguised name of a street in a clue. And then to do it twice? In this case maybe even three times. That's a definite sign of a red herring.


On Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 09:23:59 PM CST, Mike Flipp via groups.io <flippstermn@...> wrote:


As you can see in the mapClue 6 was all over this.
For noble or peasant life is more pleasant
If the elements are kept at bay
The greatest story gives power and glory
To those who follow the way.
We hit the 2nd pleasant as was mentioned, The greatest Story is the Bible pointing to Christians who follow the way. But I was heading down to Linwood, making the 100 mile trek on Sunday, if not found. WHere I was going to search is the corner of linwood that lined up with BAY, if the elements are KEPT at BAY. I was lining up Bay St (Center bottom of attached map) and wahlah! But to no avail. as we all know now, that was a herring bombastic thing to do to us all! LOL! Clues made sense for Linwood, very vague for Central.

As you can see in the mapClue 6 was all over this.
For noble or peasant life is more pleasant
If the elements are kept at bay
The greatest story gives power and glory
To those who follow the way.
We hit the 2nd pleasant as was mentioned, The greatest Story is the Bible pointing to Christians who follow the way. But I was heading down to Linwood, making the 100 mile trek on Sunday, if not found. WHere I was going to search is the corner of linwood that lined up with BAY, if the elements are KEPT at BAY. I was lining up Bay St (Center bottom of attached map) and wahlah! But to no avail. as we all know now, that was a herring bombastic thing to do to us all! LOL! Clues made sense for Linwood, very vague for Central.

I was at Linwood, I'll admit it. Still trying to figure out what those steps are for, that go from grade at Avon and St. Clair into the ravine.  Look like WPA era.  Nothing really developed at all down there to get to.
Dave

Well said, Allison; those are my thoughts exactly.
Schar Ward
1141 Bergmann Drive
Stillwater, MN. 55082
651 342-1385Cleaning Consultant Varin Enterprises

On Monday, January 27, 2025 at 05:41:44 AM CST, Allison Wonderland via groups.io <allisonwondrland@...> wrote:

Yes, I was also greatly disappointed in the clues. I felt the first four were totally useless. Because they mention the LA fires, we're supposed to somehow jump to a nearby city that wasn't affected by the fires and then connect that to one of our cities. I feel that the quality of a clue is judged by one thing. When you read the explanation, do you think "Oh I should have gotten that!", which would make it a good clue, or do you think "What?!" in which case it's a bad clue. Clue one was bad. 
Clue 2 was also bad. The things they say point to Rosedale are very weak connections to begin with. I'm not even sure what rolling along has to do with a shopping mall. They could have just made a clue about shopping and that would still apply to a ton of places.
Clue 3 was the what is it in clue which is useless by design, so ok.
Clue 4 was so extremely vague that there was really no way to specifically connect it to what it meant, which was something that was never even part of that park. There were certainly better ways to connect the two parks that shared a name.
So I imagine the goal was to not have a short hunt. Consequently they made the first four clues so extremely vague, that they were totally useless. And then Clue 5 comes along and practically gives it away. Granted, it could still apply to several parks, especially if it maybe meant it was in a new park this year. But the most straightforward reading of it would lead one to Central which then totally negates all the vagueness of the first four clues and sent lots of people to Central.
Clue 6, if you were thinking Central, then it's not too hard to guess this was about the church. Though talking about the church, and mentioning shelter which might suggest the Lions shelter, and the military references from Clue 2 suggesting the American Legion, all indicators were suggesting the middle of the park. They also used "Pleasant" twice, which I'm told had 100 people at Linwood at the time it was found. It seemed like the goal was more about being deceptive.
And then Clue 7 again negates the vagueness and deception of the first 6 clues and mostly gives it away again. And then someone finds it.
David B. Allison

On Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 11:27:46 PM CST, secretrose via groups.io <handlinrose@...> wrote:

[Edited Message Follows]

Boy was l wrong! It was the church connection. I however was not happy with the clue explanations. Clue one talked about Pasadena and the Rose Bowl in the CA fires. The fires never touched that area so l would not have gotten to Roseville by that. Also the clue writer said you could hear the noise from Rosedale shopping Center. It was not close enough to hear noise from that shopping center. I felt betrayed that the clues are not factual to their explanations. Some were also a huge stretch. Anyone else feel this way?

You can find the explanations to the PP Clues here: https://archive.is/xV04D

Can someone post the explanation of the clues? Thanks (not sure I really want to see how abstract they are,  but it is what it is.) Lol

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

Yea, they went really heavy on the red herrings this year. When I first read the clue explanations I thought to myself “are they f*%cking with us?! lol, they could have used in and out hear them shout for the nearby volleyball and tennis courts.

Maybe we'll get a new clue writer next year. Clue 4 has got to be one of the worst clues ever. they should make up for it by doing a spring/summer medallion hunt. At least I learned a lot about the singer Tony Bennett. Ha!

Yes, I was also greatly disappointed in the clues. I felt the first four were totally useless. Because they mention the LA fires, we're supposed to somehow jump to a nearby city that wasn't affected by the fires and then connect that to one of our cities. I feel that the quality of a clue is judged by one thing. When you read the explanation, do you think "Oh I should have gotten that!", which would make it a good clue, or do you think "What?!" in which case it's a bad clue. Clue one was bad. 
Clue 2 was also bad. The things they say point to Rosedale are very weak connections to begin with. I'm not even sure what rolling along has to do with a shopping mall. They could have just made a clue about shopping and that would still apply to a ton of places.
Clue 3 was the what is it in clue which is useless by design, so ok.
Clue 4 was so extremely vague that there was really no way to specifically connect it to what it meant, which was something that was never even part of that park. There were certainly better ways to connect the two parks that shared a name.
So I imagine the goal was to not have a short hunt. Consequently they made the first four clues so extremely vague, that they were totally useless. And then Clue 5 comes along and practically gives it away. Granted, it could still apply to several parks, especially if it maybe meant it was in a new park this year. But the most straightforward reading of it would lead one to Central which then totally negates all the vagueness of the first four clues and sent lots of people to Central.
Clue 6, if you were thinking Central, then it's not too hard to guess this was about the church. Though talking about the church, and mentioning shelter which might suggest the Lions shelter, and the military references from Clue 2 suggesting the American Legion, all indicators were suggesting the middle of the park. They also used "Pleasant" twice, which I'm told had 100 people at Linwood at the time it was found. It seemed like the goal was more about being deceptive.
And then Clue 7 again negates the vagueness and deception of the first 6 clues and mostly gives it away again. And then someone finds it.
David B. Allison

On Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 11:27:46 PM CST, secretrose via groups.io <handlinrose@...> wrote:

[Edited Message Follows]

Boy was l wrong! It was the church connection. I however was not happy with the clue explanations. Clue one talked about Pasadena and the Rose Bowl in the CA fires. The fires never touched that area so l would not have gotten to Roseville by that. Also the clue writer said you could hear the noise from Rosedale shopping Center. It was not close enough to hear noise from that shopping center. I felt betrayed that the clues are not factual to their explanations. Some were also a huge stretch. Anyone else feel this way?

Boy was l wrong! It was the church connection. I however was not happy with the clue explanations. Clue one talked about Pasadena and the Rose Bowl in the CA fires. The fires never touched that area so l would not have gotten to Roseville by that. Also the clue writer said you could hear the noise from Rosedale shopping Center. It was not close enough to hear noise from that shopping center. I felt betrayed that the clues are not factual to their explanations. Some were also a huge stretch. Anyone else feel this way?

https://www.paypal.me/Arock1976

Sincerely,
Aaron SmithPhone: (651) 338-8232Email: arsmith2002@... 

On Sun, Jan 26, 2025 at 11:44 AM Allison Wonderland via groups.io <AllisonWondrland=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

I'm afraid I don't have Venmo. I have Paypal and Zelle. or we could make some more archaic arrangement.
David B. Allison

On Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 09:36:50 AM CST, Aaron Smith via groups.io <arsmith2002@...> wrote:

Thanks everyone!  I didn’t do much for noodling this year. I just figured it was hidden at a park near Dale Street. David, you want to just Venmo me? @Aaron-Smith-498. 

Sincerely,
Aaron SmithPhone: (651) 338-8232Email: arsmith2002@... 

Thanks everyone!  I didn’t do much for noodling this year. I just figured it was hidden at a park near Dale Street. David, you want to just Venmo me? @Aaron-Smith-498. 

Sincerely,
Aaron SmithPhone: (651) 338-8232Email: arsmith2002@... 

ICE Nine Kills which l ran across on internet. It is some strange story and movie called "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Never heard about it before.

How so? I was trying to fit that sign into the clues after it was found today

I believe this was the clue to The Greatest Story Ever Told....THIN ICE

Congrats to Josh! I was on my way to Central when he found it. Got there just as people were leaving.