2013 Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt

In addition to letting you know the hunt has started, this clue also tells you the name of the park the medallion is hidden in. It starts with the last line of the first stanza which uses the phrase "before the other guys". Looking at the second stanza, the names of five men are mentioned: Dusty, Mark, Frank, Will, and Earnest. But the clue says "before the other guys" and the key is to look at the word prior to each of these names: "are", "ass", "be", "you", and "an" which are homonyms for the letters R, S, B, U, and N respectively. These letters can be rearranged to spell BURNS. It would take some work to get this, but that investment would pay off.

The first part of the clue refers to what the medallion is hidden in, namely an old dirty sock of Jake's that was frozen in ice. The global quartet refers to the Earth's four oceans (ride the wave, get wet) as Pacific St. is very near the north side of Burns Park.

The first line refers to the Y (why) shaped walking path in the park. The powers above refer to the power lines over the treasure's resting spot. "Love" is a term from tennis (ten is) as there is a tennis court in the park, but you'll need to walk past it

The water serene is again a reference to Pacific Ave. The Pacific ocean was so named because of its serene waters. The wave that can be seen nearby, in the park, is a bicycle rack in the shape of a compressed sine wave which is visible from the hiding spot. The second line alludes to the song "Flow Gently Sweet Afton". Upper Afton Rd. meets Burns Ave. near the park, but more specifically, the words for that song were written by the poet Robert Burns. There is also an underwater scene (the mermaid's view) on a piece of playground equipment. However that scene is not visible from the hiding spot so you don't want to dig somewhere where you can view it.

There's a bench near the hiding spot. Also, near the hiding spot there's a group of trees. But if you look more carefully, you will see that one of the trees is not a tree at all, but rather a utility pole. The other type of wood to ponder is Hazlewood which is the name of a nearby street to the east.

This clue is just saying it is in a park where many of the park boundaries are not along streets. In fact the borders of the park vary from one map to another.

Next to the park is a church (a place you might donate money) by the name of Progressive Baptist Church. The primary tools of a mason, or more specifically a Freemason (wise men with secrets), are the square and compass depicted on their logo. The square of course is used to make squares while the compass is used to make circles. The church next door has a bell tower with a prominent circle-in-a-square design.

Generally you would enter the park from Burns Ave. which is the high point of the park. Follow gravity and go down hill. At the treasure's resting place one may glimpse the red light of an exit sign through a narrow window. Too far to one side or the other and the sign can not be seen, hence it is fleeting. The place that is unfit for depravity again refers to the church as the treasure is on that side of the park.

"Room for a tot," is a reference to the existence of a playground in the park. "Not a lot" tells you the park has no parking lot. "Playing in the yard" refers to the house in the corner of the park and the fact that its back yard is near to the treasure. "Taking your shot" refers to the nearby basketball court. Since the court has only one basket, that suggests there is no opposing team.

Many of the previous clues could fit Mounds nearly as well as Burns. The first line suggests that all may not be as it seems. The second line ends with "…mic lean" which is to suggest McLean, a street that runs into the park not far from the treasure's hiding spot. If one were to look on a map for McLean in that area, one may notice that there are two stretches of it, one running into Mounds and one into Burns. In this case you want the shorter of the two.

Many of the phrases from the first part of this clue come from later verses of the song "Auld Lang Syne" (old lawn sign). The words for this song were written by Robert Burns which by this time should lead one to Burns Park.

The second stanza suggests you need to be in a park that's "hot", which is to say "Burns". It also alludes again to the church next door. The treasure is hidden on the north side of the lot that the house is sitting on, under some trees in the shade.

In the third stanza, the northern street is Barclay, the only street to the north that runs into the park. That "which lies beyond the city line" is a reference to Suburban Ave. The treasure is pretty close to where those two streets would intersect in the park if extended.

This is just telling you more or less where the treasure lies.