2014 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt

We give a nod to King Boreas and the bitter cold and snow that has preceded the hunt. The treasure, a new medallion, is frozen in a pocket from a pair of the CW's jeans (genes). Hunters "await the Pioneer Press" at Gabe's in the Park, "the park" being Como Park, the location of this year's treasure.

The clue sets boundary and rules of the hunt. "Thin ice" references warning signs around and on Lake Como, and golf course to the course at Como. There are private homes bordering the section of Como Park where the medallion is hidden, but the puck is hidden well away from the homes.

The skeleton of Charlie Pitts, a member of the notorious James Gang, was found in the bottom of Como Lake (once called Sandy Lake). Apparently, a Dr. Henry Hoyt had submerged the skeleton to bleach it for display.

Rainbow is a frequent topic of Perry Como songs. "(I'm) Always Chasing Rainbows," "There'll Soon be a Rainbow" and "Rainbow on the River" are all songs he recorded. Other songs include "Where Do I Begin," "Far Away Places," "Stop! and Think It Over" and "Fooled." "Where you've been" references that Como Park is a frequent site for hiding the medallion -- although the last time was 11 years ago.

The Gates Ajar flower wall, one of the best known landmarks in Como Park, was named from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "the Golden Legend." The clue is a fractured rendition of the relevant passage:

I heard him call. When Christ ascended
Triumphantly, from star to star,
He left the gates of heaven ajar.
I had a vision in the night,
And saw him standing at the door
Of his Father's mansion, vast and splendid,
And beckoning to me from afar.
I cannot stay!

The clue refers to two historic structures in the area of Como Park where the medallion is hidden: The Historic Streetcar Station and the nearby footbridge that once was a beautifully landscaped main entrance to Como Park. The clue refers to the ongoing controversy over reestablishing "what once was old" -- streetcars -- in the Twin Cities ("new once more"). "Rail" refers to streetcar rails.

The Como Park conservatory (Slogan: Summer 365 Days a Year) is visible from the treasure site.

This clue points to the Como Park statue (featuring long hair and britches) of Friedrich von Schiller, the German poet, philosopher and playwright. He wrote lyrics to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and was a famous member of the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) Romantic movement in 18th Century. A plaster bust of Schiller has been the stuff of legend at Carleton College in Northfield -- his bust has shown up at homecoming games (dangling from a helicopter), with President Clinton, at presidential convocations and even on TV shows (Colbert Report and Desperate Housewives). Most importantly, atop a knoll at the intersection of Nason Place and Estabrook Drive, Schiller gazes across Lexington Parkway at a point south of where the treasure lies buried.

Technology has changed the way people search for the medallion, including logging in to anagram solvers. "Next login" is both an anagram for Lexington and signals the anagrams in the next clue. Lexington runs right past the treasure site and past the torpedo monument to the USS Swordfish, which was lost with all hands during WWII. "Submerged" refers to submarines and also that the puck is buried in the snow.

"Breads John took" is an anagram for John D. Estabrook and "a loggers neon" is an anagram for George L. Nason. In 1967 each man had a street named for him in Como Park. Located near the Conservatory, the streets, Estabrook Drive and Nason Place, form an arrowhead-like fork that points at the medallion location. A running/walking path passes the treasure site. "Bygone era" refers to the 1967 dedication of the streets and also the rhyme scheme of this clue, which follows the pattern used in 2003, the last time the puck was hidden in Como Park.

The "thing marine" is the torpedo monument to USS Swordfish. The clue advises that "points" in the previous clue does not mean searching in the direction the torpedo is pointing, but to do an "about face" and search in the "wake" of the torpedo. It is the rear, not the front of the torpedo, that "points to the puck." The medallion is hidden in the area bordered by a line of trees to the South and the walking path to the North. A semi-circle of trees sets the limit of the hunt to the West.

The clue spells out the exact location of the medallion.