Treasure Hunt clues explained

Here are the 12 clues our clue writers created for this year’s medallion hunt along with explanations of their meanings.

Clue 1

You’ve joined the hunt for the regal runt

To prove searching does pay

Don’t dig a hole or knock down a pole

And the golf course is out of play

Last year Jake took home the cake

With a clue a bit off level

This year we’ll rinse off all our prints

Lest this hunt go to the devil

Explanation: We advise hunters not to dig or knock down anything, and to stay off golf courses. We refer to the hunter who found the medallion after the second clue last year, the fastest on record. He said he deduced “Cleveland” Avenue from the word “level,” then followed our footprints to the prize. This year we vow to keep the hunt from going to the devil by making it more challenging and not leaving telltale footprints behind.

Clue 2

The point of all this is so that you won’t miss

Your big chance to grab all the cash

Now gather your guys and a gal who is wise

You’ll have to do something quite rash
 

Explanation: This is a reference to the proximity of Point Douglas Road to Indian Mounds Park, where the medallion was hidden. “Guys and wise gal” refer indirectly to the Order of the Eastern Star, a male-and-female fraternal organization that is an offshoot of the Masons, and which planted a star-shaped “Matron’s Grove” of trees at Indian Mounds park. A “rash” often accompanies a burn — an indirect allusion to Burns Avenue near the park.

Clue 3

We’ve scanned the county to hide our bounty

And keep you on your toes

It may sound risible, but our puck’s invisible

Although it might just stick to your nose.
 

Explanation: Hunters must be on their toes because we’ve hid it in hilly territory which we scanned from the top of a hill in the park. “Invisible” and “stick to your nose” refers to the “invisible tape” box in which the medallion is hidden.

Clue 4

How fun is the snow how far will we go

You really ought to go see

Get up for the mission and not just the wishin’

Get into the game – it’s all free
 

Explanation: Pretty darn obscure: “Game” is a reference to Obbs Sports Bar across the street from the park. Really obscure: “Far” and “go” are a reference to Wells Fargo Place downtown, which is visible from Indian Mounds Park.

Clue 5

There once was a clue that drove you-know-who

To threaten a heinous act

We’d use it again, but we’re afraid of his pen

My friend, that’s an unfortunate fact
 

Explanation: This is a reference to a certain newspaper columnist who freaked out several hunts ago. He took issue with a clue referring obliquely to the location of a French immersion school – which is now at Parkway School, not far from Indian Mounds Park. The Pioneer Press had a short article about a play at the school called “Kaposia,” which debuted during this year’s hunt. The play dealt with the Native American community that once thrived at Indian Mounds Park.

Clue 6

All ye who look should honor the book

As one who stood for hope

Much was built in the name of the kilt

Look sharp now and never mope
 

Explanation: Calling all history buffs: Edward Duffield Neill was the first to conduct excavations at Indian Mounds Park. He was a Presbyterian minister and educator (“ye,” “honor the book”) who had been a presidential aide to Abraham Lincoln. In Minnesota, he founded Macalester College and the House of Hope Presbyterian Church (“hope.”) These are two St. Paul institutions that honor the Scottish traditions (“kilt.”) The word “hope” also invokes the Hopewell Indians, the ancient tribe that built the mounds.

Clue 7

If you should go look high then low

One could see it from a bower

If it’s your bent you might seek a tent

To protect in case of shower
 

Explanation: The tent refers to the Indians who lived on the site of Indian Mounds Park. “High then low” refers to the hilly terrain where the medallion is hidden.

 
Take note of the wood and do what you should

To extract the prize for yourself

Build a bridge to your dreams as high as they seem

Leave nothing behind on the shelf
 
 

Explanation: Another reference to the woods in the area in which it is hidden and to the bridge that crosses Warner Road from Mounds Park. The “shelf” refers to the side of the hill where the medallion is hidden.

Clue 8

Look at the buck to acquire good luck

In finding the grail this year

Link a jar, a line, a star lawyer divine

While crying in your beer
 

Explanation: There are deer in Indian Mounds Park. Jar, line and star lawyer refer to the word “Mason,” a reference to the Masonic memorial in Mounds Park. There is also a reference to the beverage enjoyed at Obbs sports bar.

He won, then lost and the nation was tossed

Into strife that was far from civil

The point I’m making is yours for the taking

Believe me – not the message board drivel
 

Explanation: Another reference to Point Douglas Road, located near the park, which was named after Stephen A. Douglas, who defeated Abraham Lincoln in the 1858 U.S. Senate race but lost to him for the presidency two years later. The Civil War followed shortly after the election. We also refer to the many message boards purporting to know where the medallion was hidden.

Clue 9

This name brings tears, elation and cheers

And occasionally even outrages

It sits on walls and rides the halls

And fills a dozen pages
 

Explanation: The name is “Johnson,” filling 12 pages in the telephone book. Johnson Parkway ends at Indian Mounds Park. There is also a bench at the park (“sits”) named for a Minnesota “Johnson.”

The hills are alive and you’ll have arrived

Refrain from the very injurious

Be bold and be brave but your skin you must save

What’s off-limits should frankly be obvious
 

Explanation: Another reference to the hills and potentially dangerous terrain in the area where it is hidden; “brave” is an Indian term. The “frankly obvious” area that is off-limits is the area of the ancient mounds themselves.

Clue 10

Look for the sight you hope is just right

You’re doubtful and you’re torn

Make the rounds for what rhymes with grounds

And part of a rose with a horn

Through flames and flow this park where you’ll go

Is the site of sacred relics

Stay away from these and the cliffs if you please

Or you’ll be in a heckuva fix
 

Explanation: Both stanzas clearly point to “Mounds” park, rhyming with “grounds,” and to the “horn” of a rose, referring to nearby Thorn Street. We tell people to stay away from “sacred relics” – the actual Indian mounds – and from the cliffs. “Flames” refer to Burns and “flow” to Etna, two streets near the park.

Clue 11
   (This clue, released in the early edition of the newspaper at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, led to the discovery of the medallion about midnight.)

Air and river sounds lead all to Mounds

Far from the graves take your entourage

‘Twixt Burns and Thorn an icy pathway is born

Across Mounds from a gray house and tan garage

Hell no fury hath as those on the wrong path

Mounds and Warner form a woodsy perimeter

The path, not official, contains footprints beneficial

Some 300 trudges in – not a quest for a quitter

This trail you must follow goes down a narrow hollow

Under a fallen tree to an old rusted drum

From here you must search for a hillside path perch

Wherein lies the center of fun
 

Explanation: These stanzas get the hunters into the area where the medallion is hidden in Indian Mounds Park. Between Burns and Thorn street, across Mounds Boulevard from a house-and-garage, begins an icy path worn by many footprints. It goes through a narrow hollow or creek bed, under a fallen tree, to an old rusted drum. We counted 300 steps from the street to the drum. We encourage hunters to look for a “hillside path perch” in this area — on a hillside, near a path — but we did not give the exact location.
 

Clue 12
   (This clue was scheduled to run in the newspaper on Thursday, Jan. 31)

Your blood will coagulate whilst you triangulate

From the drum at the heart of it all

A slope nearby you will espy

Fifty steps up the hill – careful, don’t fall

Near a hollowed half-tree a fallen limb you will see

The cover for our precious goods

Across the path from the half-tree lift the limb and you’ll see

There’s gold in them thar’ woods

Quick like a fox see the blue-and-white box

Away you casually sidle

Inside is the prize, two-domed and super-sized

Congratulations – you’re our Minnesota Idol

Explanation: This identifies the exact spot where the medallion is located. It is close to a “hollowed half-tree” – a split trunk that is a marker for our treasure. Across the icy path from this half-tree are some dead limbs on the ground. The treasure is under one of them. It is in a blue-and-white box of 3M invisible tape. The marker tree is about 50 steps up the hill from the rusted drum.

Copyright 2008 Pioneer Press.