CLUE 1
Boreas roared and blew winds from the North —
A Polar Vortex then snow he brought forth.
So hunters take heed — bundle up in warm dress
While awaiting your clue from the Pioneer Press.
Winter Carnival treasure is part of our genes,
Search out a new puck and pocket some green.
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.
CLUE 2
The treasure’s in Ramsey; public land, search it all —
Suburbs and neighborhoods and throughout St. Paul.
Don’t dig up the ground. Thin ice — stay away!
Courses for golf are all out of play.
You won’t find the puck by a private home —
Across private land is no place to roam.
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.
CLUE 3
Down by old sandy
You’ll find this quite handy:
After giving them fits
He was mired in the pits
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.
CLUE 4
Rainbows lead you to the puck.
Thinking it over will bring you luck.
Is it far away or where you’ve been?
If fooled, just begin again.
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 that last time was 11 years ago.
CLUE 5
Moving from star to star,
Beckoning to you from afar
From the splendid mansion’s door
A vision causing soul to soar.
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!
CLUE 6
What once was old is new once more,
Which some will cheer and some deplore.
Some will rail; some beam euphoric.
But there’s no denying the site’s historic.
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.
CLUE 7
“No time for cold feet” is the Boreas creed,
But if warmer weather is what you should need,
Riddle this clue and don’t get it wrong —
Vulcans’ vision is summer all year long.
The Como Park conservatory (Slogan: Summer 365 Days a Year) is visible from the treasure site.
CLUE 8
Far from the pitches
In long hair and britches
He stood through the storm
And to joy he gave form
Though a bust on TV
Deep thoughts has he
Turn his head just a ways
At the treasure he’d gaze.
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 off the intersection of Nason Place and Estabrook Drive, Schiller gazes across Lexington Parkway at a point south of where the treasure lies buried.
CLUE 9
Clue 9
Tech has changed this annual gig
And your next login could hit it big.
Remembrance for those who died below,
Points to the puck submerged in the snow.
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.
CLUE 10
Clue 10
The breads John took is a clue where to look —
Half an arrow is better than none.
But a logger’s neon from a bygone eon
Will point you where to run.
“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.
CLUE 11
A line of trees lies in the wake.
About face is the path to take.
Relate this clue to an earlier scene
When you encountered a thing marine.
Now you know the trail to the treasure.
The line of trees is your search’s measure.
The walking path prescribes more limits;
A semi-circle of trees also inhibits.
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.
CLUE 12
In Como Park we hid the puck.
You should be there with any luck.
Where Estabrook Drive meets old Lexington
Points where the prize is hidden and won.
Line up Estabrook with your eye —
Three trees in half circle you will spy.
Dig in the snow, from an end tree, 12 feet,
You’ll uncover the treasure — won’t that be sweet.
The puck is pocketed in an old piece of jeans;
Wrapped up, frozen solid, is concealment means.
Dig under the snow but not in the ground.
Be Minnesota Nice to other people around.
The clue spells out the exact location of the medallion.
Copyright 2014 Pioneer Press.