2004 Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt

The obvious clue one expects to find in Clue #1 is that it's in a park. The part about starting with a peek in the looking glass helps set the tone for the "Alice in Wonderland" theme, but is also a hint as to the word game contained in this clue. If you take the first letter in each line, and then find its "mirror image" in the alphabet (e.g. A=Z, B=Y, C=X, etc.) then those letters will spell out L-O-E-B, the name of the lake in Marydale Park.

The dining and cooking simply refer to the many picnic tables and grills near the treasure hunt location. The very important date is retrieved by taking the first letter in each line and converting it to a number according to its place in the alphabet. A=1, I=9, G=7, D=4. 1974 was the date that Marydale officially became a park.

The way to make a dictionary shorter is to "abridge" it. There is a bridge not far from the treasure site. The reference to "porter" is a mild hint that the bridge is for trains.

If you take the word "rain" and add a T(tea) to it, you get "train". There is a train that runs right behind the treasure site.

On the east side of Marydale you will find the corner of Jessamine and Jessamine (Avenue and Court), a street that "crosses itself". I'm afraid "near" was a relative concept in this clue.

The trail around Loeb Lake, which you can walk around, is exactly 1 mile. Also, the entry to Marydale is a roundabout. The 15 refers to a number on one of the lights along the path and the 50 refers to an address prominently visible on a building on Maryland (it's actually 501, but the 1 is missing). The treasure was located between those two on the northwest side of the park.

The useful dwarf is "Doc". There is a dock on Loeb Lake that is visible from the hiding spot. "Perch" is also a bit of a hint referring to the fact that one can fish in the lake (it's meant to be a children's fishing pond).

If you eliminate every pair of letters in this clue, the remaining, unpaired letters can be arranged to spell ROCK. The cat was hidden inside of a fake rock made from a carved foam brick and colored with ash. There is also a rock garden in Marydale.

Finishing at the start suggests walking in a circle which in turn suggests a park with a lake you can walk around. On the far side of the lake from the main entrance there is a sign with a picture of a catfish on it. The catfish points in the direction one will find the treasure.

The Winter Carnival Medallion was hidden at Marydale in 1972. Yet it didn't officially become a park until 1974!

"Basket", "Sugar Push", and "Tuck Turn" are all dance moves in West Coast Swing. There is a set of swings very near the treasure site. A little before noon suggests the time is eleven something. The address of Marydale is on the 1100 block of Dale (as evidenced by the 1120 address on the restroom building).

The cat was hidden in Marydale Park. If you enter the park from the main parking lot and go around the trail to the left, you will find a group of picnic tables and amongst the tables there are some trees scattered. At the base of one of the trees was a fake rock with the cat hidden inside.