2006 Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt

The key to figuring out this clue is to find "the lock" which refers to the keyhole shaped window on the building at North Dale. "ye olde martyr" is a reference to St. Alban, the first British martyr, and St. Albans is one of the streets bordering North Dale. And of course this clue also tells you to look in St. Paul.

The Chinook wind is generally associated with a northwesterly direction and North Dale is a park in the northwestern quadrant of the city. The shelter the pirates seek is a reference to the gazebo near the hiding spot. The lot that is nearby refers to the parking lot, but that would be going away from the treasure and hence will make you colder instead of warmer.

The "stars with an eye" really means "stars" plus an "i" which gives you "stairs". You can see (spy) the stairs from the hiding spot. The "rich Shepard" is Sam Shepard, the playwright and actor, who lives in Stillwater. His dirt would be the "play ground". There is a playground at North Dale, but if you head that direction, you'd be going away from the treasure and "misery'd prevail".

In general this clue is talking about a picnic type area. There are some picnic tables as well as a gazebo behind the building at North Dale, near the treasure site. The gazebo, which has six sides, is closer, and is also suggested by the first letter of each line "GZBO". The bells are a reference to the Church bells of Maternity of Mary across the street which can be heard in the park as the clue is released at 6pm.

Bungalow is another name for "Cottage" as Cottage runs along the south side of the park. "Court" refers to the tennis courts which are at the park, but you'd want to avoid them as the treasure is not there.

"Lorelei" is another name for a siren which refers to the air raid siren at North Dale. "Prayer" is a reference once again to the church across the street, but overall you don't want to be near the siren. The place where the dead soldiers sleep is a reference to Arlington National Cemetery as Arlington runs along the north side of the park.

f the key has been pawned, then it is in hock. A hocked key suggests hockey as there is a hockey rink in the general area of the treasure. Also, in the third line, the words "may, would" hint at the street "Maywood" which runs right into the park.

The chain with many links is a chain link fence, of which there are many in the park. But since the treasure was hidden underneath one, you'd be very close to the treasure if you were by the right fence. Also many of the fences have a yellow cushion on the top of them, hence the reference to "yeller" (yellow). Finally, "hunting this mummy" is a reference to the treasure itself which is wrapped in bandages (band-aids).

The skeletons in this clue refer to the soccer goals, the frames of which sit next to the treasure spot, but they have no nets on them in the winter. Also, to claim the treasure, if ye can not stays, then you must "leaves". The treasure is hidden amongst the leaves under a fence.

One last street name in the first line, if you pick out "park" and "view" to make "Parkview", another street that runs into North Dale. The "interstate that never was" refers to I-335, a project to link 35W to 94 on the north side of downtown Minneapolis that was scrapped in the 70's. But it wasn't the location of the actual freeway you had to line up with. Rather it was the "335" distance marker in left field of the baseball field. The treasure was hidden on a straight line from that under the fence behind the first base line.

"Glen" is basically another name for "dale" and an arctic one would be "North Dale" where the treasure is. The treasure lies under the fence between home plate and first base on the baseball field, where you might have to do some akin to cleaning out the limbers by searching through the leaves under the fence.

The treasure is at North Dale in the middle of the park amongst some leaves under a fence. "Golden bandages" refers to the gold (coin) in bandages.