2007 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt I

What more can be said. NTFCF was released on DVD shortly before the hunt started, and they tell us it's in a park, without restricting it to the city.

So now we know it's in a park in St. Paul, doubled up between the first and last lines.

A pretty darned good clue. Even pulling Highland park out of "near land that is high", you'd be pulled into the southwest corner of the city, home of Hidden Falls Park. By now we all know that level is in the middle of "Cleveland Avenue", whose sign at its intersection with East River Road was visible above the medallion site.

The phrasing of the first two lines of this clue don't make much sense, nor does the beat pattern of the first line. It's probably obscure just for rhyming purposes. About the only thing we get here is the river valley.

A very nice reference to the Ford plant, as well as a limiting factor. The power lines cross the river at the northern end of the park, and interestingly enough, just down-river of Interstate 35E, at the far end of the Hidden Falls-Crosby Farm complex, is another set of power lines with visibility balls. We believe these are the only such power lines that cross the river in St. Paul. If we didn't know the general area to hunt by now, we sure should have.

Great historical reference, and a Longfellow reference, evoking memories of Henry "Worth Wads" Longfellow from Merriam Park in 2002. Almost scary considering the short nature of this hunt.

Also, anyone who didn't know that the park was to have been named Hiawatha, would have been drawn to Hidden Falls, because of its proximity to Minnehaha Falls across the river (and tucked behind the Minnesota Veterans' Home) from the park. A fine clue, with a fine explanation. Too bad we never got this far in the hunt.

An obscure clue, with obscure references, and an obscure explanation. They could have given us a back reference, saying that the reference they made to NTFCF in the first clue was intended to get the attention of the film buffs.

Again, a pretty good clue, but by the time they got to Clue 8, given the trek required from the north entrance, should have started to narrow down the location with the clues.

A really good clue, starting to narrow down how to get to the puck

Yay an actual puzzle, along with some good historical references, particularly in light of the fact that Pig's Eye Parrant is better known for settling downriver of Downtown St. Paul. Although, using a pair of historical figures in the explanation along with the singular pronouns in the first line of the clue is confusing.

We're officially given Hidden Falls as the park. At this point, the Ford assembly line is irrelevant as a locating device because the puck is significantly down-river from the plant. We believe the Ford and UAW references can only be there for providing identification of the puck's concealing items. The only flaw with this clue is that we still don't have a decent idea where to look within the park.

The "X" clue. A double set of paces after changing direction though, could put a hunter just about anywhere.