Treasure Clue, can you help?

[hoppperr]

I only saw the cat once. It's in the right side of the tree on page 86 where there are a lot of darker leaves. You have to hold the page at a certain precise angle (somebody posted the angle to hold it on another forum and I don't remember the angle now) and do the magic eye trick. I saw it as plain as day. It was a black, Halloween-type cat. I have been trying like crazy to see it again but I haven't been able to. I will try to find the post that led me to see it and let you all know. And, no, I am not on medication other than my Grandma supplements (LOL).

Peggy

 

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[hoppperr]

Wow, I can't believe how fast I found that post! Here it is:

" perhaps you should look at the tree leaves on page 86. You have to hold the page rotated counterclockwise between 30 and 40 degrees. Then you will see a steregram that really pops!"

 

[hoppperr]

One more post before I get busy cleaning house:

I was thinking that it's possible that the fairies have names that are hidden in the story (or in plain sight)? And if we figure out their names, then they will lead us to something (maybe to go in the 5x5 box?) For instance, the red-headed little imp could be "Rusty," which is a popular nickname for redheads and the word rusty is used in what I consider a very unusual phrase on page 58: "The writhing mob parted as he pushed through them like the bow of a rusty ship plowing through an oily sea."

That phrase has always struck me as odd. Why would a ship with a rusty bow be plowing through an oily sea?

 

[GoSkins]

I always thought that was an unusual phrase too. There's a couple that confused me when I read them. "A bumpy round gourd for sale from a dubious grocer." and "The morning sky shone like a recently washed saucer". They just seem odd. Maybe there's something to it.

 

[hoppperr]

GoSkins: Yes! Those are the other two sentences that caught my attention too.

Bumpy round gourd. Pumpkin? Squash?

Recently washed saucer. Drying Saucer? Shiny Saucer? Clean Saucer?

I've tried cryptos, vegenere, etc. and no luck with any of them.

Peggy

 

[ScubaReader]

Hopper,

"The bow of a rusty ship ploweing through an oily sea"

would indicate the following to me:
1. it seems that a rusty bow would have more friction than an unrusted one.
2. it seems odd because we dont associate oil and rust in the same sentence since one is used to prevent the other.
3. it seems that the rust would contaminate the oil, a funny thought since rusful is all about contamination.

Notice also that it is an oily sea and not a sea of oil. one would imply that there is water underneath it.

So maybe we all need to rub rust and oil on the darklings to sea what happens(err that last part is a joke...don't ruin yuor books)

 

[grimey]

"A bumpy round gourd for sale from a dubious grocer."

Interesting that 'dubious grocer' anagrams to 'I obscure gourd'.

 

[CMSCHUT]

I always made me think when i read it was a hint about a farmers market place . Sorry , but that was my impression when i read it . MS did say in the forward that you may find one by accident walking down a street or across a field . My question is i guess is why would he say that if they were all in a forest in a tree hole ? The dubious grocer was what made me think of it . Since were on the subject of things that pop out as were reading or make you think pg 40 1st sentence ........A white cloud rising .... made me think of volcano's or old faithful , hot springs , etc. Let me know what you all think . carol

 

[nolemiester]

Things have been somewhat slow on this website, so I though I would add my proverbial "2 cents" worth.

I picked much of the following from another website, so I am not claiming original credit. ?

Begin with the phrase, ?Within the text you have the key? (at page 48)

Describing the various types of ?joint? woodworking skills Zac learned from his father, at page 48 MS tells us: ?Dovetail, cross-lapped, mortise, tenon?, which anagrams to:

STARTS IN DREAMS
EVEN CODE IS PLOT LOOP

In literary terms, a ?Plot Loop? is a circuit in which an incident between two threads causes a second incident between two threads. ?I know that confusing but it can be diagramed, see this website:

http://www.spinelessbooks.com/keeler/how2/

Is this the illusive ?key??

Can anyone figure out the "Plot Loop" in the Dream?

wow paradox you have just put a whole new spin into my hunt. If you look at the diagrams on the website you listed (the ones about the plot loops) and page 20-21, you will recognize an interesting correlation. Following one string in the border of 20-21 will lead you in a circle **cough cough (LOOP!) cough cough**. Now you all may be thinking yeah but what's with the goofy colors. That is where the interesting part comes in. Each color (my theory involves 6, orange being one of them) represents a character or group of characters in the book. The least appearing color is orange and I am guessing this represents the fairies (darklings are not included because they never directly referred to. They are only referred to as darklings not specifically like fairies e.g. kootenstoopits, etc.) The other five character/groups are as follows: Zac, Ana, Pook, "group" (hint in story they must be referred to as a group) of insects, and of course rusful. Now once characters are correctly assigned a color, the strings of "plot loops" either go in order from the beginning of the story to the end, or it starts in the dream. The colors within one "loop" identifies action reaction (the correspondence throughout the story of the characters reacting to other characters). Now how this is decoded is beyond me. But at least someone make something of it please.

---Nolan

P.S. I think the anagram should read STARTS IN DREAM
EVEN CODE IS PLOT LOOPS

 

[nolemiester]

O yeah forgot to mention STARTS IN DREAMS has 4 s's in it. dovetail, cross lapped, mortise and tenon has only 3 s's.
EVEN CODE IS PLOT LOOP

---Nolan

 

[LitDoc]

Nolemiester, brilliant theory about the Celtic knots and plot loops! I deal a great deal with plots in my work (literature), so let me know what you think should be done, and I will try.

 

[nickorl]

I think might be reading to much into the phrase:
"The writhing mob parted as he pushed through them like the bow of a rusty ship plowing through an oily sea."
Perhaps this is just a creative way to describe how Rusful moves through the mass of darklings.

NICKORL

 

[hoppperr]

Scuba: Interesting insights. Another thought I had about that is that a ship with a rusty bow would be in drydock, no? I did google rusty bow and found a ship described like that somewhere back East that is a tourist attraction, but got distracted and never followed through with it.

Nick: You could be right, but I read a lot of books (probably an average of one a week), and that is one of the oddest sentences I have ever read (along with the other two we are discussing). The other thing about it that made me a little suspicious is that doesn't have a lot of e's and e is the most frequently used letter in our language. So I thought it was a candidate for a crypto of some sort.

Nole: I think it's ok about the two s's. It could be start in dream instead of start in dreams.

Somebody on twelve gems is working with the literary plot loop idea. If you go to that forum and do a search, you should be able to find it. Do you think it's a little sophisticated for 8-year olds, or would it fall into the one-time lookup category?

 

[salkns]

This is what I'm going to check out. "To Helen". It is 7 letters and E.A.Poe wrote 2 stories/poems of the same title. Perhaps there is a Beale cipher here? I'll let you all know what I find...
Sal

salkns

Some food for thought:? "To Helen" is in red ink and in the same font as the 15 mixed numbers at the beginning of the book.? Poe's poem "To Helen" has 15 lines.

Tomaf, I tried using the numbers but don't seem to get a correlation. In the order the numbers appear, as to the fist letter of the line it is equal to I get (OTATTTTLTATAHHL) Same thing but last letter of the line (MEHEDEEEADEEEDE). 6th letter then 5 from that and 14 from that and so on,(TATEFAOREANORTD). 6th word of the poem 1st letter, 5th word 1st letter, and so on, (MTGITLTTBONBHYO) 6th from the begining, 5th from the begining, etc.(TNYETHYELIBEHUA). aNY OTHER SUGGESTIONS?

 

[GoSkins]

Peggy,

I'm with you regarding the phrases. I think there's something to it, I just don't know what. If my kids let me, I'm going to re-read the book tonight and see it anything else sticks out.

Gail

 

[kstreasurehunter]

I have been ridiculously busy lately and have not had hardly any time to spend on the book..?

but I wanted to drop in and say hi.

Carol I haven't forgotten about those images i was going to send you. Hopefully this weekend I will get a chance I'm still seeing something there..

I also wanted to post about that NBC Treasure Hunter's show. Is anyone interested in auditioning for it?? I know the deadline is next week but if anyone is interested and thinks they could get a tape together by then.. let me know. We need one more person..

 

[LitDoc]

> Somebody on twelve gems is working with the literary plot loop idea. If you go to that forum and do a search, you should be able to find it. Do you think it's a little sophisticated for 8-year olds, or would it fall into the one-time lookup category? <

I believe the plot loops are a very sophisticated concept. I have published two books on literature, and I never heard of them. I think this must be something that college professors might do in an advanced literature course. My undergrad (teacher ed) students would require much more than a one-time look up to do this (and so would I!)

 

[CMSCHUT]

Kstreasurehunter, not a problem . Everytime i go back to look at those 2 boxes i can't see it . It's the craziest thing. Glad i wrote down what i saw and where . I saw it clearly when i looked at it before so now i must be doing something wrong. Thanks again , carol.

 

[Rusty #2]

Hi,
Does anyone know where I can get a cheap copy of "Masquerade" by Kit Williams? I need the book with the solutions. Amazon has it for $250. - can't afford that much. Thought it would be a good idea to get it since MS mentioned the book.

 

[salkns]

I leave Sunday for 2 weeks of vacation, but will try to check in once or twice if I can. Thought I'd get this on the site for a good laugh before I go. Anagram for MOON LIKE MOON LIKE DREAMER ONE ON ENDING I CAUSE YOUR PUZZLING

You're in luck on maping guide do one zero zero in names. lol mike

HA! Have fun everyone and don't forget in all you do, to keep a smile and a light heart!

Sally