The Hunt Year was...

2005 Herald Hunt

Your online guide to the zaniness of the 2005 Herald Hunt!

When: 11/6/2005

Where: Coral Gables

Thirteen years after the first Hunt in Coral Gables, the Hunt returns for a second pass at the city beautiful!

\n\nCoral Gables has the landmark \"Miracle Mile\", which has changed quite a bit since the 1992 Hunt. To that end, the Hunt has changed over the years as well. This year, no bums, no billboards�but a very good stab at using the different features of downtown Coral Gables to their best�especially just a couple weeks after Hurricane Wilma went through the area!

\n\nThis year\'s Hunt was probably one of the best blends of difficulty levels. The puzzles seemed to be equally easy/hard across all players�and, after the previous year\'s Hunt was solved by..well..everyone, Dave and Tom sought to make sure THAT didn\'t happen this time. The clues that everyone got by solving the different puzzles? FAKE! Hah! Surprise!

\n\nIt was a fun Hunt all around, and worthy of placing up there as being rather well balanced for all involved.

The Initial Puzzles
NOTE: The puzzle answers are hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!

1. How many named tropical storms/hurricanes formed during the 2005 hurricane season?
A - 3
D - 8
F - Too freaking many

Answer: F

2. Complete the following sentence: "If one pair of opposite sides of a quadrilateral are both parallel and congruent, then the quadrilateral is
Answer: M

3. Which of the following occurrences is NOT atleast theoretically possible?
I - Scientists will develop a way to transmit a standard frankenfurter, including condiments, over the internet.
N - An advanced civilization of highly intelligent squirrels will be discovered living deep beneath the city of Pittsburgh.
S - The Miami Performing Arts Center will be completed on time and within budget.

Answer: S

4. Which of the following has the most musical talent?
Q - Britney Spears
S - Jessica Simpson
V - Any given one of Aretha Franklin's toenails.

Answer: V

Main Puzzles (i.e. the puzzle sites)
NOTE: Puzzle answers and their descriptions are hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!

Puzzle: Herald Hunt Quartet
Location: Coral Gables City Hall
Description:
At the stage near City Hall, "The Herald Hunt HotShots" babershop quartet performed a set of four songs, sung in the same order throughout the afternoon. A program handed out at the performance included a listing of all songs performed (along with others), the name of the composer and the key in which each song was sung. On the title page was a motto: 'Music is the key to understanding.' The Quartet sang, in order, "Puttin' on the Ritz', 'Applause', 'Lydia The Tatooed Lady' and 'I Just Wanna Call You Mine'.
Related puzzle photos and materials...

Puzzle Answer: 1795
How to get the answer:
The KEY of each song was what was essential: Strung together in the order they were sung gave keys of: D, E-flat, E, D. Run together, that spelled 'deflated.' Observant hunters noticed that depicted on the map was a very clearly deflated zeppelin. Those who went to that location discovered a storefront displaying three balls, only one of which was deflated. The price tag on that ball, $17.95, revealed the answer.

Puzzle: The Handout puzzle
Location: Behind the Miracle Theater
Description:
Hunters were directed to a location where they received a handout with three map coordinates indicating three locations in Coral Gables. At the first site they found a cacophony: two audio speakers numbered '1' and '4' playing two different selections -- Like a Rolling Stone and Paper Roses. At the second site they encountered two actors, one dressed hip-hop style (wearing a '3') and one dressed as a hippie (wearing a '2'). They both merely grunted and made hand gestures -- the hippie flashed a `peace sign' and the hip-hopper made an 'it's all good' gesture with a flat hand, palm out. At the third location, the Miracle Theater, the marquee listed two movie titles: The Cutting Edge -- at 5 p.m. -- and Escape From Alcatraz -- 9 p.m.
Related puzzle photos and materials...

Puzzle Answer: 429
How to get the answer:
Astute hunters realized that all the above were references to a 'rock-paper-scissors' contest (the 'handout' is a subtle reference to the game, in which two players put their hands out in one of three ways, representing a rock, paper or scissors). In the game, paper covers rock, scissors cut paper, and rock smashes scissors. So hunters had to realize that only the number associated with the winning hand in each of the above is used. That gave the answer to this puzzle: 429.

Puzzle: Beads/Bracelet
Location: Corner of Galliano & Giralda
Description:
Each team of Hunters was given a small brown envelope containing four lettered beads with holes in them, and a string. The four letters in each packet were the same: P A F L. The string suggested they needed to assemble the beads in order.
Related puzzle photos and materials...

Puzzle Answer: 78
How to get the answer:
The string suggested they needed to assemble the beads in order -- an order that spelled a word: FLAP. This was a hint: The solution was hidden inside the flap of the envelope the beads came in. The recycling symbol was misprinted so the recycling arrow on top was '7.' And examining the 'Made in the U.S.A.' closely revealed that the 'S' was actually an '8.' Solution: 78.

Puzzle: Coloring by Letters
Location: Garage #5 on Andalusia Ave.
Description:
Hunt teams were each handed a piece of paper filled with a jigsaw-puzzle-like conglomeration of geometric shapes, and a box of four crayons -- red, green, blue and yellow. The shapes were either blank or labeled with R, G, B or Y. Obviously, hunters were supposed to color the shapes with their crayons. (This puzzle was inspired by a suggestion from Michael Schrader.)
Related puzzle photos and materials...

Puzzle Answer: 53
How to get the answer:
When the coloring was complete, the darker colors stood out against the yellow and blank spaces, spelling 'Red Car Blocks.' There were many cars portrayed on the Hunt Map, but if hunters colored in the streets on the blocks where red cars were depicted, the number 53 emerged. That was the solution.

Puzzle: The "Four Piece" Puzzle
Location: All over
Description:
Circulating through Coral Gables, four trolleys carried hunters from one puzzle to another. Many hunters realized that the trolleys themselves were a puzzle. The electronic signs at the front of each car were rotating four different messages: HERALD HUNT TROLLEY LOOK; HERALD HUNT TROLLEY UNDER; HERALD HUNT TROLLEY CITY and HERALD HUNT TROLLEY HALL.
Related puzzle photos and materials...

Puzzle Answer: 405
How to get the answer:
Putting together the random words yielded: 'LOOK UNDER CITY HALL.' Hunters who walked to City Hall and looked carefully were rewarded by the words 'CITY HALL' carved into marble directly above the address: 405, the answer to this puzzle.

The Clues
53. Let's see. "W" stands for "win" and "wahoo" and "wall-eyed." It "works" for food.
60. I'll never forget that Mickey Mantle was number seven.
78. Instability rocks. Incoherent sea rocks.
85. At least where I'm standing, hurricanes spin counterclockwise.
405. Find the tallest point. Sight 90 degrees to the east. Find the number visible directly above the blue thing. You know what to do.
412. Sometimes you can't tell the end from the beginning. Thos would probably be the times you can't tell identical from opposite.
429. Fill up the tAnK and E-mail it tO oUr deparTment LiaisOn So wE can Reap the rewards.
436. It turns out NOT to be true that the measurement of one foot was originally the same as the King's.
1795. In the end, you've got to start all over again. So why finish?
1802. I'm afraid your friends, Romans and countrymen have already left. That means, Antony, that there just isn't anyone to lend you an ear.

The Final Puzzle
NOTE: The final puzzle description is hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!

The Final Puzzle:
At 3 p.m., we told hunters to add 7 to each of the numbers they'd gotten from solving the puzzles. This gave them the clues that would help them solve the Hunt: 1. I'll never forget that Mickey Mantle was No. 7.
2. At least where I'm standing, hurricanes spin counterclockwise.
3. Sometimes you can't tell the end from the beginning. Those would probably be the times you can't tell identical from opposite.
4. It turns out NOT to be true that the measurement of one foot was originally the same as the King's.
5. I am afraid your friends, Romans and countrymen have already left. That means, Antony, that there just isn't anyone to lend you an ear.
The sixth and final clue was announced from the stage: 'Look just before you stop.'
Final puzzle photos and materials...

Solving the Hunt:
This was telling hunters to pay attention to the words in the clues that came immediately before the periods, to wit: ''Seven counterclockwise beginning opposite King's left ear.'' Real smarty-pants hunters noticed that there was a full-page ad for the King Tut exhibit in the Hunt section. On the border of the ad was a cross-hatch design that, when they thought about it, was a series of 4-by-3 grids, not unlike the touch pad of a telephone. In each of these grids, only one square was filled in. That square corresponded to a number on a phone pad. If you took the first seven numbers, counterclockwise, beginning opposite the King's left ear, you got the secret Hunt phone number (minus the 305 area code). Hunters who called that number got a recording with snatches of two songs, Sweet Adeline and Eight Days a Week, plus a statement from Dave Barry: 'Write your cellphone number on a piece of paper. Fold it in half. Give it to the right person.' Since Sweet Adeline was listed in the Barbershop Quartet program as being in the key of B, many hunters assumed that this meant they should hurry to map coordinates B-8 (for Eight Days a Week). But when they arrived, they saw only a sign saying, 'Don't be so coordinated.' The truly annoyingly smart hunters realized that they needed to do something else with B8 -- which in vanity-license-plates translates as 'bait.' It so happened that Hunt Map artist Otis Sweat had included an image of a worm wriggling on a fish hook in a parking lot off Giralda. The elite hunters rushed there looking for the 'right person' only to find a bunch of parked cars. But one of the cars had a sign on the door, 'Wright Automotive' and a driver in the front seat. This was the Wright person. The first team to hand their folded cell number through the open window won the Hunt.
Who won (Congratulations!):
1st place team
Mark Engelberg
Steve Friedland
Brian O'Neil
Robin Ginter
Cary Ginter

2nd place team
Tim Downey
Bobbi Goldin
Mimi Schultz
Ed Allen

3rd place team
Kevin Jones
Jody Rafkind
David Scharlin
Gayle Goodman

Photos & related materials for the winners...

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Page last updated: Monday, April 29, 2024 2:46:39 AM