Thread: Gold

Emerald says she is ready to start working on the gold section, anyone else is joining us?

The first thing to look at (other than the poem) are the sentences that we can find surrounding the pictures. I have made a list with them. There are a couple that could be in a different order, but as a starting point:

Page 5 -- THE GREAT HALL A BUILDING OF ROYALTY
Page 6 -- QUEEN VICTORIA REPLACED BUT AMUSED
Page 7 -- BE ACQUAINTED WITH ELEANORS GARDEN
Page 8 -- THE WEST GATE MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Page 9 -- ELIZABETH FRINK IN A CLASS OF HER OWN
Page 10 -- THE GREAT CLOCK IN THE COURSE OF TIME
Page 11 -- EMMAS TRIAL OF THE HOT PLOUGH SHARES
Page 12 -- THE MARKET CROSS IS THE BUTTER CROSS
Page 13 -- TAKE PITY ON ALICE IN THE ECLIPSE INN
Page 14 -- CLOSE BOSOM FRIEND THOUGHT THE POET
Page 15 -- WALKER SAVED CATHEDRAL FOR SWITHUN
Page 16 -- JUDGES LODGINGS ARE NOT IN THE COURT
Page 17 -- RESCUED HENRY SEIZED BY DE MONTFORT
Page 18 -- SWITHUN UPON KINGS GATE CHURCH DOOR
Page 19 -- SEEK JANE AUSTENS SISTER CASSANDRA
Page 20 -- LEARN VERBATIM WINCHESTER COLLEGE
Page 21 -- KING PHILIP MARRIED MARY AS THEY SAY
Page 22 -- RIVER IS THE MAIN WATER DRAIN OF CITY
Page 23 -- SAXON SWITHUN MENDED BASKET OF EGGS
Page 24 -- PILGRIMS CAME TO ST MARY AND ST JOHNS
Page 25 -- ALFRED THE GREAT FACES MINSTER SITE

From the poem:

Did you hear the faintest sound?
Ah! The place to start is found.

It looks like we have to start in page 15, that is the one where the question about the sound you cannot hear is.

Hi Gabi,

I see what you mean about starting from the "faintest sound". You may well be right, but I'm thinking along the lines of the poem.

It starts with the four lines from "Back and forth ....." to " ..... church and gown". This could mean that we go on a journey round Winchester. The book itself is a guide book and the pages in order take us on a walk, from the Great Hall to the Guildhall.

It ends with the two lines "If you fail .... " to " ..... welcome you" - which is an ending to the story.

I think this could mean that we take the poem in order as written. Unfortunately the "place to start" is found in the third verse, but I reckon this organiser might not make it so simple If so, our first conundrum is to find the opposites that attract?

I started at the beginning of the poem and it looked like a description of the book, "back and forth in time" in the descriptions of the different parts of Winchester, "round the city", I printed a map of Winchester and plotted both the silver and the bronze tours (I could have plotted just one tour in the order in which the questions appear in the book and I plan on doing that one too) and both go around the city starting at the Great Hall. "both church and gown" are described in the different sections.

I agree with you that the "opposites attract" is the first big riddle we should solve. Another important one seems to be the one about the bird and the fish.

About the clocks turning I think it is an indication to move through the letters around the pictures.

Yes, I made just one tour. Because the bronze and silver questions were interweaved with each other, it seemed to make more sense to me that way, and it does work out as one continuous tour.

Like your idea about going clockwise around the letters.

I'm thinking bird and fish might be connected to the river (it does say "river's ebb and flow") - still checking that one out.

I will check that tour with all the stops combined then.

You could be right about the river referring to the bird and fish but it sounds a little bit strange that a line of the poem is taking us back to another line in the poem, I would think that the poem is full of references to the rest of the book rather than to itself, but I could easily be wrong.

Another part of the poem that has me coming up with multiple possibilities are "the guards of six or twenty". I am going to write a list with some of them so you can see how I am thinking (I think that the answer to the puzzle is in those letters around the drawings):

- take letters 6 and 20 of each sentence written around the drawings
- take letters 6 and 20 starting your count on the top left square
- take letters 5, 7, 19 and 21 (guards of 6 and 20) again both in sentence and in position
- the reference about guards and the question about the tiles made me think of Rome, and from there to Caesar shift, so apply a caesar +6 and a caesar +20 to the letters

I still haven't tried any of those ideas because when I come up with them I am at work and don't have the book with me. I will start trying now.

What about the "fair place where we no longer see your face"? This reference looks similar to the window you cannot see and the sound you cannot hear...

I just love the way you people think.

'Tis a glorious day here in Winchester, the sun is shining and the Easter flowers are in full bloom.

Just out of curiosity - for those of you who have solved the Bronze and Silver questions - did any of you find out where the window is that can't be seen?

Cruel? Moi?

I never found that window while I was doing my virtual tour, but I assumed it was covered by water since the sound was barely visible

Originally Posted by gabi

I never found that window while I was doing my virtual tour, but I assumed it was covered by water since the sound was barely visible

Oh no! It's up high where a window should be. I'll bet that Mr Hanks didn't see it when he was there either - but if he'd had Xray eyes he would've.

Could it be this window?