Thread: More symbolism..

Hopefully no one's annoyed at my approach to this book. I'm just really not someone who's "into" ciphers and decoding, etc., so I haven't gone that route. Plus, there seem to be lots of people already covering that area! I've just decided to throw out all the ideas I have in my head that aren't quite leading me to an exact location, but that I feel make somewhat reasonable sense...

The part of the book that talks about all the different types of joints that Zac knows how to make (p. 48 ) and the image on page 19 (that has been driving everyone nuts!) have been gnawing at me. When I thought about the joints, saw all of the "joints" pictured on p. 19 in the woodworking tools, I just kept thinking about what that possibly could mean.... what are joints used for in woodworking? Well, I think they are used to connect cut pieces of wood.... Connecticut?

Again, at this point, I went to a map of Connecticut and found an area called Candlewood (western part of the state)... I thought it could possibly be a location because Zac can handle wood, so to speak. (May be a major stretch to some, but possible...)

Haven't gotten any further in my searching, so maybe that will help someone. If you think I'm nuts, that's okay, too... this is just how my mind works.. I am someone who really responds to metaphors, analogies, symbolism, etc.... as opposed to coding and ciphers, etc., as I mentioned above. Not to say those aren't important!! I just don't think I can contribute something substantial in that arena... so this is what I have!

Another idea about Zac... on page 29, the text says that "he stood on top of the rock and, with his curved pruning saw..." Most of my ideas come from parts of the images or text that just strike me as too detailed to be essential elements to the story. This curved pruning saw was one of those things. Turning that over in my mind, I thought a curve also could be called an arc, and pruning is usually something done with a hand tool or with one's hands. Thus, I substituted these terms and got arc-hand-saw.... Arkansas. Then, immediately prior to this it says he stood on top of the rock... could this mean a location north of Little Rock, AK? Just throwing it out there.

Please let me know if any of this helped someone!!! I just want one of these tokens to be found so we know it's possible to solve these puzzles! Also, it would be cool to see that I was on the right track or contributed to the solution in some way.

[Also, as a sidenote, I (of course) believe that there are many, many more clues to be found in the pictures and in the text than what I'm sharing.... other symbolism or codes and ciphers, or something no one has come up with yet.}

I really like your approach because I, too, am cipherphobic. I get them, but I can't learn to love them. Someone mentioned that MS had to change some locations when he went to actually hide the tokens, and that it would be awfully hard to change the pictures to match. My theory is that if the pictures give us anything it will be very general, like a city and state. For example, there is a thread about the dropcap on page 20 showing Michigan, and possibly Flint. The more exact location will be in the text and will come from areas that seem awkward or grammatically incorrect, or oddly punctuated. I've tried taking every second or third letter after a punctuation mark, but with no progress. I really like the way you're doing things-its like a cryptic crossword, and I can deal with those! Keep throwing those ideas out here, a lightbulb (or light bulb) will go off somewhere!

Yes, I agree that this method could only give a very general location... the text would be how we narrowed it down to a more specific site.

honeybee- Do you happen to know why Stadther had to change locations of some of the tokens?

Its mentioned in another thread by someone who was at a reading that when he went to hide some of tokens, there were too many people around or someone wouldn't move who was too close to the spot he had in mind. I think it was the "How exact is exact" thread, something like that.

Originally Posted by shamrock

honeybee- Do you happen to know why Stadther had to change locations of some of the tokens?

THIS SOUNDS AN AWFULLY ALOT LIKE TREASURE IN SEARCH OF THE GOLDEN HORSE CUZ THAT LOCATION WAS CHANGED TOO.

It can't be Connecticut, though. The contest, like most, is void where prohibited and CT is one of those states that is ineligible. Good thought pattern though. As for Arkansas, there is a state park that only contains ONE TREE! Might be interesting.

I wouldn't rule out CT. Residents of CT can't CLAIM a treasure... but one can be hidden there. MS has stated this before at one of his book signings.

Jen, good thinking! Here's another one...Zac had to save Ana.....Savannah???

Yes, I thought of Savannah, too. I'm happy to see someone who thinks similarly to me! I've taken a break from the book for about a month, now.... just felt like I was running in circles, along with most discussions here on tweleve. Might be able to break the book back out next week sometime...