Post by susb8383 on Dec 31, 2018 12:01:15 GMT -5
I sent the below via followthefox but I'm also putting it here in case Pel reads these threads:
Hi Mr. Stockwell,
I’ve been greatly enjoying Fandango, as have many others. Thank you for all the time, effort, and careful thought that went into this.
The purpose of this email is to make a pitch for a public hint.
I know you’ve said that you won’t give any kind of hint online because it wouldn’t be fair to people without internet. And I totally applaud this. It’s very admirable.
But I’m hoping you’ll change your mind.
Your book was published in June 2007. That’s over 11 years ago. For the first few years, people were furiously examining every minute detail of the pages. There have been several who were sure they had the right answer and made the trip to MDI. But they were wrong.
I know the treasure will be donated to charity if not found by 2020. Again, admirable. But...I have a suspicion that you’d rather the treasure be found. I personally think the most gratifying thing for a puzzle-maker is for someone to solve it, not for it to baffle everyone forever.
For 11 years now, nobody has found it. And it's not for lack of trying.
Let’s compare it to Masquerade for a second. Engraved in the clay container of the golden rabbit were these words:
"I am the keeper of the jewel of Masquerade, which lies waiting safe inside me for you or eternity."
Lying safe for eternity implies the sentiment that if nobody ever finds it, so be it. And yet even Kit Williams gave a public hint which he published in the Sunday London Times after it went unfound for some time. It’s interesting to note that only with the hint were Mr. Barker and Mr. Rousseau able to figure out the correct solution.
One of the most famous treasure hunts of our time is Forrest Fenn’s hidden cache. He has also given hints over the years.
If your only reason for not giving a public hint is that it gives an unfair advantage to those that have the internet, I think you should reassess. That may have been a bigger concern 10 – 20 years ago, but not today. According to PEW Research as of March of this year, only 11% of Americans do not use the internet. And that number is steadily decreasing so it’s probably much lower now:
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/05/some-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/
So really an unfair advantage would only be the case if one of those 11% had your book. How likely is that, I wonder. I’d venture to say that most, if not all, of the people who have your book are searching online for hints or discussions.
What I propose is this: you give people one more year to find it on their own. If nobody has, you post a hint on followthefox.com on Thanksgiving Day of 2019. That marks the beginning of the final year. You could even do a hint a month until the end date if you wanted.
Everyone who has Fandango knows about that website since you encourage people to visit it in multiple places in the book.
And what I would do in your place is advertise the heck out of it in the upcoming year. This should make everyone aware that a hint will be coming, and should also boost sales of your book, I would think. I’d post something on the two major forums (tweleve.org and mysteriouswritings.com), on your website, and maybe even get someone to interview you on TV. I’d also post a YouTube video.
So, I hope you’ll consider this. It’s possible the key will be found without a hint, but if it hasn’t been found yet in over a decade, it’s not going to be, in my opinion.
I hope you'll think about it.
Thanks.
