What are the components for Fandango's Master Riddle?

[astree]

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C MASQUERADE HINT

MASTER E. INCH...
MASTER AID ...

[pumalion]

Jan 8, 2020 11:17:18 GMT -5 Jenny said:

mysteriouswritings.com/components-needed-to-find-the-golden-key-in-the-fandango-armchair-treasure-hunt/


In an early interview with Pel Stockwell (transcript in sticky here), mentioned the following:

“There are multiple components so, and you may have already, you’ll come across different things, and by themselves they’re not going to reveal the treasure. But in conjunction with other components, they will.”

He also stated, when asked if there were smaller riddles to make the Master Riddle:

“Yes, oh yes. They are different components that all feed into the Master Riddle.”

So, what might these components be? And how are they put together to discover the location of the hidden treasure?

One recent idea about "The Master Riddle."

An anagram of The Master Riddle is "Middle start here."

The middle of the book is the Harley Quinn page (p. 30).

The red border word on the Harley Quinn illustration is MAP. So maybe the solution for this page is something on the map.

My current thinking is that there is a sort of path through the book but it takes a kind of Rube Goldberg course, if that makes sense. A different solution in each illustration or chapter. One page will direct us to another, but the solution will be unique for each new stage of the journey.

Or, instead of a completely unique solution for each illustration or chapter, I was thinking that the lock on Neptune's treasure chest might suggest that there are four types of solutions: * X + and C.

[honeybee]

I completely agree that there are 4 ways to solve them.

[laracroft]

These are the components that I would say could lead to solving the Master Riddle:

- Constellations, zodiac symbols, celestial navigation
- Shadows, sun position, time (DMS, clock times, years, night/day, etc.)
- Latitude and Longitude
- Topography/Altitude
- Eyes, reflections, RGB (red, green, blue)
- Music (...something with "vibe", "all in a name" = Nep-tune, "read a second time for good measure")

It seems unlikely that all of these components could be woven together to provide an elegant solution. Or, perhaps this is why the puzzle has never been solved — because there are too many elements. Are there any categories we could eliminate or think could be red herrings? The music category seems like it may not work together as well with the others.

[pumalion]

Sept 14, 2020 16:15:45 GMT -5 pumalion said:

One recent idea about "The Master Riddle."

An anagram of The Master Riddle is "Middle start here."

What if the master riddle is simply the phrase, "The Master Riddle."

If it's an anagram, one of the "components" appears to be "middle start here."

But it could also contain references to "red letters" or "miles" or "titles" or other elements from the book.

[goldenchild]

I think the key page shows all the different methods used to pull phrases out that will together make the riddle. There’s the dolphins on Neptune’s page, the fish from Neptune’s shirt, the clock with a red hand from the old lady page, harlequins maps, elevations on maps, wind poles etc etc. I think if you focused on all those items hard enough that will be the way forward. For example: the fish on Neptune’s shirt, which is also depicted on the key page, if you sight from their eye to their nose on all the fish on the right side facing left (facing the same direction as the one on the key page) you get IN RAER (I could be wrong on the order of the letters because I don’t have my book in front of me) but it can anagram to IN REAR.

[goldhunter]

For some reason, I'm thinking if you use Christopher Walken's voice in your head to say "Numbers Open Riddle Treasure Hidden" it might help.

Sorry, but I felt like someone out there needed that.

[harley]

i needed that so hard. thank you, gold hunter.

*walking over to pick up angry-crumpled-number-math papers* 

[goldhunter]

Sept 22, 2020 19:22:05 GMT -5 harley said:

i needed that so hard. thank you, gold hunter.

*walking over to pick up angry-crumpled-number-math papers* 

haha    So glad to not be left hangin' after posting that.

[pumalion]

I returned to another line in the text that has intrigued me.

On p. 9, Fandango is describing how Neptune made the key. One of the lines is, "To find gold, pearls and jewels ..." This is soon followed by the sentence, "That's the key." There are other words in the paragraph, which might undermine my logic for zeroing in on the "find gold" phrase. The reason it continues to intrigue me is that it contains all of the letters for the word "Fandango" as well as all the letters for the word "riddle."

I know that serious armchair treasure hunters frown on anagram clues because they can be very vague and subject to interpretation. But my mind keeps going to them after other strategies fail and we are told that some clues are "verbal." I am also conscious that the Stockwells were creating a hunt in the mold of the hunts that Deicy created when they were kids. An anagram seems like the kind of clue that Deicy would put in a hunt for young people. And I can't think of other ways to find hidden meanings in the text.

Initially, the thing I DIDN'T like about the "find gold" phrase as a possible anagram is the letter J in jewels. This is such an obscure letter that I thought it was too hard to make new phrases using anagrams and that the phrase must, therefore, not have any clues for us.

This time around, I decided to embrace the J: maybe it HELPS us by narrowing the possible solutions, making an anagram a more practical tool. And this thinking may have paid off. One of he first possible solutions that came up was:

Riddle Japan Lens wolf dog set.

The Nikon camera image is a Japan lens. And the text that goes with that illustration includes a line that refers to both a wolf and a dog.

Another possibility:

Fold Nepal Jest aligned words.

If this solution is correct, it immediately zeroes in on the Nepal sign on the Cadillac page. But I don't know how folding that page would align words in a way that carries meaning.

There are a lot of other possibilities - on the key mosaic on p. 11, for instance, the month of January is abbreviated as "Jan" on the face of the pocket watch. On p. 22 (the text with the lobsterman illustration), the word "jolt" is included. That word appears nowhere else in the text.

So the letter J could help us to focus on small details among the otherwise overwhelming possibilities. But then we need to figure out how to turn them into meaningful clues. Sigh.

[catherwood]

pulling out some phrases related to "the key"...

Starting with page 3: We need to find "Where the Key was lost" but we also need to establish exactly what "the key" is in real life as well as symbolically in the story. We need to "Discover the key" before we can find it, maybe.

Leading up to that, we get:
"Deep Boy [Neptune] went Back down and sorted through his famous wrecks For stuff that could be treasured. That guy spent A long night pulling lumber off the decks To find gold, pearls, and jewels, which he used carefully To shape his deepest feelings. That's the key." But which part? How much before that indicator is to be included? Is the key just "his deepest feelings" or is it whatever Neptune shaped out of found objects?

The Celestia chapter has hints like, "That's how I got the key!" and "They'd take the key. They'd...." -- the ellipses are taunting me.

Page 50: "The key is, is... that... King Neptune's soul-forest Is made from giant kelp!" Yeah, not really, or is it?

Anyway, I stopped working on this long ago, but look forward to dissecting the solution when it is released/revealed.

[pumalion]

Nov 26, 2020 18:58:20 GMT -5 catherwood said:

"Deep Boy [Neptune] went Back down and sorted through his famous wrecks For stuff that could be treasured. That guy spent A long night pulling lumber off the decks To find gold, pearls, and jewels, which he used carefully To shape his deepest feelings. That's the key." But which part? How much before that indicator is to be included? Is the key just "his deepest feelings" or is it whatever Neptune shaped out of found objects?

The phrase "to shape his deepest feelings" can be rearranged to spell "highest point see false speed."

There is a sign on the Cadillac page indicating 40 MPH but that speed is false, from what I am told - the actual speed limit is slower.

The "false speed" sign is right next to the word "see" in the border phrase.

The Lookout Point sign also points to the 40 MPH sign.

If the 40 on the MPH sign is telling us to go to p. 40, that is the Old Lady illustration.

One of the border phrases on p. 40 is "pass the time" - seems like a fit with the MPH sign as it also refers to movement and time. The fox and old lady also refer to time in the text - could be one of he "verbal" clues we are told to seek.

But is this the beginning (or a step) of a series? Were we supposed to go from one illustration or chapter to another, following random, hidden directions? How would we know when to stop?

[thedawailey]

Nov 26, 2020 18:58:20 GMT -5 catherwood said:

pulling out some phrases related to "the key"...

Starting with page 3: We need to find "Where the Key was lost" but we also need to establish exactly what "the key" is in real life as well as symbolically in the story. We need to "Discover the key" before we can find it, maybe.

Leading up to that, we get:
"Deep Boy [Neptune] went Back down and sorted through his famous wrecks For stuff that could be treasured. That guy spent A long night pulling lumber off the decks To find gold, pearls, and jewels, which he used carefully To shape his deepest feelings. That's the key." But which part? How much before that indicator is to be included? Is the key just "his deepest feelings" or is it whatever Neptune shaped out of found objects?

A few years ago, I hiked to 'the highest point' on Cadillac where there is a circular viewing area lined with stones where you can see in all directions. There  are information signs there as well, pointing out landmarks and islands you can see in different directions. Using this as 'the highest point' and the area as 'circle the globe' and 'open the door', I exited the area through the 'door' or opening to the pathway that winds around the summit. I followed the path 40 paces south where I came to a rock outcropping covered with dense scrubby brush. Sitting down on the rocks, I followed a deep rock seam that went back under the trees. Tucked way back along this seam I found a rock about 8 inches around that had been placed there. When I pulled the rock out, I saw that it was painted with a heart and the name "Delia" painted inside the heart. This seemed to fit with 'his deepest feelings' and 'that's the key.' I searched some more for the hidden key, but found nothing. I left the painted rock where I found it hidden deep in the brush and returned home to do some more research. I couldn't find anything that would link Delia to anything in the book, other than that name can be made from the names of their mother and sister.

A year later, I returned to the site, this time with a better flashlight. The painted rock was still there and I searched every rock seam I could reach with a flashlight so I could see into all the cracks. Still nothing. I eventually gave up on the idea because of the whole 'inside the park' thing and assumed the painted rock was just a coincidence. Even though I've moved on to a thousand other ideas, I still check that rock seam every time I'm there, just in case that assumption was wrong and the key miraculously appears LOL!

I just hope we get the answers soon. I agree that after waiting 13 years, they had plenty of time to figure out how they would wrap this up. At the last minute, they 'need more time'?!

[astree]

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We used the information on the various masts ( flagpole, 40 MPH, signpost, ...) as components of the master riddle.

[thisjustin]

Nov 27, 2020 9:50:38 GMT -5 thedawailey said:

Sitting down on the rocks, I followed a deep rock seam that went back under the trees. Tucked way back along this seam I found a rock about 8 inches around that had been placed there. When I pulled the rock out, I saw that it was painted with a heart and the name "Delia" painted inside the heart. This seemed to fit with 'his deepest feelings' and 'that's the key.'

I love this story.  Anyone who went searching and actually found something ... well there must have been that wonderful feeling of "I found it!" even if only for a moment.

One of the techniques I was using at one point was following a "C" pattern on the compass rose fold pages and using three of the border phrases and their red letters.  Doing this on the first of those (p. 5), yields the letters D(e)LIA in order.

Just another one of the million coincidences we've all come across. (although ... this technique also picks out letters to spell ROCK ...hmm ... )