Post by wigglaff on Jun 22, 2020 16:12:13 GMT -5
I’ve read a lot of proposed solves and it seems they are all missing an explanation for every verse. I think my solve has a good match for every line and us unlike any others for New Orleans that I’ve seen. However, it leads to an area that is out of reach so I'm posting it here to see what you all think since I'd likely never risk searching the location.
“At the place where jewels abound”
I believe this is referring to the Mississippi river as the starting point. More specifically the moonwalk. There are a couple strong cases for this.
My first instincts led me to think BP was referring to Steamboats. A number of popular steam boats over the years have carried the name “Queen”, small leap to the term “Queens Jewels”. So river boats abounding on the Mississippi.
There is a famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt proclaiming a self-reliant all-black community (Mound Bayou) created by former slaves as “The Jewel of the Delta”. “Jewel” also seems to be a common term used to reference cities on the Mississippi.
In a later part of the New Orleans verse BP direct quotes from the book “Abroad in America” (He also quotes this book in another verse). A paragraph before the quote the narrator describes the area bordering the referenced Saint Charles hotel with “emerald sugar plantations”. This could be BP expecting the context to be considered.
“Fifteen rows down to the ground”
Connected to the Mississippi and 50 yards NW is Artillery Park. The park is not very large and on the side facing Jackson Square are a set of 15 stairs. While I have seen these stairs referenced in other solves. What I feel others have failed to notice is BP’s use of the word “rows” here instead of steps as used in other verses (“Ascend the 92 steps”, “Take five steps”, “Seven steps up and you can hop”). The proper way to refer to this set of steps would be rows instead of steps given that its intended purpose is to be an amphitheater. Although this park was renovated in 1997 I found aerial footage of the park from 1975 showing the stairs existed prior to the renovations.
www.google.com/maps/place/Washington+Artillery+Park/@29.9570094,-90.0624491,113m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8620a61165a20b69:0x5ee824b461d828eb!8m2!3d29.9569354!4d-90.0621411
“In the middle of twenty-one”
“From end to end”
“Only three stand watch”
Many have taken the “in the middle of” as a dig location and are looking for rows of something. I believe this is actually a play on words. What’s another term for Twenty-one? Blackjack! (Actually the game was originally called Twenty-one). And what’s in the middle of the park less than 50 yards away from the previous marker, a black statue of Andrew Jackson with the words “The Union must and shall be preserved”. I’m not the first to suggest or notice the tie of the statue to the “Preservation” on the matching New Orleans image or the black horse. But I’ve not seen anyone be able to tie it to the verse outside of the image. Note there was also a famous 2 cent stamp of Andrew Jackson donned the “Black Jack”.
Ok so now we’re in the middle of Jackson Square. A couple of items to note before we move on. In the image for New Orleans there is a very strong time reference, hence the clock. Also note the clock is set to 15 seconds after midnight on a full moon. There are also a couple of items in the painting that point us to December as a month of reference.
So, at this point, I believe we’re situated in the middle of the clock and surrounding us, on the perimeter of the park happen to be 4 sculptures representing the seasons. I think that “From end to end” is meant to represent a year and a circle around the park. Now note the use of the word “Only” in “Only three stand watch” hinting that we should be looking for more than three of something. I think this is a reference to New Orleans not experience a winter. So only 3 seasons (statues) stand watch in New Orleans / Jackson Square. It could also be that one of the statues is of a guy leaning instead of standing.
“As the sounds of friends”
“Fills the afternoon hours”
Now we’re positioned on the perimeter of Jackson Park. On the NW corner of the park in the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo is a nonprofit organization founded in 1956, “Friends of the Cabildo”. I’ll concede this is the weakest verse match. There are a couple other potential general matches for these lines just given the local pubs and social atmosphere of the square.
“Here is a sovereign people”
“Who build palaces to shelter”
“Their heads for a night!”
As noted by others, this is a direct quote from the book “Abroad in America”. The book author is specifically referencing the St Charles Hotel in the quote. Given that the hotel was in a non-existent state in 1982 and the location of the hotel would not have been a great place for a burial site. I believe this is referring the two apartment buildings flanking each side of the square the prestigious Pontalba Apartments. These are the oldest apartment buildings in the United States.
“Gnomes admire”
“Fays delight”
This one seems to throw just about every solve for a loop. However, now that we’re in the right location I think it’s fairly obvious to see the match. See the image below, then run a google search for "Gnome House". This is the Autumn sculpture located on the outer edge of Jackson square. Note the original building behind the sculpture. It’s a Gnome house! The resemblance is unmistakable. So what are the Gnomes admiring? How about the half-naked lady in front of their house. “Fays delight” is a reference to the park actually being that of a garden, turned into such by none other than Baroness de Pontabla, the same Pontabla who built the oldest aparements in America flanking each side of Jackson Square. Fays or Fairies as their known to non-fantasy readers are delighting in the garden and moonlight (as you’ll see in the final verse).
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Autum Statue - Jackson Square
“The namesakes meeting”
“Near this site”
Given that BP was a fantasy writer and the creates a part of his book. I believe BP is referring to actual Gnomes and Fays here. Where do Gnomes and Fays meet? Both Gnome and Fairy mythology have strong ties to Full Moons. If we look back at the image for New Orleans we see a full moon which I think helps pinpoint the specific dig location. Even if that’s not a tie to the full moon on the New Orleans image I think we’re still at a very specific location for which a dig site could be explored.
One final note. If you overlay the clock from the New Orleans image on Jackson Square with the word “Preservation” on the clock facing the NW side of the square where the St. Louis cathedral and the two flanking history museums (preservation places). The Mardi Gras mask is covering the location of the gnome house my proposed dig site.
“At the place where jewels abound”
I believe this is referring to the Mississippi river as the starting point. More specifically the moonwalk. There are a couple strong cases for this.
My first instincts led me to think BP was referring to Steamboats. A number of popular steam boats over the years have carried the name “Queen”, small leap to the term “Queens Jewels”. So river boats abounding on the Mississippi.
There is a famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt proclaiming a self-reliant all-black community (Mound Bayou) created by former slaves as “The Jewel of the Delta”. “Jewel” also seems to be a common term used to reference cities on the Mississippi.
In a later part of the New Orleans verse BP direct quotes from the book “Abroad in America” (He also quotes this book in another verse). A paragraph before the quote the narrator describes the area bordering the referenced Saint Charles hotel with “emerald sugar plantations”. This could be BP expecting the context to be considered.
“Fifteen rows down to the ground”
Connected to the Mississippi and 50 yards NW is Artillery Park. The park is not very large and on the side facing Jackson Square are a set of 15 stairs. While I have seen these stairs referenced in other solves. What I feel others have failed to notice is BP’s use of the word “rows” here instead of steps as used in other verses (“Ascend the 92 steps”, “Take five steps”, “Seven steps up and you can hop”). The proper way to refer to this set of steps would be rows instead of steps given that its intended purpose is to be an amphitheater. Although this park was renovated in 1997 I found aerial footage of the park from 1975 showing the stairs existed prior to the renovations.
www.google.com/maps/place/Washington+Artillery+Park/@29.9570094,-90.0624491,113m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8620a61165a20b69:0x5ee824b461d828eb!8m2!3d29.9569354!4d-90.0621411
“In the middle of twenty-one”
“From end to end”
“Only three stand watch”
Many have taken the “in the middle of” as a dig location and are looking for rows of something. I believe this is actually a play on words. What’s another term for Twenty-one? Blackjack! (Actually the game was originally called Twenty-one). And what’s in the middle of the park less than 50 yards away from the previous marker, a black statue of Andrew Jackson with the words “The Union must and shall be preserved”. I’m not the first to suggest or notice the tie of the statue to the “Preservation” on the matching New Orleans image or the black horse. But I’ve not seen anyone be able to tie it to the verse outside of the image. Note there was also a famous 2 cent stamp of Andrew Jackson donned the “Black Jack”.
Ok so now we’re in the middle of Jackson Square. A couple of items to note before we move on. In the image for New Orleans there is a very strong time reference, hence the clock. Also note the clock is set to 15 seconds after midnight on a full moon. There are also a couple of items in the painting that point us to December as a month of reference.
So, at this point, I believe we’re situated in the middle of the clock and surrounding us, on the perimeter of the park happen to be 4 sculptures representing the seasons. I think that “From end to end” is meant to represent a year and a circle around the park. Now note the use of the word “Only” in “Only three stand watch” hinting that we should be looking for more than three of something. I think this is a reference to New Orleans not experience a winter. So only 3 seasons (statues) stand watch in New Orleans / Jackson Square. It could also be that one of the statues is of a guy leaning instead of standing.
“As the sounds of friends”
“Fills the afternoon hours”
Now we’re positioned on the perimeter of Jackson Park. On the NW corner of the park in the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo is a nonprofit organization founded in 1956, “Friends of the Cabildo”. I’ll concede this is the weakest verse match. There are a couple other potential general matches for these lines just given the local pubs and social atmosphere of the square.
“Here is a sovereign people”
“Who build palaces to shelter”
“Their heads for a night!”
As noted by others, this is a direct quote from the book “Abroad in America”. The book author is specifically referencing the St Charles Hotel in the quote. Given that the hotel was in a non-existent state in 1982 and the location of the hotel would not have been a great place for a burial site. I believe this is referring the two apartment buildings flanking each side of the square the prestigious Pontalba Apartments. These are the oldest apartment buildings in the United States.
“Gnomes admire”
“Fays delight”
This one seems to throw just about every solve for a loop. However, now that we’re in the right location I think it’s fairly obvious to see the match. See the image below, then run a google search for "Gnome House". This is the Autumn sculpture located on the outer edge of Jackson square. Note the original building behind the sculpture. It’s a Gnome house! The resemblance is unmistakable. So what are the Gnomes admiring? How about the half-naked lady in front of their house. “Fays delight” is a reference to the park actually being that of a garden, turned into such by none other than Baroness de Pontabla, the same Pontabla who built the oldest aparements in America flanking each side of Jackson Square. Fays or Fairies as their known to non-fantasy readers are delighting in the garden and moonlight (as you’ll see in the final verse).
“The namesakes meeting”
“Near this site”
Given that BP was a fantasy writer and the creates a part of his book. I believe BP is referring to actual Gnomes and Fays here. Where do Gnomes and Fays meet? Both Gnome and Fairy mythology have strong ties to Full Moons. If we look back at the image for New Orleans we see a full moon which I think helps pinpoint the specific dig location. Even if that’s not a tie to the full moon on the New Orleans image I think we’re still at a very specific location for which a dig site could be explored.
One final note. If you overlay the clock from the New Orleans image on Jackson Square with the word “Preservation” on the clock facing the NW side of the square where the St. Louis cathedral and the two flanking history museums (preservation places). The Mardi Gras mask is covering the location of the gnome house my proposed dig site.