Hidden connections (spoilers)

[Namtabeht]

Now that the hunt is over I can share what I believe is a very ingenious layer/method to finding the final solution.

SPOILER: Click to show

After finding most of the solutions (or at least believing that I did) I started noticing some odd recurrences. I believe the first one I noticed was the oval frame around 9 and 18. Then I remembered that there are two images with a landmass in the clouds (1 and 12).
As I began looking for these "hidden pairs", I theorized that by using these pairs you could form a string that would indicate the order in which to place the 24 letters/solutions.

I encountered however two problems:
1. While some pairs were obviously intentional, other connections I found might be coincidence/imagined. 

2. For some images I found more than two convincing pairings.

I recently began exploring the possibility that maybe you had to follow 'the clock' and that apart from the letter/image in fifth position having connections with the ones in fourth and sixth position, it also would have a connection with the one in the 17th position. This would allow for three connections instead of two. But this is only a theory as I did not (yet) find a solution this way.

I'll leave it at this for now, but intend to give a fuller list of "hidden pairs" later.

[hyde123]

Namtabeht, I also identified possible hidden pairs about a month ago, and also felt it led to the order of the letters. If it was indeed the correct path to follow, I didn't give it enough time and tried to rush it, I think, eager for a quick solution.

I really wanted to partner up with someone who was at a similar position to me in the final month, but it's hard to not play your cards close to your chest when you think you have identified something that other people may not have. Ah, hindsight :-)

[hanneymanor]

I really wanted to pair up too as I am here on the ground and i feel i had a good grasp of the answers but i suppose that will remain to be seen  

[hanneymanor]

I also thought there might be something related to the lines on the front of the book. I traced them onto some acetate and layed it over the pictures to see if it linked to any of the images like the clocks or compasses but that fell flat too

[Namtabeht]

Nov 6, 2020 4:05:00 GMT -5 hanneymanor said:

I also thought there might be something related to the lines on the front of the book.

If you look closely, all the long lines are the same and all the short ones are the same. The weird thing is that after 6 and 12 o'clock (so to speak) their directions invert. It's possible there's a meaning there, but no idea what.

[hanneymanor]

Oh yeah.... didnt notice that. They look like dots and dashes ...morse code?

[Namtabeht]

As promised a list of the pairs I believe are hidden throughout the images. Some I'm 100% certain about, others a lot less.

SPOILER: Click to show

1

Landmass in the clouds (12)
Single Latin word (18)
Person floating amid stars/points of light (22)

2

Nefertiti (23)

Giant eye (11)
Keys (21)
Pyramid (5)

3

Constellation/starsign (24)

4

Birds eye view of the location (22)

Full moon (9)
Abstract depiction of a star (20)

5

Pyramid (2)

Flying beetle (7)

Red herring (9)

6

Reference to the prize of a famous treasure hunt (7)

Swing (21)
Partial native American costume (16)

7

Reference to the prize of a famous treasure hunt (6)

Flying beetle (5)
Watch (20)

8

Ring on the ground (24)

White horse (17)
Dead tree (12)

9

Oval frame (18)

Full moon (4)
Red herring (5)

10

Year (15)

Hanging from chains (21)
Floor made of stones (23)

11

Hidden road map (19)

Giant eye (2)
Giant open hand (20)Northamptonshire (17)

12

Landmass in the clouds (1)

Dead tree (8)
Crown (16)
Skull (17)

13

Frame (20)

Sword (19)
Small stone construction in background (24)

14

Constellation as motes of light (19)

15

Year (10)

Visual reference to a literary work by a regional author (18)
Sunbeams(16)

16

Partial native American costume (6)

Crown (12)
Sunbeams (15)

17

White horse (8)

Skull (12)
Northamptonshire(11)

18

Oval frame (9)

Single Latin word (1)
Visual reference to a literary work by a regional author (15)
Image contains solution/object to another puzzle (23)

19

Hidden road map (11)

Sword (13)
Constellation as motes of light (14)
Taurus symbol (21)

20

Giant open hand (11)

Partial eclipse (23)
Abstract depiction of a star (4)
Watch (7)
Frame (13)

21

Keys (2)

Swing (6)
Hanging from chains (10)
Taurus symbol (19)

22

Birds eye view of the location (4)

Person floating amid stars/points of light (1)

23

Nefertiti (2)

Partial eclipse (20)
Floor made of stones (10)
Image contains solution/object to another puzzle (18)

24

Constellation/starsign (3)

Ring on the ground (8)

Small stone construction in background (13)