The Brookville Circle

[theo]

I'm having real trouble with the idea that the key could be hidden inside the circled area on the map (p. xv).

Why would the author create a nationwide treasure hunt?  Why tell us that the key is "within the borders of the United States"?  Why put the torn map on the front and back inside covers of the book?  Why all the references to travel and beaches and states?  Why do any of that if the author is going to narrow the search area down to a few square miles before we've even read any of the stories?  It just doesn't make sense.

It seems far more likely to me that the author is giving us the circled area as a starting point.  We're supposed to start off as a traveling groundhog in Punxsutawney, PA on groundhog's day (2/2) and we're supposed to travel through space and time following the 11 stories (probably not in the order they are given in the book).

So what's the first story that should start us off on our trip?  "For the Record" seems like a promising candidate.  What can we do with those first letters?

FOWA
TTBW
AEIS
DAKC

[catherwood]

just for reference, another hunt did indeed refer to (almost) all of the states, either in artwork or text. The only state not hinted to was in fact the location of the treasure. (My memory is fuzzy on the details, but the hunt was Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse, from a time before the internet.)

[treasureoftruth]

So all the clues that can be matched quite beautifully to Scripture Rocks Heritage Park are just mere coincidence ? That would be an astronomically, amazing coincidence.

[theo]

Jan 9, 2024 18:37:36 GMT -5 treasureoftruth said:

So all the clues that can be matched quite beautifully to Scripture Rocks Heritage Park are just mere coincidence ? That would be an astronomically, amazing coincidence.

Well, I'm certainly not trying to change your mind or put down your theory.  Just by proposing a solution of any kind, you've done far more than 90% of the participants in this forum, and you seem to have sparked a tiny renewal of interest in this puzzle.  But how much really matches to Scripture Rocks Heritage Park?

Here's what I see:

• The park is inside that mysterious Brookville circle on page xv.
  
• There's a Whistle Pig coal mine in the area, matching the title of the book
  
• "The Bow" gives us the sequence of BARE THE CROSS, LEAVE THE CENTER, FIND THE FRUIT.  The reference to "cross" might mean a Christian cross but, if so, matches to that could certainly be found in every county in the U.S..
  
• There is a stone in the park with a verse that includes the word "fruit" (or "fruits"?).
  

Anything else I'm missing?

There are 11 stories in The Whistle Pig.  It's very hard to believe that the solution only uses the first letters from "The Bow" and that the other ten stories are just filler.  It's also very hard to believe that Duck would tell us on page xi that the key is "within the borders of the United States" and then almost immediately, four pages later, narrow the search area down to a few square miles.  That just doesn't make sense.

If I had to make a prediction, I'd guess that Whistle Pig is a much longer and more convoluted thing.  Each story is likely to be a stand-alone puzzle and each one has to be solved in a different way.  "The Bow" was the easiest one, possibly just to get us started, but we need to get a similar short message from each of the other stories.  Who knows?

Miller has already said that he didn't tell anyone else the solution.  If he doesn't change that approach before he dies, we may be left with a puzzle like The Secret that can never be definitively solved.

[treasureoftruth]

LOL...You're missing a lot. You're entertaining....I'll give you that.

[theo]

Jan 11, 2024 0:30:32 GMT -5 treasureoftruth said:

LOL...You're missing a lot. You're entertaining....I'll give you that.

  We're all ears if you want to share something and make your case.