The Secret (a treasure hunt) (2024)

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This wiki offers partial solutions for the 2 casques that have been found:

Image 4, Verse 4: Cleveland

Status: Found

The shape of Ohio (with rivers) is hidden in the image. Several of the clues that would presumably get us to Cleveland are still unsolved, but the visual references to the Greek Cultural Garden are very clear and unambiguous. Lines in the verse pin down the exact place to dig inside the neglected planter bed shown in the image. Visual images in this puzzle seem more realistic and true-to-life than in the other 11 images, possibly because the artist saw the spot in person rather than working from photographs.

Image 5, Verse 12: Chicago

Status: Found

The outline of Illinois and a few well-known landmarks get us to Chicago. An image of a bowman and a reference to "L" (Lincoln) get us to Grant Park. Two intersecting lines of trees pinpoint the spot and a distinctive fence feature provides the confirmation.

This wiki also currently offers detailed (but unproven) solutions for 8 more casques. None of these proposals can be considered definitive or correct unless a casque is found. Unfortunately, in at least a few cases (Charleston and New Orleans), the casques appear to have been destroyed. But in other cases (San Francisco, St. Augustine, and Houston) there still seems to be a good chance of recovery, if a dig is done the right way with the full permission and cooperation of the relevant property owners.

Image 1, Verse 7: San Francisco

Status: Buried under a layer of asphalt

This is the image associated with immigration from China. The woman's dress is a map of Golden Gate Park, rotated 90 degrees so the western edge is at the top. Clues from the image and verse narrow our attention to a small slice of the park directly east of the elevated Highway 1 (Crossover Drive). After leading us on a stroll through the park, the puzzle brings us to a long staircase that has a handrail (or pole) going up the middle. The casque was buried directly across from the top end of the pole.

Image 2, Verse 6: Charleston

Status: Destroyed when the Maine capstan monument was replaced

The shapes of Fort Sumter and the Charleston peninsula send us to the correct area (from the image). Historical references confirm the city and direct us to a historical area (from the verse). A line about "two arms extended" (verse) is ambiguous, but black circles with white dots (image) tells us that the arms are cannons. A line about "May 1913" (verse) sends us to the capstan from the USS Maine. References to palms (both image and verse) tell us to dig where the shadow of a nearby palm tree would be positioned at the base of that monument.

Image 3, Verse 11: Roanoke Island

Status: Unclear

Detailed steps (from the verse) take us from the Outer Banks of North Carolina over a bridge to Roanoke Island. An outline of the island (from the image) confirms that we are in the right place. A series of instructions (verse) takes us down the path to the Waterside Theatre. A tower made of hollow metal pipes is a symbolic match for the suit of armor (image) and it has symbolism in the play as the tree last touched by the colonists (verse). The casque was buried in the sand at the base of the tower at a spot where one could look across to the wing of the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Image 6, Verse 9: St. Augustine

Status: Underneath a volunteer cabbage palm on private property

The image of a Spanish conquistador atop the outline of Florida ties in with the book's immigration theme and tells us to look for a spot associated with the arrival of Spanish explorers on the Florida peninsula. Abundant map and location details confirm that our destination is the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. The alignment of a fountain and the moon-like dome of a building pinpoints the exact spot for the dig.

Image 7, Verse 2: New Orleans

Status: Destroyed in the construction of Place St. Charles

Various Mardi Gras clues get us to downtown New Orleans. The image and verse guide us down Lafayette Street to the Piazza d'Italia, which is shaped like a series of concentric circles interrupted by the shape of Italy. From there we can follow either of two paths as shown by the arrows around the clock face. Our final destination is the block where the St. Charles Hotel once stood before it was torn down in 1974.

Image 8, Verse1: Houston

Status: Buried under a hardpacked gravel path

Latitudes & longitudes get us to Houston (from the image). The "number 982" sends us to an antique steam locomotive at Hermann Park (from the verse). By lining up the train smokestack and a fountain in the lake (image) and stepping across the tracks of the miniature train (verse), we should arrive at a group of four trees (verse). That spot also gives a single-point perspective over the receding ties on the train bridge (image & verse). The casque was buried in the middle of the four trees.

Image 10, Verse 8: Milwaukee

Status: Unclear

Views of the Milwaukee City Hall get us to the city (from the image). A very detailed walk-through takes us from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Lake Park and to the Grand Staircase (from the verse). Images of lawn bowling and a cicada nymph confirm that we are meant to turn right at the top of the stairs (image). We are guided down the Locust Street Ravine Trail to a group of birches (verse) where we would see some symbol on a tree (verse) and the confirming image of a cement disk (image). Preiss probably meant this to be one of the easiest of all the puzzles, but the removal of the group of birches took away the crucial clue for the final spot.

Image 11, Verse 3: Boston

Status: Unclear

The Paul Revere reference gets us to Boston. The names of two ancient Greek historians gets us to Copley Square. The box with a light coming from below sends us into the subway and an obscure reference to a letter by Horace Walpole sends us west five stops on the Green Line. A reference to a "green tower of lights" tells us to walk to Fenway Park via Kenmore Square. Visual references to gardens and monuments tell us to proceed through the Back Bay Fens. By exploring the area we discover a curious little park with two circles of brickwork. Various references to the sidewalk, bridge, and utility boxes at the site confirm that we are in the right place. Standing with our back to the steps should put us in the right place to dig.

    From what we know so far, it appears that every puzzle in The Secret has its own way of combining the clues in the verse and the image. There is no single "master system" that will solve all the puzzles. Nevertheless, there appear to be certain common themes or approaches that are common to all of the puzzles. One way to understand these commonalities is to view each solution as a set of three progressions that Byron Preiss was making.

    1. Moving from the well-known to the obscure. To give searchers a "foothold" in each puzzle, Preiss clearly tried to include a a few well-known landmarks or events from each area. But Preiss didn't want the puzzles to be too easy (and he clearly valued books and knowledge) so he also included a few bits that could only be found by doing some research. And, ultimately, Preiss didn't want this to be just a library-based search. He wanted people to go outside and explore, so the final clue at the burial site of each casque is something so minor that it wouldn't be in any book. It could only be discovered by a searcher standing on the spot. (See the "On-Site Confirmation" table below.) Preiss was starting with the well-known features and expecting us to explore and discover the rest.
    2. Moving from large areas to small areas. Clues in The Secret often follow a progression of scale as Preiss guides us from a state to a city to a park to a particular set of trees. The idea is that, once we identify a particular region, we can eliminate all possible search areas outside that boundary. The progression is useful, because it constricts the search area, but it only works if searchers correctly interpret each clue at the appropriate level. Clues like Alcatraz Island (Image 1), Fort Sumter (Image 2), Milwaukee City Hall (Image 10), and the Statue of Liberty (Image 12) are all city-level clues. They identify the correct urban area, but they mislead anyone who interprets them as identifying a more narrow area than that.
    3. Moving from the public to the private. Most of the well-known landmarks in America are very crowded, public places where it would be impossible to dig a hole without attracting attention. But Preiss needed those landmarks to provide that foothold and define the general area. So, as each solution narrows down the search area and moves toward the more obscure clues, it also moves away from the crowds toward quieter and less-visited places. The Image 11 solution, for example, starts with the well-known bits of Boston history (like Paul Revere's ride) but then moves from the crowded downtown area to the Back Bay Fens as it narrows the search area from the city to the park. As we follow the route Preiss laid out, it's easy to imagine him searching and searching for a way to get away from all the prying eyes. Just like in Chicago, where he found his spot in a clump of trees beside a noisy commuter train, Preiss found his spot in Boston in a weed-filled sliver of land beside an elevated highway.

    In short, the easiest clues in The Secret are generally there to identify large, county-size areas by hinting at their most iconic and heavily visited spots. Once you know that general area, the increasingly subtle and obscure clues will narrow down the search area into smaller and smaller places that are off the beaten path. The most subtle and obscure clues - that is, the ones that would never appear in any history book - are the ones that should tell us we are finally on the exact spot for the casque.

    The Secret (a treasure hunt) (11)

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    Verse 1Verse 2Verse 3
    Verse 4Verse 5Verse 6
    Verse 7Verse 8Verse 9
    Verse 10Verse 11Verse 12

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    On-Site Confirmations
    Image 1, Verse 7
    Image 2, Verse 6
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    Image 4, Verse 4
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    Image 6, Verse 9
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    Image 8, Verse 1
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    - Hermann Park Time Machine
    Image 9, Verse 5
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    The Secret (a treasure hunt) (2024)

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