CLUE EXPLANATIONS
CLUE #1
(given to the Cooler Crew at their 22nd Annual Rehash Bash)
This clue directs hunters to a blue picnic table in the northwest portion of Newell Park.
"JC" is John "JC" Collins—winner of the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt (a.k.a. "the big one") this year. He found the medallion just after the twelfth clue was released in scrambled form. John has "drummed" with the St. Paul Police Band for 27 years.
"Snap, Crackle, and Pop say hi!" is a reference to this year’s Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, wherein cutouts of the three Rice Krispies characters were hidden in a triangle around the Puck: Clues three, four, and six of this mini-hunt were hidden in white pouches, with cutouts of Snap, Crackle, and Pop, respectively; a TC Treasure Token—good for one free registration to the 2019 Great Twin Cities Treasure Hunt—was hidden at the center of the triangle formed by those three locations.
The second stanza lists hunt rules; "serial" is meant to suggest "cereal"—and hint at the "Snap-Crackle-Pop"-triangulated token.
"an airline some people just didn’t know how to keep aflight" is meant to suggest to Northwest Airlines, and is a play on their one-time slogan; this directs hunters to the northwest of the park picnic shelter.
"Keep the stack in sight" is a "Quick reminder" meant to suggest the BlackStack brewing smokestack to the west—in view from every location on the mini-hunt.
"the blue GT" is meant to suggest a small, blue toy Turbo Wheels "GT"-model car, "illegally parked" with the next clue "underneath the…" "blue" picnic "…table" to the northwest of the Newell Park picnic shelter.
CLUE #2
(found with a blue toy car in a purple pouch beneath a picnic table to the northwest of the Newell Park picnic shelter)
This clue directs hunters to Tatum Park Community Garden.
"Barley and hops," "crops—remember to rotate ‘em," "vegetables," "plants," and "garden" are all meant to suggest finding a nearby community garden: Tatum Park.
"magic" is meant to suggest the MacGuffin—a small magic kit—hidden with the next clue.
"give bees a chance" references a small sign in Tatum Park near the back of the garden, to the east of the next clue’s hiding place beneath a small, red bench.
"Westward prance… Look both ways before you cross" is meant to suggest leaving Newell Park to find the next clue.
"rotate ‘em" is meant to suggest Tatum Park.
CLUE #3
(found with a magic set in a white pouch in the northwest corner of Tatum Park Community Garden)
This clue directs hunters to a traffic triangle at Tatum Street and Chelton Avenue.
"Snappy"—note the capital "S"—is meant to suggest Snappy Sign Co., found across the street to the south of the next clue’s hiding place: a small, triangular traffic island ("Leave the parks") at the intersection of Tatum Street and Chelton Avenue.
"Make it Snappy (like Jake or Mappy)" is meant to suggest the superhuman speed ("run the mutant decathlon") with which former PiPress victors Jake Ingebrigtson (three clues) and Steve "Mappy" Worthman (five clues) have found the puck.
"mutant decathlon" anagrams to "Tatum and Chelton."
"mutant" is also meant to suggest the next MacGuffin—a Spider-Man puzzle.
"a lonely tree" is the single, impressive tree that grows in the middle of the traffic island.
"Turn backs, make haste from tracks and waste" is meant to suggest turning southward, away from the railroad tracks and yard waste facility visible to the north of Tatum Park.
"Try to angle an edge" is meant to suggest looking for the edge of the next clue poking out of a large pile of snow on one edge of the traffic triangle (while referencing this year’s Pioneer Press Treasure hunt "Try… angle").
"'Tween a score and seven circles in three diamonds on a wedge" is meant to suggest the traffic triangle ("a wedge"), which has reflective hazard signs at its three corners ("a score and seven circles in three diamonds").
CLUE #4
(found with a Spider-Man puzzle in a white pouch on a large, triangular traffic island at the intersection of Tatum Street and Chelton Avenue)
This clue directs hunters to May Park.
"new found leisure" is meant to suggest the play equipment at May Park—installed just over a year ago—and references this year’s Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt.
"This sounds less than clever—silly, even" also references the Pioneer Press hunt, while suggesting the next MacGuffin—an egg of Silly Putty.
"Hatee-hatee-ho" is a lyric from the Ylvis song "The Fox (What does the Fox say?)"—and is meant to suggest searching near the fox statue in May Park nearby.
"Leave the pimple" and "steer clear of the muddy terrain" are meant to suggest looking for the next clue at May Park, as opposed to Cato Park (colloquially referred to as "Pimple Hill"), or Clayland Park ("muddy terrain").
"Here’s a puzzle: Peter’s aunt could help you sound the plain" is meant to suggest the Clue #4 MacGuffin (a Spider-Man puzzle) and references the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt ("sound… plain"), while hinting at May Park ("Peter’s aunt"—Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker’s adoptive mother is Aunt May).
CLUE #5
(found with an egg of Silly Putty in a purple pouch near the fox statue at May Park)
This clue directs hunters back to the "Devil's Den" area in the northwest region of Newell park
"Back to the Noodle for the kit-and-caboodle" is meant to suggest heading back to Newell Park to end the mini-hunt.
"Cross the savanna on a beeline" is meant to suggest to hunters that they cut clear across Newell through the stunning oak grove that dominates the southern half of the park.
"enter Lucifer’s Lair" is meant to suggest searching the area of Newell Park known colloquially as the "Devil’s Den"—and references an Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt from way back in 2005.
"look back through the woods and align the Stack with the Bash" is meant to suggest that the last MacGuffin is on a line with the Newell Park picnic shelter and the BlackStack Brewing smokestack—in view from every stop on the hunt.
"Recover the ball and take it back to the end zone to Rehash!" is meant to tease the end of the hunt by referencing the last Mini-Hunt MacGuffin—a small toy football—while throwing in a Superbowl reference for good measure.
CLUE #6
(found with a small, toy football in a white pouch in the forested "Devil's Den" area of Newell Park)
- "one final mini-quest," "Unite and use the white-bagged clues to plot and analyze," and "find the medial point and locate a consolation prize!" are meant to suggest that finders work together to "plot and analyze" Snap, Crackle, and Pop to find the TC Treasure Token—concealed with a bag of fake treasure inside a Minnesota United FC can cozy—at the immediate center of the triangle their hiding places formed. This was a callback to the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt’s attempt at using the Rice Krispies mascots as a triangulation-based pointer to the 2019 Puck; similarly to the Pioneer Press hunt, the Snap, Crackle, Pop clue went unheeded, and the Token remained unclaimed through the end of the 2019 Rehash Bash.
CLUE #7
(undiscovered, at Clayland Park)
- This clue congratulates the (would-be) finder of the TC Treasure Token "consolation prize," and encourages all hunters to enter and search for our July-August 2019 Great TC Treasure Hunt jewel.
