Free Lunch Fridays — April 2024 (FLF7)

TCTreasure

CLUE

O daughters and sons of the West,
Embark on a frontier quest;
Your trailblazing vision
And pinpoint precision
Will lead the way to the chest!

Make a radical move
And settle into a groove
To score some eats:
Bohemian meats—
They’re TC-Frenzy approved!

To enjoy this local fave—
Cuisine that carnivores crave—
Unfold our motif
At the vanguard of beef
And ride a giant wave!

Crack the cluewriters’ code
And strike the mother lode;
The valuation
Of conversation
Will get you on the road!

So mount an unorthodox lens
To reap sweet dividends
And play the right hunch
For a Little Free Lunch—
Compliments of your friends!

TCTreasure

CLUE EXPLANATIONS

The clue contains nine synonyms for "Pioneer" and/or "Maverick," which are themselves also synonyms: frontier, trailblazing, lead, radical, move, settle, Bohemian, vanguard, unorthodox
The first line of the clue is a paraphrase of a line from Walt Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" — this was intended to suggest searching at Pioneer Park.
The second stanza contains the phrase "settle into a groove." This was intended to suggest searching in a crack in the stone retaining wall of the Zuettel Memorial Garden, next to the plaque commemorating the Zuettel family and their homestead—which they donated for the creation of Pioneer Park.
The third stanza contains the phrase "ride a giant wave!" This was intended to suggest the famed Mavericks surf break in California—and in turn Maverick's Roast Beef in Roseville. "Maverick" and "Pioneer" are synonyms; Pioneer Park is one of the closest public parks to the Maverick's restaurant location on Lexington Parkway.
The fourth stanza contains the phrase "The valuation / Of conversation / Will get you on the road!" This was intended to suggest Chatsworth Avenue—which comprises the western border of Pioneer Park.
The fifth stanza contains the phrase "mount an unorthodox lens / To reap sweet dividends / And play the right hunch / For a Little Free Lunch— / Compliments of your friends!" This was intended to suggest searching for one of three books at Pioneer Park's Little Free Library—The Complete Works of Walt Whitman, O Pioneers! by Willa Cather, and The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper—then looking inside to find a photo of Herman and Jeanette Zuettel harvesting beans from the Pioneer Park site in the 1940's. This was in turn intended to suggest searching near the plaque commemorating the Zuettel family.

TC Treasure