Author: Golden Owl Hunter

UT QUEANT LAXIS

A 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24 take the orthogonal.
To find the Spiral with four centers ,
560,606 measures, is far.
But by the Mega it is a million times less.

Solvability:   The town revealed by this clue is certain, but no one understand the Spiral.

This clue reveals the town of Carignan, and from there, at 560,606 measures we find a ‘Spiral with four centres.’ No one seems to know what this means, is it a feature on the map, or do we trace a spiral design?

The reference to the ‘Mega’ is all about the super solution or ‘mega solution’ stage of the hunt. Once all 11 clues have been solved we switch from a 1:1,000,000 scale map to the most detailed map we can find showing the area where the treasure is buried.

How the solution is reached

WHEN AL-MAR ALLIES WITH PRENESTE’S FIBULA, DARKNESS SHINES

BDI, J. DF, F. CFD. BJ. HJ. EA, B. BC. E. DC, B.
CDI, B. BAB, H. BE.
CD. FB. BCG, J. BIG D. BE. BG. BJD, B. DB. BGH C.
BC. E.

Solvability:  This clue is one of the main sticking points in this treasure hunt.

This clue is decoded using the A=0, B=1, C=3 formula from the previous his clue plus a knowledge of chemical elements. This reveals a mysterious phrase that has everyone stumped.

‘The key is hidden on a black perched ship.’

This clue has led to all sorts of theories about where this black ship is found.

How the solution is reached

When we replace the letters of the text with the numbers found in the previous enigma (B will be worth 1, C will be 2, etc …) we find a series of decimal numbers which are, in fact, the atomic masses of chemical elements.

When we replace each atomic mass with the symbol of the corresponding chemical element, we find the mysterious phrase “The key is on a black perched ship.”

Here is the detail of the decoding (from WikiChouette)

The values of the atomic masses vary depending on the source used, but the game was created in 1993, and a table using these exact values has been found.

The visual

The visual contains a picture of the key that forms part of the solution. It’s held by a clenched fist. It doesn’t appear to give any additional information to add to the solution of this clue.

The title of this enigma

The title only vaguely connects to the method of solution, a title reflecting science or chemicals might have been more approriate. Is it worth considering Max’s choice of words in case they give another meaning?

Al-Mar is the Arabic translation of the name of the Moors, who gave the origin of Arabic numerals while, the Fibula of Préneste involves the first use of our Latin alphabet. So the alliance of the Moors and the Fibula suggests, in a general way, the association of numbers and letters.

These two concepts may also suggest a geographical direction, perhaps ecing the angle of the key. Moors were associated with the North west Africa, while the Latin alphabet is associated with Rome.

“Darkness shines” uses the repeated theme of light, solving this clue means light shines in the darkness.

Points to consider

Finding the key and the black perched ship is a block to continuing the treasure hunt. If this clue is not solved it seems difficult to progress to the next stage. Yet there is little consensus on what the hand in the picture, the key, and the black ship means. 

Some people look for coat of arms with key or ship symbols, such as Saint-Nazaire, or Saint-Nicolas-de-Port. The motto of the city of Angers is ‘Antique key of France ‘ and this city was found in the previous enigma, the 580.

There is some connection to the ‘becalmed nave’ in the clue 600. Max gave a Supplementary Clue that said: “Born key in hand in the 600, you will find it in the 560.” This might mean that if you understand the key of this clue you will also understand how the Nave is ‘born’ in the 600.

Some people believe this extra clue means the ‘black ship’ and Nave location are the same place, though it is not clear why they are listed twice.

With just a few words we are expected to find a key, how or why it is hidden and a ‘black ship’ perched or suspended some how. It is possible there are other clues in the book that connect to this one to make the finding possible.

In conclusion

The line ‘The key is on the black perched ship’ or ‘ LA CLEF SE CACHE SUR UN NAVIRE NOIR PERCHE’ remains mysterious. It’s possible this cryptic clue will make more sense when other elements of the puzzle are solved.

See also

Clue 6 – 600 enigma text

600 – Madits and links

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THE RIGHT WAY IS THE WAY OF THE OPPOSITE WAY, AND INVERSELY
19.9.13.12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19 will be worth 1
12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19.18.9.13.8.15.4 will be worth 2
9.13.16.16.9.13.9.5.18 will be worth 3
25.1.12.14.18.9.13.16.9.13 will be worth 4
8.15.4.1.12.9.19.18.15.1.6 will be worth 5
18.9.13.13.5.18.18.1.12.18.9.13.12.15.19 will be worth 6
20.18.21.15.15.4.9.18.9.13.8 will be worth 7
9.13.18.9.15.19.19.9 will be worth 8
15.4.1.12.14.18.1.12.10 will be worth 9
19.18.9.13.12.15.19.14.1.12 will be worth 0

Solvability:  The answer to this clue is certain – but there may be more to it than meets the eye.

Solving this clue reveals 10 French towns that each give a letter and number which will be used to decode the next clue.

B ourges will be worth 1
C herbourg will be worth 2
D ieppe will be worth 3
E pernay will be worth 4
F orbach will be worth 5
G erardmer will be worth 6
H éricourt worth 7
Issoire will be worth 8
J arnac will be worth 9
A ngers will be worth 0

Is there any use for these towns aside from the next clue, or are they more or less random?

How the solution is reached

This is a musical puzzle. The inverted ‘meaning’ of the title involves swapping numbers for letters, then swapping those into musical notes. First you need to replace all the numbers with the letters using the numbers to show the rank in the alphabet, so 1 = A, B = 2, C=3 etc. Then, the order of the letters is reversed, and, whenever a musical note appears in the sequence, we replace the letters composing these notes by the letter corresponding to this note. This solution is suggested by the visual with the list of musical notes, B, A, G etc.

So where the text says ‘LA’ we translate that to A, ‘SI’ we turn to B etc. See this Wikipedia page for the full list.

Here is the detail of the decoding (thanks to WikiChouette) – note the inversion between the 2nd and the 3rd column.

The visual

The visual contains the letters BAGFEDC, which are all musical notes, and there are three musicians, the instruments appear to be a saxophone and a double bass. The double bass has a highlighted shape which suggests a circle and a line of light. It is not clear whether this is significant in any way.

Points to consider

The towns when plotted on a map appear to be in a particular order, creating a clockwise rotation of a circle around Bourge. This may be significant because Bourges is the city we discover in the ‘Opening’ clue 530.

Cherbourg and Bourge are mentioned in clues x and 530, the other towns do not appear in any other clues.

Max did use the plotting of towns on a map in a previous treasure hunt in the Treasury of Malbrouck one clue involved connecting 40 cities on the map to draw a ram’s head. This shape does not appear to be anything recognisable.

Many towns could have been chosen to represent the letters A to J but it seems Max deliberately chose towns that form a rotation of clockwise direction from Bourge. If the title’s ‘opposite way’ is to be believed we might be expected to think counter-clockwise.

In conclusion

We have discovered an A=0, B=1, C=2 method to decode the next clue.

It is not clear whether the towns themselves, or their order or placing on the map, gives information that serves some other purpose in solving the Golden Owl treasure hunt.

There is no obvious use for Angers = 0. Why did Max include this town and number?

It is possible that the 10 towns and cities listed here are a red herring, or perhaps they are used at the ‘super solution’ stage.

See also

Clue 5 – 580 enigma text

580 enigma madits

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