Coming soon
560 enigma text
AD AUGUSTA PER ANGUSTA
When at Carusburc, you will have Albion in the back,
Seek the opening that reveals the Heavenly Light.
Don’t linger, don’t ask for your rest,
But prepare yourself to walk on water.
Twice, Neptune will help you
And carry you away from the icy north.
Pursue your road and do not interrupt your journey
Before seeing, through the Opening, the becalmed Nave.
Without deviating an inch, draw a line,
And you will not regret what you did.
AD AUGUSTA PER ANGUSTA
Quand, à Carusburc, tu auras Albion dans le dos,
Cherche l’Ouverture qui révèle la Lumière Céleste.
Ne t’attarde pas, ne demande pas ton reste,
Mais apprête-toi à marcher sur les eaux.
Par deux fois, Neptune viendra à ton secours
Et te mènera loin du Septentrion glacé.
Poursuis ta route et n’interromps pas ton parcours
Avant de voir, par l’Ouverture, la Nef encalminée.
Sans dévier d’un pouce, tire un trait,
Et tu ne regretteras pas ce que tu as fait.
See also:
560 – Generally accepted solution
420 – Generally accepted solution
FROM THE SKY COMES THE LIGHT
C’E-10752-365 LA Q-30667-E L’AIGLE
I-687-90677-RI-687-A
687-ARQ-30667-E DE 10752-E-10752 10752-ERRE-10752
DA-60140- 10752 LE 10752-ABLE,
CENT 4330-O-30667-R-10752 AVA-60140-365 DE 10752-E
CA-10752-10752-ER LE BEC
E-365 Y-CAP Y LAI-10752-10752-ER 10752-E-10752
90677-L-30667-687-E-10752
So lend a bow to Apollo :
from there, he will count 1969,697 measures towards the zenith.
In a 46,241,860th fraction of sidereal day,
his line will fall.
Hurry to find the arrow.
Solvability: 
The place revealed by this clue is well known, but how do we fly and land Apollo’s arrow?
This clue reveals Golfe Juan in an enigma linked to Napoleonic history. Most Golden Owl clues use one theme but this one mixes up Napolean Bonaparte,the greek god Apollo, and the revolution of planets!
The first stage of the clue is solved with the reveal of the location Golfe Juan, but the second stage asks us to draw a line from this town and mark the place where Apollo’s arrow lands.
If we use the 33cm measure Apollo counts 1969.697 *0.33m = 650.00001 = 650m towards the zenith.
How the solution is reached
The text is a mix of capital letters and numbers. We need to replace the numbers with letters by matching the initial letter of planets with the planet’s period of revolution around the sun in days.
- 365 = T = Terre / Earth
- 687 = M = Mars
- 4330 = J = Jupiter
- 10752 = S = Saturn
- 30667 = U = Uranus
- 60140 = N = Neptune
- 90677 = P = Pluton
We then find this clue:
THIS IS WHERE THE EAGLE PRINTED THE SHAPE OF ITS CLAWS IN THE SAND, ONE HUNDRED DAYS BEFORE BREAKING ITS BEAK AND LOSING ITS FEATHERS.
This sentence in the original French is exactly 100 letters.
The eagle in this sentence is Napoleon Bonaparte, and the hundred days refer to the historic period of the Hundred Days, which began with the landing of Napoleon at Golfe-Juan, after returning from his exile from the island of Elba , and ended with his defeat at the battle of Waterloo. The ‘there then’ suggests the seaside resort of Golfe-Juan near Cannes, which marks the start of this period.
To solve the second stage of the puzzle is much harder. We can assume that an arrow is flown from Golfe Juan leaving a line traced on the map, but there are no instructions about the direction.
The clue says, ‘lend a bow to Apollo from there, he will count 1969,697 measures towards the zenith. In a 46,241,860th fraction of sidereal day, his line will fall.’
With a measure of 33 cm, 1969,697 measures are 650m. Measuring towards the zenith suggests shooting into the air. As for where the arrow lands, a sidereal day represents the time taken by the earth to rotate on its axis relative to the stars. A sidereal day is worth 861646 seconds, so the fraction specified in this clue leads to a distance of 559 km based on the arrow flying at the speed of light. Here is the calculation to perform (via WikiChouette) (86164/46241860) * 300000 = 559.000006
The way this translates to almost exactly 559km suggests this must be the correct solution. However, even though we know so much about Apollo and his arrow it’s difficult to understand what Max wants us to do with this information.
The visual
The image shows seven symbols for planets in a circle around an orange and black background, it’s not clear what this represents. There is a compass planted in an N for North, is this a clue to the direction we fly Apollo’s arrow?
Points to consider
The line ‘son trait s’abattra’ is translated here as ‘his line will fall’ but the word ‘trait’ has multiple meanings in French including bolt or shaft, which fits the bow and arrow theme.
The word flèche can mean both arrow and the spire of a church. Many people believe this hints at the famous church on the Rock of Dabo. The town is around 559km from Golfe Juan, and the height roughly 650 metres.
It’s not clear why Napoleon and Apollo connect here, it’s almost as if the two parts of this enigma were originally written as two clues. The use of planets perhaps connects to Apollo, with firing a celestial arrow skywards, and links with the Apollo space program?The number 1969,697 also has a vague link to the moon landing of 1969, as does the Eagle.
The theme of light is referenced again in the title. What is this light from the sky? Is it the sun, moon, or a star? Is it the same as the ‘heavenly light’ in the next enigma? Does the firing of the zenith arrow bring light somehow?
The compass in the visual has no obvious explanation, it is used for drawing circles. The alignment of the planet symbols also suggests a circle.
There are some missing planets in this clue. Mercury is not needed because Mars gives us a letter M, however, we would have expected V for Venus to be used for the word ‘AVANT’ (before.) There is no obvious explanation as to why Venus’ rotation of
243 days, is not used. Is ‘Venus’ perhaps a subtle remnant for the super solution?
The use of the term “trait” in the second paragraph, instead of the word “flèche” does suggest that we need to draw a line between Golfe-Juan and Dabo on the map of France. Max has never clearly confirmed this point.
An important clue to the path of the arrow was given by Max in his Tour de France additional clues. He revealed that the Tour de France cycle race crossed the path of Apollo’s arrow on July 15th 1993. On this day the cyclists travelled from Serre-Chevalier to Isola 2000 in the Alps. So it does seem certain that the arrow flies north from Golfe Juan, perhaps towards Carignan.
The fans of Dabo have another reason to support the town, which is just a little over 559km from Golfe Juan. A path to Dabo from Golfe Juan would appear to cross the Tour de France route.
The fact there are 100 letters to this clue and the word ‘CENT’ (one hundred) is revealed rather than coded may be meaningful, or maybe Max was only playing with the Napoleonic 100 days theme?
In conclusion
We need to draw a 559km arrow line from Golfe Juan and it seems it flies North, passing between Isola 2000 and Serre Chevalier.
There seems to be little guidance to the exact direction of the arrow, if we believe Dabo was the Spiral location in the previous clue then perhaps it lands there?
It is not clear how we translate a ‘zenith’ upward path of this arrow into a traced line on the map.
See also
420 – Madits and links
Coming soon
420 enigma text
FROM THE SKY COMES THE LIGHT
365-HI-10752 I-10752 WHERE 365-HE EAGLE
90677-RI-60140-365-ED 365-HE
687-ARK OF HI-10752 CLAW-10752
I-60140 365-HE 10752-ABLE,
O-60140-E H-30667-60140-DRED DAY-10752 BEFORE
BREAKI-60140-G HI-10752 BEAK
A-60140-D LOO-10752-I-60140-G HI-10752
FEA-365-HER-10752
Then lend a bow to Apollo:
from this point, he will count 1969,697 measures towards the zenith.
In a fraction of a 46,241,860th of a sidereal day,
his line will fall.
Hasten to find the arrow.
DU CIEL VIENT LA LUMIERE
C’E-10752-365 LA Q-30667-E L’AIGLE
I-687-90677-RI-687-A LA
687-ARQ-30667-E DE 10752-E-10752 10752-ERRE-10752
DA-60140-10752 LE 10752-ABLE,
CENT 4330-O-30667-R-10752 AVA-60140-365 DE 10752-E
CA-10752-10752-ER LE BEC
E-365 Y LAI-10752-10752-ER 10752-E-10752
90677-L-30667-687-E-10752
Alors prête un arc à Apollon :
de là, il comptera 1969,697 mesures vers le zénith.
En une 46.241.860ème fraction de jour sidéral,
son trait s’abattra.
Hâte-toi de trouver la flèche.
See also:
420 – Generally accepted solution
500 – Generally accepted solution
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
The title of the enigma is the first verse of the hymn of Vespers of the office of Saint John the Baptist written in the ninth century. This hymn was used by Gui d’Arezzo to name the musical notes, and music is used in this clue’ solution. More details of the hymn and a translation can be found on Wikipedia here.
The presence of 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24 in the text and a walrus in the visual suggest that we use Morse code . The French for walrus is ‘le morse.’
Simply decoding 2424 using dots and dashes gives us NKMUANA, which is meaningless. However the music staff and clue title suggest we consider musical measures. In a music 2/4 measure, a long note is white and a 1/ 2 measure and a brief note is black and a 1/ 4 measure. So we use this concept and 2 = line and 4 = a point. This works! The decryption gives: CARIGNAN. This must be right, Carignan is a small town in the Ardennes.
We have a location, but now we must use an ‘orthogonal’, which can be taken to mean a right angle. And to find the ‘Spiral with four centres’ it is 560,606 measures. Assuming the game measure is 33cm, then 560606*0.33m = 184999.98 m = 185 km.
Despite all this precision no one seems very sure what this mysterious ‘spiral with four centres’ means.
The visual
The clue pictures shows a walrus (or ‘le morse’) to suggest morse code. There is a musical G clef and scale with 5 lines and 4 lines in alternating colours, this suggests the musical solution to the puzzle. There is also a ruler, set square and a compass. The upper end of the ruler is not visible but the length of the image ruler is 18.5cm which suggests we are correct with a 185km calculation as this will be 18.5cm on the Michelin map. The geometry instruments suggest the drawing of lines. There is also a thicket of grass, and it seems that each clue that needs lines on the map shows these stylised lines of grass.
Points to consider
The word “borrow” is used in this translation, but “emprunter” also means in French “follow” or “take this path”. Both meanings could be useful.
We know we need to measure or draw a 185km line at a right angle from Carignan. It is often assumed that a line is drawn from the previously uncovered locations Roncesvalles and Bourges to Carignan and then turning right at an ‘orthogonal’ right angle.
Approximately 185km from Carignan at this angle is the town of Dabo. This place has links with treasure hunting in the past and the St-Leon chapel on top of Dabo Rock has a spiral shaped path on the way to the church.
There are many enthusiastic owl hunters who believe Dabo is the ‘spiral with four centres.’ Some even think this means the owl is buried in Dabo, rather than this being another town to add to the many scattered towns on the map.
Taking a right angle the other way 185km lands in the suburbs of Lille. Not many people have an interest in this alternative location.
It’s worth bearing in mind that we don’t know if the ‘orthogonal’ is drawn from this map, or how we use the line, nor do we actually understand what the ‘spiral with four centres’ means.
My problem with settling on Dabo for this solution is that the path around the church doesn’t have ‘four centres.’
This clue also indirectly indicates the map to use for the treasure hunt, a 1: 1,000,000 scale, with a supplementary clue revealing the Michelin brand. This suggests that the accuracy of the treasure hunt and its lines on the map will be affected by the map used. I love using Google maps for the ease of moving and measuring plotted lines, but I use cheap eBay sourced old Michelin 989 maps for serious planning.
In conclusion
We have discovered another town, Carignan.
We need to work out what the ‘four centred spiral’ means, this can be found at the ‘orthogonal’ 185km from Cargignan. Many people believe this is a spiral path in Dabo.
We know we need to use a 1:000,000 scale map at this stage, and a much smaller scale map later.
See also
500 – Madits and links
Coming soon
500 enigma text
UT QUEANT LAXIS
At 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24, take the orthogonal.
To find the Spiral with four centers,
560.606 measures, it’s far.
But by the Mega, it’s a million times less.
UT QUEANT LAXIS
A 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24, emprunte l’orthogonale.
Pour trouver la Spirale à quatre centres,
560.606 mesures, c’est loin.
Mais par le Méga, c’est un million de fois moins.
See also:
500 – Generally accepted solution
600 – Generally accepted solution
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)
| BDI, J. DF, F. CFD. BJ. HJ. EA, B. | 138.9. 35.5. 253. 19. 79. 40.1. | · Cl · E (s) · F · Se · Ca | the key is |
| BC. E. DC, B. CDI, B. BAB, H. BE. | 12. 4. 32.1. 238.1. 101.7. 14. | C · He · S · U · Ru · N | on a |
| CD. FB. BCG, J. BIG D. BE. BG. | 23. 51. 126.9. 186.3. 14. 16. | Na · V · I · Re · N · O | ship no- |
| BJD, B. DB. BGH C. BC. E. | 193.1. 31. 167.2. 12. 4. | Ir · P · Er · C · He | – perched. |
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
600 – Madits and links
‘Madits’ are the things Max said (‘Max dits’) about the treasure hunt. He answered searcher’s questions on a Minitel service (an early form of internet.)
In Le Figaro Magazine (published on Saturday July 26 , 1997 , pages 72-73) Max gave the following summary about the 600 clue:
- The visual of this enigma is above all a symbolic image.
- The metal that was used to make the Fibula de Préneste has no importance for this treasure hunt. What is important is what this item means and represents in terms of reference.
- ” Al-mar ” is a word of foreign origin. Its meaning, once found – and symbolically associated with that of the Fibula of Préneste – provides you with an explanation as to how to decipher the letters that form the textual enigma.
- The angle that the hand and the key form with the central axis of the visual does not matter, nor does the length of the key.
Some more madits:
| QUESTION n ° 31 OF 1999-05-31 |
| TITLE: 650 |
| BONJOUR MAX. BORN KEY IN HAND IN THE 650 … CAN THE PLACE OF THIS “BIRTH” BE PRECISELY LOCATED AT THE END OF THE 650? MINNIE |
| THE ADDITIONAL INDICATION DOES NOT TALK ABOUT THE 650, MINNIE, BUT OF THE 600 … THE ANSWER IS YES (IF IT IS REALLY THE 600). FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 2 FROM 2000-03-15 |
| TITLE: SOLUTION 600 |
| ONCE FOUND ARE WE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS OR DO YOU LEARN THAT LATER? JONES |
| SORRY, THE QUESTION IS TOO SPECIFIC. ELSEWHERE I REMIND YOU THAT NOTHING PROHIBITS AN ENIGMA FROM “COUPLING” NATURALLY WITH ANOTHER TO FORM A COHERENT TOGETHER. A GENERAL RESPONSE. FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 31 FROM 1999-08-09 |
| TITLE: TITLE 600 |
| HELLO MAX I WISH YOU A GOOD WEEK. MAX, SHOULD THE TITLE OF THE 600 BE CONSIDERED AT THE BEGINNING OR RATHER AT THE END OF THE ENIGMA? THANKS |
| IN THE BEGINNING. FRIENDSHIPS AND HAPPY WEEK TO YOU ALSO MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 30 OF 1998-05-28 |
| TITLE: 600 – MERLIN |
| ONCE THE BDI, J … ETC ARE DECRYPTED DO WE THROW AWAY THE TITLE OR CAN IT STILL SERVE US? |
| IT’S UP TO YOU TO FIND THIS ANSWER. I CAN’T HELP YOU … FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 5 FROM 1998-02-09 |
| TITLE: THE 600 |
| DID WE TAKE A BIG STEP WHEN WE SEE AND UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE FROM THE 600? ROXANE |
| IT IS IMPORTANT. BUT YOU ARE NOT YET AT THE END OF YOUR SENTENCES … FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
There is a madit in which Max Valentin, probably due to being inattentive, seems to validate the solution to this riddle and the existence of a ‘black perched ship.’
| QUESTION n ° 15 FROM 2001-11-08 |
| TITLE: THE BLACK PERCHED SHIP |
| IS THE APPEARANCE OF A NEW BLACK PERCHED SHIP A BAD NEW THING OR NOT? |
| WHY “A NEW”? THIS IS HIGHLY IMPROBABLE! FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 49 FROM 1997-04-14 |
| TITLE: SYMBOLICALLY |
| WILL SAINT PETER HAVE THE KEY THAT LEADS TO ETERNITY? FRIENDSHIP-EUREKA |
| SAINT “PETER” ??? I DON’T KNOW HIM, EUREKA. AS TO SAINT PETER, HE HAS NO ROLE TO PLAY IN THIS CHASSE! FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 48 OF 1996-10-18 |
| TITLE: THE HAND |
| THE HAND WITH THE KEY IS IT: 1 COLOURED 2 COMING OUT OF THE WATER 3 FROZEN 4 NOT IMPORTANT 5 OTHER 6 THANKS |
| 5 – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 14 FROM 1995-10-23 |
| TITLE: MY HAND? |
| IS THE HAND REPRESENTED IN THE 600 A REPRESENTATION OF ONE OF THE 2 HANDS THAT WILL FIND THE OWL? |
| I CANNOT TELL YOU WHAT THIS HAND REPRESENTS, EXCEPT THAT IT IS A LEFT HAND … FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
| QUESTION n ° 42 FROM 2001-05-22 |
| TITLE: THE VISUAL OF THE 600 |
| IS THERE A SINGLE INTERPRETATION? |
| EXCEPT TO ASK ME IF THERE ARE SEVERAL, THE ANSWER IS YES. FRIENDSHIPS – MAX |
LINKS
You will find more Madits on Airyn’s excellent Wikichouette site. (French)