Synopsis
The casque associated with Image 4 and Verse 4 was buried in the Greek Cultural Garden in Cleveland, OH, at these coordinates: 41.527651 N, 81.626926 W.
To best understand the image matches and references as well as the verse interpretation used below, it is important to be familiar with those pages. Links can be found above.
The backwards/reverse and out of order hypothesis
There are several elements of this puzzle that appear to be backwards or reversed. In addition, other elements appear to be in a non-linear order. Examples include:
- The latitude/longitude clues of 1442 and 1881.
- To get the latitude the 14 must be reversed to become 41 in order to become a city bracketed by 41 and 42. But the same cannot get us a bracket from the number 1881.
- For one theory that gets us close to Cleveland, the 14 must be reversed to become part of 41.42. While the 18 must be both reversed and moved out of order to become part of 81.81.
- The lines of the verse do not appear to lead to the correct solution if taken in linear order. The first few lines appear to hint at the general area within the park. The ending lines of the verse home us in on the proper area/feature within the park. While the lines in the middle contain the most granular clues and give VERY specific instructions that lead to the exact burial site.
This appears to be very important for coming to the correct solution. Additional possible examples are included in the hypothesis solve that follows and discussed in more detail in the Solve Dissection discussion that follows the Detailed Solution.
Detailed Solution
The solution given below will present clues from the verse and the image in a way that narrows down the search area to that specific point. Bits of the original image are shown in the left column in cells with a tan background. Lines from the verse are in the same column but with a yellow background. (For more detail about any particular clue, check the page for the image or verse.) |
Clues |
Interpretations |
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The shape to the left of the monument suggests that we should be looking in Ohio, possibly near a major highway.
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As discussed above these icons hint at latitude and longitude, but only of some numbers are reversed or possibly also moved out or order.
Reversing the 14 could give us a bracket of 41 & 42. The 1881 is a question mark using this technique.
Reversing the 14 and introducing a decimal could give us 41.42.
Reversing the 18 AND moving it out of order could give us 81.81.
This would get us close to Cleveland but not near the park that we know is correct.
Cleveland is of course also confirmed by the Terminal Tower image match.
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The sphere with the triangle on it shape is a reference to Euclid "The Father of Geometry." He was of course, also Greek.
Euclid Ave (Route 20) is a major Cleveland thoroughfare that runs from downtown through East Cleveland. It runs by the lower section of Rockefeller Park which is home to the Cultural Gardens.
That area also contains Bellflower Road and the last remnant of Liberty Blvd. (See below for more info)
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The icon of the bell and flower in close proximity may hint at Bellflower Road. However reading of lines usually flows down.
To make a Bell+Flower rebus from these icons, this would need to be another example of something that is backwards or reversed in this puzzle.
Bellflower Road is shown here in its entirely. Its length is entirely within the campus of Case Western Reserve University. There are many buildings of higher learning nearby plus a hospital, performing arts center and Science and Art museums.
With many of the arts and sciences flowing from the Greek tradition, if Preiss intended Bellflower Road to be a clue in the puzzle, this would be a likely reason why.
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Just south and west of Bellflower road and next to the university campus is the last remaining remnant of Liberty Boulevard.
In 1981 the rest of Liberty Blvd was renamed Martin Luther King Dr. That is the road that runs up through the park and through the Cultural Gardens.
Liberty Blvd was in turn a street that was renamed in 1919. It was so named on Memorial Day 1919 to commemorate Liberty Row.
Which is definitely the main reason for this "Liberty" (bell) icon and is the clue that bring us up from Euclid Ave into Rockefeller Park and toward the Cultural Gardens.
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Liberty Row was the name given to what was then one of the first "living memorials."
By that Memorial Day celebration hundreds of "Liberty Oaks" were planted along a nine-mile string of several connected roads running next to and through a string of parks in this section of Cleveland. At the foot of each Liberty Oak was embedded a circular bronze marker with the name of a soldier killed in the recently concluded WWI.
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U.S. Army "Doughboy" WWI helmet
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Which brings us back to the centaur and its characteristics.
Centaurs are reported to be fierce in battle.
Are creatures of the forest, as depicted by the trees in the image.
One of their ancestral homes of lore is thought to be the Foloi Oak Forest.
(Oaks, like the ones planted on Liberty Row).
The helmet the centaur wears appears to be one very similar to any of several worn by the allies n World War I.
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Following the path of Liberty Row up MLK Dr. we spot another marker at a Liberty Oak right in front a the Lithuanian Gardens. The next one up ahead is the Greek Cultural Gardens. |
Which brings us to a stretch of Martin Luther King Dr. (formerly Liberty Blvd) in the Cultural Gardens where our verse begins: |
1) Beneath two countries |
The casque was buried in the Grecian Cultural Garden. "Beneath two countries" means when you are still on MLK Blvd., before you follow the curve in the road, you gaze up at the Greek and Italian Gardens high above you on the hillside.
View from MLK Blvd. Signs for the Italian and Greek Cultural Gardens, plus the wall burial location circled.
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2) As the road curves |
Parkgate Avenue curves around this section of the gardens. Which also may be hinted at in a section of the centaur's tail.
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As we follow the bend in Parkgate Ave. we see confirmation that we're on the right course when we spot the back wall of the Italian Gardens and the images matches found there.
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Coming the rest of the way around the Parkgate Ave. bend, we arrive at East Blvd. and the front of the Italian Gardens with the image matches found there.
Skipping ahead to the end lines at this point we're supposed to notice 'the columns" we seek to our left at the Greek Gardens.
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3) In a rectangular plot
4) Beneath the tenth stone
5) From right to left
6) Beneath the ninth row from the top
7) Of the wall including small bricks
8) Seven steps up you can hop
9) From the bottom level
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These are explicit directions to the sunken planter and more importantly it contains very detailed and precise instructions to EXACT spot to dig up the casque. In the Expedition Unknown episode Andy Abrams explained that once the instructions were interpreted properly, he stuck the probe in twice and hit the casque on the third try.
However as the middle lines in the verse, they are clearly out of place and indicate that the verses in this puzzle is in non-linear order.
This is definitely an example of the of the 'backward/reverse or out of order hypothesis" holding true.
For further analysis on this, see the Solve Dissection section below.
Note: the placement of the sunken planter is NOT on the front of the wall from which we will later make our approach. It's on the back or reverse side of the wall.
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10) Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
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These names, among those of many other luminaries of ancient Greece, are chiseled into the Pylon Monument.
Yet this whole section of verse from this point forward again appear to be out of order. The final instructions to the dig spot are above and this section appears to hold the clues to how we are to arrive at that location.
Even within this section the lines appear to be backwards. It is not possible to read or even notice this inscription until well after finding 'the columns' we are supposed to be seeking.
Again, for more on the 'backwards/reverse or out of order hypothesis' see the Solve Dissection section below.
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11) Free Speech, couplet, birch |
Refers, respectively, to Socrates (died for free speech), Pindar (a poet), and Apelles (a painter; "birch brush"). |
12) To find casque's destination
13) Seek the columns
14) For the search.
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The entrance to the Grecian Garden is marked by two columns that appear in Image 4. |
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The columns are the key clue that leads us into the Greek Cultural Gardens and to the Pylon Monument.
In addition, the inscription with the names of the Greek luminaries is also on this front side of the monument.
So, this is clearly the way we are meant to make our approach.
Yet the planter and dig spot for which the instructions in verse lines 3-9 apply are on the reverse side of this wall. With no overt explanation or instruction to go around to the other side.
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Final Location: 41.527651 N, 81.626926 W.
(Latitude: 41.527651, Longitude: 81.626926)
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Solve Dissection:
The picture below shows Brian Zinn and Andy Abrams during the final search, taken b y a newspaper reporter who accompanied their dig.
However, as it was noted in the retelling of the story on Expedition Unknown this picture was taken in the initial dig spot, which was not correct. After digging on this side of the planter for hours and finding nothing, Andy reinterpreted the clues in a way that led to the opposite corner.
The casque was found at the approximate spot indicated by the arrow below. At right, Andy Abrams gestures to the approximate spot where his probe hit the casque.
The apparent non-linear order of the verse appears to be another example of the 'out of order hypothesis'
When grouped into three main sections, those are definitely out of sequence. The same appears to be true in at least some of the other puzzles. In the solved Chicago puzzle, the line about the burial location trees and fence/fixture is in the middle of the verse.
Yet even within a verse group, the lines appear that they may read better from bottom up. Or from bottom up but sometimes in groups of two or three. Even given that some styles of poetry have a "backwards sounding" structure, it is possible that this is another hint that some things are backwards or out of order in this puzzle.
The chart below outlines some of the out of sequence items and attempts to reorder them in one way necessary to arrive at the solve which we know to be correct. The column at right outlines a hypothetical order that attempts to replicate the proper sequence of steps while trying to maintain some semblance of the rhyming scheme of the original.
Reordered line sequence theories:
Theory 1: Attempts to order the lines in the series they would need to take place starting from MLK Drive and ending with the burial spot. In the proper place.
Theory 2: Would get you to the proper burial spot and is nearly linear. It would also require moving lines 4-7 from the last verse group to the middle, this theory might work if we were supposed to count the bricks while still on the front side of the pylon, before moving around to the reverse side and hopping up into the planter.
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Verse groupings |
Linear verse groupings |
Linear sequence Theory 1
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Nearly Linear sequence Theory 2 |
Original verse order |
Linear sequence |
Original line sequence |
Counting in planter, back to wall |
Count while still on front side of wall |
1. Beneath two countries 2. As the road curves
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1) |
1. Beneath two countries 2. As the road curves |
1. Beneath two countries 2. As the road curves |
1. Beneath two countries 2. As the road curves |
3. In a rectangular plot
4. Beneath the tenth stone
5. From right to left
6. Beneath the ninth row from the top
7. Of the wall including small bricks
8. Seven steps up you can hop
9. From the bottom level
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3) |
10. Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
11. Free speech, couplet, birch
12. To find casque's destination
13. Seek the columns
14. For the search.
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12. To find casque's destination
13. Seek the columns
14. For the search.
10. Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
11. Free speech, couplet, birch
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12. To find casque's destination
13. Seek the columns
14. For the search.
10. Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
11. Free speech, couplet, birch
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6. Beneath the ninth row from the top
7. Of the wall including small bricks
4. Beneath the tenth stone
5. From right to left
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10. Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
11. Free speech, couplet, birch
12. To find casque's destination
13. Seek the columns
14. For the search.
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2) |
3. In a rectangular plot
4. Beneath the tenth stone
5. From right to left
6. Beneath the ninth row from the top
7. Of the wall including small bricks
8. Seven steps up you can hop
9. From the bottom level
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3. In a rectangular plot
9. From the bottom level
8. Seven steps up you can hop
6. Beneath the ninth row from the top
7. Of the wall including small bricks
4. Beneath the tenth stone
5. From right to left
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9. From the bottom level
8. Seven steps up you can hop
3. In a rectangular plot
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Summary of the items in this puzzle that appear to be or may be backwards/reversed or out of order.
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Reversed/Backwards |
Out of Order |
Image Related |
Latitude: 14 to 41. |
Longitude 1881 to 81.81 (possibly). |
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Longitude 18 to 81 (possibly) .
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Bell+flower rebus.
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Verse Related |
Multiple lines appear to read better in reverse order (possibly). |
Verse groupings (1,3,2). |
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Multiple lines appear not to be in a linear sequence. |
Dig Spot Related |
Planter on reverse side of pylon, with no explanation given. |
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You must be reversed, back to the wall to count the stones in the proper direction.
(Reordered Theory 1 only)
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Conclusions/learnings or ideas to possibly try in other puzzles.... TBD.
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