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[merelyviral]

was in NYC this past weekend, didn't find the gold. I will post my solution soon (it will take a while to type out), but for now I'll spill some beans about ep. 6


At the end of episode 5, I am standing on Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U (not necessarily Avenue U, could be nearby, like Fillmore Ave or Avenue R, S, T, etc). Why does it not matter that I have an exact spot? Because, as Crothers says in ep. 6 "even if they got off at the next port...", which means that it doesn't matter if you were slightly off in previous eps (namely, I don't think were specific enough about which subway stop to get off in eps 3 or 5). As long as you are on Flatbush Ave near Marine Park at the beginning of ep. 6, you're fine.

In ep. 6, the crabs on the beach at the beginning and the drawing of the snake help you confirm where you should be standing. See:
Crabs at Beach in Marine Park

Picture of Snake


Next, consider "following a compass heading close to ours should put them..." What compass heading? If you look at the map on welostourgold.com, the compass diagram is identical to what gets revealed on the poker table at the end of ep. 5. The compass rotates slightly counter-clockwise, so that it now points slightly to the Northwest. Which direction does Flatbush Avenue run? Northwest-Southeast. So, follow Flatbush Avenue to the Northwest.

Next, they defeat the snake, and all of a sudden they are back on the ship! Using the terminology we've seen, e.g. ports = subway stops, ship = subway, it means they've gotten back on the subway. Notice that, following Flatbush to the Northwest, we run into the Flatbush Ave - Brooklyn College station. Unfortunately, they don't tell us whether they've gotten on the 2 or the 5 line, but that comes later.

On the next page, we get to the "but knowing not what stood between them and their destination". This page and the General Anesthetic page gives us a clue that we're on the right track. I posed a little puzzle earlier in this thread "Look at works you employ rarely and you'll find a career". It's something you might see in a cryptic crossword puzzle... look at the first letter of each of the first 6 words and you spell LAWYER. Similarly, this part of the comic book encodes a clue using the first letters of words, and it's the reason why the wording is somewhat awkward: "I'll kiss Napoleon before I see pirates leave any zone armed with Britain's best fortifications". Really, 'zone'? "Pirates Leave Any Zone Armed" = PLAZA. So there's a plaza that stands between the pirates and their destination... which one? Refer to General Anesthetic = GA... G A PLAZA. Whether you take the 2 or 5 from Flatbush Ave, you will stop at Grand Army Plaza, which stands between us and our destination.

And that's it, "that's the whole skit", as said by Mulligan after the monkey turns into the gorilla. This is confirmed in Ep. 3, in the ticker, where it says that the gorilla is not a clue, they just wanted to make a scene using a gorilla costume that they already had. Though it is important for finding out that Crothers lost his leg, and that Tom's stars have no effect (I take this to mean the star he threw in ep.3 is meaningless)

And I'll continue on with the beginning of Ep. 4, because it tells us whether we should be on the 2 or the 5 subway line. They split apart shortly after Grand Army Plaza. "Sometimes to follow the way you must avoid the way you've known." Follow the stops along the 2 line. You'll eventually run into Columbus Circle, somewhere we've already been! So we have to avoid the way we've known by taking the 5.

Hopefully that gets people going again

[ccl28]

I like "PLAZA". I have mixed feelings about the snake. It's very clever. Does it being a diamondback have any significance in your interpretation?

I have been meaning to post some of my ep 5 solutions. I moved recently and have been doing major home renovations in my free time. I am away on business, but will try post some biggies this weekend.

[merelyviral]

[ccl28]

I am a bit confused. The picture in your link is a google map showing a winding path with trees overhead that give an appearance of a segmented snake. I assumed that was the "snake". Is there actually a snake sculpture in that park that looks exactly like the snake in the comic? If so, is there a closer picture of that? I can't make anything like that out in the google map.

[ccl28]

Looking more closely, now I see the sculpture (or whatever) next to a turtle or something.

[merelyviral]

[joemanfro]

the "snake"