TOUGH GUYS 2021

TREASURE HUNT - Part 1 & Part 2

The 1732 Herman Moll Map of the West Indies is a large and detailed map that is difficult to read. It is part of what makes the Treasure Hunt such a great challenge. However, printers can increase the difficulty to the point of frustration.
    Downloading a high resolution pdf of the map may help:

herman_moll_map.pdf
File Size:	3415 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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TREASURE HUNT - Part 1
Pirate Pete's Journey is hard to understand. Many people can't find the second clue. They ask, "Where is Lake de l'Ascension? Can you help me with any other clues?"
    Here's some help:

• Clue 1 - Easy. Find Vera Cruz and you're there.
• Clue 2 - Easy. The route is drawn on the map.
• Clue 3 - A little tougher. Try looking for "Lak e de" with "l'Asce  nsion" on a line below it. Yup, it's as plain as day once you can recognize it. It's the "west arm" of the Mississippi River.
• The final clue refers a well-known pirate haven in the North Atlantic in the 1600's - Mosquito Cove near Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. It was close to the fishing grounds of the Grand Banks which meant that supplies, repairs, and ship's crew were readily available. Pirates of the West Indies commonly rested in the relative safety of Newfoundland.
  
• The rest of the clues are straight forward enough and even if you are off a little, you will be close enough. However, the clues may be clearer if they were bigger to read. A graphic of the Captain's Logbook is provided here, followed by a downloadable high resolution pdf file.

captains_logbook.pdf
File Size:	1761 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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MASTERMIND OUTPOST ADVENTURE  -  Builder Section

TREASURE HUNT - Part 2
Pirate Pete's poem tells where he hid his treasure. But the poem, in itself, doesn't have enough information to identify any location. It needs the right map to make it understandable. However, this still isn't enough.
    Good clues are not given in their natural order. No one is going to tell you to do step 1, then step 2, then step 3. They are going to put step 1 at the bottom of the clues, step 2 somewhere in the middle, steps 4 to 6, somewhere else as distractions, and step 3 where you don't expect it.
    This is confusing, so the real question in deciphering a puzzle is determining what you know and in figuring out what you need to find out. Ask yourself...

1. What is true? What do I know for sure? List those things, then place them in their logical order.
   
2. What don't I know? Are there words that I don't understand? Look these up in the dictionary and know what they mean. Someone went to the trouble of making those words hard to understand, so learn their meaning and determine how they relate to the clues you know.
3. What doesn't make sense? What words are not used in their normal context? They are written that way to make you think about them. Find out how they relate to each other, and to the other clues.
4. What doesn't look right? What words are slightly different from what you would expect? The writer is trying to tell you that these words or letters are a clue in themselves.
5. Read everything. Read everything several times.
6. Know the details of the map.

Pirate Pete's Poem relates to the 1732 Herman Moll Map of the West Indies. Rather than creating a map that easily be lost, he used one that was printed by the thousands. All he needed was an easily memorized poem that used map details to tell him where he left the treasure. Of course, he'd recognize features because he has seen them before. Being uninformed, it will take you more time to find the treasure, but once you do, you will recognize the location almost immediately.

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