Backlash: Disappointment Expressed

It was a tough year to be a hardcore digger. A lack of snow, cryptic clues, and an amazingly early find left most of us out of the proper park. Several folks let it be known that they were disappointed with the imagination of the hunt clues and hiding spot this year. Perhaps the hiders were trying to throw us for a loop by picking a new and small park. After all, Conway worked until the ho-hum happenstance finding.

Complaints were also made about the slipshod monitoring of the message board this year. Several folks spammed the crap out of the board with inane jibber jabber. It's not as if we haven't had to deal with this before, but the past few years have been particularly difficult to enjoy on the board. But it's better to have than to not have. We'll have to hope the potty mouths and space wasters dull out as our blue puck shines on.

And when all's said and done, the only spam we'd like to see is of the canned variety from treasure hunt sponsor, Hormel. It's yummerific!

Grin.

Proof that the Treasure Hunt medallion is almost always placed where it's just too easy to find—or the clues are rarely written with enough cleverness to baffle anyone:

1. Cooler Crew site (best clue-hunters, people who use the clues and don't randomly dig, read this site) has analyzed and posted only 6 clues; not even had time to post their analysis of the 7th clue—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.
2. Mediallion is usually placed directly in a park; instead of along the outer edge of a park where it would not be so obvious—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.
3. Many clues still remain to be published—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.
4. People who hide the medallion are afraid the hunters are going to destroy too much property—that shouldn't be THEIR concern, because it should be the HUNTERS' concern (with violating the law)—hunters will learn to respect private property; so they very rarely hide the medallion along any old street sidewalk away from a park—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.
5. Many clue-readers are looking for cryptic cleverness such as transposed words/letters, re-arrangement of letters/words/sentences or hidden meanings to words/phrases—well, that's so rare, the dinosaurs gave up long ago—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.
6. The clue-interpretations posted on Cooler Crew, prior to the actual find of the medallion, are far too clever in comparison to the actual Pioneer Press interpretations posted after the medallion is found—and therefore, the medallion is found by a lucky guess, before clues can lead to a specific location.

Summary:

The Pioneer Press needs a clever clue writer who concentrates on trying to hide the medallion where it won't be easily found; instead of concentrating on a nice centrally public large open area where people won't destroy property—let the hunters be responsible for not destroying property, instead of assuming they will destroy property if you make the medallion too hard too find.

Joe Gervais

This years clues ( some of them) were a little misleading...

1. light a spark?
2. knit your brows?
3. time and tide?
4. far from the woods? (what woods. those are trees, not woods)
5. lots of space... it is a tiny park.
6. trip over the goods?

I think that this should've been done just a little differently, maybe a little more realistic. I mean, where is the clue with the potato chip container? Nowhere. There is nothing in the clues that pointed to this.

Kelly Kirkpatrick

Usually the Water Cooler site has been pretty good with this, but this year, especially on Thursday (Jan. 24) night, I (read) some very inappropriate language in the Cooler site and then today after the medallion was found, some inappropriate bashing towards both clue writers and finders. I think it's very rude, disrespectful, and inappropriate. So, I am wondering if for next year, someone could just monitor that site from time to time and possibly delete any mean messages.

I really dislike winter in Minnesota but you should know that one of my highlights is this excellent medallion hunt!

Michelle Romano

Man, I sure hate people that spam the boards—this is supposed to be fun. I bet one-third of the posts are complete junk.

Dan Vogtman