13. The Secret Society: On The Atlantic

A jolt in the air makes me think of the electricity room in The Franklin Institute, Augo may be on to something!

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Iā€™ve been trying to wrap my brain around this set of clues, but I feel like the things Iā€™m pulling from it are more vague when taken as individual linesā€¦so to approach it a different way, the first stanza is definitely giving me transportation-y vibes. Wheels, wings, and wires all fit into that (wheels would describe a lot of things, wings like airplanes, wires like cable cars or trolleys). The ā€œthings that grow but arenā€™t aliveā€ is a tougher sell, but could be transportation networks expanding out or connecting. ā€œTravel between north and southā€ could describe a lot of transportation features - roads, train lines, trails, etc, and ā€œtwinkle in the skyā€ could be airplane related again.

So trying to think of transportation things that would be safe to checkā€¦plenty of highways go north/south but walking around near those would be A Bad Plan. Something that came to me was that the only train line through town is oriented essentially north/south until you get a good ways away, something that appears to be unique on this particular railwayā€¦so that might be worth a shot to look into. Otherwise, thereā€™s a small airport near me but I donā€™t think I could get close to it.

That might be a long-shot or a highly over-thought interpretation, so Iā€™ll keep brainstorming, but I thought Iā€™d put it out there in case it jogs something with someone else too.

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Everytime I think of airplanes as a clue, I can only think of Wright-Paterson Airforce Base and the US Air and Space Museum, the only things near me. Only one of those is accessible though, for reasons.

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Do any of us live near a spacecraft launch platform?

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I tried walking around outside the butterfly enclosure just now, as well as the garden they have out there. No dice.
Iā€™ll have to see when I can get out to the Millhopper againā€¦

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I walked all around inside our aerospace engineering building, which has a replica of the Apollo capsule and other general space/plane bitsā€¦no luck though. Iā€™m still holding out hope for the train station, but I donā€™t think I can work in a walk out that way until Saturday.

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Thereā€™s a place called butterfly world thatā€™s close to me

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Howā€™s it going Mounties? Any new ideas pop up over the weekend? Iā€™m stymied with book stuff but Iā€™ll take another long look at the riddle and see if I can come up with some new ideas. Please feel feee to join me. :sweat_smile:

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Afraid not. The shear number of possible combinations, the sparse descriptions, coupled with my complete and utter lack of knowledge of the area around where I live (Spoiler: I hate the area I live in) means unless I get stupendously lucky and wander blindly into the area, I doubt Iā€™ll find it if one of those clues is near me.

I still think a good starting step would be to figure out how the one memory we did stumble on relates to the poem. That would start to give us a framework for the poem and eliminate parts of it. But Iā€™ve had no luck doing that.

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Well, I have today offā€¦

The responsible thing for me to do would be to get myself presentable, scrounge up the entrance fee, and try to give the Millhopper another walk-around before it rains (the stairs down are still closed, the news said a couple weeks ago that they may end up replacing them rather than just repairing).

Then again, I just woke up, so letā€™s see if I can manage it (if not, I can try again Friday or Saturday). :hermanthumbs:

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Iā€™m gonna try some og Mountaineer detective work.
Okay, so we haveā€¦ (yes, Iā€™m quoting myself)

I agree with @Viviane that the first stanza could be broken down into six clues:

On wheels
Or wings
On wires
Or things that grow but arenā€™t alive (My bet for @Remus 's clue)
That travel between north and south
Or twinkle in the sky

And weā€™re assuming all six first stanza clues could be paired with the second stanza clues:

A link in the address
Where gold bubbles flow
A mill I can reach
And minerals low (My bet for @Remusā€™s clue)
A meeting of waters
A jolt in the air

Regarding @Remus 's clue: My gut is that the museum being started with a mineral collection feels right, but having nothing to back that up other than it feeling all old andā€¦ AGP-y.

But I also think that might be a tip that these could be museums. You do ā€œwanderā€ around museums (a stretch, I know) So, going down that road we now have five potential pairs left:

  • One that pairs with some wheeled form of transportation.
  • One that pairs with flight or a flying form of transportation.
  • I think ā€œon wiresā€ and ā€œa jolt in the airā€ is a pretty sure bet for a match.
  • @Cj_Heighton knows ā€œA meeting of watersā€ relates to Kamloops so we just need to find the one that pairs with that.
  • Gold bubbles seems like it relates to champagne but I donā€™t know how that relates to any remaining first stanza cluesā€¦ France? A town called Champagne?

I realize I have offered no help whatsoever or discovered anything you havenā€™t already discovered.

One thingā€¦ and this seems ridiculousā€¦ but thinking about ā€œnorth and southā€ and the first line of the second stanza: a ā€œlink inā€ the address. Could ā€œlink inā€ be an oronym?
Link in =? Lincoln?
:tinfoilhat:

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Good to see you roll up your sleeves and wade in, @Saberlane! Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer.

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Wow. :exploding_head: Thatā€™s amazing! Have to agree with @Augustus_Octavian; Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer. Also, could ā€œon wiresā€ and ā€œa jolt in the airā€ refer to a trollie or train? If I remember correctly, thereā€™s a Mountiee with lives in Seattle were a magline? was put up for a World Fair.

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Heres what I found on the Province called Champagne, Iā€™m trying to think if we have any French Mounties? If not, has anyone been planning a trip? If not, I think its safe to cut this from our current list of working theories.

EDIT

Heres a USA town in Illinois called Champaign, I know the spelling is different butā€¦ I know its a lot more local to some of you.

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D45078CD-9074-4C6F-8D3B-39B3F27913E5Donā€™t know if this would work, but I have Champaign County right next to me.

I live in Sidney btw.

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I think it would be worth exploring for sure!

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THERES A HYDROELECTRIC DAM HERE.

Hhhhh. Okay. Gonna go track it down today.

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Champaign, Illinois would make a lot more sense, I think. We donā€™t have any French Secret Society members, as far as Iā€™m aware.

Looks like theyā€™ve got a couple museums in the area. I noticed they have a planetarium. Could ā€œWhere gold bubbles flow or twinkle in the skyā€ be the full clue?

Edit: @Mr5yy - Is the Aviation Museum near you? Maybe the clue is ā€˜on wingsā€™?

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Sabes, what if ā€œMinerals lowā€ is also an oronymous clue? Minerals + ā€œLowā€-gan Museum?

And I donā€™t know about travelling, but North and South + Lincoln makes me think of the Lincoln Memorial (which I pass periodically on the interstate)ā€¦not a museum, per se, but maybe close enough to be worth checking out?

Edit: Lincoln + address. Gettysburg Address. That was a real thing. Feeling like I should maybe hit up the National Mall.

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For the moment, all locations are probably worth checkign out if possible.

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