On page 44 of the Fandango armchair treasure hunt book are numerous signs of various colors and place names with number amounts that seem to hold clues for solving the hunt and claiming its $10,000 cash prize.
A few things have been noticed about the Fandango signs so far.
For instance, if a searcher took the first letters of the place names on the Red Signs pointing to the right on the page, they would be able to spell out the word ‘YELLOW’.
Definitely seems intentional.
The signs are:
York 167
Eastport 82
Lookout Point 5
Lubec 77 miles
Otter Creek 6
W Tremont 12
Now if a searcher took the first letters of the Blue Signs pointing to the right on the page, they could spell out the word, ‘RED’.
The signs are:
Roque Island 18
Ellsworth 18
Duck Cove 9
And if a searcher took the first letters of the White Signs pointing to the right on the page, they could spell out the word, ‘BOOK’.
The signs are:
Bar Harbor 3
Old Town 48
Owls Head 69 miles
Kennebunkport 116
There is a white sign, with ‘Nepal 10,107’ that doesn’t point to the right (it’s straight), and seems to relate more to the border phrase found on the page, ‘To the Highest Point’. Mt. Everest (a highest point) is in Nepal.
There are only two left pointing signs on the page. They are:
98 Portland
309 Montreal
The Montreal sign points to the license plate numbers 131491 which can be translated to ACADIA by taking the position of the alphabet letters to the number (1=A, 3=C, etc.).
It’s also been noted by a member in the Armchair Treasure Hunt group on Facebook (please feel free to join), that the first letters of the left pointing signs give PM; a possible Time/Post Meridiem reference. Important? Others on the MW Forum have noted things. (Join us there too!)
Adding the left pointing sign numbers also give 407, which is the elevation level of Mt. Kebo (according to some accounts).
Another sign to note is the Sieur De Monts Spring sign. It has a mysterious ‘symbol’ in front of it. On page 56 of the book is a map with similar symbols representing ‘Points of Interest’. Sieur De Monts Spring is a point of interest on the map. Is this a hint to more?
Although not a sign, but on this page, are dice hanging from the car’s rearview mirror showing the numbers 4 and 1 and another showing 6 and 1. These numbers add to 57. Which interestingly might connect to the date (year 1957) on the Wine Bottle on page 30 of the Fandango book.
On page 30 are many more items which seem to hold clues, but in relation to the signs is the fact there are lots of books on shelves here. One of which is Orange with a title: ‘In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien’. The ISBN number is thought to be inaccurate.
Could the Yellow and Red Book words, found by the first letters on the signs, hint towards this Orange Book? (since red and yellow make orange).
And if so, why?
And do the numbers on the signs hold additional hints to something more?
Do other signs and their letters hold hints?
Like most treasure hunts, more questions than answers. But in the end, when the treasure is found, hopefully they will be answered.
Best of luck with all that you seek! Treasure the Adventure!
I also connected the 2 hanging die to the books dedication “T(w)oDicey” (authors mother), just as the stopwatch hands on p. 11 point to DAD / ADD (the sad stopwatch face seems ro reflect that their father had recently passed away).
There is more to the signs, some is fairly helpful, some just fun. For a fun example, the sign pointing to Owls Heads, points to Fandango, which can be turned into an Owls Head using a mirror (i had offered a discussion on mirroring in this forum, but it didnt catch)
There is at least one more 1957 in the book – I havent found a use for the number yet other than an authors birth year. But keeping an open mind.
Thanks for the article, Jenny.