The Lowell Riddler: Riddler of the Year Announced

The Lowell Riddler has been hiding medallions in and near the City of Lowell and offering area residents the chance to win a prize of local gift cards. The final medallion of the year has been found. 

Here’s what the winner said about finding the medallion:

This was a tricky one, and last Sunday I had my hand on the book where it was found after the first clue!  Gads.

On Saturday I hit the Riverwalk “mall” first and checked out all the bee-filled flower planters.  Nothing.  Then I hit the strip malls east of downtown.

Three Brothers Pizza (“All for One”, Three Musketeers), Brenda’s Salon (“Where bees collect”, Comb) and the empty storefront (Nothing in Store”) fit the bill. A Perfect Storm of clues.  But no.

Then I returned to the Riverwalk since “All for One” (community space) and “bees” (‘b’ooks maybe?) could suggest the library, or perhaps “All for One” reflected the Old Unity High School.  At the north end of the Riverwalk is a Protected Area which was prime for where bees collect.  I dwelled on “You won’t see a face” (from the secret clue) thinking it was the river-facing rocks along the Riverwalk there, so I began to look at the face of Every. Single. Rock. on the Riverwalk. (Note to self: Bring knee pads next time). I tried to do my search during non-prime times since there’s nothing weirder than an old guy randomly rummaging around planting beds.

After a fitful night of sleep thinking about the clues, by Sunday morning I was sure “bees” were books, “entitled” (from the secret clue) referenced book titles, “not all of it is true” (secret clue) reflects all the genres of books in the library, and “It’s a mall” didn’t refer to the Riverwalk, but rather a smushing of words resulting in “It’s small”.  “You won’t see a face” (yup, secret clue) had me wondering where books were that didn’t have staff at them. (FYI, my wife retired from Englehardt Library a couple years ago).  Bingo. Unsupervised Little Free Libraries.  I have a particular affinity for them.  My wife now keeps the Bushnell LFL well stocked, and I built a LFL for a friend in Oscoda.

So, Sunday morning I went to the LFL at Creekside Park.  Looked all over.  Figured nobody in their right mind would hide the medallion in a book since people could inadvertently borrow it. (Genius move to put it in a grammar book!).  I recall actually moving some of the books thinking the medallion might be taped to the wall.  I saw the grammar book and remembered wondering why a water damaged grammar book was there- (the pages were all wrinkled BECAUSE A MEDALLION WAS CRAMMED INSIDE IT!)

I then repeated the search at Bushnell, and Riverfront Drive.  Nothing of course. “All for One” could also suggest Unity/United, so I checked out the United Methodist Church’s really nice LFL.

So, I gave up on LFLs.

I didn’t recall a medallion ever being hidden at Riverfront Park, so off I went.  The rowing sculls are stored there (“All for One”- the rowers, and “But nobody takes your call”- the coxen).  Looking around I saw the Frisbee disc golf course.  Bingo again: “Where [fris]bees collect”.  Obvious.  There’s a King Milling plaque nearby (“entitled” King, maybe?).  Did you know there are about a hundred Disc Golf holes at Riverside Park? I checked them all out while deftly avoiding the poison ivy that was EVERY where.

After the second set of clues came out, “Turning the Page” and “As for its size, it’s the minimum” screamed LFLs. I uttered a few bad words with the windows rolled up, and rushed, without exceeding the speed limit I might add, to the most obvious LFL- Creekside Park.  The secret clue exclaimed “gee” (what a giveaway).  And I knew it was a grammar book since the last line of the secret clue was “Conjugate”.  Even without the secret clue, I would have searched each and every book since I had already scoured the entire area last Sunday.  Books were the only thing I hadn’t checked out there.  Needless to say, I found it wrapped with a roll of scotch tape holding it in place.  I never thought I’d destroy a book so gleefully.

Many thanks to the Lowell’s First Look, The Riddler, and all the clue seekers out there. So much fun.

Here’s what else The Lowell Riddler sent us when announcing the winner and the answers behind the riddle:

As I secretly drove by the mini library on Gee Drive shortly after 9:00am, I noticed someone standing in front of it.  It was Mark Weaver.  I snapped a picture, as he appeared to have found the medallion.  I continued past the area to turn around and return for another photo and I saw Paul Mundt walking away from the area, less than a city block from Mark.  As I returned for another photo, I received the email from Mark that he found the medallion.

After Lowell’s First Look reported the medallion found, I received an email from Paul Mundt.  He explained that he must have been the first to get to the mini library, but failed to look for a specific book, rather than just looking between the books.  Before Paul knew it was found, he realized it could be inside of a book and returned to the site, only to find the target grammar book still there with the medallion gone!

It was very fitting as the number one and number two Riddler ranked players were neck and neck within minutes of each other to claim the big prize!

Congratulations

Mark Weaver from Lowell!

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The Clues and Answers

Clue #1

All for one, one for all,
(Libraries are open to everyone)

Nobody takes your call
(No librarian)

Why don’t you check
(You don’t check out anything)

where bees collect
(Books collect)

Nothing in store. It’s a mall.
(The library is not in a building. It’s small)

Clue #2

The first one you’ll find in old Nineveh
(Some believe the first library was in Nineveh)

New ones often have cinema
(New libraries have DVDs)

Turning the page
Pays a good wage
(You’ll need to leaf through the books to find the treasure)

As far as it goes it’s the minimum
(small)

Qualified Clues

Clue #1

You’re entitled to this clue
(Title of books)

For what you did not do
(You earned the extra clue)

You won’t see a face
(Again, no librarian)

But just in case,
(It’s in a case)

Remember not all of it’s true
(Some fiction, some nonfiction)

Clue #2

Your search must be by the book
(It’s in one of the books)

But gee you must know where to look
(Gee Drive)

Take a short drive
When you arrive
Conjugate take, taken, took
(It’s in a grammar book)

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The Riddler of the Year

Mark wins this prize pack and trophy for being crowned the Riddler of the Year.