The Wolf's Contiguous Clue Solving Technique

As many are left wondering how the finder solved the poem, many are left dumbfounded but if you reflect on Mr. Fenn's most emphasized word of late and that is "simplify."

So how did the finder/solver go about taking an ultra-vague poem and simplify it such that it lead him to a precise location where the treasure is hidden? One possible technique that he used was to follow the clues using the contiguous solving technique. Contiguous is defined as sharing a common border or touching.

The contiguous solving technique uses the answer to each line or clue to solve the next clue that it touches or shares a common word. This is a very simple way to solve the poem and removes most of the near infinite word interpretations that the poem combinations contain.

For example, "Begin it where warm waters halt" is the first clue. "And take it in the canyon down" is the next line and part of the next clue. Thus if we correctly solve clue one the answer to that will be a hint to solving the second clue thus they are contiguously connected.

In my example warm waters halt at Warm Springs, Mt (a simple, straight forward and logical interpretation that links plural waters to springs). What "nails" down this clue is the solving of halt. Many people can identify this location but did they solve it sufficiently to proceed to the next clue? So the halt is placed for a reason and many interpret this loosely but to interpret it precisely it means to stop and a stop sign is an octagon. There is an eight sided roof (nailed down) on top of the Warm Springs which is in the shape of a stop sign.

The neat little trick is to now use the last word "halt" as a feeder hint to solve the next line which is "take it in the canyon down." Many wonder what 'it" is and that is precisely what this technique solves. In other words, what do you take that is related to halt? The answer is a train because a halt is a train station and you take a train into the canyon down. Notice how this technique removes the intended misdirection a well constructed puzzle contains and that is the instinctual conclusion that we need to take a river down the canyon.This is why Mr. Fenn insists the solver will have a strong logical mind.

Using this technique reduces the vagueness of the poem and allows one to follow the clues congruously to a precise location. This technique also explains why Mr. Fenn repeated pleaded with searchers that they had to begin with clue one or they had nothing and they could not begin with the latter clues and work backwards.

© The Wolf, all rights reserved, any use or reproduction is prohibited without express consent from The Wolf.