17 January 2015

Hunt Debrief #3 - Auckland

Hunt Debrief #3 - Auckland
Coin found on 10 January 2015, at 12:00PM by Jason & Dee

Oh, what a great day the weather turned on! Once again the coin was found in record time, narrowly beating Hunt #2 by a single minute. It goes to show, if you know your area well, you'll know all the good hiding spots!
I was busy relaxing on a park bench, and it turned out that even though the coin box was sitting right next to me, the winners were hanging around for a good half hour before finding it!
-Huntmaster Orion

In this hunt debrief, you'll find out the answers to the clues I posted on Twitter, the coin's location, the winners, plus the chance to flex your clue solving skills with a bunch of unused clues!

*Spoiler Alert*
Answers have been hidden inside a grey background. To read them, simply highlight the text with your cursor... like that.

The Clues - Solutions and Explanations
#theHunt_AKL Clue 1 » It's not the Burj Al Arab, but it's surely the tallest building in the area. Today it's the S edge of the hunt zone.
The Sentinel is an apartment building on the North Shore. It's the largest building in Takapuna, and whenever I travel past it on the bus, I've always thought it looks like the Burj Al Arab; but maybe that's just me.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 2 » Today's W edge of the hunt zone is the intersection of the boulevard and the avenue. Look for the fountain.
You might have thought that I was being vague with the names of the streets there, but a fountain does exist at the intersection of The Boulevard & The Avenue in Smales Farm.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 3 » The N edge of the hunt zone is where Anne Hathaway's husband turns into a brook.
I was being a bit sneaky here. Anne Hathaway was not referring to the American actress (as I tend to use the Twitter handle when mentioning celebrities in clues), but that was also the name of Shakespeare's wife. Once again it was another intersection, at the corner of Shakespeare Road & Brook Street, Milford.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 4 » 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. It's outside the hunt zone in Takapuna but there's a bonus clue on the community noticeboard.
In a Hunt first, I offered the opportunity to find a later clue earlier on in the hunt. Finding this bonus clue was not necessary, but it certainly helped this edition's winners!
The bonus clue was located on the community noticeboard at Countdown Takapuna, who deserve special thanks for their co-operation. The bonus clue would have been posted later, as Clue 9 (see below).

At this point enough clues were released to lead the winners to the coin. The remaining clues I was intending to post that day are written below.

The Unpublished Clues
#theHunt_AKL Clue 5 » Halfway through the clues. Here's the coin chilling out by the water! ow.ly/i/8d22I
Just like the previous Clue 5s of past hunts, this clue was intended to be a "Where Am I?" clue. If you had solved the previous clues, you would have had a rectangle boundary around Takapuna.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 6 » I'm closer to a lake than to a strait.
Coupling this with the water-based clue from Clue 5, this should've helped you to look away from the beach, and toward Lake Pupuke.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 7 » Find some North Shore Thespians, and you'll find me.
A Thespian is an actor or actress relating to drama and the theatre. The coin was hidden near a theatre.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 8 » KILLARNEY
The coin was hidden in a location involving this Irish name.
#theHunt_AKL Clue 9 » Where's my house?
This was the bonus clue that players could find from Clue 4. If they went to the clue's location, they would find this:

No, I haven't gotten a sponsor, but if you combine the words "Pump" and "House", you get PumpHouse.
Also written on the card is a new easy way to remember the address to this blog, you can get here by typing bit.ly/huntblog into your favourite browser.

Answer - The Coin's Location
If you didn't/couldn't solve the first nine clues yourself, the tenth clue will always tell you exactly where the coin is. This hunt, the coin was hidden near The PumpHouse Theatre, Killarney Park.

Congratulations to Jason & Dee for being the winners of The Hunt #3!

Twitter Practice Clues
Here are the answers to the practice clues released on Twitter before the hunt.
» How well do you know your Roman numerals? Happy MoMentous, eXtraVagant New Year!
Taking the capital letters from the second half of the message gives you MMXV, which is 2015 in Roman numerals.
» It's either 1 or 11 letters long.
Although its full name is eleven letters long, Karangahape Road is often shortened to just K' Road.

Unused Draft Clues
In the hunt writing process, some clues get scrapped because they didn't fit in with the rest, were too vague, too difficult, or for other reasons. Here are some clues that didn't make the cut:
» Picture Clue:
This is a still shot from the music video for Shania Twain's "When You Kiss Me". It was filmed in 2003 in Takapuna.
» Where Libby and Ben sold a house for $961,000.
Libby and Ben are the winners from the first season of "The Block NZ". The properties are located on Anzac Street.

Upcoming Hunts
I'll be returning to Wellington in a few months time to set up another hunt. Yep, The Hunt - Wellington will be back for another instalment!
But before then, Hunt #4 will be taking place in Auckland once again, in a new area, with all new clues and twists! Make sure you're following @hunt_clues on Twitter for the latest announcements!

So long for now.
-Huntmaster Orion

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