🚀 go-pugleaf

Thanks to everyone for their ideas. BTW this was the "third" clue we had to
solve. Clue 1 was easy (I won't trouble you). Clue 2 was a molecule. I later
figured out it was TNT. Then somehow I made the lateral leap to understand
this meant "TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO." Jeez.

Here's the solution to the third clue. I think I'll get the rest of them on
site. If you see around noon this Friday people in Boston (Logan) airport,
JFK, DC National, or Miami's airport dressed like Anne Oakley, Charlemagne,
Bruce Lee (me), King Tut, or a whole bunch of other historical figures, just
trust us - this is part of the treasure hunt. Do not be alarmed. We need to
show up in costume because we're getting sent OTHER PEOPLE's tickets and we
have to meet up in the airport. All we know are each other's costumes....

And now to the solution, which I got with a little bit of y'all's help and a
lot of brain-bashing. Ah, free time.

Rishi

---------------------------

(email header snipped)

Most of the stuff below was just to help me think this out and have a
central place for my scratchwork. Read it for your own entertainment only
(as I know I get zero credit for showing my work). There's a certain
longitudinal inexactness that I'm not sure I can get around by reversing the
calculations of the clue's author.

GUESS: THE PRIZE LIES IN PORT-OF-SPAIN, REVEALED BY THE FACT THAT TARAZED IS
DIRECTLY OVER THAT CITY AT ROUGHLY 8:45 P.M. ANY DAY IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.

Rishi

--------------------------------------------------

The clue:
1. An eagle aloft will be your sign
2. The night you arrive to drink our wine.
3. For then gamma will rise
4. To stand o'er the prize
5. Nigh quarter before the hour of nine.


My second guess, which was rejected for lack of exactitude:

1. Constellation Aquila is seen
2. In the night sky upon arrival in TNT
3. With Gamma of Aquila (Tarazed) ascendant.
4. Tarazed provides directional clue to prize (but not "stand[ing] o'er"
it).
5. Tarazed best viewed in September around 9:00.

Improvements in this guess:

I actually mapped out the relative altitude and azimuth between TNT and
Tarazed. TNT is located at about 10-11.7 degrees latitude. Tarazed at zenith
(i.e., about 9 p.m.) will have a declination of about 10.4 degrees. Hence I
can conclude the following:

1. Tarazed is mostly straight up no matter where in TNT you are.
2. To the extent there is any XY planar vector, Tarazed is a shade South at
view from most parts of TNT. There is a fraction of TNT that will look North
at Tarazed - that portion below 10.4 degrees latitude.
3. At declination, Tarazed has an azimuth that will cross approximately over
the following cities in Trinidad (use official gamma position Dec +10 36'
48") in order: Port of Spain, San Juan, Tenapuna, Arima, Valencia. The arc
is actually slightly south of this line of cities, and somewhat north of
Sangre Grande.
4. At right ascension (use official gamma position RA 19h 46min 15.6sec),
Tarazed has
(according to Fourmilab in Geneva) a sky longitudinal aim point nowadays at
"nigh quarter before the hour of nine" that's really along the coast of
Trinidad. This includes cities like Port of Spain, San Fernando, and
Siparia. This is fairly inexact, because of the word "nigh" and because
Trinidad is a pretty thin country. 20 minutes here or there could put it
over anything in that country, limited only by item 3.

Combining items 3 and 4, my best guess is Port-of-Spain. So I revise item
four and five:


4. Tarazed stands over the prize
5. at around 8:45 p.m., i.e., in the vicinity of Port-of-Spain.



<Seek.and.ye.shall.find@no.where> wrote in message
news:37c99688.8559513@netnews.worldnet.att.net...
> On Sat, 28 Aug 1999 15:04:59 -0400, "Rishi Ganti"
> <ganti@fas.harvard.edu> wrote in <7q9bv2$qhe$1@news.fas.harvard.edu>:
>
> > -------------------------------------------------
> >An eagle aloft will be your sign
> >The night you arrive to drink our wine.
> >For then gamma will rise
> >To stand o'er the prize
> >Nigh quarter before the hour of nine.
> > ------------------------------------------------
>
> Take a look at the flag of Mexico.  It symbolizes the ancient Aztec
> legend about why Mexico City is where it is.  (There is a slight problem
> that the part of Mexico that could be called Carribean is Mayan.)  Of
> course, there Mexican flags elsewhere.
>
> The third brightest star in each constellation is called 'gamma'.
>
> Please post the "correct" solution when you return as a "re" to your
> original post.
>
>
>
> Dr. Kral
> Reply to: Dr.Kral@ATT.net