The golden owl, a treasure hunt launched in 1993, ended last October during the discovery of the location of the statuette by one of the participants. The answers to the 11 puzzles were revealed on Friday May 2 by its co-creator.
The end of many headache. The solutions to the 11 puzzles of the golden owl, this treasure hunt launched in 1993, were revealed on Friday May 2 by its co-creator Michel Becker. The statue was hidden in Dabo, a village in Moselle.
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The enigma declares that “it is worse blind than the one who does not want to see” and associates a series of figures between them (1 = 530, 3 = 470, 5 = 600, 7 = 420 and 9 = 650). An illustration with a rainbow and a white light accompanies the whole.
The solution, which had already been confirmed by the co-creator of the Max Valentin game, implies associating the illustration and the rest of figures. The first figures (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) are the first odd figures, followed by wavelengths of spectral colors (530 nanometers for green, 470 for blue for example).
The missing figures are the peer figures 2, 4, 6, 8, accompanied by wavelengths of the spectral colors associated with them. To determine these colors, it is necessary to rely on the theory of the visible light spectrum which considers that each color has its complementary color (the yellow is complementary to blue for example).
The solution is therefore as follows: 1 = 530; 2 = 780; 3 = 470; 4 = 580; 5 = 600; 6 = 500; 7 = 420; 8 = 560; 9 = 650. This enigma, a little apart from the others, will make it possible to put in order the following puzzles.
• Enigma 530
The enigma presents a text entitled “Opening” presented in the form of Charade.
“My first, first half of half of the first age,
Previously precedes my second and third, looking for their way.
My fourth is inspired, my fifth is in rage,
But, without protesting, follows my fourth and the Roman Alpha.
My sixth, at the limits of eternity hides.
My seventh, erected, spits his venom.
To find my everything, you just have to be wise,
Because the truth, in truth, will not be a matter of soothsayer “.
The text is accompanied by the illustration of a rooster singing.
La Charade allows you to find, line by line, the letters making up the word “Bourges”. The Coq eye is located in the center of a map of France, where the city of Bourges is located. This indicates the place of departure of the game.
• 780 enigma
The enigma comes in the form of a short text called “first step”. “Where you want, by the Rosse and the Check. But where you have to, by the compass and the foot,” he said. In parallel, you can see a horseshoe with a huge bunk compass.
Here, it is necessary to measure the circumference of the compass, which is 33 cm. It gives an indication of the unit of measurement that must be used to find your way in the game. The compass also indicates the south, which is the direction in which one must go, starting from Bourges.
• Enigma 470
“It is not the right path which if the arrow targets the heart”, title the following enigma. A new charade follows.
“My first by the gaiety multiplies.
My second offers you space,
My third in the air, and my fourth of the water.
When he is lying, my fifth snores.
My sixth is worth a hundred, and my seventh is just a knot.
My eighth has the taste of the laurel,
While my ninth, by astonishment, is dragged.
My tenth is always naked when it has a connection.
My eleventh, finally, is the unknown.
Find my everything, and, by opening, you will see the light, “says the text.
This time the illustration presents a sword planted in a rock. This is a reference to the sword of Durandal, which would have belonged to the hero knight of Roland’s song11th century work.
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The solution of the Charade is “Roncevaux”, a place where the Knight Roland is killed in combat against the Saracens in 778. This makes it possible to connect the city of Bourges, to that of Roncevaux.
• Enigma 580
The following enigma is a divinette based on figures this time. “Common sense is the meaning of misinterpretation, and vice versa,” said the title.
“19.9.13.12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19 vaudra 1
12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19.18.9.13.8.15.4 vaudra 2
9.13.16.16.9.13.9.5.18 vaudra 3
25.1.12.14.18.9.13.16.9.13 vaudra 4
8.15.4.1.12.9.19.18.15.1.6 vaudra 5
18.9.13.13.5.18.18.1.12.18.9.13.12.15.19 vaudra 6
20.18.21.15.15.4.9.18.9.13.8 vaudra 7
9.13.18.9.15.19.19.9 vaudra 8
15.4.1.12.14.18.1.12.10 vaudra 9
19.18.9.13.12.15.19.14.1.12 will be worth 0 “, says the enigma.
An illustration presents a cello with a series of letters: Bagfedo.
We must replace each figure given here by the letter which corresponds in the alphabet. A = 1, b = 2 etc. The first line is like this: Simlosruois.
As the title says, common sense is the counter-sensation, so we read the line upside down, which gives: SIRISOLMIS, that is a series of music notes to be replaced by its equivalent in English (do = C, Ré = D etc).
The set allows you to obtain a series of cities: Bourges (which is worth 1), Cherbourg (2), Dieppe (3), Épernay (4), Forbach (5), Gérardmer (6), Héricourt (7), Issoire (8), Jarnac (9) and Angers (0). Useful clues in the following enigma.
• Enigma 600
“When Al-Mar joins with the pre-siste fibula, the darkness shines,” said the new enigma.
Follows a series of letters: “BDI, J. DF, f. Cfd. BJ. HJ. EA, b. BC. DC, b. CDI, b. BAB, h. BE. CD. FB. BCG, J. BIG, D. BE. BG. BJD, b. DB. BGH, c. BC. E”. Then, we can observe the drawing with a hand which has a very large key.
With the solution of the previous enigma, each letter is replaced by a figure, which makes it possible to obtain a series of atomic masses. For example, BDI, J gives 138.9, which is the atomic mass of Lanthane, whose symbol is the, which is the first word in the sentence to decipher. Thus, we get: “The key is hidden on a perched black ship”.
• Enigma 500
The enigma first presents a sentence in Latin: “ut queant laxis”. Then she indicates:
“At 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24, borrows the orthogonal. To find the spiral with four centers, 560.606 measures, it is far. But by the mega, it is a million times less”.
A mysterious illustration accompanies him, made up of both a seal in the midst of the waves, a rule, a square, a soil key and a compass.
The rest of figures is a Morse message meaning Carignan, a town located in the Ardennes. It is necessary to start from this locality and then draw a line perpendicular to that connecting Bourges and Roncevaux.
The enigma indicates that a place must be found at 560,606 measures from Carignan. If we take up the measurement unit found in the 780 enigma, 33 cm, this means 185km away. We thus find the village of Dabo, in Moselle.
• Enigma 420
“From the sky comes the light,” announces the enigma. The following text presents a series of figures and letters, with punctually inserted words, such as eagle, one hundred or the beak.
“Then lends an arc in Apollo: from there, he will have 1969,697 measures towards the zenith. In a 46,241,860th fraction of a sidereal day, his line will fall. Hope to find the arrow,” said the enigma.
A mysterious drawing mixing a compass, letters and various fork symbols or even male and female symbols is added to it.
The solution is found first in this illustration which refers to planets of the solar system (PL represents Pluto, the fork corresponds to Neptune, etc.). We then find in the text the number of days that each star takes to turn around the sun: earth = 365, March = 687, etc.
It is then necessary to replace each number with the first letter of the planet corresponds, which gives the sentence: “This is where the eagle prints the mark of its greenhouses in the sand, a hundred days before breaking the beak and leaving its feathers”. We must see a reference to Napoleon, nicknamed the eagle, and a hundred days. The emperor then arrived on the Gulf beach Juan after his exile.
This is where you have to trace an arrow and calculate the distance traveled during a sidereal day, always with the 33 cm measurement unit, which gives 559 km at 650 m above sea level. We end up at the Saint-Léon chapel, on the rock of Dabo.
• Enigma 560
New sentence in Latin, “ad Augusta per Augusta”, says the text. “When, in Carusburc, you will have Albion in the back, seek the opening which reveals the celestial light. Do not dwell, do not ask for your rest, but are ready to walk on the waters”, then indicates the enigma, then evoking Neptune.
“Without deviating from an inch, draws a line, and you will not regret what you did,” he concludes, with the drawing of a paper pencil dividing the waters.
Carusburc is the old name of Cherbourg. It is therefore necessary to start from this city, with your back turned to the Albion (Great Britain was nicknamed the perfidious Albion). We cross the Channel, looking towards Bourges (“opening”) to find an “encalminated nave”, a “ship at a stop” in old French, a reference to the Saint-Léon chapel.
• Enigma 650
The penultimate enigma is titled “when everything is revealed”, announcing that we are approaching the final resolution.
“Back to Ponant, seeks the sentries. At 8,000 measures from there, they are waiting for you. Find them, you must review them,” said the text.
The illustration here presents four shadows so that of a character with a shovel. Several figures accompany it: 71721075.
Starting from Dabo, we put ourselves “Back to Ponant”, therefore looking at the east, which leads to “sentries”, the Bornes-Saint-Martin, located 8,000 feet 33 cm from the Saint-Léon chapel.
These terminals have several figures that must be removed from 71721075. We then obtain the number 21. By taking up the measurement unit of 0.33 cm, we obtain 6.94 m, a figure to keep in mind for the end of the quest.
• Enigma 520
“The earth opens,” announces the last enigma. “Between them, there would be only two intervals if they were aligned. But it would be a game far too easy! Now that you have resulted in all the wires, the doubt is the last torture that will be inflicted on you. Because it is the rule of this cruel part: alone, you must find where to wear your shovel. Show your respect for Lady Nature, and, before moving away, closes its injury”, indicates the ultimate guess.
As an illustration here, a light in the middle of a field, seeming to indicate the place of the so -seeed gold.
Here you have to start from the Bornes-Saint-Martin and measure a distance of 6.94 m towards the Rocher de Dabo. At this location was buried the golden owl.
