Riddles 101

 

The key to most riddles is perspective, ascertaining who or what the riddle is about. Let’s take an example: What has three arms, wears a hat, and always follows a star?  This likely brings to mind either a three-armed alien following the light of our sun to wipe out the inhabitants of earth or three one-armed Wise Men following a star to Jerusalem in a twisted Christmas story. Thankfully, neither of these are correct. Let’s start with the hat. Who or what wears a hat? The only hat-wearing examples I can think of involve people (or poor, sad animals on Reddit). This perspective is key to solving the riddle.

Now let’s examine the word star. As a person, the only way you could always follow a star is if it were attached to the front of you. Can you think of someone who wears a hat, has a star attached to his/her front side and, in addition to the usual two arms, is also armed? The answer, I will only share if you promise not to tell. It’s all about perspective and looking past the distractions. 

Getting back to our unsolved riddle: All of the attempts I’ve read on social media to solve this riddle have approached it from obvious perspectives. I’ve read interpretations from the perspective of a visitor to the Fort Raleigh Historic Site—a park bench might fit in this case. I’ve read interpretations from the perspective of those who came looking for the lost Colony—the remains of the fort in the park might then fit. 

Remember our chess puzzle analogy, the good puzzle principle? We are looking for a queen sacrifice or the like, something unexpected. What is the least expected perspective in the park? Someone we might take for granted or overlook? Someone we might find in the Visitor Center? How about park rangers?

Under that

Which may be last touched

Or first seen standing

What is the first noteworthy task that the rangers perform every morning? Something that they would do while standing? Something similar to the final noteworthy task they would perform before locking up and going home? Yep, raising and lowering the flag. There is only one flag pole in the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. It happens to be next to the Visitor Center and on that pole flies one flag, the state flag of North Carolina. This is our mica connection. The state of North Carolina produces roughly 60% all US mica. Now, on the surface this connection may seem thin, but not if you consider it in terms of those annoying IQ test questions involving relationships, such as: A dog is to barking as a fountain is to water. The barking is produced by the dog, just as the water is produced by the fountain. Similarly, the driftwood is produced by the shoreline, just as mica is produced by the state of North Carolina.

So what is the second interpretation of this riddle? I find this absolutely brilliant! The North Carolina state flag is unusual in that it has two dates on it. The first refers to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (May 20, 1775), and the second, the Halifax Resolves (April 12, 1776), both are considered to be the first declarations of independence by their respective levels of government. Therefore, “under that which may be…first seen standing,” refers to North Carolina being the first state seen standing up for American Independence. But, what of the “last touched” part of the riddle?

When the flag was first introduced in 1861, the second date on the flag was different. It was May 20, 1861, which was the date North Carolina declared it had seceded from the Union, the last state to do so. If you consider seceding from the Union a crazy act, the riddle now makes sense. The term touched, though primarily British, can mean crazy or to have gone crazy. Therefore, “Under that which may be last touched…” gives us Under that which may be last to have gone crazy. This places us directly beneath the flag of North Carolina near the Visitors Center, south along the path from the Dare Memorial. 

This concludes a lengthy preview of my book, The Secret of the Secret: A Treasure Hunter’s Guide. To obtain the whole book, follow this link or go to Amazon and filter on Kindle eBooks and search for my name “T. H. Lawson”.