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Masquerade micro-presentation
- 1. a 1970’s tale of puzzles, art, spectrum games, and cow poo that gripped a nation...
- 7. random text
- 8. my memory of the book
- 9. no hare here! gripping the nation..
- 13. meanwhile...
- 14. the winner...
- 15. sex, lies and masking tape...
- 16. come on...what’s the solution?
- 17. the aftermath
- 18. hare today, gone tomorrow...
- 19. it could be a bit shit...
- 20. or it could be...
Editor's Notes
- The Concept to do something never done before1979 - Thatcher wins, unions in decline, riots on the street, economic uncertainty...In the midst of this emerged a puzzle that would consume the nation...
- the prize and burialthe harebamber gascoigne - picture thisHe said Gascoigne poured a cowpat on top of the buried treasure to disguise its location.The answer to the book depended on the points at which a shadow fell at midday during equinox.Williams initially marked the spot with a magnet and returned with Gascoigne to bury the hare.He said: "Because there were cattle in the field, we took a tupperware container of cow poo."Bamber did the pouring of the cow poo to disguise the hole."
- the design Kit Williams creator: “I had come across 'treasure hunts' in which the puzzles were not exciting nor the treasure worth finding. So I decided to make a real treasure, of gold, bury it in the ground and paint real puzzles to lead people to it. Hidden haresclick for the Hare!!!
- Example - Page 1EXPLANATION: "One of six to eight" is one of the biggest clues in the book, indicating Catherine of Aragon, the first of six wives of King Henry VIII, near whose monument the jewel was hidden. "In the earth am I" confirms that the treasure is, in fact, buried somewhere.
- example 2 - painting 7 the eclipseOne of Kit's least concrete clues: the ant near the hare is meant to imply Ampthill, which means "ant-hill." I originally thought that that moon's odd finger positions were merely sign language ... her hands were in this portrait."The fingers point out the word...
- example 3 Painting #12: Sir Isaac NewtonThis color sequence matches the rings on the puppets; when a line is drawn from the eyes through the longest finger/biggest toe on each creature in every picture in the book (as per the clue on the book's title page, about using your eyes and pointing to the prize)
- Example the letters Most people notice the bright red letters around the border of each painting.Less people notice that other border letters have little thorns poking out of their middles. Rearrange the red letters to form one secret word and the barbed letters to form another.Hugely multi-layered...
- My memory of the bookAlways been in the family (this is my favourite family photo :)My mum and our neighbour were one of the million buyers of the book - it's an enduring memory of my childhood...
- gripping the nationSearchers often dug up public and private property acting on hunchesfalse leads "One location in England named “Haresfield Beacon” was a popular site for searchers, and Williams paid for the cost of a sign notifying searchers that the hare was not hidden on the premises. "A stately home in the Midlands was overrun by prospectors, one of whom arrived with a collapsible boat and frogmen's gear" I just love the idea of some old guy opening the door to someone in diving gear asking to dredge the lake behind their house...
- So, I got this book as a present from my brother, Alex, in 2010newspaper clippings etcConcorde ad - fly to Egypt!!!amazing time capsule - transported me back to my childhood
- an insert that came with the book, I presume as some sort of newspaper printout.I especially like the appointment for 2.45pm on valentines day - "face"
- an additional cluethe sunday times clueKeeping in mind that this clue originally appeared on newsprint helps greatly. It's easily folded and light passes through it. That being the case, the pieces of letters do come together to form fully readable English (well, mostly) if the lower half of the paper is folded in the center (below the third line of symbols) and the entire message is read in a mirror. CLICK THE SLIDE!!!
- The Untitled BookBefore Masquerade was solved in 1982, UNTITLED This time involving bees, the changing of the seasons, and Kit's woodcuttings. The challenge: Discover the name the book and express it without using the written word to claim the prize with a year-and-a-day time limit; the answer would be revealed on May 25, 1985.And it was....on Wogan. How brilliantly 80s is that?
- the winnerbit of an anticlimax... Ken ThomasWas a bit vague...kind of figured it out...Metal detectors (but it was in a clay pot...)And what about the cow shit disguise?All a bit of a disappointment, and frankly smelt a bit fishy (well, maybe worse...)
- The fraudTurned out it was a masquerade!Look how heavily disguised he is!!!6 years later in 1988 it was revealed...The plot revolves around Veronica Robertson, the girlfriend with whom Williams was living when he thought up the idea for Masquerade...Less than a year after leaving Williams she was out searching Ampthill Park, where it was buried, in the dead of night with metal detectors. Turns out she was sleeping with the business partner of Ken Thomas....the original ‘winner’Like the plot of Dynasty (that other 80s saga that gripped the nation)
- the actual solution & winnersTwo school teachers from the North West!one day late! Ok, here’s the solution...let’s see if I can get through it before the slide switches...When a line is drawn from the eyes through the longest finger/biggest toe on each creature in every picture in the book (as per the clue on the book's title page, about using your eyes and pointing to the prize), the lines point to the letters on the border, and the master riddle phrase is spelled out: "Catherine's long finger over shadows earth buried yellow amulet midday points the hour in light of equinox look you." That is, the first painting reveals the word "Catherine's," the second painting reveals the words "long finger," The first letter from each word in that phrase spells "Close by Ampthill," a geographical confirmer and the heart of Kit's riddle.
- the aftermathJust to ensure that this saga covers all key 1980s cultural touchstones, ‘Ken Thomas’ launched an ill-fated ZX spectrum game. In 1985, a computer game/puzzle named Hareraiser was released in 2 parts by a company called Haresoft. The prize was the Golden Hare. Apparently, it was really shit, and it was auctioned to pay the debts of the company....Kit Williams tried to buy it, but it went for £31,900 to a mystery buyer in the ‘far east’...
- reunited with the harebad pun - but gimme break!latest last august, as a result of bbc4 showegyptian owner saw the show, and got in touch...But bloody iplayer won’t show it, so I have no idea what was in the show (or frankly, how accurate anything I’ve just said is...)
- what would this like now, in the internet age?banner ads, upsells etcThis is a complete ripoff of Zack Hiwiller's ‘If Mario Was Designed in 2010’Whole talk is this - http://www.bunnyears.net/
- But maybe it could be incredible...the perfect ipad app?contemplative puzzle - the blogs and forums that would support it would be fascinating...My last talk here was about the future of reading and social reading...and all the time I had this incredibly social book experience in front of me....