Solutions: The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth

NB: The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth was published by Carlton Books in September 2011. The book contained an elaborate puzzle which book buyers were invited to solve. The answers were due in March 2012. The prize offered by the publisher was 50,000 Euros. While the answer to the puzzle as a whole was released some months ago, only the answers to the first six individual puzzles have been released up to now.

by Tim Dedopulos

Since there’s still some uncertainty about the specific answers for the Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth, I’ve decided to put final page-by-page solutions up on the Internet. Many of these solutions are explained in much better detail on YouTube, courtesy of the Carlton Books stream. I recorded videos explaining all the pages on the same day, shortly after the hunt closed, so I’m confident that Carlton will have them all up in due course. In the end, there were 77 correct solutions entered, and the winner, selected at random, was Herr Knichel, of Germany.

Page-by-Page Breakdown

#1: Solution: Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England. Meaning: A stone circle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inDsYfX7u0w

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#2: Solution: The Devil’s Playground, Kelso, California, USA. Meaning: Sand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EleBqglP6d0

#3: Solution: The Temple of the Masonry Altars, Altun Ha, Belize. Meaning: Masonry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-UKbAtf4xI

#4: Solution: Deer Trail, Colorado, USA. Meaning: Bulls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q9W84jMBdo

#5: Solution: Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Meaning: Bologna, Italy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LapNXCjKP4

#6: Solution: Annonay, Rhône-Alpes, France. Meaning: Ferrara, Italy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3R7V0sFFZU

#7: Solution: Hawara, Faiyum, Egypt. Meaning: The Minotaur.

#8: Solution: Ø, Viborg, Jutland, Denmark. Meaning: Ø as a shape.

#9: Solution: Asian Gallery, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Meaning: Art.

#10: Solution: Three Graces National Park, Northern Territories, Australia. Meaning: Boticelli’s Primavera (‘The Allegory of Spring’).

#11: Solution: The Cave of the Apocalypse, Patmos, Greece. Meaning: St. John.

#12: Solution: The Clarence Hotel, Dublin, Ireland. Meaning: Bono da Ferrara.

#13: Solution: Clerk’s Well, Farringdon, London, England. Meaning: Wells.

#14: Solution: Tel Hazor, Yesud HaMa’ala, Hula Valley, Israel. Meaning: Freemasonry.

OVERALL SOLUTION: 44.4907, 11.3483. Francesco Del Cossa's stained glass window of St John of Patmos in San Giovanni Church, Monte, Bologna, Italy.

Derivation:

#1. It is a circle of stone.

#2. It is made of glass.

#3. It is stonework.

#4. It is in Italy (and Bologna).

#5. It is in Bologna.

#6. The creator, Del Cossa, was from Ferrara.

#7. Restating the link to Italy and Bologna.

#8. It is very near a well shaped like Ø that is visible on Google Earth.

#9. It is a work of art.

#10. The creator, Del Cossa, artistically depicted allegories of the Spring months.

#11. It is of St. John, in a church dedicated to him.

#12. It was created by an artist of Ferrara.

#13. Clue #8 depicts a well; also a well is a circle of stone.

#14. The creator’s father was a stonemason.