Pierce's Park
This park was built as a gift to the City of Baltimore by the friends and family of Pierce J. Flanigan III. In his memory, the park is meant to celebrate his love of beauty, wind and water, words, harmony, the active mind and body.
Notice the words called "homophones" inscribed in the paved walkways. Think about your favorite words and take a moment to create a poem of your own.
Feel free to crawl and slide your way through the park's centerpiece sculpture. Listen to the Baltimore harbor and observe how the form of the sculpture affects the sounds you hear.
Play a game on the grass or in the willow tunnel. Use the fence as your musical instrument. Take time to relax, to talk with a friend, or to read a book.
Pierce's Park was built for you.
Stage 1 begins at the information sign for Pierce's Park. The puzzle will be solved by finding the coordinates as follows:
**FIRST STAGE IS A STARTING POINT, NOT A PHYSICAL CACHE**
N 39º A.BC
W 76º D.EFG
The final coordinates are the location of a hidden micro, pretty close to where you're starting from. BYOP and beware of muggles.
A. From the sign at your first waypoint, look to your left and observe the fence with the round metal balls on it. Find the gates of the fence and count the number of balls on them. Add 10.
Walk to the right of the gate from the outside of the fence until you find the musical fence (A metallic xylophone like thing suspended by wires.)
B. Use the mallets underneath the instrument to tap each tube as you count them. Listen to the sound you make, maybe play a song. What is the total number of tubes in this instrument? Divide this number by 2 then add 2.
Take the path in front of you around to the left, and walk through the living willow tunnel on your right.
When you exit the tunnel, on your right will be a playground with some merry-go-rounds. Take a ride and watch your world spin and spin.
C. When the spinning in your head stops, count the total number of large balls built into the frames of the two merry-go-rounds. Subtract 5.
D. There is a different set of instruments nearby, 2 tall ones surrounding 2 small ones. Can you play a song on these? What song did you play? Why do these sound different from the first ones you played? As you express your musical talents, count all the tubes on the instruments between the four sets. Subtract 18.
Behind you is a large metal piece of art, known as the Horn sculpture. Climb through it. Once you're inside it, stop. Listen. What do you hear as you climb through it?
On the far side of the sculpture from the instruments and back on the path, read the homophones on the walkway. Find the set of homophones "There, Their, and They're". Do you know how to use each properly?
E. Close to these homophones is a sign describing the type of gardens in the park. How many insects are pictured on the sign?
F. Observe the garden in front of you. How many layers below the plants help filter out pollution from the water as it soaks into the ground? Subtract 4.
Continue following the path to the right of the sign towards the building until you find a pair of signs that looks like the one at the first waypoint.
G. How many letters are in the Governor's first name?
If you've properly solved the math of this puzzle, the coordinates should be easy to find.
Checksum A+B+C+D+E+F+G=76
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
***Note: This is my first puzzle, so I'd appreciate any feedback you want to leave in your notes. I hope you enjoyed it!
Congrats to SchlomiƏ on FTF.