All these links were operational and as described at the time they were added. The very generous Robert Laughlin does a biennial check of all the links, so they are. In computer software, Easter eggs are secret responses that occur as a result of an undocumented set of commands. The results can vary from a simple printed message. Times and comments on the Times crossword from a team of solvers. Mrs. Jones shares links to free printable materials on the internet for young children, their teachers and parents. Anagram Software Used In National Treasure Book' title='Anagram Software Used In National Treasure Book' />Looking in Montana and WyomingPart One. First of all, thanks to Dal for this fascinating blog, and to all the other contributors whose thoughts and ideas make very interesting reading. And of course, thanks also to Forrest Fenn for the tantalizing mystery. I started pondering the whereabouts of the treasure back around New Years, and came up with a shortlist that included NM, CO and MT. After studying the available info, I became convinced that the hiding place had to be near Yellowstone, and more specifically Hebgen Lake. Although I did not manage to find places that corresponded to every line of the poem, I found enough to convince me to take a trip. My wife and I have just returned from that area empty handed, but not disheartened. Www. carlexonline. Foreign Language Teachers Guide to Active Learning The easytoimplement activities and strategies in this book will help. The Punny Name trope as used in popular culture. Sometimes, a name isnt exactly meaningful or hiding something, but theres still something about it that is. Begin it where warm waters halt The relatively warm waters of the Madison River come to a halt in Hebgen Lake, due to the presence of the dam. We started our search at the lake. I was fairly sure that the treasure would not be within the Yellowstone National Park itself, due to the potential for legal issues, and so Hebgen, which lies just outside the Park boundaries, and features in Forrests writings, was the perfect starting point for me. And take it in the canyon down,I took the canyon to be that through which the Madison River flows. At Hebgen, it doesnt display the traditional characteristics of a canyon, as its a wide and fairly open area, but I couldnt get the same degree of congruence with other lines in the poem if I was to move downstream to the area around Earthquake Lake which is where the Madison was halted by a huge landslide following a quake early in the 2. Not far, but too far to walk,Put in below the home of Brown. This seemed to be a reference to boating. The words Put in are used far more commonly in boating than in land travel, and that would also work for the too far to walk phrase. The problem was to find the home of Brown. I wasnt convinced by the notions of brown trout and brown bear, but thought there had to be a more specific reference. Well before the trip I began to research the businesses and homes surrounding Hebgen Lake. It was then that I discovered Firehole Ranch. This fishing lodge on the south side of the lake has, for the past two decades, been the home of chefs Bruno and Kris Georgeton. I dont know whether Bruno and Kris actually reside at Firehole, but I didnt find it too much of a stretch to link their semi permanent occupational status to that line of the poem. In addition, there were boat landings below the ranch, as well as a suitable parking spot should one choose not to come by water. From there its no place for the meek,The end is ever drawing nigh Therell be no paddle up your creek,Just heavy loads and water high. It was all very well having the Hebgen landmarks fitting the early stanzas, but unless there was also a correlation with the later verses, it would be a pointless exercise. However, with a little study of the map and nearby topography, everything seemed to fall into place. Emptying into the lake near Firehole Ranch are two creeks, Watkins and Coffin. Wait a minute. Coffin Heavy loads End ever drawing nigh And when I searched further I spotted two lakes, Coffin and Upper Coffin nestling in the mountains about five or six miles to the southwest of the ranch. Was that too far It would certainly work with the line, Your effort will be worth the cold, as the lakes were at an altitude of around 8,5. And not only that, but the creeks fed by these lakes looked totally unnavigable, but there was, fortuitously, a very navigable trail that would take us up to Coffin Lake. However, my sights were set on Upper Coffin Lake, the place where the water really was high. And so, with only a few days available due to work commitments, we headed out from Eugene, Oregon, planning on having just a single day to explore the trail. My wife was very nervous, as there were warnings of grizzlies in the very area we planned to hike. We armed ourselves with bear spray, stowed food, water and a few survival aids in our packs, and headed up the trail. Im glad that we didnt hear the news until the following morning in two separate incidents hikers were attacked by grizzly bears, despite taking all the recommended precautions. It seems that mother grizzlies with cubs in tow are not going to be easily deterred. We rang a bell, sang and generally made our presence known up that trail. Im almost sixty, and in what I would class as fair, but not great, shape. As we hiked up the astoundingly beautiful trail with the rocks and peaks rising above us, I pondered whether an eighty year old could manage it carrying a forty pound chest. Although the trail was easy going to begin with, after about three miles it became fairly strenuous with switchbacks that rose through the forest, in an area that abounded with huckleberry bushes a favorite with the bears, apparently We tried to stay vigilant for the blaze as we climbed alongside the creek. Noticing many trees downed along the trail, it occurred to me that the blaze had to be something that would be more permanent, but we saw nothing obvious. Eventually, after hiking for something like 2. Coffin Lake. Its a majestic setting, as its surrounded on three sides by cliffs of stone and pine. Without a boat or the willingness to swim in icy waters I realized that it would be impossible to explore the entire circumference of the lake, and, in any event, there was nothing that presented itself as a viable place to search. We sat and rested for a short while, had something to eat, and then considered our next move. I was all for pushing on to Upper Coffin Lake, but my wife would have happily stayed put at our present location until it was time to return. Gamely, she agreed to come with me to the place I was convinced was the hiding place. In truth, I was happy to leave a place where previous campers had used the lakeside as their personal latrine, befouling the area for the next visitors. Notices at the trail head request that campers carry a shovel for good reason. This was where I bit off a bit more than we both could chew. I had assumed that a trail would lead straight from Coffin to Upper Coffin, as on the map it was a short distance of around 6. On the ground it was a very different story. Rocks, almost impenetrable forest, and alpine meadows that rose at ludicrous angles lay in the way. We stumbled and climbed, until my incredibly supportive wife was about ready to quit. Meanwhile, I thought my heart was going to do the same thing. Twice, I smelled what I thought was bear, but decided on the second occasion to keep my thoughts to myself. I had a compass, and knew the direction to the lake, but couldnt find a way through. Eventually, I caught a glimpse of it hundreds of feet below us, down a treacherously steep incline. I was so glad wed had the sense to bring collapsible sticks, as I dont think we would have made it down there without broken bones. It took us around an hour to travel those six hundred crow fly feet Upper Coffin Lake is a smaller version of its sibling, and again is not readily circumnavigable by land. We didnt stay long, briefly checking in the shallows for likely chests, fearing that time would not be on our side. And it was clear that the place is just too remote for Forrest to have hidden his treasure there unless he was feeling ultra sadistic. We tried to get back to Coffin Lake via a more direct route, but came unstuck due to more impassable terrain. Times for the Times. This was my idea of a perfect crossword I am a big fan of puzzles that use familiar words in unfamiliar ways, rather than obscurities from foreign places and times, andor plant and animal names. I started off thinking it was going to be an easy puzzle, and some solvers may have found this easy, but I had to work at it in the end. The lovely feature was that, except perhaps at 4dn, there was nothing obscure, just lots of unusual slants on familiar things. My clue of the day was 2. Thanks to the setter for a highly enjoyable puzzle. Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, followed by the wordplay. ABC means anagram of ABC, deletions are in curly brackets. Across. 1 The Bull accommodates males it offers a wide variety of terms 9 THESAURUS TAURUS around HES. This and 6ac got me off to a flying start. Message received, say men turning right 5 ROGER EG OR, all reversed, then R. Sick relation deficient in a vitamin 7 RETINOL REL TION. Drop the A from the anagram, because thats its deficiency. Flat containing tons of sole 7 PLANTAR PLANAR containing T. I wasted time trying to make PLATTER. Complete upper class eccentric catching cold 5 UNCUT U NUT, containing C. Again, I wasted time, this time trying to justify UTTER. Physical County players taking on Madrid team 9 CORPOREAL COcounty RPORoyal Philharmonic Orchestra REAL Madrid. DNK the abbreviation RPO, but the answer was clear. Anguish of judge with facial hair 9 HEARTACHE HEAR TACHE. I would never write TACHE, and the dictionaries allow other spellings, but it is easy to get there by dropping the starter letters from mousTACHE. Extremes of invidious pedantry in word game 1,3 I SPY first and last letters. Second of seeds chokes half cut parrot 4 ECHO Esecond of s. Eeds CHOkes. I wondered at first reading whether E H A U second letter of each word was a parrot. Try to stop dissipation of anaemic narcissist 9 EGOMANIAC GO ANAEMIC. Terribly acned lad left ballroom 5,4 DANCE HALL DANCE HAL L. Muscular worker perhaps content to abandon family 5 BEEFY BEE FamilY. Content to abandon is a very nice way of saying first and last letters Join retired and oddly torpid musicians of distinction 7 MAESTRI SEAM reversed TRIodd letters of torpid. What guards privacy of endlessly corrupt scoundrel at first 7 CURTAIN CUR TAINt. Class of individuals banned from CIA site 5 CASTE drop the two Is from CIA site. Hitme 6,3 NUMBER ONE double definition, referring to the hit parade or the writer. Down. 1 By way of the short and not so short grass 7 THROUGH THe ROUGHlong grass on a golf course. Hidden Mysteries Game The White House. Consume case of aquavit after end of marriage 3 EAT marriagE AquaviT. Gloss paint regularly disposed of and recycled at one time 8 ANNOTATE ANpaint, regularly AT ONE T. The definition is gloss, in the sense of words of explanation. Finally consider Samuels teacher Charlie a bit of a saint RELIC consideR ELI Charlie. DNK the relation between Eli and Samuel, but it seems it was so. Queen enthralled by Orpheus, oddperson with special powers 9 SUPERHERO ER inside ORPHEUS. Grounds crossed by areas once 6 REASON hidden answer indicated by crossed by. Threaten to go out and steal drug for waif 1. GUTTERSNIPE when candles GUTTER, they threaten to go out SNIP is a possibly archaic verb for steal E is as always the drug that setters are addicted to. Meeting supporting sport in the countryside 7 RURALLY RUto quote Winston Churchill, a sport for hooligans, played by gentlemen RALLY. Vow to put on ruffles beneath cape, and suspenders, in closet 4,7 COAT HANGERS Ccape OATHvow ANGERSruffles. Nicely concealed definition. Incisive way to bring issue to light CAESARIAN quite a good cryptic definition. Dull WI member perhaps joining English party 8 JAMBOREE could a Womens Institute member really be a JAM BORESurely not Whatever add E for English to get the scouting event. Tender skinned tailless rodents prevalent locally 7 ENDEMIC tENDEr MICe. Longing to tuck into kind of sugar and spice 7 CAYENNE YEN inside CANE. Peppers dont top my mental list of spices, but I got there via cane sugar. Amiable chap with feet of normal size 6 GENTLE GENT normaL sizE. Nice clue. 2. 3 Doctor and I dont know what to say after colonel turns up 5 LOCUM COL turned up UM. Bother leader of anarchist party 3 ADO Anarchist DO.