Secretrose picks 10 for Battle Creek

5 Phalen; 5 Como

5 for Battle Creek
5 for Central Park (Roseville)

Ben Fischer

Now that I have told you about the Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt for 2021, I want to tell you about another *different* hunt going on that is being put on by the Winter Carnival. It's being called a Scavenger Hunt because it requires you to do different things at different places to win, but in a way it's really more like a collection of 30 one clue treasure hunts with the winner being the one that solves the most. You might also be interested to know that I am the cluewriter for this!

There are three different hunts you can choose from (or if you're feeling ambitious, you could do more than one). One is the Park-e-mon-Go Hunt. It is a tour of St. Paul parks that is aimed at families and is free to play. We worked with the St. Paul Conservancy on this one and they have provided $800 worth of prizes. I suspect all of you with your familiarity with St. Paul parks should do well on this one. Or if you're tired of being cooped up inside we have the Shop, Dine, and Play Hunt. This will take you on a tour of places around the city that are fun to go to, offer good food, and/or are interesting to behold. To complete this hunt you won't have to go indoors anywhere, but if you choose to patronize these establishments, it should be a good time. Finally there is the St. Paul Past & Present Hunt for those of you who think you're up on your local history. This is the most challenging of the three hunts and will take you not just across the space of St. Paul, but also across time as you explore it's history and the sites where that history took place. These latter two hunts do have a cost of $20 per team. We're still working out the exact prizes, but they will be worth at least $500 each.

The way it works is you can register at https://www.wintercarnival.com/events/saint-paul-scavenger-hunt/ for any and all of the three hunts. After you are registered you will get a code for your team. We are using an app called Goosechase which you will need to download to the phone you want to designate as your team's official phone. At 5pm on January 28th the hunt will go live and you will enter in your code. You will then have until 5pm on Sunday, February 7th to solve as many of the 30 missions as you can. There are three types of missions. One type will ask you a question and you must enter the correct answer to score points. Another will describe a location and you must go there and take a photo or video of at least one member of your team that includes something specific mentioned in the clue. The third type of mission will require you to simply visit a location and submit your GPS coordinates. All answers will need to come from the designated phone that you entered your code into.

The team that has scored the most points by the end of the hunt will be declared the winner in each of the three hunts. In the case of a tie, there will be one mission that was designated as a tie-breaker. Whichever of the tied teams completed that one first will be the winner. If there is still a tie, there will be a random drawing. The registration will ask you to name official team members, but you are free to solicit help from as many people as you wish, depending on how many people you potentially want to split the prize with.

Having seen where each of these hunts will take you, I think it's going to be really fun. I've had some people testing out the clues and they liked them. Depending on how long the Medallion Hunt goes there will be some crossover. However you may want to take a break or perhaps you'll want to do some more hunting after the Medallion is found. So I hope you'll give it a try!

As you may have already noticed, I am once again sponsoring my Park Pick Contest for this year's Medallion Hunt. Will it be a big park or little park? In the city or outside? Familiar territory or a brand new location? None of us know, but we may think we know. So let's see how good you are at guessing (for now) and deciphering the clues (as we go). The prize for the winner will be $100.

As in past years the way it works is you get 10 guesses at each Stage. The first Stage is prior to the hunt, and then there is a new Stage after each clue is released. You can divide up your guesses as you wish. You can put all 10 towards one park if you are feeling confident or you could put one guess towards each of 10 different parks, or somewhere in between. As each clue comes out, it may change your thinking and so you're free to change your guesses at each Stage. If you don't make a new guess, then your previous guess will carry over (but all guesses must be posted to the message board).

The scoring is a little tricky, but it is designed to reward those who got it right early on. Once the medallion is found and the correct park is determined, I note what clue it was found on and then add 1 to that number for the total number of Stages. Each guess you put towards the correct park prior to the hunt (if any) will get points equal to the number of Stages (S). Each correct guess after clue 1 gets S - 1 points. Correct guesses made after Clue 2 get S - 2 points and so on with guesses made the day of the find getting just 1 point each. Then the person with the most points wins. If there is a tie, then the person who had the earliest guess for that park wins.

So should you guess 10 parks right now, hoping to get the edge on a tie breaker? Or is better to go all in on one park and try to lock it down? That's up to you to decide. It's free to play, other than having to publicize which parks you are thinking. But then there is a bit of a game there too. 

Greetings everyone! Many of you are probably already following what is happening with this year's hunt on Facebook and other places, but for anyone who isn't quite in the know, let me sum up what is going on this year.

First off, there will be a hunt. Officially it starts on Sunday the 24th, but of course we will probably see the first clue on the 23rd.

The prize will again be up to $10,000. If you find the medallion, you need to call the PP right away (rather than bring it in). It sounds like they will verify the find over the phone and that will get you $2,500. Then for the next $2,500 you will need to have all of the published daily clues, clipped or copied from the Pioneer Press or printed from TwinCities.com, and provide them along with the found medallion. And for the final $5,000 you will need to have a medallion from the Pioneer Press. This light up medallion is different from the Winter Carnival button. Buying a WC button helps support the Winter Carnival, but it won't help you if you find the Medallion. You can get them at pioneerpresstreasurehunt.com

Some things will naturally be different this year. First off the online clues will come out at midnight. There will be no early clues in paper form this year, nor any scrambled clues. Nor are they using an app this year. There will also be no Pre-Dig Gig this year, nor an event at Bad Weather Brewing. Neither will there be nightly gatherings at Shamrock's. In that same vein they are saying people shouldn't hunt in groups larger than three, they should maintain a six foot distance, and they should wear a mask (and definitely not hunt if you are sick!). If they find people breaking those rules, they reserve the right to end the hunt. However, we can certainly discuss the clues here and elsewhere online.

Another thing that will be different this year is I won't be hunting for the medallion. I have joined the Winter Carnival committee. That alone doesn't bar me as the Winter Carnival and the medallion hunt are no longer officially connected, but I will be busy with the Winter Carnival. That said, I will endeavor to keep this board going, and will offer my ideas, but I'm not sure yet how much time I will have once the Carnival starts. But I do wish good luck to all of you.

10 tony schmidt

10 como
--
Michae kealy

Put me down for Rice Creek North Regional Park

10 Battle Creek.  

4 - Cherokee
2 - Crosby
2 - Acorn
2 - Phalen

Thanks AW

Will you be doing a park picks contest again this year? Put me down for Swede Hollow as my first choice.

Yes I will. I will be on vacation for the entire Winter Carnival so I'm hoping I can keep up during the period where they overlap, but if I can't the site will still be running for others to comment.

Will you be running this site again throughout the hunt?

It's now official! The Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt WILL take place starting in January. Clue #1 will officially be on January 24th, though of course we'll likely all see it in the early edition of the Sunday paper on the 23rd. Like last year, a Winter Carnival button will no longer get you the extra $5,000. Instead you have to buy a special (and kind of cool looking) light up Medallion from the PP at this website https://www.pioneerpresstreasurehunt.com/ (which is the only way to get it). Still, because of Covid, some things will naturally be different this year. My guess is we will not be having a Pre-Dig this this year. I'm also guessing they will not be doing the "early" clue release at Shamrock's. If I'm wrong on either of those then of course it will be up to you to decide if you want to attend.

I will still run this group this year but I will actually not be hunting this year. Not because of Covid but because I am now officially on the Winter Carnival committee. They are doing a new event this year that they are calling a scavenger hunt and I am in charge of it. But it won't be like a typical scavenger hunt. The 30 things on your list will be more like 30 one clue treasure hunts, each taking you to a different location. And there will actually be three different ones to choose from. The "Park-e-mon Go!" hunt is a family friendly adventure that will focus on the parks of St. Paul, both the familiar and the obscure. The "Shop, Dine, & Play" hunt will take you to fun places around town (that we hope will be open, though going inside is not required). And then the "St. Paul Past & Present" hunt will take you to 30 historical locations around town. All three will start on the first day of the Winter Carnival and teams will have the 10 day run of the Carnival to complete them, scoring points for each mission accomplished (while speed will play a role in tie breakers). There are 100 openings for teams available in each hunt. When someone registers, they are registering their phone, and all submissions will have to come from that phone. However you can have as many people helping you as you are willing to potentially split the prize with. We're still working out the prizes, but I believe they will be in the $500 range. The Park-e-mon Go! hunt is free to play while the other two will have a $20 registration fee. The registration will open up in early January. So there is a bit of overlap with the medallion hunt, but this is something you can pick up after the medallion is found or if you want something to do other than obsess over the latest clue.

It looks like the Winter Carnival is going to bring a lot of treasure hunting fun this year!