Let’s start with the first sentence.

It opens with “Because I happen to be a similar age….” I remember in middle or high school being taught to avoid opening sentences with “because.” It’s not grammatically incorrect as long as it is paired with another independent clause (which the author does). But it’s the age connection to both James Halliday (book character) and Ernest Cline (book author) that’s of interest to me right out of the gate. A RPO fan site states that Halliday was born in 1972.

A wikipedia page for Cline suggests he was born in 1972 as well.

Now, the words similar age does not imply to me the same birth year or even being within 1 calendar year. I’d give an margin of 18 months on either side of this range to feel like it could qualify as “similar.” I don’t know if the author ever explicitly shares his birth date, though we know he has a January birthday from a birthstone chapter. So then I’d say he was born in January 1971, 1972, or 1972 most likely. I think this can be helpful to consider what kinds of pop culture and world events might have been going on during his childhood, teenage, and young adult years that also may have influenced his worldview - especially in a chapter that is talking about both past and future.

The second half of this first sentence affirms that reading Ready Player One (for TTI’s author) was like re-experiencing childhood. That might be a metaphor for time travel which immediately makes me think of Back to the Future. The DeLorean time travel machine is a major element in the Back to the Future films and is also the vehicle that the RPO protagonist uses in the virtual OASIS world. There has also been a lot of speculation about the original and actual dates of the book’s publication lining up with dates seen in the movies.

These could all also be Easter eggs (fun connections planted by the author that are not clues), which also would track well with the theme of the chapter.

The first sentence ends with the word “future.”

The second sentence opens by describing the reading experience of RPO - a sci-fi book - being entertaining. One of the reasons is how it has “clues” in it. The other reason is “plot points” which has had my attention because of the potential other meaning. In one context, it can refer to the story of a book or movie and it having key moments (points). In a mathematical context, it can mean finding coordinates on a plane.

Almost a year ago I did a deeper exploration into this idea - the image above is a attempt at plotting the coordinates of all of the O’s, using the center O in the fross as the origin (0,0). Nothing really came from that for me.

But today I am thinking about the word that follows “plot points” which is “shaped.” Now I am wondering if there are some points to find in the Word Search that when plotted/marked, create some kind of shape. I know we’ve been encouraged to simply find the words on the word search, but there might be something else to do with those words. For example, there are many numbers between 0 and 19. If you treated this just as the positive quadrant of a coordinate plane, your origin would be in the bottom left corner (A). What if using a combination of the numbers found (as words) as coordinates is the way to go?

These are the numbers that I am aware of:

• 0

• 3 (x2)

• 5

• 9

• 11

• 12

• 19

And then 1 appears as well, but we have been instructed to ignore three letter words. I asked an AI tool to provide me with a list of all of the possible ordered pairs with these numbers:

Starting with 0
(0, 3), (0, 5), (0, 9), (0, 11), (0, 12), (0, 19)

Starting with 3
(3, 0), (3, 3), (3, 5), (3, 9), (3, 11), (3, 12), (3, 19)

Starting with 5
(5, 0), (5, 3), (5, 9), (5, 11), (5, 12), (5, 19)

Starting with 9
(9, 0), (9, 3), (9, 5), (9, 11), (9, 12), (9, 19)

Starting with 11
(11, 0), (11, 3), (11, 5), (11, 9), (11, 12), (11, 19)

Starting with 12
(12, 0), (12, 3), (12, 5), (12, 9), (12, 11), (12, 19)

Starting with 19
(19, 0), (19, 3), (19, 5), (19, 9), (19, 11), (19, 12)

I then asked the tool to try and come up with a plot set that uses the numbers only once (except 3) and see if when lines are connected it makes any kind of recognizable shape or abstract image:

I haven’t bothered to try any of these yet but I may.

Another idea is that it could create the shape or gesture of a trail.

I mentioned how the first sentence ended with “in the future”. This second sentence contains “from the past.” I think it’s the only paragraph in the chapter that has both words past and future, which is another reason I wonder if it’s mean to be a signal for some guidance.

Finally, it closes with the alliterative weird and wondrous (a prior alliteration was plot points). This has stood out to me because the RPO book’s main character is named Wade Watts (double w) and then, when combined with the “sci” of sci-fi, weird made me think of the somewhat raunchy concept 80’s John Hughes film Weird Science which would have hit the theaters when the author was around 13 years old (and this movie was rated PG-13 and probably not something he’d want to see with his parents or grandparents).

Some of these ideas may be stretches, but I also think that from a writing style perspective, these shorter paragraphs both in Part 1 and Part 2 seem to stand out to me.

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I feel like this is the first chapter maybe since Ch. 3 where there is clearly at least one stock/licensed photo. It feels unlikely that the author would have traveled to South America to take photographs for the book. But let’s start with the first image.

Golden Chalice

This feels like an original photo to me taken by the author or a hired photographer. While the lighting is different, the cup appears to be sitting on the same (or similar) blue surface that other treasure items have been photographed on.

The potential auction site for this item does not have an exact match of this chapter title image (i.e. not likely to have been photoshopped onto the background).

This tracks with most of the treasure item photos appearing to be original, especially since such images have been used in press clippings and on the book’s website.

Chavin Nail Head (Cabeza Clava)

I am pretty sure this is the stock image used in the book. The brightness/tone seems a little different than my ebook but the perspective seems identical. The one in the book is zoomed in (or cropped) from this fuller picture.

Chavin Stone Corridor

I believe this is the stock image of the stone corridor photographed on the page opposite the nail head above in the book (these are the images “surrounding” the missing page 90).

The lighting is definitely cool in this image (I assume it’s lighting on site and not a filter). But I also think it’s kind of funny how you see the emergency light near the end of the corridor which kind of breaks the mystical aspect of the image. I only see one other image of this corridor on Shutterstock (see below - also has an emergency light lol).

I have to assume somewhere out there there are other images of this area within Chavin that the author could have gotten the rights to in order to use in the book that also didn’t have the dissonance with the modern technology visible.

Woman and child in doorway illustration

This illustration was presumably created by the author and with or without the help of AI. A reverse image search comes up with some similar illustrations that the author or an AI tool may have used for reference (they all feel a bit dark and gloomy to me - maybe since faces are obscured).

As I look at the book’s illustration, which feels like it is meant to go along with the part of the author’s story of his mother whisking him out of the somber church event, I wonder if the doorway is meant to somehow connect to the Chavin corridor image which is framed in a similar way.

Here is an updated list of likely third party image source links that I have catalogued thus far:

• Dust Cover

  • Topographic Map

• Introduction

  • Treasure Items

• Chapter 1

  • Sapphire under UV light

  • Scotty from Star Trek

• Chapter 2

  • 4 rings

  • Double Lotus Ring

  • Khmer Ring

  • Temple

• Chapter 3

  • Japanese puzzle box

  • 3rd Faberge Imperial Egg

• Chapter 9

  • Chavin Nail Head

  • Chavin Stone Corridor

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Here is what I put down for Chapter 5 (Art Smith).

One thing that I need to check to see if it is unique or not is that this chapter has 3x full page images/illustrations (title image of the cuff, the dancers illustration, and the silver ring).

Specific Dates

Following the personal anecdote about discussing faith with a friend, the chapter narrative moves into a biographical account of Art Smith’s life and work. Two very specific dates are provided in the first two paragraphs, something not consistently done in the rest of the chapter. The first is the date of birth of Art Smith’s mother (April, 19, 1879) and the second is the date that Art Smith’s parents left Cuba for the US (July 21, 1920).

I get that the author may have had some research notes and may not have been super intentional or consistent with how he uses dates even within a largely biographical chapter. This chapter, though, with all of the historical dates that could likely be verified might have given him an opportunity to have a bunch to choose from that could be made to into a clue. Maybe it’s a zip code (72120 is in AR) or a coordinate.

Perspective or 3

There’s a bit of dissonance in a paragraph towards the end of this chapter where the author acknowledges online content and communities that will have likely emerged following the book’s publication. One of the lines suggests that “AI may share a perspective or 3.” He later goes on to say not to look at those things and instead to have “faith” in your own judgement and instinct. Still, this makes me think about many of the images in this book that AI may have helped to generate and the Chapter 20 subtitle which mentions perspective and includes a surrealist painting (Ocampo). There is a mention of surrealism in Chapter 5 when describing the influences and direction of Art Smith’s jewelry (taken from Egyptian and other African cultures).

Art Smith Block Quote

I feel like this quote which is loosely tied to the paragraph that precedes it draws attention to bodies, line, colors, and more.

Perhaps this is more of a signal to pay attention to something within another clue (i.e. the dancer’s image).

Silver Ring Photo

As I noted earlier, it strikes me that there are three full page images in this chapter. And in the print book, it is back to back with the dancers illustration. There are two (I think) other places where this layout situation occurs:

• Hopi Calendar + Chavin drinking vessel

• stars illustration + smokey quartz

But this is the only chapter where both images/pages are within the same chapter. This could be a cool place to have some thing to see through the two pages (and perhaps could technically be reproduced even using the ebook, with some effort).

As usual when trying this trick I didn’t see anything of note.

I also know the missing page 90 area has two similar layouts within the 2-page spread.

The caption here also may be calling out something to pay attention to in the dancers image.

Dancers Illustration

I still don’t have any strong ideas of what to do or make from the image. However, I continue to believe that there is some kind of writing in the bottom and that the colored jewelry items is intentional (both their colors and positions).

One idea I have considered is matching those items to treasures highlighted in the book. For example, the yellow pendant on one of the dancers near the center could be a Olympic medal or it could be the citrine pendant shown in Additional Treasure Items. Here is a fuller attempt:

This feels too flimsy to me because I have to stretch ideas to find some anklets and I don’t know about how any of the treasure items might serve as a belt or something else worn near one’s waistline.

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Today, I am speculating on two areas of how the book may have been put together. This is based on some personal experiences in writing and publishing (how structure and intent can evolve during the process) but also with some of the statements and ideas that have emerged over the past year and a half or so since the book’s launch.

Speculation #1: The Part 2 boxes chapters originally didn’t have any narrative

Towards the end of Chapter XXVII (AT Box), he describes artifacts from each of the prior 3 smaller box chapters:

In the previous three chapters I shared with you a poem, a fictional story inspired by a childhood adventure, and a few games.

And then goes on to say about this one:

I have made a treasure map for you.

What if, after first committing to hiding 5 boxes and then deciding to separate the clues for the lion’s share of the treasure, he just planned on mostly one-page puzzles for the boxes (Pokémon box chapter would be the outlier).

With just the named artifacts, is there enough information to make a connection to some of the things that are made more certain by the narrative?

Forrest Fenn

Perhaps he started with just the poem for the Forrest Fenn box - and then by his own self-editing or getting feedback from his book editor decided to add the chapter text, images, etc. to help reduce some ambiguity.

To build on that - imagine we were literally given only the poem and the heading just said “Box 1”. Based on how it is written, I would imagine folks would soon figure out that it is related to the original Fenn hunt based on the poem length, certain words and phrases, etc. Readers then might correctly also hypothesize that this box is hidden in the same region as that prior hunt.

AT

Imagine we were only given the AT Box chapter map (and its heading was “Box 4.”). The icons might hint at a mountainous region; the literal AT in the corner might be enough for folks to confidently guess that the map is of somewhere along the Appalachian Trail.

P&F

With the Past & Future box, what if we were only given the word games but it included “WELCOME TO WORD SEARCH”? First, I think the cryptogram still would have been decoded quite quickly (assuming that the popular decryption is the one that is intended). And even when decrypted, it hasn’t given much information about a general location nor does it necessarily communicate anything Past or Future (besides having the word past in it)

And then second, I am sure at some point folks would have connected the awkward word search title to “WELCOME TO ZORK!” - but maybe without as much confidence with out the Ready Player One portion of the narrative. There are some online sites (I’m not sure how licit they are so not linking) where you can play Zork in an emulator. That’s what I did for the above screenshot.

Pokémon

This takes me to the Pokémon box. What if this (“Box 2”) just started as a story with:

At a local jazz bar, I happened to meet a type of Pokémon called a Froakie.

Ignoring all of the prior text, I think it’s still reasonable to come up with ideas of potential areas based on the descriptive language (hot, swampy conditions) or potential word play (jazz bar = Jasper; hemmed in = Hemmed in Hollow). Or the mention of John Coltrane and a jazz bar might lead people towards New Orleans (which is known as the birthplace of jazz). So even without the story about the author’s childhood visit to New Orleans in the opening of the chapter, there’s enough connective phrasing in the Pokémon story portion to potentially lead someone to the southern/southeastern US.

This speculation is that the author may have just had a very bare bones version of the puzzles and then only added the narrative later when he thought it might be too hard without (and of course, it is still to hard even with them!). This is what is on my mind as I hear him state how all we need is the poem or map or story or focus on finding words in the word search.

Speculation #2: The puzzle types from each of the Part 2 boxes are part of solving the Part 1 box

In chapter 3 we learn that the lion’s share box is designed in a way that has elements from each of the four smaller boxes. Based on Seth Gould’s Instagram timeline it also appears that it was the last one that was built and shipped.

I wonder if each of the puzzle types in Part 2 can be associated with some of the elements or potential mechanics seen in part 1? In addition to being a clever integration, it would probably be less cognitive stress to reuse certain puzzle design mechanics when crafting a book like this.

Poem

There are at least three distinct poems in Part 1:

• dust cover almost-Haiku

• Joy’s serenade

• Amelia Earhart-related poems

I would lean towards the dust cover and Joy’s Serenade being the likely candidates as the “poem” nod.

Fictional Story

There are several personal childhood anecdotes while maybe not complete fiction also feel like they’ve been modified to include great details that feel unreasonable for anyone to recall decades later. Some candidates include:

• Peter Cottontail song at the vigil

• Middle School basketball game

• Directions to the excavation site

Word & Letter Games

I’m trying to think of places where individual letters are called out and feel suspect:

• S-A-L-E-S

• S.E.X.

• Hopi calendar (A-N-T-L-E-R as under/overlined words)

• Close-up of Thoreau page?

Map

I wonder if any of the large illustrations might also conceal or include maps?

• Chivor explorers

• Dancers

• Earhart plane flying

• Shipwreck

• Saloon

• Forest fire

• Night sky

• Picasso mural

I particularly like the shipwreck, saloon, and night sky because they have fairly clear X marks (whether those were added or accidental artifacts is unclear to me).

These thoughts don’t necessarily help me feel any closer to finding the boxes because I probably would have included all of these things as likely clues regardless of their being potential tie-ins to Part 2 puzzles.

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