First of all, Game 3 is still on schedule to be launched sometime this summer. It will be the last game in the Mr. E series but not the final ClueChaser game. I’m already working on ideas for the next one.

Secondly, since some time has passed since the events of Game 2: Puzzle PiEces I will be giving everyone a brief refresher in what has happened and where we are in the story. I will be doing this in the form of some small build-up puzzles. They will be fairly easy puzzles that once solved, will reveal a portion of events that have happened over the past two games. They are also a nice way to get you back in the groove since ClueChaser puzzles seem to have their own “style” of puzzlery.

And finally. I thought it would be fun to add a little twist and include a “key” in each build-up puzzle. In addition to the plot summary you get with each correctly solved puzzle you will also get a word or a number (or some such thing, I haven’t decided yet) that will be needed to start Game 3. Without all of them you won’t be able to begin. I will provide a discussion area where you can discuss the puzzles with others but any posting of the answer will be removed.

Incidentally. the comment board will be different in game 3. It will be located at a different site. I found that having a comment board within ClueChaser made it much easier to be hacked.

So stay tuned. The build up puzzles will begin soon and will show up intermittently between now and the game start date.

Good luck and happy chasing!

I started the Mr. E puzzle series with a broad storyline in mind. I was confident that the details would fill themselves in as I went along. And they did. During games 1 and 2 players learned who Edward Fletcher was and that he discovered something very important. By solving the puzzles and following the clues players uncovered a government secret that a disease known as Environmenally Related Rapid Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (ERRODS) was rapidly spreading across the world. Mr E. was on the trail of tracking down the source when a mistakenly revealed password led to an attack on the San Francisco apartment where he and his colleagues were hiding. News reports indicated that everyone in the apartment was killed. With Edward Fletcher presumably dead players were left wondering if the cure for ERRODS would ever be found? This is where the storyline is now.

During the past year the remainder of the story has been brewing in the back of my mind. I knew where I wanted to go and how to get there but still needed to work out what clues would be found along the way. I imagine that fiction authors go through similar thought processes. Things were moving along at a nice pace when suddenly, bad things happened. If you’ve watched the video you know what happened. You know the site was hacked over and over. You know that I had to shut it down.

Now that it is back up and ultra-secure (and I’m a little wiser) the story can continue. During the site down time I did a lot of work on the plot details. Along with that I had to think up different kinds of puzzles. The trickiest part turned out to be trying to figure out how to give out the information the players would need for the story without bogging the game down. Previously I had accomplished this by including the information in the puzzle itself (like this one). Other times I made it part of the puzzle answer (like this one). However, I find that kind of puzzle difficult to design and after creating almost 40 different kinds of puzzles for the previous games and other projects my creative juices were running dry.

The good news is that the creative block in my mind that I had been chipping away at for the past several months finally seems to be giving way. The story line is clear. The path is set. The clues are being placed. Game 3 should be the most exciting one yet. New puzzles, new characters are introduced and more details are revealed.

I am excited to tell you that during the buildup to the launch of Game 3: Chasing Shadows I plan to release mini puzzles to wet your appetite. To get you in the mood so to speak. I also hope to create a couple more teaser videos to help set the stage. My goal is to have everything ready to go by June. In the months prior to that I will be asking for your help to get the word out. The more players we have the better the game experience will be.

This will be the most complex game of the three. Twists and turns await you as you brave the shadows and chase the clues. Reward and reputation are on the line as you race your fellow Cluechasers to the end.

?? – Is E dead
?? – What is the source of the chemical
?? – Who is the mole

These are the questions that need answers. Will you be the one to do it?
We’ll see soon enough.

The Legend

The story goes something like this. Oak Island is located off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. One day in 1795 a teenager named Daniel McGinnis made his way to the island to explore it. He happened upon an oak tree (one of many on the island) which caught his eye because hanging from one outstretched limb was an old pulley. The type used to raise and lower heavy items. It was situated directly over a large circular depression in the ground. Realizing what this might be he returned the next day with two friends, Anthony Vaughan and John Smith. They began digging with picks and shovels. It was clear by the marks on the side of the hole that it had been dug my men and then refilled. . At the 2 foot mark they hit a layer of flagstones. They removed them and continued digging. At the 10 foot level they hit wood. Visions of pirate treasure danced in their heads. There were many stories circulating during that time of treasure belonging to the infamous pirate Captain Kidd being buried on some island. The wood turned out to be oak logs. Removing the logs revealed a two foot gap and then more dirt. As they continued digging they found another layer of logs at 20 feet and again at 30 feet. At this point they realized they needed more help and more equipment so they left the island with the idea of returning to finish what they started.
It would be 9 years before they returned. This time they were accompanied by Simeon Lynds, a businessman. He provided the labor force and financial backing to continue the dig. They found the site as they had left it. They began digging. At 40 feet they found a layer of charcoal. At 50 feet they found a layer of putty. At 60 feet, a layer of coconut fiber. At the 90 foot mark they discovered a stone tablet inscribed with symbols. These symbols were later translated to say “40 feet below, two million pounds lie buried.”

A few feet below the tablet the tunnel began to flood. Unable to bail the water from the tunnel faster than it filled the group gave up.
In 1849 the Truro company formed and dug the tunnel back down to 86 feet where it again flooded. At that point they sank a drill into the pit. The”pod auger” passed through a spruce platform at 98 feet, a 12-inch head space, 4 inches of oak, 22 inches of what was described as “metal in pieces”, 8 inches of oak, another 22 inches of metal, 4 inches of oak, another spruce layer, and finally into clay for 7 feet without striking anything else. It was believed that the auger passed through two 4 inch thick chests stacked on top of each other and filled with gold metal of some kind. Some of the stories mention a foreman named John Pitblado, who carefully examined an object that was caught up in the bit and then put it in his pocket. He soon disappeared and never returned to the island but apparently tried to purchase it, without success. No one knows what he had found.
Because the water in the pit couldn’t be removed fast enough an attempt was made to dig a second hole parallel the first and then tunnel over. It failed when that hole also filled with water.

Later they would discover a drain system had been dug into the island and that the island itself contained an artificial beach. The drain consisted of 5 channels spread out like fingers and dug into the clay under the beach. They were lined with rocks, grass and coconut fiber. This in effect created a filtering system that kept the drains clear of debris all through the years. The 5 channels eventually converged together and provided the water that filled the pit 500 feet away at a depth of 95 to 100 feet. A clever booby trap. All attempts to block the channels failed.

There are many more details but in the interest of time I will just cover the highlights. Over the next 150+ years many more attempts were made by several companies to dig down to the treasure. So far all have failed. The treasure remains at the bottom of the aptly named Money Pit waiting to be discovered.

For more details on the history of the Oak Island you can check out the website http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/

Theories

There are many theories as to what lies at the bottom of the pit and there are numerous websites dedicated to proving each theory. Some of the more popular ones are:
Captain Kidd’s treasure – By far the most popular theory but as more information is gathered, this is quickly becoming less likely.

Combined booty of several pirates – An interesting theory presented by a fellow named Samuel Goodman. He believes there are seven maps that when put together reveal the exact location of the treasure. He says he’s linked the five maps he knows of together but does not have the final two.

The lost treasure of the Knights Templar – recent findings on the island point to symbols and such used by Freemasons including a giant cross.

Hidden documents belonging to Francis Bacon - You may already be familiar with the idea that William Shakespeare didn’t have the education and ability to write the works that are attributed to him. Some suggest that they were actually written by Bacon and the proof for this lies at the bottom of the Money Pit.

Other theories that have less information to support them include
Inca Treasure
French crown jewels
Aliens

As the dig continues with no treasure found and no end in sight many are beginning to think that nothing lies at the bottom of the pit. The website http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/OI_chapter1.shtml
is probably the most detailed of the sites I found that insists it is all a clever hoax. The strongest argument for this is the lack of historical records prior to 1860 that can support the details of the story. It also explains how the Oak Island treasure story contains elements that are shared by many made up tales of the time (discovered by kids, treasure “just out of reach”, etc).

What do I think?

I remember when I was 6 or 7 years old I watched a documentary on TV that suggested Noah’s Ark had been found on Mount Ararat.

They mentioned that pieces of petrified wood of the same kind the Bible says the ark was made of had been found. In addition to that a jet fighter pilot passing over the mountain had taken pictures of the ark. Then mysteriously the pictures disappeared. To make matters worse the mountain was smack dab in the middle of two hostile countries and if anyone climbed the mountain to investigate it would spark a war. I recall being excited about this and frustrated that there was no concrete proof of the ark’s existence. I distinctly remember that I was munching on fig Newton cookies while watching this program.

I thought about that documentary from time to time over the years and wondered if any progress had ever been made. Then about a decade later I mentioned the program to a friend of mine during a conversation we were having. The very next day I’m flipping channels and what do I see? The same documentary playing again. I couldn’t believe it! So what did I do? I went to the cupboard, grabbed the fig Newtons’, plopped down in a chair and watched it again. Noah’s Ark and fig Newtons. Nostalgia swept over me. To this day I can’t think of one without thinking of the other.

After several minutes I realized that the program was exactly the same as it was the first time I saw it. All this time had passed and nothing had changed. No progress had been made; no new revelations had been discovered. It was then that I realized that it was likely a hoax.

That’s kind of how I feel about the Oak Island mystery. When I first heard about it I was excited and captivated by the fact that there could be hidden treasure at the bottom of the pit. As time goes on and I read more about, the similarities to the Noah’s Ark documentary begin to show. The missing stone tablet. The mysterious item plucked from the auger bit and pocketed, never to be seen again. The lack of historical records prior to 1860. Items discovered that may belong to the original pit creators or perhaps just things left behind during the intervening years. I sure want there to be something there. No one likes to have the wool pulled over their eyes. In the case of the Oak Island Money Pit only time, and a whole lot more money, will tell.

Many people make resolutions for the new year. Something they want to accomplish or a habit they want to break. Maybe a destination they want to travel to.
It’s easy to think about the empty year stretched out before us and imagine all kinds of possibilities.
The problem is that possibilities often don’t translate into realities. The majority of people hit a roadblock or two and give up on some or all of their resoutions before the year barely gets started.

For me, I plan to make 2010 a year of progress and completion. You see, many have bestowed upon me the lofty title of

I know it won’t be easy. Many of the items on my mental list have been there a long time. It’s time to blow off the dust and see what it will take to get them done.

One of the items on the list is to complete Game 3: Chasing Shadows. I’ve been “working” on it for a year and a half now. Many of you have been waiting very patiently. I appreciate that. There have been a few setbacks but that is no excuse. It will be ready this year. From what I can see so far, it will be the hardest one yet.

So whether you tiptoe cautiously into 2010 or hit the ground running I hope that later on as we look back on our lives, this one stands out as the year with the fondest memories. The year we’re most proud of.

We can do it. I know it.

If you don’t know Jesus, I pray that during the 2010 year you take some time to look into that. I didn’t become a Christian until I was 30 and even then it was only after much reading, studying, sole searching, questioning, and finally praying. Looking back on it I can’t believe it took me so long and how stubborn I was to accept it. I hope your journey is not as long and difficult as mine was.

Merry Christmas all you Cluechasers out there. Be safe. Be joyful.

I wanted to start with a puzzle that is close to my heart. It’s not a puzzle in the true sense of the word but it’s certainly a problem that is very difficult to solve yet must be attempted on a daily basis. My 10 year old son has been doing so since he was 6. And soon my 2 year old son may be joining him.

Type 1 Diabetes – Hitting a moving target

There are 2 main types of diabetes. The most common (particularly in the US) is type 2. This type generally occurs in adults and is caused in large part to poor diet and being overweight. The body becomes resistant to insulin (produced by the pancreas, insulin acts as a doorway that allows sugar to enter the cells to be converted to energy). When your body doesn’t properly use insulin the cells don’t get the sugar and it stays in the bloodstream and your blood sugar level goes up. This is corrected by taking additional insulin, usually in pill form. Over time continuous high blood sugar levels can cause a variety of health issues such as heart disease, blindness, poor circulation, etc. This type of diabetes can usually be controlled with a proper diet, exercise and weight loss..

Type 1 (previously referred to as juvenile diabetes) occurs more commonly in children. It is an autoimmune disease which means that the body’s own immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the islets that produce insulin. With little or no insulin being produced the cells can’t get the sugar which causes the blood sugar level to increase. If it goes too high the person will become comatose and without treatment will die. To prevent this insulin must be administered manually.

Thank to advances in medical science this process has become a little easier. Several times a day my son must prick his finger to draw a droplet of blood. He uses a meter to measure the amount of sugar in his blood.

If the level is above the desired range he must give himself insulin to bring it down. If the level is too low he needs to eat or drink something that contains enough carbohydrates to bring his sugar level back up. If the level goes to low he could pass out or go into a coma. Whenever he eats or drinks he has to determine the amount of carbs in the meal or snack and give himself enough insulin to cover it and keep his sugar level within range.

He wears a device called a pump that contains a small reservoir of insulin and is connected to him via a small tube and catheter that is inserted into his skin.

Every 3 days he has to change out this catheter (called an infusion set). This is the part he dislikes the most. The needle is about an inch and a half long and is inserted in fatty parts of his body like his arms, legs, belly, etc.

Attached to the needle is the small catheter. The needle is removed and the catheter remains. The plus side of this process is he only needs one needle every three days instead of several needles each day. The pump has an interface that allows him to enter in his blood sugar level and the amount of carbs he is consuming. The necessary amount of insulin is delivered by the pump, through the tube and catheter into his body based on predetermined algorithms.

Sounds easy enough right? So what makes this an ultimate puzzle? The body is a wonderfully complex system. There are numerous factors that affect how the body uses insulin. The insulin my son would give himself to cover the carbs in a meal may keep him in range one day but the same amount for the same meal on a different day might cause him to “go low” (have a blood sugar level below his desired range) or “go high”. It is not an exact science. The variables fluctuate. Things like exercise, stress, illness, food combinations, mood, hormones, all affect blood sugar levels. Getting the right amount of insulin in his body to keep him in range is like shooting at a target on a jackrabbit racing through tall grass while you’re riding a mechanical bull attached to a rollercoaster. It’s frustrating and maddening.

Blood sugar highs and lows take a toll on the body. Over time they can cause many health related issues. Some of them I’ve already mentioned like heart disease and blindness but some additional ones are high blood pressure, mental health issues, and neuropathy (nerve damage). Fortunately my son is very in tune with his body and feels when he is going low and takes care of it. So far we have not experienced the scariest parts of going low or going high although we have come close. It’s a constant battle and always on our minds. It is something that he can never take a break from.

Occasionally, my wife and I do get a break from it. Thanks to a place called Bearskin Meadow Camp.

The camp, run by the Diabetic Youth Foundation (DYF), is for children with type 1 diabetes. Their kids camps allow parents the opportunity to let their child go away for a week and have an incredible time doing wonderous things with other children with diabetes. The camp is staffed with knowledgeable counselors and staff that are not only well trained but who also have type 1 diabetes. Parents get a well needed break and the kids get to feel “normal” for awhile. Instead of being the only kid in their class who has to check their blood or read a nutrition label they are surrounded by friends who all do it. It is the highlight of my son’s year. They also have family camps that our whole family can attend. The kids get to do activities, crafts, swimming, hiking, archery, games, plays, etc and the parents attend workshops to learn how to better manage diabetes, what the latest technology is, and also talk with other parents who understand the struggle and the pain and the worry and can be a sympathetic ear when you need it most. Strong friendships are forged among kids and parents. It is truly a magical place.

DYF is a non-profit organization and it takes a lot of money to run these camps. My wife in I co-chair a yearly walk called the Families in the Forest Fun-raiser Walk in the Sacramento, CA area. It is one of their main fundraisers of the year. Last year my son reached his sponsorship goal of $2500 despite the economic situation. This year his goal is more ambitious. He’s trying to raise $3000 which helps kids like him go to the camp. It is a very worthy cause. If you are interested in helping Tyler reach his goal you can donate online at www.firstgiving.com/tylerchilcote. If you prefer not to do it online you can contact me at cowpattybill@yahoo.com to discuss alternative options. But please do not feel obligated.

If you would like more information about the Diabetic Youth Foundation visit their website at www.dyf.org .

For more information about Diabetes in general please visit www.diabetes.org.

The most important thing to remember is that my son and everyone else with type 1 diabetes is normal in every way. The only difference is their pancreas doesn’t work properly. They can do anything and everything that anyone else can. They can eat whatever they want and they can become whoever they want to be. They are not defined by their condition. They are not diabetics. They are people with diabetes.

Thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it. Diabetes management is one difficult puzzle. So for all you puzzle lovers out there, this is one I would love to see solved. Soon.

Cowpatty Bill
aka Tyler’s Dad.

To tell that story we’ll have to jump into the Way-Back machine and travel back in time to the mid 80’s. Uh, that’s 1980’s. Somewhere around 1983 or 84.

I had a tape recorder. For the young ones reading this that my not know what a tape recorder is, read the wikipedia article. It looked a little like this one.

My friends and I used to record ourselves all the time doing all kinds of things. Eventually it morphed into an imaginary radio station called Station F.A.R.M. (I grew up in very rural northern Alberta, Canada). We needed radio names so I created Cowpatty Bill. It just popped into my head. My friend Bryce was Gooseneck Frank and another friend Terry was Barnyard Joe. We made up news stories, traffic reports, even commercials, and we taped them all. I recall that we had a lot of fun with it.

Fast forward (get it? Sorry, tape humor) a few years to about 1997. The internet was becoming very popular. Eager to get in on the action I teamed up with a friend and created a website to do movie reviews. We called it Chili-n-Willie’s Movie Reviews for the Common Man. Thanks to the beauty of the internet never getting rid of anything the site is still up. I have long since closed my account with that ISP so I no longer have access to add, update, or at least remove the content. So there is sits in all it’s faded glory. You can see it….here.
(Watch the looping video clip on the front page. It’s funny)

We had a unique rating system. We used cow patties (poop) and the more patties a movie had, the more it stunk. So a movie with one patty was great whereas a movie with five patties was considered a terrible flick.

Branching off the imagined success of that I created a site where I challenged visitors with movie quote trivia. With the idea in mind that I would create several more successful sites I needed a main portal to encompass them all. That’s when I resurrected the name and created Cowpatty Bill Entertainment See it…here.
(I like how I make it sound like there are several people involved in the various sites when in reality it was all just me)
You can see that I even have a store that is still open.

So that is how it all started. Since then I’ve tried to keep my real name out of the internet by usng my alias. Is my real name out there? Yes, I can google myself and find a few links to me. Even some that tie me to the Cowpatty Bill name. I’m okay with it though. That name is more popular than my real one.

I’m married (12.5 years now) and have 3 incredibly awesome children. My oldest, Tyler is almost 10 and has Type 1 diabetes (this is why I support dyf.org), my daughter Emily is 8 and is becoming a talented piano player. My youngest is Ryan who is 2 and a half and is pre-diabetic. He is qute the handful.

Recently Ty and Em announced to me that they wanted their own Cowpatty identities. Tyler said he wanted to called Cowpatty Jr. Emily decided to be clever and came up wth Cowpatty Belle. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Kids are great.

By the way, my friend Bryce (Gooseneck Frank) went on to become an actual radio DJ. I like to think that I had a hand in that.

Thanks for reading.
Cowpatty Bill

At long last Cluechaser is back online.  To celebrate this momentous occasion I created a new video and it’s dedicated to you.

The layout and purpose of the site is changing.  It is being redesigned to be a place you can come to find all the latest info on puzzle games that are like Cluechaser.  I will be posting most of the previous puzzles as well as new puzzles as I create them. 

What about <b>Game 3: Chasing Shadows</b>? I am still working on it.  I hope to have it ready to be released by the end of the year.  For those who don’t know, Game 3 is the third and final puzzle contest in the Mr. E series where players have to solve a series of puzzles to unlock clues in order to solve the mystery.

Anyway, look around, enjoy the site and let me know what you think.  I’m glad to be back.

Cowpattybill

Here are the clues to the “twuzzle” (twitter + puzzle) that were tweeted. See if you can solve it. Look for a hint at the bottom if you need it. Good luck.

Twuzzle #1

Part 1

23 clues

Clue 1: In this state It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

Clue 2: In this state coins are not allowed to be placed in one’s ears.

Clue 3: In this state it is illegal for a man to purchase alcohol without written consent from his wife.

Clue 4: In this state women are prohibited from wearing patent leather shoes in public

Clue 5: In this state a citizen is forbidden by law to give another citizen a box of candy that weights more than 50 lbs.

Clue 6: In this state it is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.

Clue 7: In this state it is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water.

Clue 8: In this state women may not drive in a house coat.

Clue 9: In this state canned corn is not to be used as bait for fishing.

Clue 10: In this state a parent can be arrested if his or her child can’t hold back a burp during a church service.

Clue 11: In this state it is illegal to wear a false moustache which causes laughter in church.

Clue 12: In this state it is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.

Clue 13: In this state dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate on private property in groups of 3 or more

Clue 14: In this state it is illegal to push a live moose out of a moving aircraft.

Clue 15: In this state it is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.

Clue 16: In this state more than 8 women may not live in the same house because that would constitute a brothel.

Clue 17: In this state it is illegal to gargle in public.

Clue 18: In this state a husband is responsible for every criminal act commited by his wife while she is in his presence.

Clue 19: In this state it is illegal for a kiss to last more than five minutes.

Clue 20: In this state it is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroner’s office.

Clue 21: In this state it is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.

Clue 22: In this state R rated movies shall not be shown at drive-in theaters.

Clue 23: In this state animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.

Part 2

Use the clues to determine the special “day” and the date?

So you’re looking for two answers. The day and the date. Good luck!

Here are some hints:
Hint 1:
show

Hint 2:
show

Hint 3:
show

Hint 4:
show

Since then the websites that contained the hidden map pieces have updated their sites and the pieces are no longer there to find. Because of this many of the puzzles had to be reworked. So now, in the instances where the puzzle reveals a URL, you will type the URL as the answer (without the http://) instead of navigating to the website indicated (unless instructed otherwise).

If you wish to see the individual map pieces and solve the puzzle therein I will put them all together at the bottom of the list but they shouldn’t be done until all the other puzzles have been done.

Also keep in mind that within this game, you may need clues from previous puzzles in order to solve others.