What is the solution to _Conundrum_ by Don Shaw?

[ Editor: from an unsigned web page "Conundrum Solution". ]

1. Professor Egghead

The clues in the story are to be found in the place names of Ampthill,
Roxton, Potton and Langford. If these places are joined together by a
line on an Ordnance Survey map they enclose an area to the west of
Bedford. The Professor 'rested ..... underneath a big tree'. This
suggests the casket lies in that position somewhere in this area. The
road between Cardington village and the next village, called Old Warden
forms a tree lined avenue (vis 'Et Ego in Arcadia') and as one journeys
towards the latter village there is a farm gate on the right hand side
similar to the one in the illustration. There are two trees on the
opposite side of the road in the illustration as there are in reality.
The second tree marks the Professor's destination as the extremity of
the picture. The casket lies at the foot of this tree.

2. Conundrum

The story is based on the legend of the Shepherd of Balmain. This
rhymes with 'brand name' (see third verse). 'My first is a bogie', this
is Humphrey Bogart. A 'key in his pocket' suggests the film Key Largo.
in which he starred. The shepherd and film indicate Largo Law, a
hillside in Fifeshire off the road between Upper Largo and St Andrews.
The reference to 'gold mine' in verse two, and the 'Wizard', reinforce
the legend of Largo Law which can be found in any Scottish reference
library dealing in folk lore and legend. Even the 'cowherd' in verse
four, his disappearance and the men who went out to bury him are all
significant features in the original legend. The 'cock' that was 'kind
not to crow' is another pointer to the story. The seventh verse
indicates the farmyard beneath the hilltops. There is a farmyard on the
side of Largo Law just above the roadside. 'Below that the hole in
which the egg drops' could not be clearer. A 'U' turn road sign
immediately beneath this farmyard does not exist. But ... if you take
the right hand part of the sign away you are left with a road sign that
indicates a right hand bend ahead. This sign is there and the casket is
buried beneath it.

3. A Giant's Place

This story is based on the old legend concerning the origin of the
Wrekin. But the giant lived in the 'Welsh mountains'. He used all his
'might and main ..... local mountain'. To the north of the A495 road
between the village of Meifod and the village of Godor is a mountain
called 'Ally-y-Main', a similar sounding name. Moreover the giant lived
in 'a tall house with twin caves beneath'. Immediately under the
mountain at the side of the A495 is a tall house with twin caves
beneath. The clue to this is reinforced in the illustration that
accompanies the story, exaggerated perhaps but not essentially similar
to the house in reality.  The casket cannot be buried in these 'caves'
as they are private property.  The nearest, most obvious place is
opposite the dividing wall which separates the caves. The casket lies
on the grass verge on the other side of the road, dead opposite the
dividing wall.

4. The Prize

This story is based upon the old tale of the 'king' who sought the
crown of England. Beaten and weary, he and his knights arrived at a
point on a hillside south of Long Compton village in Warwickshire. Here
he met a witch who told him that a simple test would show whether or
not he would realise his ambition. Whilst the knights stayed in a field
on the southern side of the hilltop road, he would cross over a field
on the northern side. If, from this vantage point, he could see Long
Compton then, indeed, King of England he would become. However, there
was a penalty should he fail to espy the village. He and his knights
would be turned into pillars of stone. The poem deals with this
unfortunate man. A visit to the site now called 'The Rollright Stones'
(marked on any large scale map) will show the King 'standing stone' to
the north of a stone circle. This land is of historical and
archaeological interest and the casket would not be found within the
environs of the stones. A logical conclusion therefore would be to
assume the casket to be buried on the grass verge immediately adjacent
to the public road which separates the 'King' from his 'Knights'.  If
the treasure hunter looks at the accompanying illustration to the story
he will see a framed picture of two Silver Birch trees. There are
similar trees on the grass verge immediately to the north of the stone
circle of 'Knights'. Moreover, the word 'tall' occurs twice in the
penultimate verse of the poem. If one stands facing the tallest tree
from the road-side and aligns it with the Tallest Stone then the strong
likelihood is that the casket is buried on the rough grass verge in a
continuation of that imaginary line. And this is, indeed the case!

5. Easter Monday

The traditional act of egg rolling on Easter Monday is very much a
Lancashire custom. Beacon and Totridge Fells are both in Lancashire as
are Darwen and Rawtenstall. The 'centre of the bounded universe'
suggests that these places enclose the area in which the casket lies.
How to find the centre? Draw lines connecting each of the four places.
A line is drawn from Beacon Fell to Darwen, one from Darwen to
Rawtenstall, one from Rawtenstall to Totridge, and, finally, one from
Totridge to Beacon Fell forms an overall rectangle, the centre of which
is ascertained by drawing lines from corner to opposite corner. Where
the two lines cross, is the approximate centre. On an ordnance survey
map you will find this place to be somewhere on the A59 road between
Osbaldestone and Whalley. Now look at the illustration to the story.
There is a green footpath signpost the type of which can be found at
the side of any road in England. The nearest signpost on the A59 to the
'centre of the bounded universe' is the one stating a footpath to
Ribchester. The casket is buried at the foot of the signpost.

6. 'W' & 'B'

The two giants, W and B, are well known figures of Yorkshire legend. As
man and wife they are supposed to have built Pickering Castle. Having
established this fact the first clue lies in the sixth verse of the
poem.  'Inside a day' is a phrase which bears a similarity with 'All in
day's work'. The latter is a translation of the Old English word
'Diate' The Diate Tower of the castle faces the main approach road to
the building.  Outside its wall there is a ditch and then a public
footpath. Beyond the footpath is a rough grass verge. If the casket
were to be buried in the castle environs clearly this would be the
place as elsewhere would be contrary to the guidance given in the
introduction to the Conundrum book.  The treasure hunter will notice
that there are arrow slits vertically aligned in the outside wall.
Verse eight of the poem refers to the 'crack'. If one faces these
'cracks' and steps backwards on to the rough grass verge the 'line'
will lead to the buried casket.

7. The Refuge

The story of the legendary bird, an Auk, is interwoven with that of
Walter de la Auk, a deeply religious man who held illegal services in a
natural ravine a few miles north of Leek in Staffordshire. One day the
King's men marched on the ravine and arrested all those in attendance,
including Lud himself. Hence 'Imprisoned by a hateful king'. There is
another less obvious clue, in a preceding line of the same verse: "Dull
is he'. This is Lud spelt backwards. The actual dimensions of the
ravine are delineated in verse four: 'Nine hundred feet (long) by fifty
high'. Verse six tells us that 'The church of refuge now denied' (by
the King's men) a neighbouring church 'has open doors'. A close
neighbouring church is the Methodist chapel situated on the A54 road
between Buxton and Congleton.  It is approximately one and a half miles
north west of 'Lud's Church'.  'Some paces from its heavenly gate .....
golden riches will be found'. A visit to the chapel will establish that
the 'heavenly gate', meaning the front door of the church faces a grass
verge on the opposite side of the road. The verge is not wide and is
the only place where the casket could be buried. The casket lies
directly opposite the centre of the doorway.

8. A Child's Dream

William Blake, mystic and poet, is reported as going 'down to Sussex'
where he 'heard the fairies'. But, in order to go down to Sussex the
traveller must cross through Surrey. On the journey the traveller might
come across a 'threefold image of the world' in the villages of Ifold,
Dunsfold and Alfold. 'If all stood proud and I were left ...' A look at
an Ordnance Survey map will show that Alfold stands at the apex of a
triangle which has Ifold at its left corner and Dunsfold at its right.
'An equidistant pointed path would centre on out height ...' The
height of the triangle can be measured by drawing a line between the
apex (Alfold [Editor: "Alford" in the original]) and the centre of the
base line which joins the villages of Ifold and Dunsfold. This
bisection of the base line is a point equidistant from both villages.
Similarly the centre of the triangle is the nearest equidistant point
from any of the three villages. It is the point at which a public road
becomes private as indicated by a 'Private Road' sign on the left hand
grass verge. The treasure Hunter will see this sign in the accompanying
illustration to the story. The casket is buried at the foot of this
sign.

9. John Tregeagle

The story of John Tregeagle is based on an old west country legend.
The clues to the mystery of the hidden casket lie in the third and
penultimate verses of the poem. The various place names can be joined
together on the map so that Roche is at the apex of a triangle with
Newton Abbot and Heath Cross on the base line. 'The Dice terrestrial
and Marine' is really a red herring, referring to the game of 'Pitch
and Toss' in the previous line, although finding the exact burial place
is something of a gamble. To 'mark this place' what better than a
pendulum? This controls the tick of Hell's machine. But a pendulum can
only mark a place when it is at rest. It follows logically that the
metronomic looking triangle would be more of a 'machine', with a
pendulum dropped from Roche to the centre of the base line. There is a
clue to Heath Cross in 'O mark this place with prayer'. Heath Cross, by
its very name, has a religious connection and there is a Christian
cross on the signpost in the centre of the hamlet. However, this is not
the place of burial since the pendulum comes to rest somewhere on the
lane between Heath Cross and Itton Hamlets.  The exact place is seen in
the book illustration. The stone pillars forming a gateway with a tree
the right hand side can be seen in the lower centre part of the
picture. The actual gateway looks very similar but is clearly on
private land. The tree, however, is not on private land.  Therefore, it
is buried in front of this tree, on the grass verge.

10. The Burning Hand

This story is based upon the old north country legend of the robber
who used a withered human hand as a 'sleeping token' in order to keep
the occupants of an inn asleep whilst he carried out his nefarious act.
This inn is situated on the road across Bowes Moor to the west of
Barnard Castle. This road now the A66, joins the two communities of
Brough and Bowes. A journey along the road will reveal the solitary inn
at High Spital called the 'Coach and Horses'. Today, it is a roadside
cafe, although the old inn sign still hangs outside. In the
illustration which accompanies the story the treasure hunter will be
faced with the open door of the inn. It is the very size of the doorway
which suggests a clue as to the whereabouts of the casket. It's 'head
on' visual impact is such that it suggests the casket is buried dead
opposite the doorway. The only place where the casket might be buried
is on the grass verge on the other side of the road immediately in
line with the centre of the doorway.

11. Cuckoo Cuckoo

The story is written in West Country dialect and is based on the
Cuckoos of Crewkerne folktale.  Crewkerne is of course a town in
Somerset.  From here on all the clues necessary for solving the puzzle
lie within the illustration. There are figures of Little Bo Peep,
sheep, a huntsman riding and a sheep dog. These figures can be seen at
the roadside at Misterton which is close to Crewkerne. They are
contained in a roadside painted sign approximately three miles from
Misterton railway station on the left hand side of the road. The casket
was buried at the foot of the sign.

12. Island Mystery

'To solve this strangest mystery you start at Tynwald Hill'. The next
instruction is to go eastwards 'into history where church and film are
still'. The church is St Trinian's near Crosby. There were a number of
films made about St Trinian's. 'Northeast go to Turf Mountain .... and
climb the top .... two thousand thirty four'. This is the height of
Snaefell mountain. '"More gold," you cry'. This is the village of
Maughold in the north east of the island. The English pronunciation of
the name is 'more gold'. A 'soldier beckons still'. The soldier is
'still'. He is dead. His grave lies in Maughold churchyard adjacent to
the rear entrance gate opposite the back of the church. He 'beckons' in
the way he lies.  Behind the headstone is a wall [Editor: "will" in
the original] which bounds the churchyard. Clearly the casket is not
buried on sacred ground. It is a short step to deduce that it must be
buried immediately behind the wall as near the grave as possible.