Coming in 2022... After the apples have been harvested!
The Golden Apple Tale was published in 1982 by “Cam Kaskgn” via “Fantasy Press”. The book is out of print, but you can find a black & white PDF copy here: http://kspot.org/trove/tgat.pdf
Many of the clues have been solved and are public knowledge. However, no final solution has ever been confirmed. Here's my own attempt at solving this decades old riddle. This could be one of those treasure hunts that gets lost to history at some point. But not quite yet.
Now, 40 years later, it's time to catch up with the Donlegs and MacIntoshes. Find out how the next generation has fared and discover a new twist in the ancestral stories. New riddles, new pictures and a new prize all within the same familiar setting. Who knows? Maybe in our attempts to solve the tribute hunt, some new light may be shed on the old hunt.
My kids and I are currently working on a new armchair treasure hunt called Treasure In A Field. It will be a Minecraft* novel filled with adventure and intrigue. The main character, EpIcOnE7, embarks on a treasure hunt and needs to solve various puzzles in order to cobble together a 20-digit code that will unlock the chest with the treasure. The reader will join "Epic" in his quest by solving those very same puzzles to create the 20-digit code needed to claim the real-life prize. We're aiming to have this new hunt published in the Fall of 2022.
There are a couple of different ways you can help fund the prize without giving me money.
Shop on Amazon*
If you shop on Amazon, visit them through this link. Simply by clicking on this link, I become a "referrer" and earn a commission from whatever you purchase. It's the same Amazon, same prices, same value. Amazon simply pays me a small amount because I directed you to their site*.
Loyalty/Rewards Programs
By signing up to these programs using the referral links below, I receive commission on your earnings (without reducing what you earn). While you earn your own gift cards, you'll help to build the value of the Read and Seek prizes if you sign up using the referral links below.
Swagbucks* - My favorite. Earn SB by doing everything you normally do online: shop your favorite stores, search the web, answer surveys, watch videos, play games. They also have a number of mobile apps that can be used to earn SB as well. Sign up with the referral link and the Read and Seek will earn 10% of what you earn. In my opinion, this is the best opportunity to earn your own gift cards while helping the prizes grow.
MyPoints.com* - Now owned by Swagbucks and pretty similar, including the 10% commission. I don't spend much time with this one, but still manage to cash out a bit every month or so. Mainly I click on emails and complete the daily goal.
*Minecraft, Mojang, Amazon, Swagbucks, MyPoints and Perk are not sponsors of my hunts, nor are they in any way affiliated with my hunts.
GRRiddler + 2022 expired on October 31, 2022. No one found the medallion, so I win! But don't worry, the prizes will be rolled over to the next Grand Rapids Riddler treasure hunt which starts on Tuesday, November 8. The solution to GRRiddler + 2022 can be found in the description of the video on YouTube.
For GRRiddler 2022, Derek went and found the medallion in December 2021. So the 2022 hunt was solved before the year even started! Where's the fun in that?
So, new tradition. Everybody's got a "plus" these days. Now the Grand Rapids Riddler has one too. If a hunt is solved before January 1, that triggers a spring hunt called GRRiddler +.
The hunt is over! Here's the riddle:
Like all the other Grand Rapids Riddler hunts, the main prizes will be some sort of silver and a carbon monoxide detector. I've been giving away current year U.S. Mint silver proof sets in previous hunts.
1963 US Mint Proof Set
For this inaugural GRRiddler + hunt, I'm giving away another proof set, but this one is from 1963. For decades now, the United States Mint has issued proof sets for collectors on an annual basis. Proof Sets typically feature one of each denomination from the release of circulation coins, but with each coin struck in brilliant proof. In addition to offering beautiful visuals, sets such as the 1963 Proof Set also have silver content in some of the coins.
Coin Set Highlights:
Coins arrive in sealed plastic pouches with a US Mint envelope and Certificate of Authenticity!
Includes five 1963 coins from the US Mint!
Last year for the Franklin Half Dollar!
Total issue of 3,075,645 proof sets in 1963!
Contains .6148 Troy oz of actual silver content.
Bears individual face values in US dollars.
Obverse and reverse designs vary by denomination.
Proof specimens.
The set comes with the original packaging from the United States Mint and includes a Certificate of Authenticity. Early proof sets such as these were often referred to as Proof Envelope Sets as the US Mint shipped the sets to collectors in manila envelopes to help delay the onset of tarnishing and discoloration on the coins. The coins are sealed in individual pouches in a clear sheet and packaged inside the US Mint envelope.
Included in this set are five different proof coins. These coins all have frosted designs with mirror-like background fields. Three of the five coins have 90% silver content for a total of .6148 Troy oz of silver in the set. The silver coins in this set are the 1963 Dime, 1963 Quarter, and the 1963 Half Dollar.
This set comes with a US Penny, US Nickel, US Dime, US Quarter, and the US Half Dollar. Each coin has its own design elements, with Presidents Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Washington on the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter respectively.
The highlight coin in the 1963 US Mint Proof Set is the 1963 Franklin Half Dollar. The Franklin Half Dollar design replaced the Walking Liberty Half dollar in 1948 and was struck until 1963. The next year, it was replaced by the Kennedy Half Dollar design. On the obverse side, you will find a right-profile portrait of Benjamin Franklin. The reverse face of the Kennedy Half Dollar comes with a Liberty Bell at the center of the design and a small heraldic eagle to the right side of the bell.
Steel Pennies
In addition to the 1963 Proof Set, the winner will also get a set of 10 steel pennies from 1943. The pennies were struck in steel due to wartime shortages of copper. The Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints each produced these 1943 Lincoln cents. The unique composition of the coin (low-grade steel coated with zinc, instead of the previously 95%-copper-based bronze composition) has led to various nicknames, such as wartime cent, steel war penny, zinc cent and steelie. The 1943 steel cent features the same Victor David Brenner design for the Lincoln cent which had been in use since 1909.
Due to wartime needs of copper for use in ammunition and other military equipment during World War II, the United States Mint researched various ways to limit dependence and meet conservation goals on copper usage. After trying out several substitutes (ranging from other metals to plastics) to replace the then-standard bronze alloy, the one-cent coin was minted in zinc-coated steel. This alloy caused the new coins to be magnetic and 13% lighter. They were struck at all three mints: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. As with the bronze cents, coins from the latter two sites have respectively "D" and "S" mintmarks below the date.
However, problems began to arise from the mintage. Freshly minted, they were often mistaken for dimes. Magnets in vending machines (which took copper cents) placed to pick up steel slugs also picked up the legitimate steel cents. Because the galvanization process did not cover the edges of the coins, sweat would quickly rust the metal. After public outcry, the Mint developed a process whereby salvaged brass shell casings were augmented with pure copper to produce an alloy close to the 1941–42 composition. This was used for 1944–46-dated cents, after which the prewar composition was resumed. Although they continued to circulate into the 1960s, the mint collected large numbers of the 1943 cents and destroyed them.
The steel cent is the only regular-issue United States coin that can be picked up with a magnet. The steel cent was also the only coin issued by the United States for circulation that does not contain any copper. (Even U.S. gold coins at various times contained from slightly over 2% copper to an eventual standard 10% copper to increase resistance to wear by making the pure gold coins slightly harder).
One of a Kind Winner's Mug
You wouldn't be a winner without the winner's mug! So here it is. Same style and design as the winner's mug for GRRiddler 2022, but your get a "+" added to it.
52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life
The winner of GRRiddler + 2022 will also get the book “52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s a tie in to the previous hunt, which had tie ins to the hunt before that.
If George and Mary Bailey are annual guests at your home every winter, you already know that It's a Wonderful Life is more than just a holiday tradition--it's a powerful reminder that our lives can change everyone around us, for better or worse. But what can this Christmas classic teach us about our everyday lives?
52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life will change the way you think about this holiday staple, from the lightheartedness of George and Mary's floor-parting dance to the poignancy of a community that rallies to save a desperate man, Bob Welch's 52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life will inspire you to live for the things that matter most.
Welch invites us to revisit the defining lessons in Frank Capra's 1946 classic and discover new dimensions of the film you've seen time and again, including:
What can we all learn from Mary's quiet contentedness?
Can George's selflessness make you rethink your own priorities?
What impact do we have on the people around us?
Join Welch for a close-up of the characters and themes that shape this timeless story of resilience and redemption. You'll be reminded that life's most important work is often the work we never planned to do, that God can use the most unlikely among us to get the job done, and that grace is the greatest gift we can possibly give.
Discover why It's a Wonderful Life is more than just a holiday tradition--it's an inspiration for us to lead better lives, to become people of honor and integrity, and to recognize what really matters.
