Tag: Unidentified Earth

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Identifying Earth

Judging from the complete lack of guesses on the last four entries in the Unidentified Earth series, and to judge from the lack of response when I mentioned closing down the series last week, I assume that the series has run its course. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, but nothing lasts forever, right?

Anyway, to give away the last four entries: UI 69 is Chimney Rock in Nebraska. UI 70 is Newgrange, the ancient building in Ireland that aligns with the sun on the solstices; UI 71 is Taughannock Falls, near Ithaca, NY; and UI 72 is the B&O Warehouse beyond the right field wall at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD.

And there we have it. Thanks for playing, folks!

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Unidentified Earth #72

OK, we took a week off last week, but now we’re back to full strength, or so it would seem…wouldn’t it? Hmmmm…anyway.

We have three entries that still have no guesses to them: UI 69 (a location west of the Mississippi), UI 70 (a location in the British Isles), and the last entry, UI 71 (a location in New York State). I know, lame hints, but I’m running low. (And to be honest, I initially didn’t even remember what UI 71 was! But now I’ve remembered. Ha! Hmmmm….)

And here’s the new puzzler:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses.

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Unidentified Earth #71

We’re almost caught up, with the exception of last week’s UI 70, a place where astronomical knowledge can come into play, and the preceding UI 69, around which no one has circled the wagons to guess correctly. But UI 68 was pegged as Tintern Abbey, the Wales church-in-ruins that served as inspiration to one of William Wordsworth’s more famed poems. Congrats, guessers!

And now for the new puzzler:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses!

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Unidentified Earth #70

OK! We have two identifications: UI 66 has been pegged as the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX — otherwise known as the location of “Mission Control”. (Although I’m not sure what the object pictured there is — some kind of antenna, maybe?) Also, UI 67 was finally pegged as Riverside, IA — the town that has proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Hooray! UI 68 is, however, still Unidentified, which strikes me as a poetic turn of events, and no one has yet shown enough pioneering spirit to peg the location of last week’s UI 69. Hmmmm.

And that brings us to the new puzzler:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses, folks!

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Unidentified Earth #69

We’re getting quite the backlog here, all of a sudden: no guesses on UI’s 66 or 67, and 68 is still unidentified after one guess. Wow! If you worked at UI 66 during the 1960s and early 1970s, the names of Greek gods would have figured in a lot of your conversations. (To be fair, I don’t actually know what the item pictured in UI 66 is, so just nailing the location is fine.) If you live around UI 67, you’d best keep your prized hotrod car locked up lest some young tyro do something stupid with it. And when visiting UI 68, you may discover that your words are worth a lot. OK? (Wow, these are some lame hints.)

Now for the new puzzler:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses, please!

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Unidentified Earth #65

Once again, I’m a day late. This time, I have an excuse. But I’m not telling you what it is. Ha!

Anyway, the usual bookkeeping first: UI 62 was finally pegged, after a few hints, as Mill Ends Park in Portland OR. This is recognized by the fine folks at Guiness (and not the oatmeal stout people, either) as the world’s smallest city park. The park is the bush in the middle of that little concrete thing in the middle of the street. And last week’s UI 64 was identified quickly as Biosphere 2 in Arizona. Hooray! We’re all caught up.

And now the new puzzler:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses, please!

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Unidentified Earth #64

OK, I’m a day late on this, but at least I’m still posting the same week, right? Anyway, time for the usual housekeeping: last week’s UI 63 was correctly identified, first by a reader who thought it was Cape Canaveral, which was correct in the general sense, and then was pegged down specifically by the second commenter therein as one of the enormous crawler-transporters that carry the spacecraft and their rockets from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pads at Kennedy Space Center. I thought it was incredibly cool that Google Maps had satellite imagery of one of the crawlers on the road. Scotty gets a hundred Quatloos, but Dave gets the remaining 900.

UI 62, however, is still Unidentified. This location is in the Pacific Northwest, and as noted, is the world’s smallest example of a certain type of location.

And now, without further ado, the new puzzler! I’m not expecting this one to be terribly difficult:

Where are we? Rot-13 your guesses, folks!

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