MuggleNet | SuperSleuth Contest

The code page image was drawn around February 2001, and then the poem written around June of that year (the Guide was first published in 2001). Therefore, the first hint you had was that the code had been buried in the Guide for 3 years (actually almost 4 years now), and it is on the same page in all versions. Knowing that it's been over 3 years, the code could not relate to anything later than Book 4.

It is very difficult to design a clever contest in which most people can participate. If it's too difficult, most people just give up. If it's too easy, it's not really a challenge. This was implemented the way it was in order to allow the most people to participate while still requiring brain power. We also needed to put in lot of reinforcement so that once people got it, there would be plenty of clues to verify that they had the right answer. This may have seemed overly obvious, but there were many people who never did get it without help. Therefore, we are convinced we had just the right amount of difficulty for a contest that was designed to allow most people a crack at solving it.

Why do you think we ask you here,
Are you ready to take our test?
You only have to solve this riddle,
We give you hints, you do the rest.

This stanza is actually part of the riddle, but is only an introductory stanza. It contained a very tiny hint as to where to find the code page, but it didn't give you much information, so it was not an official stanza in the contest.

Once having seen the other stanzas…by knowing that you are looking for a code on a page…you can see that it sets the mood - just like the Triwizard tournament - for a test of your acumen. …And just like poor Harry and Cedric, you suddenly find yourselves in the middle of this contest, not knowing how or why you are here, but face-to-face with a sphinx-like challenge.

What it does tell you is that you only have to solve this "Riddle," to help do the "rest." In other words, it is pointing to a resting place - similar to that of the Riddle cemetery. The code page, which the riddle is pointing to, is a page that has the image of a cemetery with 8 grave stones and a yew tree. On the gravestones are words and symbols that make up the code - along with a bunch of hints to help verify that you have the right code when you do. .

You are looking for a magic code,
In the "Ultimate Unofficial Guide."
There are buried clues within this poem,
To show the route to where the code resides.

Because this stanza actually instructs the reader what needs to be done, it was used as the first official stanza.

A "code" is something that stands for something else. Therefore, a code can be made up of words or symbols - which is exactly what was used (in this case, both) to expose the hidden phrase.

Just as the riddle states, the whole purpose of the poem was to "show the route" to the code so you could then solve it. Those with the Guide could use the first four (official) stanzas to try to locate the page in the book (very tough challenge), while those without the book (or those with it who had trouble) could use the final stanza.

The key words in this stanza are: looking, buried and route. The code page shows a graveyard (buried) and a tree with exposed roots (see homophones info below), while a more subtle reference is the word "resides." The word "looking" was used to get the idea of using "eyes."

The word "magic" was used because the code does reveal a hint about a possible septology clue (more on that later).

some clues may sound alike, and yet,
ArE I Or U but sometimes Y.
You can't assumE all's Well in hear,
a vowel by any other name is "why."

The purpose of this stanza is to specifically alert people to the tricks used in the riddle, and to give some very big clues to help locate the page. The phrase "some clues may sound alike" is pointing to the use of homophones. Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation (sound alike), but have different spellings and meanings (eg. flew vs. flue).

In this case, we were pointing out the "eyes" and the "yews" by reinforcing that "I" and "U" should be investigated for their homophone equivalents - and that if you didn't get the idea, we said to think of "Y" as "why." The "hear" vs. "here" was not only to demonstrate homophones, but to reinforce that the clue had something to do with human senses - like hearing and seeing. There were many references that were intended to focus on the eyes.

The reason the phrase "You can't assume all's well in hear" was used, is for two reasons. One is that, as a cemetery, not all is well - if you are familiar with Shakespeare, the phrase is "all's well that ends well," and this certainly is a place where things end. The other reason we used that phrase is because it is a classic, so it was well known enough that people would automatically know that the word "hear" was a homophone.

There were some other clues in this stanza. For instance, if you had noticed that the capitalization wasn't normal… that was because we wanted to make sure you noticed certain capitalized letters. Besides the vowels, which related to the homophone clues, there were only 3 capitalized letters in the third line. The 3 letters spelled out "YEW." While some sleuths may have thought about Voldemort's wand made out of yew (that was used at the gravesite), it was best to put the "yew" with the word "route" and think "root" of a tree - which was another homophone - especially because the yew tree is most known for growing around gravesites. Note all the uses of the word "you" throughout.

There are reinforcements to the clues once again: the senses - i.e. eyes, dyes=dies.

The "inner eye" was a multi-layered clue. It was superficially another "eye" clue, it also related to Trelawney in a couple of ways. If you recall, she is constantly predicting Harry's death, and she also is known for her bug-like glasses.

The use of "illusions" was a subtle additional nudge that it was an image rather than text that needed to be found, and that a graveyard is often associated with illusions (e.g. ghosts).

Those who have a copy of the Guide will see that there are clouds in the sky in the picture.

Here is how the number series works: "erm" is often used to indicate a certain thought process is suddenly taking place... so, the part after the "erm" is the beginning of the important information. You start with 3, then a 4, then the 12 and 13 go together. Those people who know about Arithmancy would probably have gotten this one immediately. In Arithmancy, you take all numbers and keep adding them together until you get down to just one digit. In this case, that would be 12+13=25 (a 2 and a 5) - which would be added 2+5=7. Those who don't know about Arithmancy could have also done it as 1+2+1+3=7. The answer is page 347. On that page is the cemetery image.

Once you see the other stanzas, this one is a bit more clear. There are 444 pages in UUG - you need to count the roman numeral pages and the covers. It also gives you 3 fours - or 34 - the chapter where you can find the image of the cemetery.

The "moan" clue - like the Trelawney clue, is a reference to a character with glasses, as well as being a character that just happens to be a ghost. Of course, rip=RIP (Rest In Peace), cryptic relates to a crypt (another name for a grave), and the reference to "Stone" was to indicate a grave stone.

For those without the Guide, or who had the Guide but had trouble, or those who just wanted reassurance that they had found the right page and were on the right track, we included this extra stanza.

Most importantly, this stanza told you there were 3 words that comprised the code that needed to be found. The words are contained in the image of the cemetery, which was split into 3 parts - one for each word. The image for the first word was on the Quidditch-Broomsticks page (twigs make up a broom), the second word was on the Funny Excerpts page (those are bits of witticism), and the third word was on The Little Things-Things You May Have Missed page (duh!).

Code for Word 1: For the first pair of stones, the tall stone with the Celtic cross has a paisley-like image on it that is half a Yin-Yang, while the corresponding grave stone has the words "On Be-Half" (the homophone of "bee" - as in bumblebee - the derivation of "dumbledore").

Code for Word 2: For the second pair of stones, the front stone image is a crescent moon, while the corresponding grave stone has the words "A Full Moon" (as opposed to half-moon).

Code for Word 3: For the third pair of stones, the front stone image is a pair of glasses, while the corresponding grave stone has the words "Raise Our Glasses." This was supposed to give the added hint as well of the scene in Book 4 where Dumbledore gives his speech about Cedric who was killed in the cemetery.

…And just in case, there was a pair of eyes on the two low stones in the very front, and a single, Moody-like eye in the branches of the tree.

In UUG, there was an observation on page 121 that hasn't gotten much notice, but that we feel is a potential clue…

"The WWP Sleuthoscope is strobing wildly. Does this mean what we think it means? Not only can Dumbledore become invisible without an Invisibility Cloak, he can see through Invisibility Cloaks!? Is that one of Dumbledore's natural abilities, or are those half-moon glasses not just for old age?"

We are thinking that one of the reasons Dumbledore knows so well what is going on is because he has Moody-like power in his half-moon glasses. Does he use the glasses for seeing through invisibility cloaks? Maybe. Notice how Dumbledore looks over his glasses when he wants to look at someone or something, but when he really wants to inspect something (like the petrified Mrs. Norris), he looks through them. It is highly intriguing to go through and look at when he looks over vs. through them.

This could explain how Dumbledore knew that Harry was trying to drag Buckbeak out of sight while he was inside Hagrid's hut. It could explain many other things.

What else might support that there is something special about "half-moons"? Check out Jo's site. There are coffee stains in the shape of half-moon-like crescents all over it!! Also, on the page with the door to her special room (ROR), there is a window that always shows the proper lighting for the time of day. Notice that at night, it often shows a HALF moon!

There is definitely something going on with crescents, half moons and/or moons - and those glasses are highly suspect.

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SuperSleuth Contest

The riddle answer was 'Half Moon Glasses'!