December 4

[Lil Pip]

I'm assuming it's more like a corporation then, as I don't know any other people named Merlin =/ My poor brain, it's gonna explode soon.

[Toxophilite]

I wish I knew what the significance of the repeated text is ?

[Lil Pip]

I didn't think much into that... but I suppose nothing is put in the clues by accident.

[ChadH]

Woohoo - I know the approximate location now. Unfortunately, it's a big place, so may take a while to locate the exact spot.

I might go for this one at the weekend - time permitting.

[Lil Pip]

Too far for me, if it's where I think it is. Good luck with your hunting

[ChadH]

Well I decided to skive work today and go take a look. I know I'm in the right place - the clue fits perfectly, and I even found this:



Unfortunately, I haven't found one up against a mossy wall - and I searched high and low (quite literally )

I don't think I'm going to have time to have another look for this one, so I would be grateful if anyone who does find it lets me know the exact location in relation to everything else there.

I mainly searched the area that you had to pay to be in (I can't really see where else it would be!). I also found a few likely candidate areas - ie the wall looked pretty similar.

I'm wondering whether the item in the picture has been moved, or whether the picture itself was photochopped to make it look as though the item was against the wall when actually it wasn't (perhaps this is what the two lots of text indicate).

Oh well, good luck everyone. If I do get a chance to go back, I'll let you know. Please don't PM for the location - if you do find it, you won't feel quite so proud of yourself!

[Lil Pip]

Well, good try anyway! Especially finding something so similar. I'm afraid it's far too far for me

Good luck everyone else

[PUZZ]

dont worry about that, its just that we also put the clue in plain text so you could read it better.

Puzz

[Skizz]

Maybe the Isis isn't where the lamp is now, rather, where it used to be, i.e. the place in the clue photo.

The clue photo doesn't look artificial to me, the light on the lamp matches the the light in the general area - if you know what I mean.

Skizz

[jonb-13]

Hi, I am completely new to all this, I am a puzzle fan and had not heard of the ISIS until my wife offered to buy me one for xmas (which she has). From this i visited the website this past Thursday (13/12/07) and looked at the clues for free ISIS.

04DEC's clue got me thinking for a while wondering about the mythilogical wizarding figure Merlin, which was a waste of a few hours. I then focused on the lamp itself and initially thought that it was fixed to the wall. I spend around 4 hours trawling through 1000's of online pictures of lamps in historical building throughout england.

From looking at these historical buildings i stubled across the name 'Merlin', as in Merlin Entertainments whom are the company which own/look after many historical buildings throughout Britain.

This narrowed my search dramtically, i then looked at lamp photgraphs in the buildings owned my Merlin Entertainments and realised that it is not a lamp at all (ie: fixed to the wall), rather a lamp post!

Through these photographs i found a picture of an exact lamp type but not on a post, but fixed to a wall on the main entrance to 'Warwick Castle'. Finally some breakthrough i thought. I then hunted for a few hour looking for a lamp post in Warwick Castle and again stumbled across a Trigpoint club which had identifed the location of an old station which was supposidly next to a very obscure lamp post within the grounds of Warwick Castle!!





That was it for me i jumped in my car and went for it. Sadly i live 110miles away and did not leave my house until 5pm. I thought that the castle gounds were open to the public and only the castle itself would be locked, i was wrong.

I finally arrived there at 8pm on thursday night and was gutted to find everything locked up. I eventually managed to find a grounds keeper whom would not take me to the location for no amount of bribe!
He also though i was crazy, wanting to see an anchient broken lamp post in the middle of the night. LOL

Nightmare, a 220 mile round trip wasted!! aggghhhhh!!

So i went back to work yesterday and all i could think about was the ISIS. I kept looking on the website all day on and off to make sure no-one else had found it, i was so close. I then found the forum and to my dismay someone had photgraphed a simlar lampost which is on the other side of the castle grounds. (Time was running out!!) I knew they wold find it if they visited the castle again.

I then bit the bullet and left my house this moring at 6am for the second attempt.

I arrived at Warwick Castle at 9am and the previously locked gates were open. As you walk in through the main gates on the pedestrain route (Not through the carpark) the lamp post was about 100m into the grounds on the left of a limestone valley leading upto the castle.

I immediately found an oddly placed ball of mud within the the lamp itself, and knew that i had found the required coin!!!

Thankyou Sonicwarp this was so much fun, i cannot wait to try and find another!!!

How do i claim the ISIS?

Thanks again.

[/img]

[linzie]

Wow!! Congratulations, I can't believe you found it so easily! Well done.

[Karen_G]

Congratulations Jonb-13

Send an email to info (at) sonicwarp.com, mention where you found the coin, and include the serial number on the coin. Sw will get back to you

Karen

[mindgameuk]

Well done jonb-13! Congrats!
I worked out the clues last weekend and visited the castle on Monday night.
No luck though.... I concluded it must be in the grounds so daylight a must!
My next chance to go back in daylight was today and I found the lantern at the entrance at about 12pm and upon noticing a clump of fresh mud on the ground at the back I suspected I had been pipped at the post!
As I was leaving I noticed another person arrive and take a strange interest in the lantern as well!
I guess the coin was destined to be found today for sure!!
Congratulations again and enjoy the puzzle ball!

[ChadH]

Well done mate!
I found your note at 1pm this afternoon !!
Thanks for leaving it though - it meant I didn't spend the entire day looking through every nook and cranny around the lampost.
My son was a bit disappointed, but we'll find another one soon

The really annoying thing is that on Wednesday I walked about 10 yards in that direction (from the location you buy your tickets) and then decided that it probably wouldn't be down there. If only I'd walked another 5 yards and seen the mossy stone walls, that Isis would have been mine

I'm glad you said that you'd got there at 9am though - if you'd only beaten me by ten minutes I would have been really angry with myself for stopping at services for a pee on the way

Congrats again.

Chad.

PS Don't go for any more - leave the rest for everybody else

[ChadH]

Well, I was hoping for at least a small bit of sympathy