The GPS point Solution

Perhaps we should call this one, "From T to Shining T"

Same rules as usual. One card result. No points today. #thegintercode pic.twitter.com/ZFfX9C7k3W

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 4, 2015

I immediately threw the images into a spreadsheet and also made a version of it with the card names and card numbers in the spreadsheet as well. I sent them over to Jason, and he helpfully pointed out to me that I had included Matt Carpenter, card number 123 in the grid, but the image the Codemaster posted was clearly Chris Carpenter, card number 195. You can see why I would make that mistake, since they are both Cardinals named Carpenter, and I was just doing a quick search on a checklist for card numbers. This was a very important error, though not in the way you might expect.

The first Hint turns out to have been ironic. More on this later:

The clock has reset. Here's a hint: This time, those are the only cards that work for this point. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 7, 2015

So we did a lot of thinking about these two “T”s. We were trying to think about what card could be used to convert the right hand T into the left hand T. We figured the arrow was indicating that you started with the T on the right, then used some kind of card to change all the cards on the right into the cards on the left. And another hint:

Clock has reset. Keep looking, the degree of difficulty on this one is pretty high. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 8, 2015

We also thought about the letter T itself, and since there were a lot of double Ts present in the names. Maybe we needed a player with a double double T in his name, so we tried Andy Pettitte. Nothing. This point wasn’t really clicking, but we felt like we needed to win it since card grids were becoming our specialty. And another hint came along:

Clock has reset. More clues tomorrow before the axes come out. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 9, 2015

At this point, I had the A-Ha moment, but then I dismissed it. Allow me to explain. I sent a message to Jason on February 9: “Could these be GPS Coordinates?” If you take the card numbers in the two Ts, you can turn them into GPS coordinates. For example, the right hand T is 38 48 9 across the top and 90 6 7 down the middle. Expressed in Degrees, minutes, seconds, that’s 38°48’9” by 90°6’7” Since 90° lattitude puts you at one of the poles, we figured that the 3 vertical numbers were the longitude and the 3 horizontal numbers were lattitude. Even more exciting was that the right hand T put us at a spot near the Missouri/Illinois border.

I didn’t look closely at the exact spot it put us, but I should have. The reason I did not is that when I looked at the left hand T, it became clear that it couldn’t be GPS coordinates. Chris Carpenter is card number 195, and there is no 195° longitude. So it doesn’t produce a valid coordinate. Just to be sure, I tried subtracting 195 from 360 to get 165°, but that puts you in the middle of an ocean. So we just dropped the GPS coordinates and moved on.

The CM posted a new hint that was frustratingly confirmational for the GPS approach:

The clock has reset. Looks like this one might take a coordinated effort. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 10, 2015

Maybe stellar coordinates? The left hand T put me in the middle of empty sky, but I was wondering if maybe Hayley’s Comet appeared there. The right hand GPS coordinate put me somewhere near the Mississippi, so maybe it was the Mark Twain coincidence card? And another:

This is one you've either solved or you don't get at all. It's an "aha" moment. Not much to do after that. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 11, 2015

There was a little bit of controversy. A hint was given after one team had submitted a response but before the deadline for the day. It led to a lot of confusion and headscratching, but ultimately, no points. Then one more hint that re-confirmed that we were looking for GPS coordinates:

In your search for this point, two points will reveal the answer. #thegintercode

— Ginter Code (@TheGinterCode) February 11, 2015

The GPS thing was really bothering me. That had to be the solution. I said to Jason, “I’m still wondering if these are somehow GPS coordinates. The Right T puts you right outside St. Louis. Everything works except for Chris Carpenter. Is it possible he has the wrong Carpenter in the Picture?”

For fun, I tried using 123, which is Matt Carpenter’s card number.
Left Hand T
Those Coordinates put me somewhere in Oregon, near the Lewis and Clark River.


Wait a second!

I went back to the right hand coordinates in St. Louis:
Right hand T

That’s the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, off of Lewis & Clark Blvd on Lewis & Clark Trail next to the Lewis & Clark state memorial park. How on earth did I miss that the first time I plotted this point?

@TheGinterCode pic.twitter.com/ULwsRi10WC

— Bosun Knows Best (@BosunKnows) February 11, 2015

If only Jason hadn’t corrected me for using the wrong Carpenter. Now the question that remains is whether the CM intended to use the wrong Carpenter, and that was part of what you had to do in order to solve the point? Or was it an honest mistake on his part, just like the one I made?