6/6/05 | 1:58 pm | Solution: Bug Hunt
We had a slow start todaybut it picked up toward the end. Graduations, summer breaks, work etc. interferring probably? So, anyhow the “hope” was of course Bob Hope and “springs” pointed to Palm Springs. I live fairly close to Palm Springs but have never made the trek there for some reason or another. Although I think I may have passed through there when I was a kid. I’m sort of curious about it, because the stereotypical view of it is as the blue-haired golfer’s paradise or something. Although amazingly, the Coupland book GenerationX was set there…
Shawn D got it fast and sent in a guess as to what the “bug” in our hunt today actually is:
A record for me. About 7 seconds. But I’ve played golf in Palm Springs before. Everything is Bob Hope or Dinah Shore there. Almost went to Hope Arkansas first but I thought I’d try Palm Springs. Didn’t even need the Geo clue. Darn, now I’ve gotta work the rest of the day.
BTW, I’m pretty sure this is the Palm Springs Riviera Resort and Racquet Club. Where the Rat Pack and Elvis used to stay and play.
Others were similarly fast. Mark G:
I got real lucky again. By the time I checked, I saw the Southern California clue. Immediately I checked a map of Palm Springs, CA, zoomed to 11/15, and switched to satellite. And there it was. 9.79 seconds flat. Same as Ben Johnson. Minus the steroids.
Mark L:
Less than a minute after bringing up the map….. (Palm) Springs
Mike J:
Google’d the clue, saw the comedian, then went to his Spring City and looked around. Surprised me when I saw it so quick.
Some were familiar with the area. Craig S said:
Found this one quickly. I have family that lives near there.
and Jarret R wrote:
Time to solve - less than 1 minute. . . been to Palm Springs a few times, pretty easy to solve.
Mike Z went to Arkansas first, something I must admit I didn’t check into before posting the clue:
This one took all of 1 minute and 30 seconds. I got the clue almost immediately but the first thing that came to mind was Hope, Arkansas and Hot Springs, Arkansas. After a few seconds I thought of Bob Hope and realized the clue was about Palm Springs instead.
Golux13 also tried Hope, Arkansas first before getting it:
Time: About 1 minute after I saw the region clue. Went instantly to Palm Springs. But I have no idea how I was supposed to get to Palm Springs from the clue “Hope’s Springs Eternal.” My first thought was Hope, Arkansas, but there are no high-resolution images in the entire area, so I would have been lost without the region clue drop.
Katie N similarly didn’t need the “hope” part of the clue to get the solution anyway:
It took me about 5 minutes. I got to this one late, so I already had the Southern California clue. I don’t really understand what the clue means, but I happened to check Palm Springs and lucked out.
Brian G noticed something I saw right away to, there is a thin vertical line of lo-res imagery right through Palm Springs. I’ve often seen things like this and wonder why that happens - is it just a stitching problem?
Nice clue! There was that annoying strip of low-res satellite in the middle of Palm Springs, that threw me off for a little bit. Lots of golf courses there! About 20 mins.
And that’s all she wrote. A quick note: East Coasters who want to submit some clues are extremely welcome. For some reason I either seem to be choosing West Coast clues or the majority of clues coming in are also West Coast. I think it is mainly because if there are no word clues that come in with the picture clue, then I have to make up the word clue. And I’m more likely to be able to make up a good word clue for an area I’m familiar with, and since I’ve only been to the western states…
It is starting to get blastingly hot here again, I may have to cave in and turn on the A.C. soon. See you all Wednesday at 9…
