Mouth Taped Shut treasure hunt

[sheepdean]

New treasure trail http://whatishiddeninsnow.com/absolutezero
Sydney, Aus

[october_midnight]

Yeah that one was too easy, had it solved within 30 seconds if it even going up...sigh, doubt they'll even bother with any Canadian cities.

[october_midnight]

Stockholm and Chicago...one of the big boxes too...will be interesting to see what it is.

[Loki]

Very interesting. (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/06/strange-and-amazing-dragon-tattoo-related-video-watch-the-mysterious-nine-minute-hard-copy-tribute-here-exclusive-video)

[Jon]

Very interesting. (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/06/strange-and-amazing-dragon-tattoo-related-video-watch-the-mysterious-nine-minute-hard-copy-tribute-here-exclusive-video)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvsmddtYtg1qbmkzjo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1323307295&Signature=FTKWYIu7DIPNCVikTD%2F6a78EG%2FQ%3D

[Maurish]

Here's the Youtube link!

http://youtu.be/O-j_2eBAxBo


-Edit-
Hot damn, this isn't much different from the Hard Copy's case on Down In It video. It's very well done!
"I know, I know... it's more like Nine Inch Noise."

[gorast]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvsmddtYtg1qbmkzjo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1323307295&Signature=FTKWYIu7DIPNCVikTD%2F6a78EG%2FQ%3D
I would wear the fuck out of that shirt. That's hilarious.

[Jon]

I would wear the fuck out of that shirt. That's hilarious.

sexy is what that is... you can see lisbeth wearing it in the 8 minute trailer

here's the hard copy segment in mp4.... i didn't do anything to it except save it and make sure it works

MEGAUPLOAD (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SBUJRYNN)
RAPIDSHARE (https://rapidshare.com/files/3486117414/Hard_Copy_Segment_-_Missing_Girl_-_80s.mp4)
HOTFILE (http://hotfile.com/dl/136911989/3986660/Hard_Copy_Segment_-_Missing_Girl_-_80s.mp4.html)

[JessicaSarahS]

I wish I could have kept up with this from the start. I feel so lost!

[Jon]

-Edit-
Hot damn, this isn't much different from the Hard Copy's case on Down In It video. It's very well done!
"I know, I know... it's more like Nine Inch Noise."

"This is Trent Reznor, a man with a flair for wearing jewelry, in his nose. And a total disregard for what police have to go through every day of their lives"

[Incendiary Lover]

I wish I could have kept up with this from the start. I feel so lost!

Mentorless (http://www.mentorless.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/) has been following the treasure hunt since the beginning, she posts a nice summary explaining clues and how the items are located. First clue here (http://www.mentorless.com/2011/10/20/is-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-going-transmedia-on-us/)

[JessicaSarahS]

Mentorless (http://www.mentorless.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/) has been following the treasure hunt since the beginning, she posts a nice summary explaining clues and how the items are located. First clue here (http://www.mentorless.com/2011/10/20/is-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-going-transmedia-on-us/)

Thanks for this! Going to go catch up now that I have some time. :)

[Goldfoot]

I've been following this since the beginning and have been hoping for a Detroit drop. Yesterday was close with Chicago, but with only 9 left it's starting to make me anxious. I'd rather have a prop than a flower, but I think a flower would be pretty damn cool.

[october_midnight]

I'd definitely want a flower, and today's clue from about 20 min. ago is Kansas City. Sigh, I assume Vancouver is still not going to be a city. Damn.

[sick among the pure]

Sadly, the Philly drop happened when I was in the middle of a crit, and was found by the time class was over. I COULD HAVE HOPPED ON THE FUCKING TROLLEY AND GOTTEN IT!

[jhulud]

I think the closest one to me...which was already found...was in Tampa.

[Goldfoot]

Woke up this morning with a wicked migraine and felt really ill. Decided today would be the day they have a drop here, and that if that were indeed the case, I'd tough it out and go to the location anyhow. My phone notifies me when MTS posts, and after following the attempts to decipher the clue (and attempting myself a bit in my head), the page was revealed. The coordinates were definitely in Michigan so i jumped out of bed and got dressed, as I walked out the door I checked the address....GRAND RAPIDS. Fuck. FUCK.

[fortheloveofgod]

I'd definitely want a flower, and today's clue from about 20 min. ago is Kansas City. Sigh, I assume Vancouver is still not going to be a city. Damn.


Vancouver Dude!! Go get it.

[october_midnight]

Fucking. Got it. Driving home now. brb

[bgalbraith]

Fucking. Got it. Driving home now. brb

Congrats! It's quite the rush

[malchick]

Just posted on the Mouth Taped Shut twitter:
disaffect, separate, estranged, cleave, bisect, slaughter, secluded, isolated

and the answer is detached

[october_midnight]

Wow. I had hoped they would drop one of these here but it's mostly been the U.S. and I was so afraid I'd be stuck at work when they did, if they did at all. So it's a day off from work, got up a bit before 10am (mostly to check the Dark Knight Rises OperationEarlyBird page...I know) and @MouthTapedShut drops another clue. I've managed to crack a few so I checked out the pic it linked to....age...license plate, I check back on the TDKR page, it's down of course...I chuckle and refresh Twitter and the first new tweet says 'Vancouver, BC'...I don't even think. Within 20 seconds I have the nearest hoodie and pair of jeans on. Run back to the computer, and see '/ageless'. I type in the URL and it points to Main St.....easily a 20-25 min drive away but I don't even think twice. The nutcracker picture looks familiar too. I enter it in my iPhone and run for the door.

I scream to my car, scream out on to the street and am frantically thinking which way's the fastest way there. I speed up and after a few blocks it dawns on me. 'That's the wooden nutcracker statue I saw while at a red light a few weeks back outside an antique store.' My heart sinks as it's probably been there a while and someone else surely knows it too. Of course, the traffic decides to be excruciatingly slow but I get to the street within 15 minutes (thankfully never crossed the path of any police as I was a healthy amount over the speed limit many times...having the OST for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo playing only made me more tense) and I park a block away. I run to the next street and see a couple in all black around the store. I feel gut punched. They're smiling and return to their SUV and pull away as I cross the street to the store. I figure they found the note and it had directions where to go and I'm hooped. I check Twitter to see if any 'FOUND' tweets have dropped...nothing. So I run up to the statue and check it's arms, behind it...frantic. After 20 seconds a lady comes out of the store (not a rep, one of the owners) and asks if I'm interested in the statue. 'Very.' She asks if I'm there for a reason, I reply 'Looking for something...' She says 'Look harder.' and my eyes go wide. 'Maybe...under it?' I tilt the statue and freak out when I see the note inside.

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/8766/29726559.jpg

She lets me in and says 'now you just have to find a large French cabinet.' I say 'oh yeah.' as the place is FILLED with them. One stands out, it's huge and the main cabinet door is slightly open. I open it and see the envelope and a huge smile hits me. 'Congratulations. They said anytime after 10am to expect someone, didn't think it'd be so soon.' She pulls out a camera and says that it was mailed to her with explicit instructions, she takes a few pics of me like they told her to, says congratulations again. I say 'Thank you so much.' and walk out to my car. I take a pic of it on my car seat, and as I pull out and drive past the store, I see two people run full speed up to the nutcracker statue. Just in time.

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7849/74140628.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/711/38482505.jpg

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/9039/95865700.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/51/42532257.jpg

Shout out to @antovolk @mentorless @Star_Nubalo @bgalbraith @thehighroller5 and a few others that I've seen helping everyone...they're all crazy...I think they had every puzzle solved within like two minutes. Cheers to everyone!

[jessamineny]

That's really awesome, OM! Congrats!!

[AgentofChaos]

Great story, told with great pics. Glad it happened to someone who clearly appreciated the experience and the art. Extremely jealous. The one in my city was not far from me but I was not on the ball that day despite being off work sadly.

[eversonpoe]

41.93824, -87.76134

Chicago, Jade Dragon Tattoo.

I can't get there because I'm dog-sitting in Northfield.

God. Fucking. Damnit.

[Torgo]

I run to the next street and see a couple in all black around the store.

It's funny that two people dressed in all black made you think your chances went out the window.

[Lisbeth]

Great story OM!

The Chicago one was found by the person who got Lisbeth's shirt. Talk about lucky!

[october_midnight]

It's funny that two people dressed in all black made you think your chances went out the window.

Haha it totally did. I see a grinning couple get in to a vehicle, all in black, guy's got a band shirt on...thought I was S.O.L.

[Jon]

Haha it totally did. I see a grinning couple get in to a vehicle, all in black, guy's got a band shirt on...thought I was S.O.L.

that is an amazingly awesome story! like others have said, i'm glad this happened to someone on this board/someone who appreciates the whole arg campaign.

and that's twice now they've done a chicago drop right after i've been there/when i'm supposed to be there. i was supposed to go to the hard x mouthtapedshut event tonight but my mother got her biopsy results back, and it's not good.

anywho, congrats again!

[october_midnight]

Flower 1 is back up for grabs since no one got it! www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/first

Appears to be scrambled names of the soundtrack.

[Jon]

I was thinking, perhaps some of the drops will be following around the 'hard x mouthtapedshut' event. There was one tonight in Chicago to correspond with the event.

If this is true that would mean there'd be a drops in: NYC (tomorrow), London (12/16), San Fran (12/16) and LA (12/17)

12/16 drops in London and San Fran?

[otnavuskire]

I was thinking, perhaps some of the drops will be following around the 'hard x mouthtapedshut' event. There was one tonight in Chicago to correspond with the event.

If this is true that would mean there'd be a drops in: NYC (tomorrow), London (12/16), San Fran (12/16) and LA (12/17)

12/16 drops in London and San Fran?

Not likely. The current one appears to be the last one.

[xfocalinx]

www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/first

interesting.

[jhulud]

OK...So I figured it out...now what?...

[xfocalinx]

mind sharing?

[DigitalChaos]

http://twitter.com/trent_reznor/status/145292774093242368

[Jon]

Not likely. The current one appears to be the last one.

confirmed now by TR

[DigitalChaos]

http://www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/latentmystery

[DigitalChaos]

https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/1495682750/madmen_icon_normal.jpg (https://twitter.com/#%21/jtq1) @jtq1 (https://twitter.com/#%21/jtq1) JQ


whatishiddeninsnow.com/latentmystery (http://t.co/2eOcbCBB) #mouthtapedshut (https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mouthtapedshut) First letter from every word in each time frame of the hard copy video makes anagram for that

[Jon]

1 An Itch (Track 16)
2 Cut Into Pieces (Track 14)

5 One Particular Moment (Track 10)

7 Aphelion (Track 19)

12 Great Bird Of Prey (Track 33)

15 A Viable Construct (Track 28)

17 Of Secrets (Track 38)
18 The Sound Of Forgetting (Track 37)

23 Oraculum (Track 32)
24 Infiltrator (Track 36)
25 We Could Wait Forever (Track 31)

[jhulud]

Spoke way too soon...I ain't got shit figured out...damn!

[DigitalChaos]

hrmmm
http://www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/latentmystery/lookfor

[DigitalChaos]

http://dc.moose.cc/temp/Activity-20111209-163531.jpg

[jhulud]

I have no damn clue what that is all about!

[Jon]

ok honestly, what the hell does "every word in each time frame", mean? That sentence is kinda worded weird.

[DigitalChaos]

I am not entirely sure. This shit is moving forward so fast that I am not pausing on things that have already been figured out by someone

[Leviathant]

I'm tempted to engage caps lock, mash my keyboard a few times, press space bar & type #MOUTHTAPEDSHUT & tweet that.

[Jon]

cr=US&droppedFrames=0&sendtmp=1&debug%5FsourceData=BD075F167HH1323478427841500&debug%5FplaybackQuality=medium&nsivbbl=84858&debug%5FvideoId=O%2Dj%5F2eBAxBo&lact=4560&fmt=34&rendering=software&vid=70fZYtrEq922QJzPNIABCUX4hf71TrCuU&nsiabbl=33016&decoding=accelerated&stageFps=10&feature=player%5Fembedded&fexp=916800%2C907302%2C911611&h=360&debug%5FflashVersion=WIN%2011%2C1%2C102%2C55&volume=100&debug%5Fdate=Fri%20Dec%209%2018%3A54%3A18%20GMT%2D 0600%202011&md=1&csipt=watch5&hl=en%5FUS&screenw=1366&videoFps=30&screenh=768&cfps=29%2E64426877470356&vq=auto&vr=1323478428417&plid=AASzslVrkBxBLHC3&vw=480&el=detailpage&vh=360&w=480&playerw=640&pd=0&playerh=390&mos=0&scoville=1&fs=0&referrer=None&sd=BD075F167HH1323478427841500&sdetail=f%253Aplayer%5Fembedded%252C

i realize that's sloppy... that's all of the debug info from the official MTS youtube link for the Hard Copy video

[jhulud]

I've been staring at that fuckin' puzzle for so long I'm going cross-eyed...or maybe it's the beers I'm having...either way...it's not like of them Magic Eye posters...damnit...

http://www.demotivationalposters.org/image/demotivational-poster/1010/sailboat-magic-eye-mallrats-demotivational-poster-1288121062.jpg

[Leviathant]

Oh jeez. I'm such an asshole. http://www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/ATAUNTINGANTHOID

[Jon]

this probably means nothing but if you look at the date from the Hard Copy video in the debug info I linked, it's listed as:

Friday, December 20, 2018 2:09 GMT

[jhulud]

Oh jeez. I'm such an asshole. http://www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/ATAUNTINGANTHOID

Thanks?...(Although I don't get the funny)...

[jhulud]

Alrighty then...MTS just tweeted that Flower #1 found...

I'm done...BYE!

[DigitalChaos]

Oh jeez. I'm such an asshole. http://www.whatishiddeninsnow.com/ATAUNTINGANTHOID

I see where this is going...

[ltrandazzo]

Yeah. He got it. Amazing.

[DigitalChaos]

this is seriously unreal. NOBODY will believe it when they realize who it is.

[bgalbraith]

Yeah. He got it. Amazing.

Haha, wow.

[m0reta]

Gosh congratulations Leviathant (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/members/1-Leviathant)!! That is soo cool. :-)

[ltrandazzo]

Hey, so every guest viewing this thread - ​You guys should totally register right now.

[DigitalChaos]

Leviathant (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/members/1-Leviathant) deflowers Dragon Tattoo

I can already see the headlines

[Jon]

congrats, levi!

totally deserved

[bgalbraith]

How many people on ETS got flowers? At least three (two today!). That's not a bad showing :)

[Plastic Soul]

wots all this then?

[jhulud]

I feel dumb now. Nicely done Leviathant.

[DigitalChaos]

well, this was an unexpected way to load test ETS.
so friggin glad the fix for the DB freakouts actually worked
"Most users ever online was 386, Today at 05:45 PM." HELL YEA!

[xfocalinx]

Awesome stuff!

[Leviathant]

So I've been casually following #MOUTHTAPEDSHUT since it's inception. When the Philly flower came along, I was on the wrong side of town and couldn't possibly make it there in time. Still, it's been fun watching the puzzles come and go. The puzzles got more and more obscure as time passed, and I've been too busy to really follow allong. But for the first time in several months, I had some downtime at home - Melissa's in New York until 11, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to listen through TGWTDT soundtrack on my headphones, uninterrupted. I keep Twitter on, and I was keeping an eye on the #MOUTHTAPEDSHUT tweets coming through, just because it's been interesting.

I looked at the scrambled song title names but didn't really put any effort into them. When the time values were posted, I realized they were probably related to the Hard Copy video. So I opened up Sony Vegas and started plotting out the times, but other people figured it out before I had a chance. So I followed their lead. I had given up on the crossword looking thing, but had the #MOUTHTAPEDSHUT twitter stream open in the background. I glanced over and someone had posted the next step - blockedout, I think. I figured, why not, let's see what incredibly difficult thing was on this page.

It was two flower pictures, and the word difference. Well shit, I already had photoshop open. I copied one flower into a new layer, set the mode to difference, and moved it over the second flower. Looked dark, but nothing noticeable. Well, okay. Image, adjust, levels.

http://i.imgur.com/of7DJ.png

Huh, obviously that's ABC->123 stuff. Googled for a program that makes that easier than doing it by hand, and got ATAUNTINGANTHOID -- a taunting... anthoid? Whatever. paste.

BIG 888 PHONE NUMBER.
"The Final Step; Be first to call."
(here's a screenshot (http://i.imgur.com/Yfo7z.jpg) - notice how I googled anthoid before just trying the URL, haha.)

Really? Naw.

That's it? Hmm. Should I call? Eh, that was so easy, someone else must have gotten it. Buuuut... well, why not.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Pause. Ring. "Hello?"
Me: Hi there.
Is this mouth taped shut?
Uh. Yup.
Congratulations, you've won flower number one!
*pause* Ha. Really?
Yup! What's your mailing address?
I give them my mailing address. Then she asks, "Do you have a twitter handle?"
*pregnant pause*
Uh. hmmm. Yup.
"Okay, what is it?"
Uhhh. It's. Uh. It's ninhotline.
"Oh. Well congratulations! Have a nice night!"
"Thanks, you have a great weekend!"
"Thanks, you too!"
I couldn't believe I was the first one to make the call. I'm a little bit embarrassed to be the guy who got flower #1. But after running a NIN news site for a dozen years, I guess I've gotten pretty good at sniffing out a lead.

Phenomenal job by everyone involved. What a crazy night.

[DigitalChaos]

Then she asks, "Do you have a twitter handle?"
*pregnant pause*
Uh. hmmm. Yup.
"Okay, what is it?"
Uhhh. It's. Uh. It's ninhotline.
so awesome

[mistresswanda]

Way to go, and to someone who really will appreciate it!

[jhulud]

Again. Nicely done Levianthat. That's awesome!

[DigitalChaos]

I am half tempted to see if there is a pattern in Leviathant's post

edit: wait a second....

[arsenic]

it's my first post here.. congratulation Levianthat!! ;)

[MAD]

Congrats man, good job!

[BBomkamp]

Haven't had this much fun since we found the "Year Zero" usb key in some shitter.

[Leviathant]

How many people on ETS got flowers? At least three (two today!). That's not a bad showing :)

You, me, octobermidnight, and... is katintherat on ETS? Philly represent.

[xfocalinx]

WOW. I was SO close and didn't even realize it. I saw the "difference" pictures..and was tempted to do the SAME thing. WOW. congrats, none the less. Goddammit!

[redshoewearer]

I couldn't believe I was the first one to make the call. I'm a little bit embarrassed to be the guy who got flower #1.


Don't be - you've done a lot of cool stuff for NIN fans in having ETS and getting the new board up and running. Congrats on figuring out the puzzle!

[drunkpoet]

"Do you have a twitter handle?"
*pregnant pause*
Uh. hmmm. Yup.
"Okay, what is it?"
Uhhh. It's. Uh. It's ninhotline.

Best part of the story.

[acidpolly]

oh I just saw the whole grid and realised someone found Lisbeth's jacket.
JEALOUS.

[Lisbeth]

Congrats Admin Sir!

[Lisbeth]

MTS has been giving away tickets to various cities...first come first serve.


ETA: http://whatishiddeninsnow.com/mts_exclusive_screenings/faq.html

[october_midnight]

Fuck I come back from Seattle and I see Leviathant won the flower? Congrats!! ETS fuckin' represent!!

[TCMD]

great story leviathant! thanks for the write up, sounds like an amazing time.

[kevinbeetle]

has that crossword puzzle looking thing been figured out yet?

[maryelle]

I couldn't believe I was the first one to make the call. I'm a little bit embarrassed to be the guy who got flower #1.


Don't be - you've done a lot of cool stuff for NIN fans in having ETS and getting the new board up and running. Congrats on figuring out the puzzle!

Totally agree - why should you feel embarrassed? It's awesome that you got it!

[acidpolly]

is there any source with description of all WhatIsHiddenInSnow hunts (clues, success stories)? I saw a few in different places, would be cool to gather them all.. in ninwiki maybe?

[bgalbraith]

is there any source with description of all WhatIsHiddenInSnow hunts (clues, success stories)? I saw a few in different places, would be cool to gather them all.. in ninwiki maybe?

On the nin.com forums, there's this: http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?9,1313483,page=1
This blog has chronicled and collected a large number of stories relating to it as well: http://www.mentorless.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/