LibraryThing 20th Birthday Treasure Hunt

LibraryThing is turning twenty, and we're hosting a special birthday treasure hunt! We've got twenty clues, one for each year we've been around. The answers can highlight developments on the site during that year, or events in the wider bookish world.

The object of the game is to solve our twenty clues (in verse!) and go to the LibraryThing page each clue is talking about.

Go HERE for the hunt.

You have three weeks—until Friday September 19th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time—to find all the 20th Birthday banners hidden around the site and gather them all into one collection.

Use this thread to brag, ask for and give hints, etc.

Additional Help: For hints organized by clue, please see the LT Treasure Hunts group, run by the outstanding humouress.

We'll be awarding profile badges to anyone who finds at least two 20th Birthday banners, and anyone who finds all twenty will be entered into a drawing for some LibraryThing swag.

Helpful tips

Please, use the spoiler tag when posting hints or suggestions. Here's how:

To use the spoiler tag, type the following before whatever you'd like to hide:

<spoiler>

And this, at the end of what's hidden:

</spoiler>

Best birthday ever!

Some of these will be hard. Others really easy.
Most of all, have fun!

>3 conceptDawg: Mostly what this has shown me so far is that there are plenty of pages that I've visited that I don't know how I got there. :-p

>3 conceptDawg: Yes, some are very easy. I have my two.

>4 waltzmn: Goodness, yes. "I know what this answer is, I know there's a page, where is the page!?"

>6 Watry: Exactly. Or, in some cases, "I know it's something pertaining to Frederick Douglass, but which of the several pages about that?" I've had about three like that so far, only two of which -- one of them the one I'd spoiled -- I've solved.

I knew it had to be that answer! Thank you, that let me find the correct page, since I was having the same problem.

Separately, is the answer to number 2 not the Librarything Author list page?

>8 Watry: FWIW, I too think that should be the answer to #2, but it doesn't work for me.

Best bird painting yet! Thank you conceptDawg!

>10 perennialreader: Thanks. I liked this one. The last few have been very subpar. Not enough practice.
I think I just need to take more time to paint and less time as a developer. That'll solve everything. :)

#3 was a tricky one. But I learned something new.

You may find the puzzles this time are harder than usual. This is intentional and also because I wrote more of the clues. (This is also why the poems are choppier and weirder.) I am at least pleased that ChatGPT couldn't get all of them.

Happy Birthday, Library Thing! The 20th celebration decor looks super sharp. What a great reason for a treasure hunt. Cheers, LT!

>10 perennialreader: Yes! Love those birds, @conceptDawg. Gorgeous!

Went nuts on #4, but found her. Still stuck on #15, is that an american thing I don't get?

>13 timspalding: I dug #6!

>16 Seitenhain: I will tell you that #15 is decidedly NOT an american thing. Quite the opposite actually.

>17 paradoxosalpha:

Thanks. That was devilish.

>16 Seitenhain:

Hmmm. This is a Google, I think. And while "The Yellow Rectangle" may not be American, I'm not sure it's found in every country.

>18 conceptDawg: I dunno, what does the national mean if not America?

Amusingly that is what just helped me find it.

I'm stuck on my last two now, and surprise, surprise, they are both Tim's.

>18 conceptDawg: I keep riffing on maritime flags: the Q flag.

OK, I was trying too hard on number 6, got it now!

>19 timspalding: >20 Aquila: Thanks, it was your combined hints that helped me out. Another good tricky clue

Now have 14 out of 20. Oddly, I've found a few accidentally when looking for another one.

I don’t see a banner announcing the hunt. I do get the banner for correct answers (the all of one I’ve found so far).

ETA: I did once dismiss the banner early on but the issue was fixed for me and I’ve never dared to dismiss it since. I happen to have tried clicking on the yellow 20 at the top of the page (and even the little sign at the bottom) but I hadn’t noticed that the hunt was listed in the RH sidebar on the homepage until I saw someone mention in a thread post that the hunt was om.

No banner for me either. Saw it on Facebook. I thought that old problem was solved in the last hunt.

This is a hard one. Only got six in the first go-round. Will try for some more later when there is more helpful clues.

I love the magpie, too! They're our official city bird, and one of my favourites, despite their raucous voices and bullying ways.

I've managed 11 out of 20 so far, but I'm stuck on the rest. I need to let them marinate for a while and try again.

As >26 humouress: and >27 Micheller7:, I didn’t have banner shown either, and I saw it on Facebook. I saw the banner when I got the correct answers, though.

Happy 20th to the whole crew!
Thank you for everything. ♥️

>25 haydninvienna: I found out about the hunt when I was awarded a banner by landing on its page via pure chance, without having yet seen the clues!

I now have 19. Tim: my compliments on no. 9 — that was a doozy, for me at least.

Thanks to everybody at LT (in particular the clue-writers and @conceptDawg for the magpie) and happy 20th birthday.

I've got all of them except #6 and #13. Any hints?

ETA: Got 'em!

>33 amanda4242: I thought #6 was really clever, ie I was pleased with myself for figuring it out. I assume you know which basic place to go by the first line. the rest of the clue is to help you find the specific code number, a very famous number

I also don't have #13, or #14, or #5. I feel I'll be able to figure out #5, but 13 and 14 are tough!

>34 raidergirl3: Thank you! Definitely a clever one!

>34 raidergirl3: #5 is a group.

#14 is a novel about a character in The Odyssey.

>36 amanda4242: thanks, I had just got #5 once I found the right group

I also got #13 ; my hint: instead of 'by' twitter, think 'on' twitter, and think about what might have gone on that year

>36 amanda4242: thanks! I have them all now

Great hunt! A few very clever clues and I had my best showing getting 19/20 without any hints. Definitely all over the site, learning new things even after 18 years.

>37 raidergirl3: Got it! Thanks!

OMG! #6 took me so long, but upon finding it, I realised it was so obvious!

#20 is definitely related to a fun on-site game that tests your knowledge about the books you've read

>37 raidergirl3: Got it, and thank you!

>26 humouress: I don't see a banner announcing the hunt either, and that has never been a problem for me before. I have never closed the hunt banners because of all the reports saying if you close it once it never appears again for future hunts. I just stumbled on the hunt when I clicked on the "20 Years" that just appeared in the top menu bar to learn more about that, and found the hunt mentioned in the right column on the home page.

Stuck on #19. It's 2023, so I thought it has to be Books read in 2023, which is indeed the largest list. Could anyone throw me a bone, please?

>37 raidergirl3: Still stuck on #13 (!!!)

>45 Ronoc: A clue: It relates to a big news event of that year.

>46 timspalding: What's worse is that trying to Google a firing on/by Twitter in 2017 is now polluted with results of recent news about Twitter post-Musk takeover... Would asking for more specific names be too much of a hint for #13?

>46 timspalding: I'm pretty sure about the name (unfortunately), but just can't find the right place to go on LT.

>26 humouress: That makes at least three of us who did not get a banner announcing the treasure hunt. Edit, looks like at least six or seven of us non-banner people!

>48 Ronoc: for where to go: he wrote a book, so check the author page

>50 raidergirl3: Ouch! So maybe it's not the person I had in mind.

>48 Ronoc: So I think the problem is that the author has been aliased about—another instance of the aliasing usage that has become common here but which I deplore. Try clicking on a link on the page you know of.

>34 raidergirl3: Thank you! Spent the evening slogging through MDS and Ian Fleming.

stuck on 6, 10, 19... 6 i think i just don't have enough understanding of to begin to look for (even with raidergirl3's hint). 10 and 19 i feel like an idiot for not being able to find. any hints?

>54 faedemon: re #10 the first ever hunt was about Talk Like a Pirate Day. I searched that, and thought about where that might have been announced that first year. There are plenty of options, besides Books and Authors to search through on the left hand side.

>54 faedemon:

Here's a big clue on 6. This is a hard one. There are two parts to it. The first is the name. There aren't many people with that name. The person in question is known primarily through their work in libraries, but--less known--was a big fan on "Phonetic spelling," hence the spelling in the clue. Once you figure out whom I'm talking about, then you may want to find a feature on the site based on his work. You will find it is numeric. The second has to do with the spy part and is also numeric.

>44 choongzh: For #19, think of awards, rather than lists. Richard Ayoade was one of the winners with his book about an unread book.

>57 v1v1enne: Oh, thank you!

I still haven’t got #2, #13 and #15. Pretty sure I know what’s being referred to but don’t get the right page.

>60 PawsforThought: I'm in the same boat as you for #2 and #13. For #15 did you check on the Search page, under LibraryThing Local?

Now just stuck on 9

>56 timspalding: LOL this was fiendish

re: #6. ohhhhhhhhhh.

thank you for the elaboration on the clue tim, although unfortunately it was the number part i was struggling with rather than the first part--it took me wayyy too long to figure out what it was. that is not a cultural touchstone that i am in touch with, clearly LOL

fun hunt!

>60 PawsforThought: for the 13 search the big American news for 2017; Twitter was a red herring for me
>62 tina1969: for the 9 someone elected for the life in 2013

>16 Seitenhain: Any clue about #4?

OK, I just started this hunt today so I am a little behind all of you.
For #3, I know the answer but can't find the correct page it is located on. Can someone provide a hint without being *too* obvious? Thank you.

The magpie is lovely, thank you conceptDawg!
>66 Ronoc: look for the series with that book.
>63 JBD1: the answer is an author.

This is embarassing, but I seem to be still struggling with #6, #14, and #18. I have some sense of what they're about but can't seem to find the right direction to look for the actual pages.

It took some googling and a few hints, but I found them all. 🎉

Congrats, LT, and thanks for the hunt!

Now missing #7, #15 and #19. Basically drawing a blank on them.

>26 humouress:

First time no banner here.

>65 Luisali: got it now thank you. Was on the right track.

>61 Dilara86: I figured it’d be a LibraryThing Local page but can’t figure out which one.

Completely stumped where to find #2. I've raked trough all menus and submenus on LT with no luck. Similarly, I know what to look for but can't find #10. Need some better search terms that don't get me a flood of treasure hunt pages and name that book threads.

Not even sure what I'm looking for in #7 and #15, hahaha

>65 Luisali: Thank you! Yeah, that part of the clue messed me up, but when I searched without that the right thing came up in the results. I’d totally blanked on that happening in 2017.

>75 SandraArdnas: #7 is referring to something you can buy from the LT store and #10 is referring to a the very first of a recurring theme of LT hunts.

>77 PawsforThought: Thank you.

Only #2 and #15 to go. I'll give it a rest and maybe I'll be smarter later :)

>68 Luisali: Still stuck on #4!!! I must be getting something wrong. Tried everything already!

Stuck on 6 and 9

Got 9 but 6 is stumping me despite previous hints

>74 PawsforThought: it's a famous bookstore from that year; the spanish words are a clue.
>75 SandraArdnas: the "About" page has an authors section.

>74 PawsforThought: Then it's possible your guess wasn't correct, because when I type the name of this grand and splendid Buenos Aires bookstore (the most beautiful bookstore according to the National Geographic) in the search box, it only displays only one link.

>79 Ronoc: you need the book series, not the movies one; you wrote a review about the first book

>81 Luisali: I swear I visited that already through Zeitgeist menu, but thank you, Only one left to go

I think there is an issue with the hunt, because I’ve been to the exact page that clue #2 is referring to at least five times, but it only worked now when I used a different link to get there.

>81 Luisali: and >82 Dilara86: I understand that’s it’s a bookstore but can’t figure out which one. I’ve search for the words in the titles on Google but nothing of value comes up. I either get to completely irrelevant pages in Spanish or pages with “great bookshops in Gothenburg”, etc.

>86 PawsforThought: it's the wrong city, google 'Los porteños' and look for a bookstore with a synonym of 'sublime' in the name in that city

>85 PawsforThought: And I clicked on the right page for #2 three or four times yesterday, and didn't get it; I clicked on it again today, and it finally gave me the award.

Very frustrating, but on the other hand, they eventually let me have it. :-) As they should, since I am one of the things on that page (pseudo-spoiler that I put in Spoiler tags but this isn't a true spoiler).

>82 Dilara86: That sounds like the correct bookstore. Did you click on the link?

>77 PawsforThought: For #10 I know which hunt is being referred to in the clue, but I have no idea where it was announced. I checked the most obvious places but no luck.

>90 jjwilson61: It's the first one, in the year of the clue

>89 jjwilson61: I had the correct answer: my message hidden by spoilers in >82 Dilara86: was me trying to help >74 PawsforThought:

Regarding the banner, apologies all for its late appearance, but we wanted to get one up that covered all the birthday doings, rather than just the hunt. It should now be appearing.

>83 Luisali: 🫣 😳 Can't believe I forgot about that series! Thank you very much!

The banner is now appearing!

I have gotten a lot more but help needed for 6. Please! For 16, I was positive I found the “Talk” in March of 2020, but no banner. Well, I looked there again and tried two further links from there. Success!

So far I'm not getting any of them, including some where I'm pretty sure I have the correct page. Is anyone else having this problem?

>93 AbigailAdams26:

Thank you

>98 AranelST: Yes, I do. There are at least three where I am absolutely sure that I have the correct one (I also read the clues), and I tried both on my laptop and my iPhone, but nothing happens.

I wonder if whatever was done to make the banner finally appear accidentally broken the other banners.

The banner just popped up for me.

>93 AbigailAdams26: Thanks!

ETA: nope, disappeared again.

>71 Maddz: me too, #7, also #13 (current events from 2017 are making my brain feel grungy, idk if I can stay sane long enough to get this one since it doesn't seem to be The Obvious Suspect), #15 (following >61 Dilara86: clue, I'm sure I found it but no banner on the page, can there be multiple pages?!), #19 (clues seem to dead-end).

>102 AranelST: It appears to be occluding them. Tim has said he will sort it out.

>98 AranelST: I'm running into the same problem.

>106 AbigailAdams26: Just to add, I dismissed the announcing banner, but I still don't see any birthday banners that indicate that I have found something, and I don't have any icons on the treasure hunt page.

>87 Luisali: Been there, done that. Repeatedly.
Tried through searching the award-provider's name and then clicking on the LT Local / Bookstores on left side of the page; tried through directly searching the entity's name and following the Bookstores left side link. I've got the grand and splendid answer correct, I'm sure. But where is the banner?

I'm stuck on #11. As a former professional librarian/cataloguer, this is deeply embarassing for me, and it's probable that I'm over-thinking it. However, any hints are welcome!

>87 Luisali: Obviously that would be the wrong one, that’s what I was saying. I did search for the phrase you mentioned but I’m not getting any results that work.

>108 orion_on_paws: There's some help with getting started solving Treasure Hunt clues over here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353338

If you need help with specific clues it's best to tell people what you have tried - e.g. "I thought the answer to #30 might be banana but when I searched banana it wasn't any of the books, where else could I search that or should I be trying other fruit?

There's instructions on how to use spoiler tags in the first post.

>111 tardis: it's a very professional form of import.

>111 tardis: The combined announcement banner and the individual Treasure Hunt banners appear to be deactivated at the moment. Perhaps related to >106 AbigailAdams26: so I suggest waiting until the banners are up again.

Hint for #11 Use a search engine to find the most important creation of Henriette Avram (it is a 4-letter abbreviation) --> Do a general search on any search engine with keywords 'librarything+xxxx+last word of hint' --> Follow the LT links until you get to this feature and the banner!

>98 AranelST: I'm in the same boat. I'm sure I have the right answer for at least a few of these but no banner notifications which is so frustrating...

>98 AranelST: I seem to be having that problem, too! I was hoping this might be a nice distraction from copyediting articles, but I think the copyediting might be the less frustrating venture right now :).

>103 orion_on_paws:

Understand that I only have five so far, and I think I've forgotten the answer to at least one. :-) And I find that when I re-visit, the banners don't come up.

But:
#2: I am the author of four books, and I am on LibraryThing. What does that make me?
#4: The female with the Draco draconis injection of permanent ink below the skin. I would note that this is much too popular for me to have read it. :-p
#7: Think LT merch -- particularly something that you put on or in your book. Also, this is another one that can involve permanent ink.
#8: Look up the musical "3 Summers of Lincoln." Look at the other main character, the one with the dark skin. Poke around pages for him. I believe it was his legacy library, not his author page.
#20: This was the biggest announcement of the week other than this Twentieth Anniversary stuff. Think of the skills you need to win on Jeopardy!, then add "Thing" on the end. Or perhaps you've played T.....l Pursuit. So. T....Thing.

Glad I haven't gotten more. It's hard to be that semi-cryptic. :-p

I have several where I am 100% I have the correct answer, but no banner and no strikethrough on the clue. Are we having another one where you have to go through a very specific page order? For example:

#1: I found this employee's name while looking for a different answer. No banner on her profile page.
#2: I have no idea what this could be besides the LT Author page.
#4: This series is about a girl with particular permanent ink, correct? No banner on series page.
#11: I have clicked on every item in the store, including the free bookmarks.
#13: No joy either on the author's page, disambiguation page, or alias page.
#15: Found the bookstore name, thank you for the hints, but no result via either the Local page or the general search page.

Am I just being unusually dumb? I've never had this much trouble with a hunt before.

>119 Watry: the banners aren't working, probably best to come back and try those again once it's fixed.

>120 Aquila: Bah, I thought everyone was talking about the announcement banner (which I didn't get either). Thank you!

>119 Watry:
Watry, I share your frustration.

I'm also not seeing a banner, even though I have 17 of the 20 clues solved. I'm sure the LT folks will get it figured out; this is my first year on the site and I'm loving the fun games and sense of community.

>123 GandalfTheGreen: 👍 May the rest of your 1st year continue like that. As well as time afterwards.

Me bleedin' answers ain't showin' up, it's all gone pete tong, proper knackered

>115 mr.philistine: >114 Luisali: Thanks for the hints, although they take me to all the pages I've already tried. I'll try again tomorrow in case it's still a banner problem.

>93 AbigailAdams26: Nope. I still don't see the hunt banner. And as I said, I'm one who has never clicked on the Dismiss button for the banner, so I've never had issues seeing the banner before.

>110 muumi: I'm having the same problem with #15. I feel sure I identified the bookstore and I pulled it up in LT Local, but no banner. So I came here for hints, and I'm only finding people having the same problem.

>128 atozgrl: I might have the solution for you and others on #15. You're on the right path, just ensure you're double checking that your spelling and location match the right store. I myself had many issues with accidentally substituting an 'a' for what should have been an 'e.'

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are wqorking again, and not overlapping!

It looks like both banners are working again, and not overlapping!

Sorry for the repeated posts, my browser hiccuped.

Yay -- I didn't get any banners last night, but they're working for me now! Love a good hunt. Thanks to all working behind the scenes!

Yes, everything is working now and I got a few banners! Thank you to the LT team for resolving this so quickly!

I am now just stuck on #6. I'm confused, is it not the MDS page for the Fleming novel?

I've managed 13 without resorting to help (other than google for one).

>11 conceptDawg: Noooooo! Alright, we'll give you 2 weeks.

Still can't get #19...

>142 GandalfTheGreen: No. You're on the right track but easier than that. Sort of. You have to be a bit literal.

Finally found #6. Maybe I'm not that intelligent but that was the only one that made less sense to me. All the others were very clever and fun. Thanks guys!

>91 SandraArdnas: If you mean the SOTT for January 2014, I'm not getting the banner

I found Treasure Hunts at the More tab under Games, but that only takes you to the current hunt

I think I found the answer to #16 but I'm not getting the banner, so I think banners are still busted.

Consolidated hints for clues: 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19 & 20

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23170/LT-Treasure-Hunts

Also general hints and strategies.

Heading out for dinner; wll continue tomorrow.

>66 Ronoc: (marker for myself)

And just like that I am participating in my first ever event here. The treasure hunt to commemorate 20 years. Gives me a chance to get to know this site better in a playful/competetive way. Found two banners. Let´s see how it continues... Happy hunting everybody!
Halfway though the hunt. Ten out of 20 banners. Already liking the cameraderie here btw.
Five left…

I've got everything except #13! Still completely stuck - any further hints?

>150 torirusso: It's more correct to say fired ON Twitter and I was finally able to get it by Googling director fired Twitter and including the year.

I'm struggling with #16 and #18 if anyone has hints for those!

>151 bell7: 16: It's important to remember that LT used to cost if you wanted to add more than 250 books. Where might they Talk about it when that changed?

18: The answer to this one is said clearly in the clue itself.

>151 bell7: & >152 Watry:
I'm struggling with #18, too. It may be clear to some of y'all, but it's apparently out of my wheelhouse.

Well, I had #11 right after all. It was the banner problem, and today I got my last banner. I now have 20/20 :) I feel much better now - the thought that I, a professional librarian (retired), could be wrong about anything that fundamental to my career was painful!

Thanks to everyone at LT for a challenging but fun hunt and to all the other members who participate and share!

>153 moniqueleigh: re:#18 In the rest of the world, ER is Emergency Room, but what is it in LibraryThing world? Extra hint: there's a link at the bottom of every page

>155 tardis: Aha! That did it! Too many more literal clues in a row, and I completely spaced on considering LT terms.

>150 torirusso: Hint for #13: This director was Fired for Being Ineffective w.r.t emails & interference

I've got all but #3; any further help is appreciated.

>151 bell7: Thank you! Finally got it with your hint! For #18 I struggling also until I realized ER doesn't mean Emergency Room when you're on LibraryThing (duh)

>157 mr.philistine: For #3 - think about what major technology was introduced in 1984, and who invented it.

I want to find the last two but I think I need help figuring them out. Hints are appreciated! My missing ones are:
Birthday banner 9 (2013)
Birthday banner 19 (2023)

>157 mr.philistine: Also for #13: If you're thinking of a movie director, that isn't it. What other kinds gov't jobs are called Director?

>159 torirusso: Thanks, got it. For some reason I kept clicking the 'character' link. This time I managed to get the 'author' page. I can now look forward to new challenges in September after a successful August! :)

>148 humouress: I have all 20, thanks to the consolidated hints. Thank you!

>160 Eva_Isabella: for #3 Google bicycle of the mind. You're looking for an author.

>164 elorin: Just got the banner. Thanks for your tipp.

>163 elorin: You're welcome :0)

I'm happy to have seen the banner this time - first time in a while!

Oh, this one's harder than most hunts, though, I think! At least I'm having a harder time.

>13 timspalding: I'm definitely finding this one harder! I think it may include a lot of pages that I don't know where to find! I might have an idea as to the answer, but just don't know what page to head to or where to find the page.

Two more to find. See above! Anybody got hints?

Perseverance and a little help from folks' hints made for an enjoyable hunt, as always.

>160 Eva_Isabella: banner 9 focus on a specific religion

>152 Watry: Ah, I was treating it much more generally but that makes sense.

>155 tardis: Ha, it finally clicked.

Thank you! Got all 20 now :D

ETA: I found them all!

I am still working on the banners 7 and 8. I know I’m getting closer, but circling around the banner, it seems. Could some of you give me the direction, please? Thanks!

>171 closer: Can´t narrow it down. Nothing comes to mind.

>174 Eva_Isabella: a leader of a specific religion based on the year and the specific three numbers at the end of the puzzle are the three numbers or numerals that go with the leader's title

>175 closer: Took me a while, but I figured it out and got the banner. Thanks for the tipps. Greatly appreciated.

One more to find. Birthday banner 19 (2023)

I'm still struggling with #16.

>177 Eva_Isabella: for 19 try Zeitgeist, Awards and Honors, Most works

>178 midnightcat: No help here. 10 and 16 are the ones I'm stuck on too.

>180 jjwilson61: I just found them. Try the old email newsletter archives, the State of Things, I found them under the years for the hint

Thank you to those who gave a hint or two when I got stuck, finally got all 20. This was fun for my first TreasureHunt!

Woot! Found them all! That was fun

>180 jjwilson61: >178 midnightcat: banner 16 go to Talk about Library Thing, in the search topics box on the right, type in the year and the word free, that should give you enough info to get the banner

>179 closer: Did that but nothing. Or do the banner not work on phone (not as well?)? Have switched from PC.
Forget this post. Have found it. Thank you for the tipp.

Within a day I found all 20 banners. 🥳 Not bad for my first LT treasure hunt. Kinda tired but satisfied also. Thank you for your guidance/help regarding some. It is greatly appreciated❣️ As a newbie this was a good way to getting started. I had an enjoyable Sunday as well as a good last summer day in August. 👍

This was a lot of fun. Thank you for putting it together!

Got 'em all. Thanks for a challenging and interesting one. A couple of them were exactly in the place that I though they were but they didn't trigger, especially #6 and #14. I swear I went to them yesterday and got no love. But today they worked.

So just a tip, if you're stuck but you're sure you're in the right place give it some time and try it again.

>188 mahsdad: since you got them all, please, please give me some additional help on 6. Thanks in advance.

>189 Micheller7: What is Melvill famous for? What is the most famous spy with License to Kill?

Double post

>151 bell7: Thank you so much, that finally worked for me. I really, really do not remember anything about that event or about the fellow's existence. My 2017 was all about getting out to the path of totality for the solar eclipse and I didn't pay that much attention to the rest of the year, tbh. I guess there must have been 11 months when we were NOT camping, but they just weren't that interesting.

For #16, note the year and the key phrase "stuck at home" to get the month, and check the LT news. From there, Talk being capitalized in the clue and (iirc) linked in the newsletter update is your next clue.
For #18, ER has a special meaning on LibraryThing, and there's a link and a nice picture for it on my home page and probably on yours as well, if you haven't somehow removed it (I think displaying it is default).

>189 Micheller7: >190 elorin: Yeah, what elorin said. But I'll add... What's that famous spy's famous number. Then, if you can't find the thing that Melvil is famous for around here, look under Zeitgeist

>190 elorin:

>190 elorin: Moby Dick and Agent 007. But I don’t know how they go together. I have searched on them all in many ways and Fleming too, movies, classifications and more.

Please another hint.

>196 Micheller7: #6 Wrong Melvil, you're looking for one more associated with libraries

>129 GandalfTheGreen: My problem last night was apparently that the banners weren't working. I hadn't seen the messages about that problem yet when I posted. I reloaded the same page today and got the birthday banner.

And I'm finally seeing the banner announcing the treasure hunt. Thank you LT!

>118 waltzmn: >103 orion_on_paws:

Thank you for the hint for #7. It helped me to straighten my thinking!

Now I got all 20 banners.

Thank you for the staff to give us another fun treasure hunt.

>179 closer: I have tried that, but still no banner. I don't understand what I am missing for #19. Does anyone have any other hints?

>196 Micheller7: Melvil is the first name

Thanks to all for your help! Another fun treasure hunt- and the most challenging for me!

>196 Micheller7: Combining Aquila's hint (197) and mahsdad's (193) might help you a bit – I reckon most library users aren't on first-name terms with the person you're looking for but it might help you to think of *how many digits* are in that agent number, too.

More generally I wanted to add to the chorus of thanks — to those who put the hunt together, to the members who gave helpful hints without giving too much away, and also to those who suggested that if at first you don't succeed, it might be a site hiccup (as it seemed to be with me for a couple of the banners).

I very happily managed to get 14 of 20 on my own without any hints. Thanks to everyone's hints I now have all 20.

>203 hypotactic: . Okay so it is Melvil Dewey.. I get that, but numbers 007 does not seem to combine with that in any way. What is it that I am looking for?

>205 Micheller7: #6 What is Melvil Dewey known for and where is it used on the site?

I was stuck on #18, so I asked the Claude AI for some help. Here's the response I got:

"I believe this riddle is about Lucy Letby and the redesign/improvements made to emergency response protocols or hospital emergency departments following the investigation into her case, which became major news in 2022."

Note: This is not the correct answer.

>206 Aquila: Melvil decimals.. I have looked there repeatedly..

>208 Micheller7: So you have a number from one part of the clue, and you have a section of the site which uses number as the other part of the clue, what happens when you navigate to that number

>205 Micheller7: If you go to the part of the site that deals with the first part, those boxes explaining the divisions are clickable (took me a sec to realize this) - experiment with that a bit?

>208 Micheller7: I originally thought it was something to do with espionage, so I was looking there. But the decimal number in question is much more basic. You've got it in your question >205 Micheller7:.

>211 atozgrl: I have looked through all the Melvil decimals. Cannot find one labeled 007. I have clicked on many.

Stuck on 3, 6, 7, and 16

>212 Micheller7: Warning: the spoiler is instructions on how to get the banner for #6. When you're on the MDS page, type /007 at the end of the URL and then hit enter.

>214 amanda4242: it says Invalid MDS. I ALSO ASKED CHAT GPT. It says there is no such number.
Also how do you get to that page and get a full listing? I go in a convoluted way and can’t seem to get a full list.

>215 Micheller7: Why are you asking the hallucination machine anything? You can never trust the results it gives, so it's useless asking it anything you don't know the answer to.

Full instructions for clicking through to the answer to #6 Go to any well known book in librarything, find and click on the Classification tab and click through to one of the Dewey numbers it has. (DDC/MDS).
This will take you to a grid page with the levels of dewey number with that books numbers selected. Click the 0 at the top left (computer science information and general works) and it'll take you to a two line grid - 1-9 of the top level MDS numbers in the top row, 00-09 of the second level MDS numbers that start with 0 in the second row, click the 00 (computer science knowledge and systems) and you'll get a third level. Click the number you've been looking for in that.

>215 Micheller7:

This is a SUPER SPOILER. But this page will put you within a single click of success: https://www.librarything.com/mds/00

>215 Micheller7: To get to the MDS page, click on the More tab, scroll down to the Useful and Fun section, and then click the MDS Classification box.

>216 Aquila: I'm not sure if I'm desperately falling behind the times here but I absolutely refuse to use AI for anything at all and I'm somewhat blown away by how many people depend on it. "Oh just ask Chatgpt" Excuse me sir I asked you, I didn't want to use the Cheating Machine That's Also Wrong Usually

I'm up to 14 banners; we've got nearly 3 weeks so I'm going to prolong the frustration fun a bit longer.

Consolidated hints for all clues that have been requested (i.e. not 12 or 17 yet ETA: or 1) updated to this point:

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23170/LT-Treasure-Hunts

You can also find a thread on general hints and strategies.

Sorry it's slow this time; my right arm is in a cast and essentially out of action. And, of course, there are nearly twice as many clues as usual.

Thank you for a really great hunt and also for the many clues. After trying for a while, the last one (number 6) finally clicked for me this morning.

So, I'm still stuck on # 5

I've looked in groups and tried to find one that is specific to help re LT and still no banner.

I know there's problems with the banners. I never got the "you've found a birthday banner" banner for # 7, but when I refreshed my hunt page, it had the strike-through. (I had clicked on on every single item in the store, so it was obviously one of those, but which one?)

Definitely one of the harder hunts. Thanks to all who help develop these, and to Concept Dawg for the great bird paintings.

>222 BookConcierge: Just checked and banners are up.

Hint for #5 Check the 'Helpers Groups' in Groups Home.

Hint for #7 Something used by a post office or any self-respecting office :)

This is shamelessly opportunistic...

Hint for #10 Check a pinned thread in the 'LT Treasure Hunts' group. And don't limit your search to the first post. :)

>216 Aquila: well, thank you so much. I did get it (and now have all 20). I had been on that page countless times. I don’t quite understand how it works and it was hard to follow that path, but I finally found that number as unassigned . Now I can get back to reading my book.

>218 amanda4242: thanks. This will be helpful in future hunts, that is if I can remember it.

>214 amanda4242: amanda4242 - I was going insane by clicking the Mevil number combination and not getting anything. It would have never occurred to add that to the address

>228 KikiTuna: It would have never occurred to add that to the address

For those who watch movies (or read 'those' books?), if there was ever an instantly recognizable phrase, 'licensed to kill' has to be it! Though, I must confess >56 timspalding: led me to it! But still, looking back now at all the Birthday Banners, #6 was among the most straightforward! :)

I kept clicking on Mevil 0, subsection 07 and getting upset because nothing happened

>139 Aquila: Give it a glass of water.

>230 KikiTuna: I suspect that MI6 would not have made you a secret agent ;0)

>230 KikiTuna: Like James May and Ruskin Bond. :)

>220 humouress: Not a bad idea. 😉
Ouch - get well soon!

>220 humouress: ...(i.e. not 12 or 17 yet) updated to this point...

Don't forget #1. Something for the weak... :)

Hint for #1 She's a staffer if you need to 'Contact' LT.

Hint for #12 Check groups for a feline.

Hint for #17 The LT main navigation bar should lead to a sub-navigation bar; you can't miss it now.

>192 muumi: Thanks, that finally did it. I had found my way to the SOTT before but I didn't get that you had to then click through to the Talk page

>225 mr.philistine: Got it! Thanks. As with the other clue, I thought finding the SOTT issue was what they wanted but I had to click through to the Talk thread

I have them all except #19. I’ve followed all the hints, clicked all around that location and I’ve got nothing. Can anyone spell it out more clearly for those of us who are being thick?

Done! A few required a bit of googling. Two required hints here. For one, I simply had never heard the key quotation. For the other, I generally understood what was required. But the way I did the search the correct result was farther down the result list than I expected and my eyes missed it.

>237 varielle: Start in Zeitgeist. Look for the category there that would have works that were prized. Then look for the one that has the most works listed that also happens to be for kids.

>224 mr.philistine: Thanks for the clue on # 5 ... that did the trick

BUT ... I never got a banner telling me that I'd found a birthday banner.
I just clicked on every possible link and when I refreshed the main hunt page, # 5 had been struck through and it showed I had 20 birthday banners. So I don't know which was the right one. (Same thing that happened with # 7.)

>239 mahsdad: I found that prize and went through every book and author who were recognized in 2023 but I still don’t have anything. 😕

>237 varielle: Check the awards section of the author mentioned in >57 v1v1enne:

>241 varielle: This one also gave me fits. I was looking on the main Zeitgeist page, clicking on links, and getting nothing. Instead, if you are on the Zeitgeist page, go to Awards and Honors in the left-hand column, and on the resulting page look for the section that has the most works.

Also, FYI, you are not looking for a book or author.

>233 Eva_Isabella: Thanks.

>234 mr.philistine: 😃

OMG - I finally found them - this might have been the most challenging hunt yet!

After utilising some of the most blatant spoilers to get 17 of 20 found I was painstakingly trolling through talk topics to get the answer to 16 when I stumbled on to 10 (I had just about written that one off). That left 3 and a quick Google search for one of the more bizarre phrases in the clue and I was home and hosed.

Many thanks to the team for setting up the hunt and to the contributors to this talk for their hints.

Cheers

I finally found the right page for my final answer, that to #13. Very US-based. It is in 2017, as promised, but outsiders might want to study the month of May, and if that's not specific enough, look to the 9th of that month.

>243 atozgrl: At last! I figured out because I was using an iPhone it was cutting off part of the info.

I've got them all except 5, which has me thoroughly baffled. I can see that 5 is a group, but I've been poking around to no avail trying to find which.

ETA: got it! This is the first hunt I've done - it was quite the challenge!

>248 kicking_k: Keep poking. it's a helper group

I remember your name from livejournal!

>44 choongzh: >71 Maddz: >200 atozgrl: >237 varielle:
#19 Make the last line into another line (or part of a line), including the word 'year' and look for an award, the list has 10,902 items

>249 raidergirl3: raidergirl Blast from the past! Your name also rings a bell.

I qualified as an archivist so have spent quite a bit of my professional life over the last 20 years in actual libraries.

>1 AbigailAdams26: Thank you! That was fun, and I only had to use the hints in "Talk" for one clue (#19), my best result ever. Happy Birthday LibraryThing!

A challenging and fun treasure hunt. Thank you.

I knew the answer to #11 and clicked on many pages, but never saw a banner . . . though now that item is crossed out, so I got it, but have no idea which thing I clicked on was the correct thing . . . will check spoilers later, but it seems the banner issue is still an issue . . .

I finished. Thanks for the hints. Thank you to the LT staff for all the work and time for LibraryThing. Drawings are always wonderful.

Great Idea!
I got five without hints but no badge?
"Any member who finds at least two birthday banners will be awarded a birthday banner badge"
Will this come after closing date?

Greetings from Vienna - could not live without LibraryThing!#
JOHN

>257 johninvienna: Badges are awarded after the hunt ends—usually several months after since it's a manual process.

Hi,

I'm stuck on #13. I'm pretty sure it's the person with the initials AGM, but just simply can't get the banner and the treasure hunt page keeps not giving me the badge. Can some kind soul please tell me if I even got the right person?

Thanks.

>257 johninvienna: As a new member of LibraryThing I asked myself the same thing. I hope so.

Greetings from a fellow austrian user.

>258 amanda4242: Thank you for that info! 🙂

>259 alexyskwan: No, you're looking for someone else.

>259 alexyskwan: Think about the inner circle of a leader who demands loyalty; then think about a G-man who didn't deliver in 2017: results? 'you're fired' in May.

>259 alexyskwan: About a dozen hints consolidated in this thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/373463

>263 closer: Speaking of firings, this one takes the cake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYviM5xevC8&t=2m26s

I've been updating the consolidated hints as we go along:

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23170/LT-Treasure-Hunts

Feel free to add in any I've missed. Don't forget the spoiler tags!

You can also find a thread on general hints and strategies (I've tidied up the first post a bit).

>259 alexyskwan: Hi! This person was the director of one of the alphabet soup agenciesthat got fired...hope this helps!

This was fun! Got all of the birthday banners, whew! Happy Birthday, LibraryThing! And the drawing of magpie is gorgeous!

Have all of them except #3

This is the first time I found them all! #6 had me stumped for a while, but it was pretty hilarious once I figured it out.

>266 tammyhennig:

Yeah, I got the agency, just got stuck on the deputy director instead of the actual top dog.

Thanks! :)

>264 mr.philistine:

Thanks. I was in the right direction, didn't realize the person I was originally thinking of was the deputy instead of the actual director.

>263 closer:

I got the agency, just thought it was Andrew McCabe because I'm apparently very bad at Googling and remembering news.

Thanks for all the hints; got them all now! :D

Thanks to all the wonderful helpers providing hints. This was definitely the hardest Treasure Hunt I have done - took me several days to complete it! (Plus staying up entirely too late to do so!) Again, my deepest thanks to all of you! Learned some new things and places to go on the site!

>57 v1v1enne: Thanks for that clue - the list definitely cannot be found through Lists.

>275 aileverte: Glad you found it. Tricky birthday treasure hunt!

Anybody else, who has already finished, misses looking for banners?

>277 Eva_Isabella:
Kinda the reverse, actually. I have gotten a couple of unnecessary and undesired banners for clues I already solved when I re-visited the pages for other reasons. It's the mildest of annoyances, though.

>129 GandalfTheGreen: I'm still stuck on #15 (my last one!). Keep circling back to this page in moments of distraction from work (incidentally, book editing), but I must be very slow-witted today. Clicked on every bookstore in Puerto Rico, but haven't figured out what the "yellow rectangle" or the award might refer to.

>279 aileverte: For #15 the yellow rectangle refers to National Geographic and the country is Argentina.

>279 aileverte: No problem, that one was a tricky one as well. Another poster replied to you with some very accurate advice. One thing that tripped me up: make sure you spell the name of the establishment correctly when you are searching for it.

>278 paradoxosalpha: Oh, understandable though. I am new(er) here and figuring stuff out enthusiastically.

some of these didn't populate for me the first time I went looking... and suddenly today they are popping up. >.>

>148 humouress: You are wonderful for this!

>119 Watry: I was still having the same today; 'Dismissing' the anniversary banner does now seem to allow the others to appear.

>284 Bodagirl: Thanks :0)

>43 atozgrl: Really? It will never appear again? I dismissed it by accident. I am struggling to keep bringing it back up--I can do it, but need to go all over the place to make it happen. I want it turned back on. :)

>280 amanda4242: Thanks, amanda4242! duh, of course NG, i have shelves of yellow spines in the other room. Haha, just shows where my mind is these days...

>281 GandalfTheGreen: Thanks GandlfTheGreen, I finally got it :-))

Finally finished. (Started on 9/3 and came back today)
#6 took me way too long. Finally gave up and used the hints above. Would never have gotten there on my own . . . apparently the literal portion of my brain has entirely taken over. :)

Thanks for a fun Hunt . . . and Congrats on 20 years . . . I joined in 2007, so I've been here for much of it.

Finished - another really fun hunt! I did need help with several of the clues. With some even if I knew what the answer was, I had trouble finding where it was!

Thanks for 20 years LibraryThing!

Finally had time to sit down and puzzle out the ones I didn't get easily. Thanks for the clues, too! I needed a few of them. It's a great community for those "I know it's ____ but I just can't find it" days!! Congratulations, all, on designing another great hunt. And happy 20th!

>216 Aquila: Yeah, they really weren't playing with the hints this year! It's extremely well thought out, but honestly seeing another human put it all together? My brain can rest...

I got them all! I got them all without coming here for hints, that normally never happens! (I'm always very grateful to the people who post hints here, I'm usually in desperate need of them.)

Thanks for another awesome hunt, I always enjoy these tremendously. Happy 20th birthday, LT!

Thank you! 20/20 and a lot of fun. Happy 20th Birthday!

Finished! This was fun, if not a bit aggravating, but that's on me. I still enjoyed it immensely! Thank you to everyone for the hints that I needed :)
Happy 20th Birthday, LT!!!

Finished! I had fun and glad I found this today!!

Is it necessary to write it here that I found all the banners? It was a lot of fun!

>298 MicheleWhis: Not really. We're all just showing off ;0)

>299 humouress: Thanks!

The final light bulb just dinged! Thank you LT for another interesting treasure hunt. After numerous false starts and wrong turns, I sought out help to solve the three I found the most difficult, so thanks also to humouress for the hints to #s 7, 13, and 6 that got me where I wanted to be. Happy 20th Birthday LT! You are one of my favorites.

>301 dvdwlkn: You're welcome.

A reminder to anyone who needs it; consolidated hints, general tips and strategies and *cough* past hunts can be found here:

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23170/LT-Treasure-Hunts

>118 waltzmn: Re: #4 I had trouble finding that one as I never thought that could be what the clue was referring to, this being THE 20th Birthday Treasure Hunt and everything. Hehe Was it that influential? Come to think of it, I would have never read those books had it not been for LT as I joined LT the following year (2009) and they were everywhere!

Well folks, I got 14 on my own and the rest with help from you marvelous people. I would never have gotten #6 were it not for the help in post #216! Thank you Aquila!
Thank you LT (I think) for the most challenging hunt ever, or at least in a long time. Also thank you to ConceptDawg for the beautiful magpie. You are an LT treasure.

Someone please help me with 12

I've added hints for clue 12.

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23170/LT-Treasure-Hunts

I've got my 20! Thanks for the hunt, the hints and the magpie.

>309 Mogul_1967: Try message 65

>309 Mogul_1967: Thanks. That was a quick response. I figured it out. I kept thinking U.S. Politics.

Holy smokes this was the best hunt I’ve ever embarked on!!! Learned so much LT lore, more than I knew existed

>3 conceptDawg: thank you dawg for the magpie art. Love your creations, I use the flamingo ghost as my phone background lol

Guys. I missed the winner’s announcement where is it

>314 rooparithvik: It hasn’t happened yet.

>314 rooparithvik: Well, it is a weekend and the hunt just ended yesterday so maybe Monday?

The banner is still up and I'm too scared to dismiss it ;0)

Maybe it can be amended to take out the link to the treasure hunt?

>317 humouress: The banner that is currently up should only be showing the survey. I take it that is not the case for you?

ETA: The developers believe they have resolved the issue, when it comes to dismissing the banner. Going forward it should now appear for each hunt, even if dismissed in a previous one.

Hello Everyone! Our 20th Birthday Treasure Hunt has now ended. Thank you to all who participated!

We had 7,187 players for this hunt, and 1,221 players finding at least five clues. The average number of clues found was four.

Our randomly selected winners for the hunt are:

stortemelk
mnm123
justreign
andrewosterloh
thicketpath

Winners: I will be messaging you about your mailing addresses, so we can get your prizes sent out to you!

Participants who found at least two banners: Please be aware that badges are awarded manually, and may not appear in your badges for some time.

GOOD NEWS regarding the banner: the developers believe that they have resolved the ongoing problems with the banner's appearance. Going forward it should now appear for each hunt, even if dismissed in a previous one. Let us know when the next hunt commences, if this is not the case for you.

>318 AbigailAdams26: The banner I see still says "Celebrate LibraryThing's 20th Birthday on Talk, with a treasure hunt, t-shirts and a birthday list!"

>320 PawsforThought: Can you try dismissing that banner? At that point, you will see the survey banner, if you haven't taken it.

>321 AbigailAdams26: No, after I dismissed it, there's no banner at all. (I tried updating the page, too.)

>322 PawsforThought: Have you already taken the survey? If so, I believe you wouldn't see the banner.

Yeah, I've done it already. I never see that banner, though - only the 20th birthday one.

>324 PawsforThought: It's possible you completed the survey before it went up. In which case, I don't believe you would have seen it.

>325 AbigailAdams26: I completed the survey yesterday.

>319 AbigailAdams26: Thank you for a great hunt!

The badges are here!

I got mine. Thanks again for the challenges and the badges.

>328 mr.philistine: The “Vigesimal Vexilum”—I love LibraryThing!

>328 mr.philistine: 🙂👍🏻🎉 My first badge!

>329 mnleona: 🙂👍🏻🎉

>330 Charon07: 🙂👍🏻🎉 Me too.

>330 Charon07: Yep, I now feel like a propah legionnaire!

>331 Eva_Isabella: Good for you.There will be more challenges and badges.

>335 mnleona: Hope so. Looking forward. Quite the collection you have already accumulated. Here‘s to more fun in the future! 🙂