Christmas Clue Hunt 2007

For the past eight years or so, my family has begrudginly participated in a yuletide psychological fitness examination known as the Christmas Clue Hunt.  To find their gift, they must follow a trail of four or five clues.  The hunt has become more challenging and elaborate over the years.  By 2010, we won't have Christmas together at all--mom will be poking around The Louvre looking for a clue tucked behind The Raft of the Medusa, Margie and Dan will be in a Cape Town bar whispering to a cloaked, shadowy figure...

This year I've decided to start the clue hunt early with real brain strainers, sent throught the mail.  Couples work as teams: My sister Clare and her husband Gerald, and my sister Margie and her husband Dan.  Mom works alone--Dad claims, "My brain doesn't work that way."

Could you survive a Christmas at the Hampton's?  Try it out!  Email me if you solve any of them.

Margie and Dan's First Clue
You need to be familiar with Harry Potter, or have a Harry Potter fan helping you, to have any hope of solving this.

         

Clare and Gerald's First Clue
SURELY you've read the Lord of the Rings series?  Not that it's necessary to solve this puzzle, though it might help.  A background in geology, on the other hand, would be handy...

Update 2/1/08: Clare and Gerald had a lot on their plate this past Christmas, so they didn't have time to solve their puzzle, but they're continuing to work on it.  Clare sent me an email a week ago asking for inspiration to come to her in a dream "lest we be haunted the rest of our days."  I replied with an email that said "...later that night..." with this audio file attached:  Claridil's Dream

         

Mom's First Clue
Wow!  It sure was easy to get UC Berkeley letterhead.  This is one of many music-based clues I've made over the years.  My favorite kind...