[Balin] Speaking their language

[Balin]

Rick puts up a piece of artwork in a public place. He does not expect his work to stay where it is for long, but it remains for years. Why?

[WiZ]

Rick = H?A?M?

Would calling this thing an 'artwork' be controversial? Is Rick a talented artist? Talented for his age? Is the piece of art for sale? Has it been commissioned? Is it somewhat impromptu, such as graffiti/tagging/street art?

Is the public place accessible to a broad, indiscriminate cross-section of the general public (as opposed to the kitchen fridge of a busy house)? Is it a museum? Gallery? School? Public space?

Does Rick expect someone will try to remove the artwork? Does he have some foreknowledge of how long the artwork is likely to stay there?

Has someone changed their mind regarding whether or not the artwork should stay in the public place? Has is somehow become inaccessible?

Does the artwork suddenly become [more] valuable?

Just to confirm - is he the artist, or should 'his work' be interpreted as 'the work he owns'?

[Balin]

Rick = H?A?M? Yes

Would calling this thing an 'artwork' be controversial? No Is Rick a talented artist? Yes Talented for his age? Yes, but he's not a prodigy or anything of that sort Is the piece of art for sale? No Has it been commissioned? No Is it somewhat impromptu, such as graffiti/tagging/street art? No, but this is surprisingly OTRT

Is the public place accessible to a broad, indiscriminate cross-section of the general public (as opposed to the kitchen fridge of a busy house)? Yes Is it a museum? Gallery? School? No to these Public space? Yes

Does Rick expect someone will try to remove the artwork? Yes Does he have some foreknowledge of how long the artwork is likely to stay there? No

Has someone changed their mind regarding whether or not the artwork should stay in the public place? Yope/No Has is somehow become inaccessible? No

Does the artwork suddenly become [more] valuable? No

Just to confirm - is he the artist, or should 'his work' be interpreted as 'the work he owns'? Rick is the artist

[Earnest]

Was it considered an artwork before being put in the public place? If so a known one? Does it represent a commonly used object? If so, an object especially used in that public place? Is this the reason why Rick did not expect it to be there? Did he declare publicly that he would have put an artwork there? Is it something organic? Is the artwork bigger than a basket ball? Is the artwork a paint?

WAG --> is the artwork a simple clean wall? I mean...my WAG is that there were very ugly and anti-aesthetic graffiti on some walls and his artwork consisted in cleaning them. But actually he did not expect the artwork to stay there for a long time (= he expected that someone would have done graffiti soon again)

Public space = park? Library? A building? An open space?

[GalFisk]

PM sent.

[trebor]

Does he expect it will be taken down by a member of the public? By a business owner? By a governing body? By the subject of the work, if the subject is a sentient being? Does he expect to take it down himself?

Is the subject of the work relevant? If yes, is it a person? More than one? Does the artwork commemorate something? Is it tongue-in-cheek? Does it make a political or social statement? Is it

Is he pleased that the work stays there?

Wait. PMing WAG.

[Balin]

Was it considered an artwork before being put in the public place? Yope If so a known one? No Does it represent a commonly used object? Yes If so, an object especially used in that public place? Yes Is this the reason why Rick did not expect it to be there? No Did he declare publicly that he would have put an artwork there? No Is it something organic? No Is the artwork bigger than a basket ball? Yes Is the artwork a paint? Paint & metal

WAG --> is the artwork a simple clean wall? No I mean...my WAG is that there were very ugly and anti-aesthetic graffiti on some walls and his artwork consisted in cleaning them. But actually he did not expect the artwork to stay there for a long time (= he expected that someone would have done graffiti soon again) Interesting idea, but No

Public space = park? Library? A building? No to these An open space? Yes

Does he expect it will be taken down by a member of the public? By a business owner? By a governing body? This By the subject of the work, if the subject is a sentient being? Does he expect to take it down himself? No

Is the subject of the work relevant? Yes If yes, is it a person? No More than one? No Does the artwork commemorate something? Is it tongue-in-cheek? Does it make a political or social statement? No to all

Is he pleased that the work stays there? Yes

Wait. PMing WAG.
PM sent.
Both guesses are incorrect, and are also identical - it is not this also-hilarious story.

[GalFisk]

Does he expect the artwork to be: stolen? Sold? Removed? Destroyed? Covered? Washed away? Mistaken for garbage? Mistaken for something else? Vandalized? Does he expect it to be removed by nature? Humans? Animals? Is it a painting? Drawing? Carving? Etching? Sculpture?

[Balin]

Does he expect the artwork to be: stolen? Sold? Removed? This Destroyed? Covered? Washed away? Mistaken for garbage? Mistaken for something else? But also this Vandalized?
Does he expect it to be removed by nature? Humans? This Animals?
Is it a painting? This Drawing? Carving? Etching? Sculpture?

[GalFisk]

Is it on a wall? Ceiling? Roof? Pavement? The ground? Relevant what type of paint is used? Is paint used? Size of the artwork relevant?

[Balin]

Is it on a wall? Yope/No Ceiling? No Roof? No Pavement? Close! The ground? No Relevant what type of paint is used? No Is paint used? Yes, paint and metal Size of the artwork relevant? Yes

[GalFisk]

Is it on a rock? Flagstone? Structure? Bridge? Is it bigger than a breadbox (in two dimensions)? Is the metal used for color? For affixing the artwork to a surface?

[CoffeeBean]

Did the artist paint something onto a flat surface? A vertical surface? Horizontal surface?
Did he create a painting that duplicates something else? Something that had previously been removed from that same area?
A road sign? A sign for a business? Some other kind of sign?

[trebor]

Is it one a sidewalk? Bridge? Bench? Is it painted directly onto the thing? Is it in a frame? Is the type of canvas relevant, if it has one?

Do the people who he expects will remove it not recognize it as a painting?

[jumpingjacks]

Is an optical illusion involved? When he thinks people will mistake it for something else, will they think it is something other than a work of art? Will they mistake it for a functional object? Is his artwork of the photorealism variety?

[gregoryuconn]

Is it a bench? A chair? Something else one would ordinarily find in that setting? Was it mistaken for such? Did he expect it to be?

[Balin]

Is it on a rock? Flagstone? Structure? Bridge? On the side of some subcategory of "bridge" Is it bigger than a breadbox (in two dimensions)? Yes Is the metal used for color? No For affixing the artwork to a surface? Yes, and for a more important reason

Did the artist paint something onto a flat surface? Yes A vertical surface? He attached his painting to a flat vertical surface, so Yes Horizontal surface?
Did he create a painting that duplicates something else? Yes, for slight svv of "duplicates" Something that had previously been removed from that same area? No
A road sign? Yes! A sign for a business? Some other kind of sign?

Is it one a sidewalk? Bridge? See above, No to the others Bench? Is it painted directly onto the thing? No, see above Is it in a frame? No Is the type of canvas relevant, if it has one? The "canvas" is the metal

Do the people who he expects will remove it not recognize it as a painting? Yesish

Is an optical illusion involved? No When he thinks people will mistake it for something else, will they think it is something other than a work of art? Yes Will they mistake it for a functional object? Yes Is his artwork of the photorealism variety? I'll call this a Yope

Is it a bench? A chair? No to these Something else one would ordinarily find in that setting? Yes Was it mistaken for such? Yes! Did he expect it to be? Yes

[gregoryuconn]

Is it a vehicle bridge? A pedestrian bridge? A railroad bridge? A mixed use bridge (e.g. pedestrian + vehicle, railroad + vehicle, etc.)? Relevant what kind of road sign? Is it a traffic enforcement sign line one way or a stop sign? Is it an exit sign? A sign showing the name of the street? A milepost? A shield showing the route number? Something showing the name of the bridge (seeing as this happened on a bridge)? Something showing the distance to other place(s) further along the route? Is the bridge's name relevant? Did it change names at some point?

[Balin]

Is it a vehicle bridge? Yes, with the same "subcategory of 'bridge'" modifier. I should probably have said "for svv of "bridge" A pedestrian bridge? A railroad bridge? A mixed use bridge (e.g. pedestrian + vehicle, railroad + vehicle, etc.)?
Relevant what kind of road sign? Yes Is it a traffic enforcement sign line one way or a stop sign? Is it an exit sign? Yope A sign showing the name of the street? A milepost? A shield showing the route number? Yes (Something showing the name of the bridge (seeing as this happened on a bridge)? No - FA (that's my fault though) Something showing the distance to other place(s) further along the route? Is the bridge's name relevant? Did it change names at some point? No to rest of these

[GalFisk]

Is the artwork affixed with magnets? Is there a problem that is fixed by the sign? Is traffic changed by it? Getting lost relevant? Is the sign helpful?

[Balin]

Is the artwork affixed with magnets? I'm not sure, but I don't think so Is there a problem that is fixed by the sign? Yes Is traffic changed by it? See next Getting lost relevant? Yes! Is the sign helpful? Yes

[gregoryuconn]

Is it an overpass? “Surrender Dorothy” relevant? Relevant that you can tell where the letters were all those years ago because they used a slightly different paint color to paint over them?

[trebor]

Whats does “a shield showing the route number mean? Something showing routes that stop there at a bus stop?

[gregoryuconn]

Whats does “a shield showing the route number mean? Something showing routes that stop there at a bus stop?

I meant a reassurance marker, which shows the number of the highway (e.g. Interstate 95, US Route 1, Virginia State Route 233, etc.) but that's a good question. Is it actually a reassurance marker? Or is it something more like what trebor's referring to?

And if it is a reassurance marker, is the type of route relevant? Interstate? U.S. Route? State Highway? County Route? Or did this not happen in the US? Is the speciifc shape and/or color of the shield relevant?

[Balin]

Is it an overpass? Yes “Surrender Dorothy” relevant? No Relevant that you can tell where the letters were all those years ago because they used a slightly different paint color to paint over them? No

Is it actually a reassurance marker? Yes

And if it is a reassurance marker, is the type of route relevant? Yes Interstate? This U.S. Route? State Highway? County Route? Or did this not happen in the US? This is an American tale Is the speciifc shape and/or color of the shield relevant? Only that it is an interstate shield

[GalFisk]

Is the marker correct? Did the artist intend to fix the problem? Relevant how the problem came to be in the first place?

[Balin]

Is the marker correct? Only with the addition of the artist's sign Did the artist intend to fix the problem? Yes Relevant how the problem came to be in the first place? Just a poorly-marked sign

You've got most of it. All that's needed now is why the sign was not taken down.

[trebor]

Is the interstate number relevant? Was it not taken down simply because it reduced driver confusion? Because people slowed down or stopped to see it, increasing road safety?

[Balin]

Is the interstate number relevant? No Was it not taken down simply because it reduced driver confusion? While it did reduce driver confusion, that was not the reason Because people slowed down or stopped to see it, increasing road safety? No

[gregoryuconn]

Did the interstate highway actually cover more than one state? If not, did he cross out the word "Interstate"?

[Balin]

Did the interstate highway actually cover more than one state? Yes but Irrel If not, did he cross out the word "Interstate"?

[gregoryuconn]

So was the sign on the overpass then? Was it on the side of the overpass (so cars on the road below could see it) or was it on the road portion of the overpas (so cars on the overpass itself could see it)?

[Balin]

So was the sign on the overpass then? Yes
Was it on the side of the overpass (so cars on the road below could see it) This
or was it on the road portion of the overpas (so cars on the overpass itself could see it)? Not this

[gregoryuconn]

Did the sign indicate the route number of the road on the overpass? The route number of the highway below it? Some other route? Did it mark an exit lane, like maybe to get from the road below to the road above? Is the interstate's number relevant? Is it a number that made the signs prone to theft (like 69 or 666) and so they decided this way it couldn't be stolen?

To be clear.... This has to be a designated interstate highway that is part of the interstate system and has the standard red, white, and blue shield and all that stuff, correct? Some route that crosses multiple states but isn't designated an interstate, like a U.S. Route or the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York and New Jersey would not work, correct?

[Balin]

Did the sign indicate the route number of the road on the overpass? The route number of the highway below it? Some other route? Did it mark an exit lane, like maybe to get from the road below to the road above? This
Is the interstate's number relevant? No Is it a number that made the signs prone to theft (like 69 or 666) and so they decided this way it couldn't be stolen? No

To be clear.... This has to be a designated interstate highway that is part of the interstate system and has the standard red, white, and blue shield and all that stuff, correct? Some route that crosses multiple states but isn't designated an interstate, like a U.S. Route or the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York and New Jersey would not work, correct? It is a designated interstate highway, but the puzzle would still work if it weren't

Remember, all that's needed right now is why the sign was not taken down. It might help if you focus on why the artist thought the sign would be taken down.

[gregoryuconn]

To to clarify: there was an exit from some route to some other route (in this case an interstate) and the overpass denoted the route number of that interstate with the sign? Was the sign specifically over the exit lane? Did the sign have anything besides the shield and the number (like arrows or places along the route of the interstate)? Did he think it would be taken down because..... It wasn't supposed to be there? He wasn't authorized to put it up? He didn't realize that it actually was that interstate? Was his intent to help drivers? Confuse them? Simply provide them with a form of art and nothing else?

[Balin]

To to clarify: there was an exit from some route to some other route (in this case an interstate) Correct and the overpass denoted the route number of that interstate with the sign? It initially did NOT, which is why he put up the sign! Was the sign specifically over the exit lane? Yes Did the sign have anything besides the shield and the number (like arrows or places along the route of the interstate)? Yes, it had arrows and other text and markings; he created the interstate shield and attached it to an existing sign on the overpass
Did he think it would be taken down because..... It wasn't supposed to be there? See above He wasn't authorized to put it up? Yes, this He didn't realize that it actually was that interstate? No
Was his intent to help drivers? Yes, this Confuse them? Simply provide them with a form of art and nothing else?

[Balin]

HINT:
You're very close to the end. The artist's hope was that the highway authority would take his sign down and replace it with an official one that was correctly marked.

[gregoryuconn]

So was there an incorrectly marked sign already up there? Perhaps indicating the wrong lane? Or the wrong highway? Or a prior designation for the highway? Or the wrong type of highway (e.g. U.S. Route 70 instead of Interstate 70)? Or was there no sign at all and the artist simply thought it would be helpful? Or required by law, which the state or whoever maintained the highway was in violation of?

[biograd]

Was the sign humorous in some way, in addition to simply giving the number? Did it make a joke relating to a local place? (To give an example if this isn't clear, there's a town called Weed in northern California, just off Interstate 5. It would be great if the local exit from Hwy 5 were Exit #420, but alas it isn't--at least not to my knowledge. But maybe the number in your case was similarly funny)

[Balin]

So was there an incorrectly marked sign already up there? Yes, and he attached the interstate shield to the sign Perhaps indicating the wrong lane? Or the wrong highway? Or a prior designation for the highway? Or the wrong type of highway (e.g. U.S. Route 70 instead of Interstate 70)? Or was there no sign at all This - the sign omitted the shield for an exit lane and the artist simply thought it would be helpful? Yes Or required by law, which the state or whoever maintained the highway was in violation of? No, but not a bad guess

Was the sign humorous in some way, in addition to simply giving the number? No Did it make a joke relating to a local place? No (To give an example if this isn't clear, there's a town called Weed in northern California, just off Interstate 5. It would be great if the local exit from Hwy 5 were Exit #420, but alas it isn't--at least not to my knowledge. But maybe the number in your case was similarly funny) That is entertaining, but it's off-track. Remember what he expected the authority to do, and think why the authority didn't do it.

[Balin]

Eh, you've got the main pieces.

****SPOILER****

After missing his exit due to an improperly-marked highway sign, Richard Ankrom crafted an interstate highway shield and attached it to the sign, correctly identifying the exit. Ankrom expected the shield to stay up for a little while and hoped that Caltrans (California's transportation board) would fix the sign, but his shield remained. He had made the shield to official regulatory standards, and it passed Caltrans' inspection, so it stayed up until the sign was replaced (with a correctly-marked one) years later.