Leaf Garrot
Julian Carrasquillo, a Fake Adder who we selfishly hope will never, ever win our game wrote, “This one hit close to home since I just raked more leaves for what feels like the 10,000th time this season. Let’s pitch this one!”
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Fake Ad and I Spy
Angelo’s Facade
“November’s I Spy is a wonderful tribute to Angelo’s,” writes Janine Hutchinson. “Eggs Over Easy, Hash Browns, and You!” she finishes with lyrics to “Angelo’s”—the original tribute.
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Fuentes Vodka Sauce
We received 150 entries correctly identifying the Fake Ad for Fuentes Vodka Sauce on page 87 of the October issue. That page just happened to be the same one as the Back Page update.
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May Her Memory Be Our Innermost Revolution
“What at first appears to be a modern geometric abstract reveals itself to read—and demand—Dissent Until Nine,” writes Amy Barnett. “Nice tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” says Ginny Weingate.
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Poverty-Stricken Artists Sale
Arleen Elkins was bursting with pride at finding the ad. “I can’t believe I found one!!!!!” she wrote.
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Dokebi Mural
“The artist Dokebi (aka Chris Sammons) used a reference to dokkaebi, a creature from Korean mythology for the mural,” says Barb Tester.
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Knickerbagels
We received 177 entries correctly identifying the Fake Ad for Knickerbagels on page 40 of the August issue.
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Kempf House Exterior
“It looks exactly the same as it looked in 1965 when I started driving past it,” says Jane Hughes. “And I’m sure it looks the same as when it was built.”
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The Longest Yard Sod Farm
“When you can’t see the forest for the trees … you can’t see the ‘sills’ among the weeds (or blades of grass)!” wrote Eileen Hoekstra. “Very clover—I mean clever!”
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U-M President’s House
It’s “the oldest building on campus,” writes Bob Maddox, noting that the initial section was built in 1840. “Definitely adds curb-appeal to central campus,” he adds.
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West Michigan Office Space
“Well, you almost had me this month,” wrote Stacy Mero. “I searched and searched, with no luck finding an ad that caught my attention as fake, and no clear mention of the past winner’s name. And then, just as I was about to give up, I spotted it: ‘Varnum,’ barely visible on the building in the ad on page 72 for waterfront office space in west Michigan. Very well done!”
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Quartet Sculpture
“‘Quartet’ by Jens Zorn,” writes Amy Barnett, was “donated in 2017 by the FWC (Faculty Women’s Club of the University of Michigan—now going by the initials since club is open to all genders).” Designed by physics prof Jens Zorn, says Barb Tester, it was fabricated “by the very skilled technician Joshua Blackmon of the university’s Sheet Metal Shop.”
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Entrance to Circ and Root
“The ‘Vaulted Tunnels’ refers to what used to be The Cavern Club,” writes Shannon Kohlitz, referencing the clue. “I think it’s called something different now but I’m not cool enough to know anymore lol,” she remarks.
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First Bank of the Colonies
Of all the things people exaggerate—the size of the fish they caught, the size of their bank account, the size of their … let’s move on—laughter might be the biggest one. We say “LOL” when something is amusing. We send an emoji of someone laughing so hard tears stream down its face every time something tickles our funny bone. Or we say we “died laughing” when that is demonstrably false.
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Washtenaw County Administration Building
In Historic Ann Arbor: An Architectural Guide, Susan Wineberg calls it “the first architecturally significant federal building in Ann Arbor.”
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Need a Fourth?
“I thought the idea of ‘need a fourth’ was a great one, and I decided to check out the website, only to find it isn’t a registered domain name!!” Stacy Mero writes. “Very sneaky, but now I’m left disappointed not to have somewhere to find euchre games.”
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Maynard Street Mural
“So sad!” says Amy Saalberg about March’s I Spy photo, which Marilyn Knepp identifies as “the site of the recent fire that demolished Madras Masala (empty buffet now, for sure) and the Vape Store.”
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Everything in Moderation Life Coaching
We received only eighty-three entries correctly identifying the Fake Ad for Everything in Moderation Life Coaching on page 80 of the February Observer. That might be because of where it was placed: hidden among the service ads on a page after the Back Page (not sure how that’s even possible).
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