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Inspired by MetaZen's riddles, I figured I might try making one. It's definitely not as...indirect...as their puzzles, but still difficult nevertheless.

To the south and east is the North West

To the north is the Midlands

To the west is a Magic Carpet Ride

If someone told you the name of my area, you'd assume that it rains a lot, but it doesn't

Hint 1:

This place is closed until 2021

Hint 2:

The place is in a large city in Wales, which contains large cities in England and Scotland, and possibly a large Irish city as well

Hint 3:

The first two clues refer to the regions in England, not to other potential regions with the same name elsewhere. "Magic Carpet Ride" refers to an actual physical object, and "rain" refers to the actual weather phenomenon.

Hint 4:

The North West is also in the West as well

Hint 5:

Think of the largest cities within each region mentioned in the riddle

Hint 6:

Focus more on names rather than actual places

Hint 7:

You can only access this place from the north, not the south

Hint 8:

There was nothing published on the Internet about the closure of this place; you'll only find out if you attempt to actually drive to it

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  • $\begingroup$ Decided to see if there were any interesting puzzles on the front page today. Nice surprise! I think we got up to #15 before it wound down. (See Related). $\endgroup$
    – MetaZen
    Mar 29, 2019 at 21:42
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    $\begingroup$ @MetaZen Search can be unhelpful at times...anyway, edited. $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Mar 29, 2019 at 21:56
  • $\begingroup$ I feel like I'm very close, but can't quite find an exact match. Looking forward to another hint or for someone else to find it! $\endgroup$
    – MetaZen
    Mar 30, 2019 at 6:59
  • $\begingroup$ All I have based on the first hint is this, but none of them that are found in the place indicated by the second hint fit the riddle or the other hints $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    Apr 1, 2019 at 4:08
  • $\begingroup$ @PiIsNot3 Rot13(Va trareny, sbphf zber ba anzrf engure guna cynprf.) $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 4:34

3 Answers 3

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I found the general area early on, but took a while to find somewhere that matched everything.

I hope you are:

The rest area (lookout) on the west side of I-5 close to Encinitas/Cardiff, CA

To the south and east is the North West

Manchester Ave (Manchester is found in NW England)

To the north is the Midlands

Birmingham Dr. (Found in Midlands, England)

To the west is a Magic Carpet Ride

Landmark near the beach

If someone told you the name of my area, you'd assume that it rains a lot, but it doesn't

Cardiff in Britain is known as it's wettest city (but not this one)

Hint 1: This place is closed until 2021

Hint 2: The place is in a large city in Wales, which contains large cities in England and Scotland, and possibly a large Irish city as well

The street names of Cardiff-By-The-Sea correspond to UK cities (Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, etc.)

Hint 3: The first two clues refer to the regions in England, not to other potential regions with the same name elsewhere. "Magic Carpet Ride" refers to an actual physical object, and "rain" refers to the actual weather phenomenon.

Same as #2, Magic Carpet Ride is easily google-able (and what led to discovery of this area)

Hint 4: The North West is also in the West as well

Manchester Drive wraps around in a U shape, so it's on both sides

Hint 5: Think of the largest cities within each region mentioned in the riddle

Covered this above

Hint 6: Focus more on names rather than actual places

Covered this above

Hint 7: You can only access this place from the north, not the south

This led me to believe it would be some exit from the freeway, only on the Southbound side

Hint 8: There was nothing published on the Internet about the closure of this place; you'll only find out if you attempt to actually drive to it

I drove down there to check it out myself. (Ok, just kidding - I used logic to determine it was probably closed due to the large North Coast Corridor project, which has it's first set of construction completing in 2021).

There are lots of places that could match, but Hint 7 says:

You can only access this place from the north, not the south

so that combined with hint #1:

This place is closed until 2021

It makes sense that it is

the lookout off the freeway.

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    $\begingroup$ I was expecting you'd use Google Street View to "drive" down there and see the sign that it's closed until December 31, 2020 $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 2, 2019 at 20:46
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    $\begingroup$ I actually did, but just missed the sign (at least twice!) For those interested: google.com/maps/… $\endgroup$
    – MetaZen
    Apr 2, 2019 at 20:49
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You are

Glen Park in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.

To the south and east is the North West

Manchester Avenue

To the north is the Midlands

Birmingham Drive

To the west is a Magic Carpet Ride

Also known as the Cardiff Kook.

If someone told you the name of my area, you'd assume that it rains a lot, but it doesn't

Because... it often rains a lot by the sea?

Hint 1

I think this has something to do with the North Coast Corridor construction project, which is expected to conclude in 2021?

Hint 2

There are no well-known cities in Wales.

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  • $\begingroup$ I think this might be it! But how does it relate to the first hint? $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    Apr 1, 2019 at 6:49
  • $\begingroup$ You got the basic area correct! However, this isn't quite the location I'm looking for. As @PiIsNot3 commented, the first hint isn't applicable here, and I'd prefer an explanation for each hint as well. (I'll add another hint to make it more clear, and reword Hint 2.) $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 6:50
  • $\begingroup$ Regarding recent edit: Rot13(Lrf, vg qbrf unir gb qb jvgu gur Abegu Pbnfg Pbeevqbe cebwrpg. Gurer vf bar cnegvphyne cynpr gung vf grzcbenevyl pybfrq hagvy gur cebwrpg vf pbzcyrgrq; jung vf vg?) $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 6:56
  • $\begingroup$ Also, Rot13(V qba'g guvax lbh'ir haqrefgbbq jung "Pneqvss" vf.). $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 7:07
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Is it

Bahrain?

To the south and east is the North West

Bahrain is an island surrounded by Qatar extension of Arabian peninsula on its South and East, which is part of same contiguous landmass as its North West

To the north is the Midlands

Iranian midlands would lie to the north of Bahrain

To the west is a Magic Carpet Ride

Cue to the Arabian Night stories of magic carpet ride as Arabia on west

If someone told you the name of my area, you'd assume that it rains a lot, but it doesn't

Bah"rain" has rains in it

Hint 1:

Hint 1: This place is closed until 2021: King Hamad Causeway that will connect Bahrain to Saudi Arabia will start in 2021, so its closed for a direct land journey till 2021.

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  • $\begingroup$ Wrong answer. The actual entire place is closed until 2021, and this isn't. This also doesn't meet Hint 2 criteria. $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Mar 30, 2019 at 17:58
  • $\begingroup$ @gparyani I'm new to the site, so don't know if hints are considered part of the problem. But this does answer your puzzle content itself :) $\endgroup$
    – Anshul Goyal
    Apr 1, 2019 at 4:01
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, answers should match all of the hints. Also, within reason, puzzle authors are allowed to decide that a certain answer is not correct despite meeting all criteria (i.e. isn't the answer they're looking for). $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 4:36
  • $\begingroup$ Please note that it's bad form to include text that is in spoiler markup in the question, as non-spoiler markup in the answers or comments. (Noticed you rejected my edit.) $\endgroup$
    – gparyani
    Apr 1, 2019 at 6:58
  • $\begingroup$ @gparyani got it, have edited it myself $\endgroup$
    – Anshul Goyal
    Apr 1, 2019 at 7:02

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