This clue actually required several steps to solve.
First, one needed to realize that the title referred
to the fact that the key words in the clue were phonetically
related to the actual words in the solution.
Thus, the location that sounded like "Mulholland Drive"
(the recent David Lynch film) was "Mel Hollen's".
In the beginners' division clue, the agent said he was
under "Marty Nee's sine"; in the regular and masters'
division clues, the agent talked about "Martin E.'s sighing"
- in all cases, a "martini sign".
The reference to "lion off-site" in the beginners' and
regular division clues translated as "line of sight".
(Teams that read the clue to each other were at a definite
advantage.)
The only establishment with a martini sign that could
be seen from the clue hub was Mel Hollen's, at the corner
of Union and Powell, about a block away.
Step two of the clue required teams to go to Mel Hollen's,
ask for a phone - which Game Control had planted with
the bartender - and actually unscrew the mouthpiece to
find the wire-tap, or "bug", which we cued with a schematic
of a wire-tap.
In fact, inside the phone's mouthpiece was a picture
of the Wired Magazine VW Bug, and instructions to find
it at the garage above the police station on Vallejo Street.
Parked there, thanks to Casey Hession, was the Wired Bug,
with a license plate that said "BAH HUM". (Hence our reference
to Agent S. Kruge [Scrooge].) :)
Unfortunately, we told Casey that the car only needed
to be there until about 1:30 p.m., which meant that it
left the garage too early for most teams to see it. Sorry,
folks. Those who called Game Control about it received
credit for solving the clue, of course.
(and we made a mental note to keep all clue hubs open
throughout the game, or to announce at the start the hours
that each clue hub would be open).
