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National Park Mystery Spot 23 Revealed: Saddam Didn't Build this One

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on April 14, 2011 - 2:59am

You were given these clues to help you identify mystery spot 23:

Saddam built quite a few, and they were very expensive too.

The cue ball's natural habitat is green and smooth and flat.

A peregrine too young to fly dwells in a place that's way up high.

That Cat's in the Cradle guy was way too young to die.

The best known place in a park that was the first of its kind.

The answer is Cliff Palace, a large cliff dwelling located in the Chapin Mesa area of southwestern Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park.

Six Traveler readers got this one right -- a very good showing. Eric was the first (6:47 am EDT). Others who figured it out include Ed123, M.W, LB13, Richp39, and toothdoctor.

Here's how you derive the answer.

The typical peregrine falcon nest is situated high on the face of a cliff.

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could only stay in one palace at a time, but he spent billions to build more than a dozen.

The smooth, flat, green top of a pool table is a cue ball's natural habitat. Mesa Verde is Spanish for "green table."

Harry Chapin co-wrote and sang Cat's in the Cradle, the classic (1974) folk rock tune about a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Chapin was just 39 years old when he lost his life in an automobile accident.

When Mesa Verde was established by Congress in 1906, it became the first national park created to preserve the work of humans. Cliff Palace is the park's best known archeological site.