50% of the beneficiary rewards to this post go in support of #hive-179017
our multifarious maven 
10 HIVE and 400 POINTS!!! feel free join me in thanking her profusely.
our charitable judges may also recommend pixresteemer nominations to boot.
i would like to express my sincere appreciation to the generous sponsors of the entire shadow hunters community: 
the first to surmise what is making the mysterious shadow below gets a prize but there are also prizes for other guesses and for engagement- mostly based on entertainment value. it's not much fun if everybody's guesses are almost the same. creativity and humor shall be rewarded both in guesses and engagement with other contestants
we also have an elite class prize- the highly ehived venwood prize is awarded
for an extraordinary reply which stretches the limit of what is conceivable to the point where readers can't help but burst out in laughter or at least shake their head in wonder. the venwood prize shall only be bestowed for advanced effort abounding with fantastical elucidation. a good one-liner just won't do,
i have topped up the pot from my wallet so now at present the total venwood prize pot is
8 HIVE. in each contest round the full pot is up for grabs but actual rewards may vary between 0 and full pot. 100% of any donations go directly into the pot previous donators have been 
monday night at midnight UTC the 20th guess the shadow contest closes
so this is the last call to "solve" that stumper. here's the link:
@eolianpariah/announcing-the-20th-guess-the
if that nut has been cracked,
or you're plain gobsmacked
then consider cleverly clarifying this mystery
what in the world would make this weird shadow??
if you think some ________ (-body else) has beaten you to your guess, there's no need to throw in the sponge, Bob.
just unchain
your fun brain
anybody replying that this is a chest of ice with a giant watermelon risks being force-fed that entire icy monstrosity. you have been warned.
other than the above warning the contest as always has only one rule.
a rule which remains as simple as it is difficult:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
please live by it at least until midnight July 19th.
for an in-depth history of this timeless rule please refer to this fine post:
@offgridlife/proofofbrain-golden-rule-do-to-others-what-you-want-them-to-do-to-you
and while you are in the community:
i strongly suggest you submit some summertime shadows here:
@melinda010100/shadow-hunters-contest-round-178
and register recent reflections in round 26:
@annephilbrick/reflection-hunters-contest--round-26
happy guessing to all