Stumbled on the same thing in my attic last year. Every pipe joint had this weird putty that hardened wrong. Looked it up and fell into a rabbit hole of forums. People were convinced it was a shortcut to save on copper fittings. Now I second guess every repair in my old house.

Hold up, you stayed quiet just because you were losing badly? That's crazy to me, since one wrong rule in Catan can flip the whole game. I mean, was it something big like messing up how many cards you get on a roll? I'd be kicking myself for days after a win like that.

Your mention of the canyon spot getting packed after a blog post is so familiar. A friend showed a few people his hidden swimming hole, and within a month it was overrun with graffiti and broken glass. Some places just can't handle being shared.