Gnome Party clues (SPOILER: read previous entry first!)

Okay, so I mentioned that each of the gnomes hidden around my last party had a clue on them, which would lead to treasure! This is how it worked: each of the ten gnomes was wearing a ring on one of its fingers. Each of the gnomes was wearing the ring on a different finger. Each ring had a different letter of the alphabet on it, which, when put together in order, spelled something. The left pinkie ring was the first letter, and the right pinkie ring was the last letter. What did the ten rings spell out, when put in the correct order?

t e l l r a y 2 7 !

That was the clue to come up to me and tell me the code word, "27"!

Did anyone get it? Oh, hell no. A couple of the gnomes got thrown over the fence, one of them got tied to a 25lb. dumbbell and thrown in the pool, and this other one had his face all burned up with lighters. Most of them had their rings stolen and taken home as party favors.

I guess I could have provided some sort of instructions that the party had a hidden theme-riddle based on the gnomes. Bad move on my part. Next time, people.