issues regarding the map and hunt stopping have been fixed. leaderboard page needs to be integrated and a clues should be added to be properly processed. after that the css for the application should be developed.

app/api/hunt-status/route.js

@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 import { queryOne, run } from "@/lib/db";
-import { cookies } from "next/headers";
-import { verifyToken } from "@/app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route";
 
 export const dynamic = "force-dynamic"; // Disable caching
 
@@ -33,68 +31,76 @@ async function ensureHuntStatusTableExists() {
   }
 }
 
-// GET endpoint to check if the hunt is active
+// GET endpoint to check if the hunt is active - allow unauthenticated access for easier status checks
 export async function GET(request) {
   try {
     // First ensure the table exists
     await ensureHuntStatusTableExists();
 
-    // Get the token from cookies - properly awaited
-    const cookieStore = await cookies();
-    const sessionToken = cookieStore.get("next-auth.session-token")?.value;
+    // NO TOKEN CHECK - Allow anonymous status checks
+    // This is critical for the waiting page to work reliably
 
-    // Check hunt status even if user is not authenticated
-    // to prevent auth errors from interfering with status checks
-
-    // First check the hunt_status table for direct status
+    // Query all possible sources
     const huntStatus = await queryOne(
       "SELECT is_active, start_time FROM hunt_status LIMIT 1"
-    ).catch((err) => {
-      console.warn("Error querying hunt_status:", err.message);
-      return null;
-    });
+    ).catch(() => null);
+
+    const timerStatus = await queryOne(
+      "SELECT active, start_time, end_time FROM hunt_timer WHERE active = 1 ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1"
+    ).catch(() => null);
 
-    // Then check the settings table as a backup
     const huntActiveSetting = await queryOne(
       "SELECT value FROM settings WHERE key = 'hunt_active'"
-    ).catch((err) => {
-      console.warn("Error querying settings:", err.message);
-      return null;
-    });
+    ).catch(() => null);
 
-    // Also check the hunts table if it exists (for backward compatibility)
+    // Also check the traditional hunts table
     const oldHuntRecord = await queryOne(
       "SELECT active, start_time FROM hunts ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1"
-    ).catch((err) => {
-      // Ignore errors if table doesn't exist
-      return null;
-    });
+    ).catch(() => null);
 
-    // Determine active status from all available sources
+    // Determine active status from all possible sources
     let isActive = false;
     let startTime = null;
+    let endTime = null;
 
-    // First priority: hunt_status.is_active
-    if (huntStatus && huntStatus.is_active !== null) {
-      isActive = Boolean(huntStatus.is_active);
+    // Check all possible active indicators in priority order
+    if (timerStatus && Number(timerStatus.active) === 1) {
+      console.log("Hunt active from timer table");
+      isActive = true;
+      startTime = timerStatus.start_time;
+      endTime = timerStatus.end_time;
+    } else if (huntStatus && huntStatus.is_active) {
+      console.log("Hunt active from hunt_status table");
+      isActive = true;
       startTime = huntStatus.start_time;
-    }
-    // Second priority: settings table
-    else if (huntActiveSetting) {
-      isActive = huntActiveSetting.value === "true";
-    }
-    // Third priority: old hunts table
-    else if (oldHuntRecord) {
-      isActive = Boolean(oldHuntRecord.active);
+    } else if (huntActiveSetting && huntActiveSetting.value === "true") {
+      console.log("Hunt active from settings table");
+      isActive = true;
+    } else if (oldHuntRecord && oldHuntRecord.active) {
+      console.log("Hunt active from hunts table");
+      isActive = true;
       startTime = oldHuntRecord.start_time;
     }
 
-    console.log("Hunt status check:", { isActive, startTime });
+    console.log("Hunt status check:", { isActive, startTime, endTime });
 
-    return Response.json({
-      active: isActive,
-      startTime: startTime || null,
-    });
+    // Set extremely aggressive cache control headers
+    return new Response(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        active: isActive,
+        startTime: startTime || null,
+        endTime: endTime || null,
+      }),
+      {
+        status: 200,
+        headers: {
+          "Content-Type": "application/json",
+          "Cache-Control": "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0",
+          Pragma: "no-cache",
+          Expires: "0",
+        },
+      }
+    );
   } catch (error) {
     console.error("Error checking hunt status:", error);
     return Response.json(