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Congrats to OldManTito – who has solved MW Diamond Scroll #3!
Some treasures are found quickly. Others patiently wait for the right searcher to come along. MW Diamond Scroll #3 has been waiting quietly for years. Released as a free treasure hunt, the scroll held everything needed to solve it. It simply needed someone to take a closer look. That someone was OldManTito.
Congratulations to him on solving MW Diamond Scroll #3 and bringing this long-running hunt to its conclusion!
But this solve arrives at an especially interesting time. As Mysterious Writings website approaches its 15th anniversary, the remaining MW Diamond Scroll Hunts that were originally planned for MW’s 10th anniversary are finally getting their moment. Six more scrolls are on the way, leading up to a final Diamond Scroll Hunt launching on February 13, 2027.
More on all that later – for now let’s learn about MW Diamond Scroll #3 – SOLVED!
(Join Discussions on the MW discord, Forum, or Facebook)
3 Questions with OldManTito:
- 1Q) This treasure had been quietly waiting to be claimed for years. What was it about the hunt that caught your attention and made you decide to take a closer look?
I love taking a run at puzzles that have been up for awhile with no solve! I started armchair treasure hunts with The Secret and Sur La Trace de la Chouette d’Or and since then have kept working away at long-running hunts.
This one was easy to get into and had layers to unpack – exactly what I look for!
- 2Q) What was your process towards the solution like? When did you realize you were closing in on discovering the location? What was the most memorable moment for you?
I immediately started by decoding the morse in the header and notice the star also had a morse trail that decoded. Looking at blhamrick’s comment led me to rearranging the names of the icons to get INSELBERG which when used as a Vigenère key on the ciphertext, gave me SWOFCAIRO or SW of Cairo.
Looking up what an inselberg was, paired with the Cairo direction and the list of things in the poem led me to the park. The image of the mushroom combined with the egg in the poem gave me the specific site! Lots more trial and error and Googling was involved, but this is the happy path haha.
The minute I realized the rock formation names in White Desert National Park, I knew I had it – everything aligned so nicely.
- 3Q) Do you work on other puzzles and hunts?
I dabble in far too many to name them all. Forgotten History Hunts and Retro both do great series that I like to participate in. I’m deep in the Great Canadian Treasure Hunt and have started looking at some of the other older hunts that remain unsolved (The Oracle, Secret Tribute: The Hunt for the 13th Casque). Oh and can’t forget the 4th Diamond haha – I think I’m getting close to that one too…
- Bonus: What advice would you give others who may want to enjoy the hobby but aren’t sure where to begin or if it is for them?
Ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it! You don’t need to be well-versed in ciphers to start, many websites will help you with decodes and you can stop whenever and pick your pet hunt back up when you find the time. Get active in the community on the forum and the Discord, there are lots of helpful people!
3 Questions with MW (me)
Note: For ‘found treasure Six Questions’ I normally ask 3 questions to the finder and 3 to the creator. Since I’m the creator – I answer them myself. Ha!)
- 4Q) You released this hunt for free, and it sat out there waiting to be solved for years. What was it like when you finally learned that someone had found the treasure?
Surprised, but perfect timing! Congrats to OldManTito!
Originally, 10 Diamond Scroll Hunts were planned for launch during MW’s 10th anniversary celebration year. However, only 4 were launched. I didn’t have time to create the hunts for the remaining 6 – and time passed by. Actually, flew by!
Around the end of June of this year, I started planning for MW15. (On 2/13/27 Mysterious Writings will be 15 years old!) Exciting things are in the works, and I was planning to launch the remaining 6 to celebrate MW15. So the fact OldManTito solved MW Scroll #3 right around the time I was going to announce this – is as said – perfect timing!
The MW Diamond Scrolls #5-9 will be released every other week starting on December 5th. These are free to participate. Each holds a numbered MW Diamond as its treasure.
The final Diamond Scroll Hunt will launch on 2/13/27. On MW’s 15th Year Anniversary. This hunt will be hosted on the FindVeil website. The hunt will feature a shrinking circle and growing bounty.
More details on MW15’s celebration Diamond Scroll hunt – and all remaining scrolls – coming soon. (I wasn’t quite ready to announce- but there’s a preview!)
- 5Q) A hunt can take on a life of its own while it’s waiting to be solved. Did you ever wonder if someone would eventually come along and crack it, or had you simply accepted that it might take time? Why didn’t you give clues?
When I didn’t launch the final 6 – I left the hunt sit quietly in the background. I felt when I had a chance to create, and launch, the other 6 Diamond Scroll Hunts I’d shine some more light on it.
I didn’t give clues because I’m ok with a hunt remaining unsolved – especially when I knew all that was needed to solve the hunt was on the Scroll. It only needed a little attention given to it. It got it. And it got solved.
- 6Q) Looking back now that the hunt has finally been solved, what do you hope searchers take away from its long journey – from its release to finally finding its way into someone’s hands?
The inspiration for the MW Diamond Scroll Hunts came from my children’s book, Higher and Higher – a book that encourages children to look beyond the stars, for it is there where dreams reside.
I hoped searchers would do the same. I hoped they would look beyond what was immediately in front of them, think differently, follow their curiosity, and allow themselves to dream a little along the way.
The hunt may have taken a long journey from its release to finally finding its way into someone’s hands, but perhaps that is part of the lesson. A dream doesn’t always come quickly, and neither does a treasure. Sometimes it waits for the person who is meant to claim it.
For future hunters, I hope this hunt is a reminder to keep looking beyond the ordinary, trust the journey, and never give up on the possibility that what you’re searching for is out there waiting to be found. Seek and you will find.
The Treasure: MW Diamond #3, Signed copy of Higher and Higher, Silver Oz, Tektite from White Sands of Egypt, and a MW Medallion
The Solution:
