After Forrest Fenn’s Treasure was found in June of 2020, searchers were ready for more. Some went to create armchair treasure hunts of their own, while numerous others, after discovering the hobby of armchair treasure hunting through the Chase, went on to pursue the numerous different hunts listed here on the MW website, and forum.
Following is a look at Six treasure hunts which were solved over the year in 2021.
First, I think the term armchair treasure hunt needs clarified. I know there is a lot of confusion with it. Many newcomers feel the name suggests that the hunt can all be solved and claimed from home, like an online treasure game. While that may be the case for some armchair treasure hunts, it is not always the circumstance, and often mistaken.
The term ‘Armchair Treasure Hunt’ originated with the book, Masquerade, published in 1979 by Kit Williams. In this hunt searchers solved clues from home (aka the armchair), and once enough clues were solved, searchers then needed to go out and physically retrieve the buried treasure. Masquerade, the treasure hunt that coined the term, required ‘Boots on the Ground’, so to speak.
So while some of these treasure hunts can be solved and their treasures claimed all from home (or the armchair), others require physically going out and retrieving the hidden treasure or proxy item to claim its treasure.
Both types are armchair treasure hunts.
Below is a summary of Six hunts solved in 2021. We’ll start with one of the nine hunts involved in the First Annual Masquerade Tribute!
1) The 2021 Masquerade Tribute of Hunts
The First Annual Masquerade Tribute featured nine different treasure hunts, with nine different treasures to claim. The hunts were created by nine different contributors who donated their time and talent to this one time a year ultimate armchair treasure hunting event. All proceeds of the annual Tribute Hunts go to charity. Close to $4,500 dollars were raised in the 2021 event. Sidenote: The official release of the 2022 Tribute hunts to be on 3/20/22. However, The Masquerade Tribute of 2022’s fun and games have begun already!
During the course of the 2021 event, many drawings, games, and celebrations were held. The winners to these and the hunts were tallied. There were over 40 winners in the 2021 Tribute! For a full summary, list of winners, and prizes, please go to 2021 Masquerade Tribute Summary on MW. In this article, I go over only highlights of one of the hunts solved: Masquerade Redux by Forgotten History Hunts. The treasure to claim for Masquerade Redux in the 2021 Tribute was a beautiful silver hare necklace. The hunt was fully armchair in that only the solution to a specific location needed to be discovered in the puzzle and sent in to claim the prize.
There were multiple clues hidden within the image. Let’s take a look at a few of the clues pointing to the location. (complete solution posted on the MW Forum).
- In the top right corner was a jumble set of letters. The Vigenère Cipher, which used the keyword ‘Spring Equinox’, was used to decode them. The keyword was hinted at by the couple in the image pointing to the date of the Spring Equinox (March 20).
- The cipher decoded to: ROMPIxNG TRIO OVExRSHADOWS SPLASHIxNG CHILDRExN AND SCATTERED BOxULDERS.
- There was a cardinal in the image. This hinted to Ohio, since it is that state’s bird.
- There was also a gridded square filled with numbers. These numbers corresponded to elements on the periodic chart. Taking their atomic symbols they spelled out ‘NeAr CORn COBS’. Near the final location is a park with 109 corncob sculptures.
- Another very telling clue was the globe within the image. It displayed a Google Earth image of the park.
That location of park being, and found by putting all the clues in the image together (those mentioned above and others): The Three Dancing Bunnies sculpture in Ballantrae Park, in Dublin, Ohio. Congrats to Gabby and her team Rabbit Stew, who sent in the correct submission and claimed the Silver Hare.
Forgotten History Hunts actually released multiple hunts over the year of 2021, of which were solved. On the MW forum FHH posted a summary of the success, AND FUN, that so many searchers had in their hunts. They have posted 17 hunts, and awarded over 60 prizes to 32 different winners from 22 states.
A new hunt by Forgotten History Hunts will be released in January 2022. They will also be part of the Second Annual Masquerade Tribute. Don’t miss out on the fun!
2) MasterMind Treasure Hunt
MasterMind was released in form of an E book in late 2020 by Jason Griffin. In a MW Six Questions with Jason he mentioned that after enjoying the many adventures he, himself, went on in search of treasures – such as traveling, meeting new people, and learning about unique locations, he wanted to create a hunt of his own. From talking with people about treasure hunting over the years, he felt a full armchair treasure hunt was the best route to take.
The book included clues to submit a ‘Lock’ and a ‘Key’. The ‘Lock’ was an email address. The ‘Key’ was a code word. The first person to solve the clues in the book for the correct email address and submit the correct code word to it, won the treasure. The treasure was $100 cash, Gold belt and Silver.
MasterMind was solved in the Spring of 2021 by one of the upcoming contributors to The 2022 Masquerade Tribute. David Cohen. David explains how he enjoyed the book in a Six Questions featuring him as the winner of MasterMind. Following is a clip from that on how he solved it.
“The first breakthrough came with a different series of oddly capitalized letters that looked a lot like one of my favorite ciphers, a Baconian cipher. This spelled out the word REVELATION, which Steve suggested might be a Bible reference to the Book of Revelation (a thought that hadn’t occurred to me). He was right, and combining this with numbers in the text directed us to the line: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
This was a key to the next step, which we happened to discover independently. Throughout the book there are ten sentences that end with the numbers 1 through 10, but not in order. The beginning letters of the next sentences, when reordered 1-10, were AINOMIADUE. But the book starts with a 10 to 1 countdown (as part of a hypnosis), so ordering them 10 to 1 spelled EUDAIMONIA. (A beautiful word, worth looking up!)
There were other steps along the way, but in the end the email address we needed was made by applying what we had found to the very first sentence of the book (“the beginning”), giving us the address realeudaimonia@gmail.com. The “key” that needed to be sent to this address was EUCATASTROPHE (another beautiful word worth looking up) which could be made by rearranging the letters we decoded in the pictures.”
3) The Great US Treasure Hunt
One of the largest cash prizes for searchers in 2021 from armchair treasure hunting was rewarded in The Great US Treasure Hunt. Four $10,000 Cash Prizes were rewarded to four different winners. A total of $40,000 was up for grabs. The hunts were solved fast and furious.
On November 13th, 2020, The Great US Treasure Hunt was released by David Steele and Jeff Kessler. Four Treasure Tokens, each worth $10,000 in cash, were hidden across the US. Clues to find the exact locations of these tokens were encoded inside The Great US Treasure Hunt book which was available on Amazon. It was the first book planned for the hunt. A second book, with 6 more treasure hunts, may be released in the future. Keep a look out for updates on MW.
There were 4 chapters in The Great US Treasure Hunt book. Each held clues to a different proxy item. Once the item was found it could be used to claim the $10,000 cash.
The first treasure was actually claimed in December of 2020. However, the other 3 were solved in 2021. Let’s take a look at one of those solutions.
On January 20, 2021, it was announced chapter 2 of the book was solved by Anthony Kneisser and his sister Margo.
The solution was “Tiny Wings Sanborn Bench Railyard PK SF NM”. The method used to find this phrase was accomplished by taking the first letters of words after commas within the text of chapter 2. It gave them all the information they needed to know to discover ‘tiny wings’ which were hidden in Railyard Park, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sanborn Bench referred to a specific bench in the park. It was as simple as that.
Congrats to all the winners of The Great US Treasure Hunt.
4) The Letters of St. Germain
The Letters of St. Germain treasure hunt was released on 2/27/21. The date coincided with the death of the legendary character of the hunt. Clues were within a book which was available on Amazon. To claim the prize, which was the incredible Horn of Magistrum, searchers needed to solve clues to nine locations, all in North America. A final clue would then be given to those who correctly solved the initial nine clues. This last clue would reveal the precise location of a proxy item to retrieve and claim the treasure once solved.
Links to video’s explaining the solutions of the hunt are here: MW Forum Section. Congrats to Nick S. and team who claimed the prize. Through much word play within the text, image associations, and more, the location of the proxy item was deduced and retrieved.
The creators of The Letters of Germain will be releasing another hunt on January 2, 2022. This hunt has been inspired by The Secret treasure hunt by Byron Preiss of 1982. Nine casques of twelve continue to wait to be unearthed in The Secret. One of which is believed to be in New York- where the Rhapsody in Grey treasure hunt is to be grounded. It is free to play so join the fun! Might you be the first to win a treasure in 2022?!
5)The Bossall Treasure Hunt
For many years the Bossall Treasure had eluded searchers. It was released in 2014, and was not solved until 2021. The treasure hunt was in the form of a book. It was known a clue was to be found in each of the eleven chapters. Together they were to provide the location of a hidden golden Lorraine Cross, and in 2021 the clues did just that for Nick S and Team.
The fully detailed solution is posted on the MW Forum, but each of the chapter’s clues, once understood and solved, provided a searcher with a word or phrase. When all put together they gave a message for exactly where the Golden Lorraine Cross was hidden.
The final message was: Lady Grace Cross Buried On the Marsh Opposite St. John’s Gate Eighty Five Feet True South 3.6 Six Feet East Lytham.
The winners did not need to travel to this location in the UK to claim the prize. The solution was submitted and treasure rewarded. Another great hunt and ending.
6)The Ruby Hunt
The Ruby Hunt by TC Treasure was a quest for three rubies hidden somewhere in the Midwest USA. The hunt began in January of 2021 and ended by the end of the year. The first ruby was found in mid-November, 2021, with the next two rubies discovered soon after.
One clue each month, for 12 months, were posted on The Ruby Hunt website. Searchers anxiously awaited the clues each month and tried to solve them. It was exciting knowing another piece would arrive in your inbox to further you along! If a searcher was fully registered for the hunt, these clues would be sent to searchers via email a little earlier. The clues, when taken together and solved correctly, would reveal where the rubies were hidden.
It was known they were hidden in the Midwest, but exactly where needed to deduced. The first Ruby was found at Berea Falls above the Rock of the Colossus in Ohio. The Second Ruby was found at Upper Eau Claire Lake in Barnes, Wisconsin. The Third Ruby was found at Island Park in Geneva, Illinois.
Congrats to all the winners and collectors of the $750 dollar cash prizes.
TC Treasure offers many thrilling hunts throughout the year. Check out their website here: TC TREASURE.com!
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Six Found Treasures of Armchair Treasure Hunts in Summer 2020!
