wonderland treasure hunts

Six Questions on The Wonderland Treasure Hunts: Best Riddles, The Hatter’s Hat, and The Mad Tea Party (and Treasure Island: Treasure Hunt Edition)

In November of 2020, the first of the Wonderland Treasure Hunts, The Hatter’s Hat, by David Jacobsen, was released. The hunt offers a treasure valued at around $10,000! It remains unsolved.

Plus, since that release, other hunts by David have been released – The Mad Tea Party, Treasure Island: Treasure Hunt Edition, and Best Riddles.  Treasure Island has been solved – its 10,000 treasure claimed and received, However, in addition to The Hatter’s Hat and its 10,000 treasure value yet to claim, there is one Riddle inside each book:  The Mad Tea Party and Best Riddles –  to solve and yet to claim their treasures. Adventures Await!

Each one of these books are available on Amazon:

Let’s learn how these hunts are going in the following Six Questions (more) with David: (Previous Six Q’s with David)

  • 1Q) Thanks for participating in another MW Six Questions, David!  The Wonderland Treasure Hunts are offering lots of challenging fun – The Hatter’s Hat being the first introduced in late 2020 and remaining unsolved as of this writing. So, let’s begin there! Many searchers feel they have located the general area for The Hatter’s Hat treasure cache, but have not been able to complete the quest. What do you feel is the obstacle for this? Have they misinterpreted the ‘big clue’, are they missing the final clues, or aren’t they digging deep enough to find the buried cache?  Would you answer if any extensive digging is required to discover the golden key of The Hatter’s Hat, or if the ‘big clue’ (of which many think is the PCT) is wrong, or what is causing this treasure not to be found? What are your thoughts about it being solved in 2024?

Thank you, Jenny, for the very thoughtful questions. It sounds like searchers are making some great headway in the hunt. I’m happy to see that happening. In terms of your first question, I would refer searchers back to the clues. You need to solve ALL the clues in order to narrow down the search area to a well-defined spot. I still think a lot of searchers are completely missing what I would consider to be a very important clue – perhaps the most important clue of all. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has solved it yet. Once they do, things will fall quickly into place for them, I do believe.

You may have the general area nailed down, but if you don’t solve all the clues, then it will be difficult to find the treasure. There are no shortcuts. The clues are absolutely critical to getting you to within a few feet of the treasure.

Extensive digging is certainly not required. You won’t need a shovel. On the other hand, the treasure isn’t exactly hidden in plain sight. You’ll need to solve the clues, and at that point you’ll know exactly where to go to search more thoroughly.

  • 2Q) Also, on The Hatter’s Hat treasure hunt, with the approx. $10,000 treasure value reward, is the original Alice and Wonderland book needed to discover the exact location. Example, it has been noticed in one image there are ‘missing hearts’ when compared to the original images – among other anomalies in text/images. Are these important?

There are things outside the book, The Hatter’s Hat, that searchers may find useful in solving the treasure hunt. Missing hearts sounds interesting. If I was a searcher, and if I had discovered something like that, I would certainly interpret that as a clue – particularly if the anomaly you mentioned seemed intentional.

  • 3Q) And lastly on The Hatter’s Hat – have you checked on the cache since it was hidden? Can you confirm the chest and any needed clues are still in place, and that it isn’t on Indian Lands? (It’s been noticed by searchers holes are being dug on Indian Lands, and if this is off limits, please let searchers know.)

I haven’t checked on the treasure proxy in some time, but I doubt it’s been found. I put something in the treasure chest that would help rule out that possibility. Searchers often share their search locations with me. Some have been close, but none have nailed down the exact location. Don’t search in locations that are prohibited by law. Always respect personal and private property and always make sure you’re thinking of safety first.

  • 4Q) Next, The Mad Tea Party! Two of the riddles in this book have been solved successfully, with treasures claimed!, but one riddle, The March Hare’s Riddle, remains elusive. Do you consider this Riddle more difficult, or is it simply that the method of solving is being overlooked?

When I wrote the three riddles for The Mad Tea Party, I didn’t think one of the riddles would be more difficult than the others. Based on the guesses I am receiving, I believe there’s an assumption being made by many would-be solvers that is hindering them from solving the remaining riddle. I didn’t intentionally misguide people into making this assumption – on the contrary, the riddle itself seems to steer them away from making it – but people are making the assumption, nevertheless. I would advise would-be solvers to think outside the box and to read the riddle more carefully.

  • 5Q) On to your 2023 book, Best Riddles – which contains the clever Hatter’s Riddle – Can this be solved as a standalone riddle by using clues in the book, or is there a cipher or code involved, of which needs found in order to solve it?  Plus, in the book (top page 4)- it is written, “If….you are able to guess the answer to the master riddle and decode the Hatter’s secret message, a real-world treasure awaits you.”  Do you have to solve/discover both? Can you clarify this sentence?

The riddle is a riddle. No decoding is necessary, although the book and other riddles may offer clues to help you in thinking about the riddle. I wouldn’t look too much into the sentence you’ve highlighted. I’d focus instead on trying to solve the riddle. If you get stuck, considering some of the other riddles in the book may aid you in your quest.

  • 6Q) And last question on- Treasure Island – Treasure Hunt Edition, which was successfully solved in 2022, and it’s $10,000 treasure cache claimed! Congrats all around! Can you share how the exact location was solved and how the clues worked leading to the solution?

I’ll admit that it’s very tempting to reveal the solve. No one on the planet knows it but me, so it will be good to one day get it off my chest. Let me mull over that one a bit and get back to you. My concern is that in revealing the solution to the Treasure Island hunt some searchers may gain insight into how I tend to think about such hunts, and it may help them to solve other live hunts I’ve devised now or in the future. I’m not saying that will necessarily happen, so please don’t read into this too much, but there is a lot to think about before revealing the solve. I don’t want to rush into sharing this information without thinking through all the possible ramifications. One thing I can say for now is this: if I do one day share the solve, I think a lot of searchers will find it to be quite simple. Some may even say to themselves – wow! – why didn’t I think of that? Once you see it, you can never UNsee it, as the saying goes. That certainly applies in this case.

hatter's hat treasure hunt
Best Riddles Armchair treasure hunt
treasure hunt

Available on Amazon