I have always been fascinated by abstract logic puzzles. Whether that be IQ style puzzles, puzzles from those fiendish folk at GCHQ, or one of the many Japanese logic puzzles that regularly fill the puzzle pages of a number of today’s newspapers.
My interest in Treasure Hunt style puzzles (where the objective is to find the location of a real or imaginary hidden treasure) started with Kit William’s “Masquerade” in the early 1980’s and then moved on with Dan James’s “Treasure”. These were both wonderfully imagined and beautifully presented complex hunts. However, they took months or even years, rather than days, to solve and this is perhaps a level of commitment that a very limited number of people are willing to make.
More recently, the Royal Mint published the “The Penny Drops” hunt, the solution to which was certainly more widely achievable. Many thousands of people became actively involved with the hunt and reached the final solution.
It is to reach this latter audience that these hunts are designed. I first started producing these puzzles for friends during Lockdown and have now become encouraged to share them with a wider audience. They typically require a few hours of study and one or two “light bulb” moments to solve.
I hope you enjoy them