Testing puzzles-The World's Greatest Treasure Hunt

So last week I had two full days of testing and not nearly enough time this past week to write up about my play things.  Better late than never right? So here goes.

First, a photo:

I brought along a few puzzles to play with but par for the course, didn't get very far into them.  This session was only a 3 hour stint so there weren't that many breaks.  I'd been enjoying The World's Greatest Treasure Hunt and decided to continue with it.

Ok, so what is it?  Well, a book.  Yes, I know you can see that.  But this is a book filled with short stories that are filled with puzzles.  Will I ever solve it?  I seriously doubt it.  But I'll enjoy my time spent with it.  The stories are interesting, the 20 questions at the end of each chapter are entertaining.  Each chapter also includes a poem or other literary work in the form of a puzzle, and there is a 'keyword' that can be found as well.  Once you find that keyword and answer all 20 questions, a map opens up for you to go hunting for a buried silver eagle.  (To date, I have yet to get a map open, but then I haven't spent a good deal of quality time with this one either)  There are a number of different types of puzzles in here.  Some very simple Caesar Shifts, a magic square or two, a bit of Masonic decoding, and for those who want a real challenge, there is one heck of a Sudoku at the end along with a meta puzzle (or maybe I should say series of meta puzzles) that runs along the book.

But even more importantly and more to the point of my purchase, the proceeds from this go to breast cancer research.  I've donated a lot over the years to find this type of research so when I found a puzzle that did so too, I jumped right on it.

When I bought this book in 2010 when it came out, it was a preorder and I was honestly beginning to wonder if I would get it or not.  At the end of the day, it showed up on my doorstep and I've dipped into it every now and again.  I would highly recommend it even if like me, you don't think you'll finish solving it. It's for a cause, and if you are going to buy a puzzle, why not get one that does something with the money other than line the designers pockets.  Mind, there's nothing wrong with that either.  After all, designers need to eat too.

You can find the book over at www.greathunt.com and while you are at it, you can also check out his facebook page for weekly clues.  So what are you waiting for?  Go make your donation and start puzzling!