Treasure Hunts

Someone’s obviously put a great deal of time and money into restoring the ship. But all that renovation clearly leaves little chance of your finding anything hidden. Just to be safe, you poke, prod, and pry every drawer, bookshelf, and widget onboard—to no avail. You decide to quit wasting time before they ask you to…

Solve these puzzles and you may find the long-lost treasure of Blackbeard the pirate.

Breathless with anticipation, you dial the number Karen Blixen left. To your dismay, you don’t get a human. It’s another of those damned menu systems: Thank you for calling Bethesda Lawyers, located in Offices 1 through 5 of the Civic Center Tower. If you know the extension of the party you are calling, you may…

With your help, the police quickly arrest the thief, and all the stolen items are returned. The library director presents you with a small reward, which you happily accept. Back at the library, you ask to see any paintings the Gordons may have donated along with the house. The director shows you four or five…

Ballpeen’s mansion is an impressive neo-Georgian edifice that looks bigger than your old college. When you press the doorbell, a sonorous gong reverberates that you expect to summon a butler. Instead, the mail slot pops open, through which you hear a thin voice. I’m sorry I can’t let you in right now. The sad truth…

Arriving at 38° 59′ 19″ North, 77° 5′ 49″ West, you stare at the memorial to Bethesda’s victims of war in the center of Woodmont Triangle. How can you possibly get a permit to dig up the park? Just then, you feel a tug on your sleeve. Turning, you behold an elderly man in shabby…

When you tell the Griot you want to learn about June 19, 1718, he closes his eyes for a moment and considers. Then he speaks slowly: Ah, yes. The man you speak of must be the one we call The Digging Man. He did arrive here on the day you name with eight other men….

The staff at the library is in a tizzy, and yellow tape is strung across the door. A plainclothes police officer approaches you. I’m afraid the library was burglarized last night—several books, furniture, and works of art were stolen. We’ll have the case wrapped up soon, but until then the library is closed to the…

This appears to reproduce entries from various logs Blackbeard kept from 1713 until his death. Most of the pages are mundane accounts of daily life at sea, with the occasional skirmish in the Caribbean. One page in particular draws your attention: Local historians have identified many modern sites in the Washington, DC, area that correspond…