Armchair Treasure Hunt Books
Armchair Treasure Hunt Books: A Collector's Guide
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Introduction
Armchair treasure hunt books are a unique blend of literature, puzzle, and real-life adventure. Ever since Kit Williams’s Masquerade turned a picture book into a national treasure hunt in 1979, these books have invited readers to solve elaborate clues hidden in stories and illustrations – all from the comfort of your home – with the promise of very real treasure awaiting the successful sleuth. From jeweled hares and golden owls to caches of gems and gold, each book offers its own blend of fantasy narrative and cryptographic challenge.
I thought you might be interested in an armchair exploration of this genre with a wander through its most notable titles, decade by decade, as well as an indication of some fun still-active challenges. So the first section looks at a small group of classics puzzle books with info about the story, the treasure at stake, and the status or outcome of the hunt. If you’re looking for a longer list and active hunts, there’s a longer sortable summary list where you can also search by their current status.
☞ If you like these types of books, you might also be interested in my introduction to ergodic literature.
Classic Armchair Treasure Hunts: A History
In this section (starred titles are active hunts): Masquerade | ★ The Secret | Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse | The Bee on the Comb | On the Trail of the Golden Owl | The Thrill of the Chase | The Merlin Mystery | The Maze | ★ The Hare on the Moon | The Book | ★ There’s Treasure Inside | ★ Room52
Masquerade (1979) - The hare that started it all
Masquerade - Kit Williams
Jonathan Cape, 1979. 9780224015097.
Overview: A lavish picture-book fairy tale whose 15 intricate paintings conceal a puzzle that pinpoints one exact spot in England. It ignited the modern armchair-treasure craze.
Search Area: Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire (UK).
Prize: An 18-carat jewel-encrusted golden hare pendant.
Status: Solved 1982.
Collector’s Notes: There was a lovely clothbound signed limited edition of 1000 copies released in 1982, as well as scarce extras including a publisher poster and the Masquerade 1981 calendar.
Learn more: Bunny Ears fan site
Published in 1979, Masquerade by illustrator Kit Williams is widely regarded as the book that launched the armchair treasure hunt craze. On the surface, it’s a simple children’s fable: Jack Hare is entrusted to deliver a treasure from the Moon to the Sun, but loses it along the way. The picture book’s 15 lavish paintings and brief text tell a whimsical story – yet concealed within the illustrations are fiendishly clever clues pointing to the location of a very real treasure that Williams himself had buried somewhere in Britain. Readers were challenged to decipher acrostics and hidden messages embedded in the artwork to figure out where “the Sun’s treasure” (in reality, a handcrafted 18-carat golden hare pendant) was hidden.
Despite its light fairy-tale narrative, Masquerade was designed to be pored over rather than casually read; every detail in the baroque illustrations could be part of the puzzle. The literary quality of the story is charming but sparse (intentionally so, keeping the focus on the visual riddles). Williams’s richly detailed paintings stand on their own, but it was the treasure hunt that truly enchanted the public – the book became an international bestseller, appealing to children and adults alike. I remember spending many hours trying to decipher it, despite living 10,000 miles / 17,000 km away from ever being able to join in the actual hunt!
Masquerade’s innovative merging of art, story, and game was so compelling that it inspired a generation of copycat works and essentially pioneered the genre of cryptic armchair treasure hunts.
Prize: The treasure itself was a jeweled golden hare, a filigreed pendant adorned with precious stones. Williams had hidden this hare in a clay box and buried it in Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire (England) near a monument to Catherine of Aragon. The clues in the book, when correctly solved, spelled out “CLOSE BY AMPTHILL” and pointed to the spot where the monument’s shadow would fall at noon on the equinox. In 1982, after intense public sleuthing and thousands of letters to the author, a man using the pseudonym “Ken Thomas” (real name: Dugald Thompson) claimed the prize by digging up the hare. However, a scandal soon unfolded: Thompson hadn’t truly solved the puzzles but instead obtained insider information on the burial site. In fact, two physics teachers, Mike Barker and John Rousseau, had independently cracked the code and even dug in the right place, but they failed to recognize the hare hidden in its clay container – likely leaving it behind in the dirt that Thompson later sifted through. Kit Williams, dismayed that the winner had “stumbled” into the solution, eventually acknowledged Barker and Rousseau as the rightful first solvers. The episode was a minor media sensation that only added to Masquerade’s mystique.
Hunt Resolution: Despite the controversy, the hare was awarded to Thompson, who subsequently sold the golden treasure at a Sotheby’s auction for over £30,000. Williams published a follow-up book Masquerade: The Complete Book with the Answer Explained, revealing the puzzle solution and validating the teachers’ clever approach. Masquerade’s runaway success spurred many imitators and firmly established the armchair treasure hunt as a popular literary genre.
🌟 The Secret (1982) - The longest running hunt
The Secret: A Treasure Hunt – Byron Preiss
Bantam, 1982, ISBN 9780553014082
Overview: Twelve fantasy paintings and verses hide the burial sites of 12 ceramic casques across North America, each redeemable for a gemstone. Four decades on, only three have been recovered.
Search Area: 12 US/Canadian cities.
Prize: Birth-stone jewels (≈ US $10 k total).
Status: Part-solved (3 found; 9 active).
Collector’s Notes: This one has been around for a long time, so there are many editions. The 1982 Bantam first printing is the most valuable – trade paperbacks and library hardbacks.
Learn more: 12 Treasures Fan Site | Reddit Group
Although Masquerade sparked the genre, The Secret has provided its longest and most active afterlife. The book pairs twelve verses with twelve images that point to buried ceramic casques across North America. The current community reference site lists only Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston as confirmed finds, leaving nine hunts still unresolved. Remaining caches are hidden in Charleston, Houston, Milwaukee, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, Roanoke, San Francisco, and St Augustine.
Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse (1984)
Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse – Sheldon Renan & "Dr Crypton" (aka Paul Hoffman)
Grand Central 1984, ISBN 9780446381604
Overview: A fantasy Western story (book + film) whose rebus puzzle led to a buried 1 kg gold horse and rights to a $500,000 annuity.
Search Area: Continental USA.
Prize: 24-karat gold horse + US $500,000.
Status: Contest expired unsolved in 1989, and the prize was donated to charity.
Learn more: Puzzler provided solution
The Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse multimedia project combined a book with video editions and challenged players to find a buried one-kilogram gold horse containing the key to a US$500,000 prize. No accepted winner emerged before the 26 May 1989 deadline, providing an unsatisfying end to this particular hunt. If you’re interested in chasing this one further you’ll also need to track down vintage companion material including a VHS and LaserDisc.
The Bee on the Comb (1984) - The Nameless Book
[The Bee on the Comb] - Kit Williams
Jonathan Cape, 1984. 9780224019064.
Overview: A day in the life of beekeeper Ambrose and his bees doubles as a contest to discover the book’s true title.
Search Area: Armchair puzzle – readers had to identify the title and express it creatively.
Prize: A golden queen bee statuette and the only titled copy of the book.
Status: Solved, 1985.
Learn more: Bunny Ears fan site
The Bee on the Comb deserves more attention from armchair treasure fans than it usually gets. I think this is because the author published the first issue without a name, with the discovery of the title the object of the contest (and the book itself difficult to catalogue!). The prize was a golden queen bee and the only titled copy, and the challenge ran for “a year and a day,” ending on 25 May 1985. You can find it catalogued variously as Untitled, The Bee Book, or [The Bee on the Comb].
The competition involved not only finding the title but also expressing it in the most interesting way. The winner was Steve Pearce who submitted a small decorated cabinet that depicted the title when the handle was turned.
Maze: Solve the World’s Most Challenging Puzzle (1985)
Maze - Christopher Manson
Holt Paperbacks (1985). 9780030045899 / 9780805010886.
Overview: Move through forty-five illustrated rooms in a sinister house, trying to reach the centre and return by the shortest path while solving a hidden riddle.
Search area: Fully armchair (international).
Prize: US$10,000
Status: Closed (prize awarded by riddle not fully solved)
Collector’s Notes: A CD-ROM adaptation called The Riddle of the Maze was released in 1994.
URL: Fan-made Maze website
Every page in Maze is a room in a strange black and white mansion. Every room has numbered doors. Readers must find their way from Room 1 to Room 45 and back again in only sixteen steps, then solve the hidden riddle at the centre.
When the book was published, it was tied to a $10,000 prize. The contest ended on 1 September 1987, and in early 1988 the $10,000 prize was split among twelve entrants who had found the correct path but not the full riddle solution.
On the Trail of the Golden Owl (1993)
Sur la trace de la chouette d'or (1993)
Editions de la Chouette d’Or, 1993. 9782956862901.
Overview: Eleven riddles and paintings guide hunters across France.
Search area: France
Prize: A bronze owl countermark exchangeable for Michel Becker’s original gold-and-silver owl set with precious stones
Status: Closed (prize awarded 2024)
Collector’s Notes: There are several editions available under different names, including Les Cahiers Secrets (2019), Sous le sceau du secret (2022), and the official Book of Solutions (2022).
Learn more: Golden Owl Hunt page
Published in 1993, Sur la trace de la chouette d’or invited readers into a dense, tantalising chase across France, using eleven riddles, layered symbolism, and a great deal of patience to lead searchers toward a hidden owl statue buried somewhere in the landscape.
The book was written by Régis Hauser under the pseudonym “Max Valentin” and illustrated by Michel Becker. Becker took over the hunt in 2021, and published a couple of new editions under different names, including The Secret Notebooks (2019) and On the trail of the Golden Owl – Under the seal of secrecy (2022).
The Thrill of the Chase (2010) - A poetic map
The Thrill of the Chase - Forrest Fenn
One Horse Land & Cattle Co, 2010. 9780967091785.
Overview: A memoir containing a 24-line poem that points readers toward a hidden bronze chest.
Search area: Rocky Mountains, USA
Prize: Bronze chest filled with gold, jewels, coins, and other valuables worth USD$1-2 million.
Status: Solved.
Learn more: Poem text
Author and art dealer Forrest Fenn embedded a 24-line poem in his memoir The Thrill of the Chase that he said would lead searchers to a bronze chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, hidden in the mountains north of Santa Fe. The chest was filled with gold, jewels, coins, and other valuables worth between US$1-2 million.
The riddle drew thousands of treasure hunters to the Rockies, and the hunt officially ended in June 2020, when Fenn announced that the chest had been found by Jack Stuef. The treasure was subsequently confirmed to have been hidden in Wyoming.
The Merlin Mystery (1998) - Arthurian Magic
The Merlin Mystery - Jonathan Gunson
Voyager / HarperCollins, 1998, ISBN 9780002246750. Warner Books, 9780446524322.
Overview: A richly illustrated Arthurian fantasy about Merlin and Nimue hides a secret puzzle that reveals the Alchemist’s Spell.
Search area: Fully armchair (international).
Prize: Merlin’s Wand of Alchemy plus a growing gold jackpot; the final cash prize reached £75,000.
Status: Closed and unsolved; prize donated to charity.
Collector’s Notes: There was an official musical companion soundtrack CD by Alkaemy.
Learn more: Author website
Jonathan Gunson’s tale tells of Merlin, Nimue, and the struggle for the Alchemist’s Wand, but the real hook lies in the illustrations, where a secret puzzle was hidden for readers to decode. What made the whole thing especially alluring was the prize structure itself: not just a jewelled wand, but a gold jackpot that grew as more copies sold (the author added gold to a vault for every copy).
Readers had to decode the illustrations, identify the alchemist’s spell and the method of casting, and send the solution to the publisher by post. Nobody solved the puzzle by its December 31, 2001 deadline. The cash prize and proceeds from auctioning off the wand were donated to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (2011)
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ See also my Hidden Secrets in Ready Player One article for a more detailed review and video.
Crown (2011). 9780307887436.
Overview: The book contained hidden text that led to a series of online gaming challenges.
Prize: A 1981 DeLorean car
Status: Solved
You’re probably surprised to see this well-known science fiction novel here! Set in a dystopian future, teenage protagonist Wade Watts races to solve puzzles hidden inside the virtual reality universe OASIS by its nostalgic creator, aiming to win control of this digital paradise. Mirroring the book’s plot, Cline embedded a real-world Easter egg within the novel’s text – a hidden URL that led readers to a series of gaming challenges. The contest unfolded in three stages – the first was a new Atari 2600 game called “The Stacks”; the second a game called Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale; and the final challenge tasked readers with setting a world record in one of several classic arcade games, including Pac-Man, Joust, Black Tiger, or Robotron 2084.
The winner achieved a new world record in Joust in 2012, and his reward was a 1981 DeLorean, reminiscent of the time machine from Back to the Future, complete with a Flux Capacitor. Highly readable, fast-paced, and deeply nostalgic, the story resonates with readers who love immersive puzzle-solving and 1980s pop culture, and most readers probably don’t even know about the original puzzle. (Note that not all later editions contain the starting Easter Egg – missing pixels in some of the text – so look for a first edition.)
🌟 The Hare on the Moon (2019)
The Hare on the Moon (2019)
➤ Find it at Amazon | Author Direct | Abes | eBay
Joanna May; 2019. ISBN 9781916136304.
Overview: Readers follow the hare and the man in the moon, unlock star signs, identify key words that form a sentence, and use them to find the map coordinates of a sacred site.
Search area: Fully armchair (international).
Prize: Joanna May’s original painting Three Hares on a Golden Moon, estimated on her site at £15,000
Status: Active
Learn more: Author website
Among newer armchair treasure hunt books, The Hare on the Moon has the warmth and visual richness of a modern picture-book heir to Masquerade, but with its own dreamy personality. The story sends readers on a mystical journey with a hare and the man in the moon, asking them to follow clues hidden in the text and illustrations, unlock the star signs, identify the key words that form a sentence, and ultimately discover the map coordinates of a sacred site. As well as the standard trade edition, there’s a limited edition with a gold foil and embossed cloth texture cover.
The prize for the first correct solver is Joanna May’s original painting Three Hares on a Golden Moon, a gold-leaf work inspired by the ancient three-hares fertility symbol. On Joanna May’s official site, the prize is described as still unsolved. There are some bonus clues on her website too.
Xavier Marx and the Missing Masterpieces – Hilary Genga & Sean Cronin (2021)
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
BookBaby (2021). 9781098397302.
Overview: A children’s story about a museum field trip gone awry, featuring rhymes and illustrations with hidden clues.
Search Area: Continental US.
Prize: USD$10,000
Status: Ongoing.
Collector’s Notes:Proceeds support the International Child Art Foundation, and the book features artwork from children worldwide, adding to its charm.
The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization (2022)
The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization – Hungry Minds
➤ Find it at Hungry Minds | Amazon | B&N | Waterstones
☞ See also my dedicated article on Unlocking The Book for a more detailed review and video.
Hungry Minds, 2022. ISBN 9780578377452 (publisher direct), 9781068555008 (trade, 2024).
Overview: A hand-illustrated guide to the discoveries, inventions, and social systems that shaped humanity, framed around the question of how civilisation could be rebuilt from scratch.
Search Area: International (prize was hidden in Turkey).
Prize: A unique leather-bound copy of the book and custom coins, valued at US$3000.
Status: Solved. (But the publishers still hand out occasional prizes if you send in the solution.)
Collector’s Notes: Early editions of the book contain several explicit sections that were removed from later printings.
Learn more: Discovering the prize video
Hungry Minds’ The Book is presented as a lavishly illustrated artifact from an alternate world — the premise being, if modern civilisation vanished tomorrow, how much of it could we actually rebuild from memory? From there, the book unfolds into a huge, hand-illustrated tour through the discoveries, inventions, materials, and social systems that have carried humanity forward.
One interesting aspect of this treasure hunt is that the hunt itself was hidden when it was originally published. Despite hinting that cryptic symbols in the book revealed geographic coordinates, only in December 2023 did Hungry Minds confirm that decoding hidden symbols in the text was a ‘quest’ leading to a hidden $3,000 prize for participants . Although the prize has been found, the publishers still do send out occasional rewards if you submit the solution to them.
🌟 There's Treasure Inside (2024) - A Modern American Treasure Hunt
There’s Treasure Inside - Jon Collins-Black
Treasure Books, 2024. ISBN 9798989813315.
Overview: A blend of history, memoir and treasure map clues.
Search Area: United States.
Prize: 5 treasure boxes filled with everything from gold and gems to antiquities, collectibles, and even pieces connected to the story, estimated value over US$ 2 million.
Status: Active.
Collector’s Notes: The first print run had typos that were corrected in later runs. (These are not clues.)
Learn more: Official Treasure Inside website | Author interview with bonus clues
The author has pitched this as the largest treasure hunt in American history, and the book leans into that scale with five treasure boxes placed around the United States, filled with everything from gold and gems to antiquities, collectibles, and even pieces connected to the story.
Items in the treasure caches include Bitcoin, antiquities, shipwreck bounty, rare Pokémon cards, sports memorabilia, gold, precious metals, and rare gems. Some objects have historical significance, made or owned by figures like Pablo Picasso, Andrew Carnegie, George Washington, Amelia Earhart, Jackie Onassis, Henry David Thoreau, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. There are even pieces from the original Forrest Fenn treasure, and other pieces connected to the story.
🌟 Room52: Conspiracies & Treasures (2025)
Quill & Compass have published several puzzle adventures recently, and those that have been solved have solution guides that can be downloaded from their website.
Room52 is their most recent story, inviting readers into the offbeat world of Alice, Chris, and Becky – the founders of an infamous online forum ROOM52, an affectionate home to quirky conspiracy theories, alien sightings, and unexplained mysteries. Lighthearted speculation quickly transforms into a puzzling adventure filled with hidden clues, riddles, and coded messages woven throughout the book.
At launch, the hunt offered a treasure valued at over US$800 for the first correct solver, with additional prizes for two runners-up.
🌟 Room52 - Quill and Compass
Quill & Compass, 2025. ISBN 9798295407369.
Overview: Alice, Chris, and Becky’s conspiracy forum spirals from playful speculation into a coded, puzzle-filled mystery threaded through text and illustrations.
Search Area: Fully armchair (international).
Prize: Real-world treasures valued at over $800, plus two runner-up prizes.
Status: Active.
Learn more: Publisher website
A collection of the most famous (and current) Armchair Treasure Hunt titles
| Title | Author(s) | Prize | Search Area | Date Opened (Pub) | Current State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond the Map’s Edge | Justin Posey | Historical artifacts, crypto, gold, meteorite (value >US$ 1million) | USA (American West) 🥾 | 2025 | Active 🍀 Treasure Quest website |
| Room52 ★ | Quill & Compass | Treasure valued at US$800, plus two runner-up prizes | Armchair (international) | 2025 | Active 🍀 Quill & Compass website |
| Source Code Treasure Hunt | Samantha Dammer | US$10,000 | USA 🥾 | 2025 | Active 🍀 Source Code Facebook page |
| Amnesia: A Treasure Hunt Adventure | Quill & Compass | Treasure valued approx. US$1,000 | Armchair (international) | 2025 | Solved 2025 (solution guide) |
| There’s Treasure Inside ★ | Jon Collins-Black | 5 treasure boxes, prize valued > US$2 million | USA 🥾 | 2024 | Active 🍀 Treasure Inside website |
| The Researcher's First Murder | John Finnemore | £1,000 to the first all-correct solution, plus a £250 second prize. | Armchair (international) | 2024 | Solved 2025 (solution site) |
| Lady Liberty’s Treasure Hunt | Michael Cloherty O’Connell | Treasures valued approx. US$100,000 | USA (Northeast) 🥾 | 2024 | Active 🍀 Lady Liberty's Hunt webpage |
| Riley's Treasure Chase | Michael Cloherty O’Connell | (YA part of Lady Liberty's Treasure Hunt) | USA (Northeast) 🥾 | 2024 | Active 🍀 Lady Liberty's Hunt webpage |
| The Case of the Barking Dog | David Jacobsen | Sapphire rhodium gem over sterling silver ring (valued approx. US$100) | Armchair (international) | 2024 | Active 🍀 Wonderland Treasure website |
| The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization ★ | Hungry Minds (collective) | Buried cache containing a deluxe copy of The Book + a pouch of antique coins (value undisclosed) | Worldwide 🥾 | 2022 | Solved 2023 (cache recovered; but publishers sometime award a smaller bonus to late solvers via e‑mail) |
| The Hope Chest Treasure Hunt | Cris & Julie Dotson | US$50,000 | USA 🥾 | 2022 | Active 🍀 Hope Chest Hunt website |
| Xavier Marx and the Missing Masterpieces | Sean Cronin & Hilary Genga | US $10,000 cash | USA 🥾 | 2021 | Active 🍀 Xavier Marx website |
| The Mad Tea Party | David Jacobsen | 3 treasures containing gold, silver, precious jewels, and collectors coins | Armchair (international) | 2021 | Active 🍀 (Part-solved, 2 of 3 riddles solved) Wonderland Treasure website |
| The Golden Treasure of the Entente Cordiale | Michel Becker; Vincenzo Bianca; Stephen Clarke; Pauline Deysson | Golden Casket (valued approx. €650,000) | UK and France 🥾 | 2021 | Active 🍀 Wonderland Treasure website |
| The Hatter’s Hat | David Jacobsen | US$10,000 | USA 🥾 | 2020 | Active 🍀 Wonderland Treasure website |
| Cain's Jawbone | Edward Powys Mathers | £1,000 | Armchair (international) | 2019 (originally appeared in The Torquemada Puzzle Book in 1934) | Solved 2020 (original competition solved 1935). |
| The Hare on the Moon ★ | Joanna May | Three‑Hares painting (value >£15,000) | UK 🥾 | 2019 | Active 🍀 Author's website |
| The Beacon Star | Randy Pischel | US$5,000 cash + gold coin | USA (Denver) 🥾 | 2017 | Active 🍀 Author's YouTube channel |
| Gargaphia: Where History Means Murder | Robert T. Jones | Cache of antiquities + staged bonuses | Armchair (international) | 2017 | Ended / Expired unsolved |
| West By Sea | Michelle & Edward Beale | Engraved token | Armchair (international) | 2016 | Active 🍀 West By Sea website |
| Ready Player One | Ernest Cline | A 1981 DeLorean (car) | USA 🥾 | 2010 | Solved 2010 |
| The Clock Without a Face | Eli Horowitz, Mac Barnett & Scott Teplin | 12 emerald‑set digits | USA (12 states) 🥾 | 2010 | Solved 2010 |
| The Thrill of the Chase ★ | Forrest Fenn | Bronze chest filled with valuables worth USD$1-2 million. | USA (Rocky Mountains) 🥾 | 2010 | Solved 2020 |
| Fandango: The Key to the Wind | Pendragon (Peter Piegari) | Gold horse + US$1 million | USA 🥾 | 2007 | Ended / unsolved by deadline, solution released by puzzler |
| Secrets of the Alchemist Dar: A Treasure's Trove | Michael Stadther | 100 jeweled rings (> US$2 million) | USA 🥾 | 2006 | Ended / Cancelled, company bankrupt |
| A Treasure’s Trove | Michael Stadther | 14 gemstone prizes (≈ US $1 m) | USA (public parks) 🥾 | 2004 | Solved 2004 |
| The Oracle: Lost in Time | Pete Wilder | Cash (≥ £5 000) | UK 🥾 | 2004 | Active 🍀 Oracle website |
| The Whistle Pig | Duck Miller | A mystery (key that opens a prize) | USA 🥾 | 2003 | Active 🍀 Whistle Pig website |
| The Merlin Mystery ★ | Jonathan Gunson & Marten Coombe | Merlin’s wand + £75 000 | Armchair (international) | 1998 | Ended / Unsolved; prize donated to charity |
| Quest: In Search of the Dragontooth | Michael Green | Dragontooth relic | Worldwide (15 map points) 🥾 | 1994 | Ended / Unsolved; prize unclaimed |
| Sur la trace de la chouette d'or [On the Trail of the Golden Owl] ★ | Max Valentin & Michel Becker | Golden owl (≈ €150 k) | France (metropolitan) 🥾 | 1993 | Solved 2024 |
| The Ultimate Alphabet | Mike Wilks | £10,000 cash | Armchair (international) | 1986 | Solved 1988 |
| MAZE: Solve the World’s Most Challenging Puzzle ★ | Christopher Manson | US$10,000 cash | Armchair (international) | 1985 | Solved 1987 |
| Treasure: In Search of the Golden Horse ★ | Sheldon Renan & Dr. Crypton | 1 kg gold horse + US $500,000 | USA 🥾 | 1984 | Ended / Expired 1989, solution released by puzzler |
| Conundrum: The Cadbury Crème Egg Mystery | Don Shaw | 12 × 22 ct gold eggs | UK 🥾 | 1984 | Solved 1984 / Several eggs were claimed before the contest was cancelled due to destruction of property) |
| The Bee on the Comb ★ | Kit Williams | Golden queen‑bee statuette + titled copy | Armchair (international) | 1984 | Solved 1985 |
| The Secret: A Treasure Hunt ★ | Byron Preiss et al. | 12 gemstones (1 per casque) | USA & Canada (12 cities) 🥾 | 1982 | Active 🍀 (Part‑solved: 3 of 9 found) 12 Treasures website |
| Masquerade ★ | Kit Williams | 18‑carat golden hare pendant | UK (Bedfordshire) 🥾 | 1979 | Solved 1982 |
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