2008 Post Hunt

Hosted by Washington Post celebrities, Tom Shroder, Dave Barry and Gene Weingarten, the Post Hunt’s puzzles were complex, tricky and fun. Scattered rain didn’t seem to deter the crowds of people from joining the games around Chinatown and Penn Quarter.
Having a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post is helpful to familiarize your team with the Washington Post Magazine but not necessary because they provided the Magazine and Comics section at the first location. The hunt was tough but our team still felt like we made progress by getting to each new destination. Only at the end, when the solution was revealed did we realize how far off we were. Even though we were outclassed by veteran players, looking for Post Hunt clues revealed new charms in a familiar part of town. Hey, we got to eat coconut flavored fortune cookies and Washington Post pens as souvenirs. In this video clip, Tom Shroder explains the President’s Race puzzle featuring four presidents (mascots from Nationals games) and a man in a deer costume:
How awesome is that?

Wohoo Post Hunt! Three adventurous Unilocalers braved the rain and threat of thunderstorms to test their noggins in the ultimate showdown of puzzle supremacy. And how did we fare?
I’d like to say awesome, but probably closer to, well, fair. Man those puzzles were tough. We definitely got two of them; maaaybe half of the the third one. And the answers seemed easy when they explained it all at the end. Except the end game puzzle. I don’t think I would have figured that one out if I had been there all day.
Still, totally worth it. The puzzles were very clever and well done, and at least we got a few of them, right? Hopefully they’ll have it again next year.

I’ll never forget May 18, 2008– the day of the first, but not last, annual Post Hunt. If you are familiar with the works of Gene Weingarten and Dave Barry, here is your opportunity to see them in person! Not only that, but they were really nice and even talked to me. Who thought celebrities would be so nice? It was really great. The hunt itself made my brain hurt but even with rain and mugginess and crowded streets it was totally worth it.
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to read more about what it was like, I don’t know where to start trying to explain how wacky it was. Wacky and AWESOME!