'Washington Post' Holds Inaugural 'Post Hunt' this Sunday

By: Joe Strupp If it flies in Miami, will it be a hit in D.C?

That's what the folks at The Washington Post Magazine believe as they plan for this Sunday their first-ever "Post Hunt," a scavenger hunt of sorts that is also part brain teaser and puzzle.

The brainchild of Magazine Editor Tom Shroder, Staff Writer Gene Weingarten, and humor columnist Dave Barry, the hunt first began at The Miami Herald 17 years ago when the three worked at its now-defunct Sunday magazine, Tropic.

The basis of the hunt is to gather readers in one location and offer clues to "puzzles" set up around the city. Readers who reach each puzzle and solve it to reveal a number clue can then compete for a grand prize.

"We tell everyone to show up before noon with the magazine in hand," Shroder explained. "The magazine is loaded with hidden clues and a map of the area." The magazine includes up to 80 numbered clues to the puzzles set up around the city, but only five are real, the rest decoys.

On Sunday, Shroder says he, Weingarten, and Barry take to the stage and tell readers which of the five "clues" are real, which they match to numbers on the map in the magazine.

Go it so far?

"You go around to any of the five locations that match the five clues and a big puzzle is presented to you as a big visual thing or some kind of activity," Shroder explained. The answer to each puzzle is a number.

As if that is not enough, hunt participants must then return to the initial location by 3 p.m. where Shroder, Weingarten and Barry will give them a sixth clue.

All six number answers together then offer a hint to the final answer.

"You try to make sense out of them -- and it tells you to do something, and if you do it first, you win," he said. Shroder adds that if no one is close to solving the puzzle, hints will start being given by 3:30 p.m.

The first three to solve the final answer are given a trip to a Florida resort, in keeping with the hunt's Miami roots. "Most people do it just for the fun of it," Shroder adds.

Barry, the only non-Post staffer involved, said the event has a loyal following in Miami, where the three creators still run it. "We think the readers of the Post are predisposed to like this kind of thing," Barry said. "Smart people do well on it, and we know everyone in Washington is smart. The city is ideal for it because we create puzzles around big open spaces."

The hunt also has an online component that promotes the event, and allows readers to practice with several puzzles based on clues given on a short video and resulting in numbered answers.

Shroder said at least 7,000 online users have visited the site, with 25% of those signing up for regular e-mail alerts.