LOL, FT is not a site for the patience-deprived. However, I think it took me about three-four months to collect all the clues I needed, and about half an hour to check all the bits and bobs, finish the final doodah*, and get the badge. However I was lucky that no one else had got there before me or I'd have had to come back another day to do another doodah*.

*doodah - the professional term for an FT puzzle wotsit.

I'm persevering flopsy, but a little question please, because I'm wondering if I'm looking TOO much into it. Do some clues come up at the bottom of the page sometimes? Like a question? Is that related to the hunt? Spare me the agony please.

I've never seen a clue at the bottom of the page though one or two other bits may appear there. You'll know what to do with them when you have enough clues.

PS I wrote everything down, every single thing... so as the clues came in the little bits and bobs began to make sense too - and I knew where they were!

Ok thanks again.

Now I'm wondering if it was a good idea to get involved in this hunt in the first place because once you're in you're hooked, and another word that rhymes with that. Today I nearly wet myself when a clue came up after a week or so, I had to take a deep breath before my hernia popped. Anyway after a quick blast of the oxygen mask I copied/pasted it into the list.
ANYWAY, back playing and another clue comes up about a half hour later. What? Two in an hour? oxygen mask out again before I even read it, same clue...aaarrrggghhh all that wasted oxygen for nothing.
ANYWAY, back playing and another clue comes up about a half hour later. What? THREE in two hours? Really folks.
Same clue again. Got the defibrillator fired up because the oxygen was low.

So my advice is, try to ignore it and get a Nurse if you can't.

A liddle biddy question. Is it possible for anybody at all to just happen randomly on the treasure on the site but not know what to do with it because they don't know what it's about?

It's fun, and truly I did jump when a clue popped up, and then three in two hours all the same, so yeah folks, patience....whatever that is.

P.S. Do you FT people get commission from this "game" by Heart Attack?

A couple of us did wonder the other day if people searching for a more recent treasure had inadvertently gone past the original treasure (ie the one you're looking for) and not realised. But it doesn't matter because with the original treasure you can only find it if you go down a particular path indicated by the clues, adding bits and pieces and doing tasks en route - and you have to do those things deliberately and can't do them by accident so if you did do one of them by accident it would know it was an accident because you wouldn't have done other things on purpose. On top of which things on this site may or may not stay in the same place forever so even if you did pass it, the chances are it will be gone by morning whereas the recent treasure is always in the same place but is almost impossible to find.

Gosh, it's hard to be helpful and say absolutely nothing at the same time.

I'm enjoying it now, I have lots of clues but still little idea how to use them. I started with a sheet of paper and I now have four pages in Word with notes and cross references.
The thing that almost put me off it was though was that it could take YEARS, BUT and this is not a clue I hope, but I have discovered that a clue comes up every day but it could be anywhere at all on the site, and this is a huge site, and also, it may be one you already have. I'm just saying that so folks won't get discouraged thinking it could take years. Good fun.

If the clue that comes up everyday on the site that you are referring to is the clue I think you are referring to, there are other clues that can narrow down where on the site the treasure is. But if you referring to a different clue then ...

One day it will come to you what clue you need to start with to find the treasure. Once I began to collect the clues and looked them over carefully, it was kind of easy to figure out. Of course before I figured it out, I didn't think it was easy at all

Thanks Mira, I shall battle on.

I hope that posting two months after the most-recent post doesn't constitute an egregious violation of forum etiquette vis-à-vis thread-bumping (though please let me know if I have misstepped), but I wonder if I might ask someone—who like me has already solved the Treasure Hunt—to explain one of the clues. There's one that I never quite understood.

(I know there are a few similar threads in "Feedback," where people who have solved challenges like "A Riddle" have asked for—and received—an explanation of a hint that they still didn't "get." However, all such threads in "Feedback" haven't had a new post in 1-2 years or longer, and my query hardly merits creating an entire new thread unto itself.)

Perhaps someone who has the badge could send you a PM offering to explain, rather than doing it in public where it can be seen by those who haven't yet received the badge.

Yes, you're quite right, thank you. ... Would one of you folks here (who has the badge) mind if I send you a PM (or vice-versa), per Sue's suggestion?

I'm happy to try - but it's so many years since I got that badge I might not remember all the details.

If I can remember, I'll try as well, if flopsy didn't already.

The clues are in the normal page content, usually at the very top. They don't create popup windows. They are in a yellow line of text and you might miss them if you don't know what to look for. Pay careful attention to every page until you've seen your daily clue! (Don't worry too much about the question pages of timed games, clues are shown more than once, usually two or three times)

Yeah, and the unusual thing about the treasure hunt is that not of the requirements are actually required, for some reason or other.

Well, they are more clues than anything, but point taken. And that's kind of the fun of it, isn't it—figuring out how each hint fits into the overall challenge. Different folks work it out via different strategies. And some people can solve it (and a few other challenges, actually) with relatively few clues. I like that the Treasure Hunt has was designed with a certain … "sense of humor." But I guess I can't say much more than that!

I discovered that what I thought was important to finding the treasure wasn't and what I dismissed as a false lead was very necessary.

Me too. Figuring out the "decoys" (I can say that, right?) was part of the fun, even when one or two had me fooled. Felt I was like driving on the wrong side of the road, but at least you can't get stuck. From lots of '80s and '90s text-adventure games, I know the irritation of getting trapped, leaving no way out but to start over.

Actually, I don't think in the entire site there's a single game or "adventure" (long-term-type game) in which you can get a permanent "dead-end." That's another appeal of both Treasure Hunt and the other "realms" of the site ... you can explore without fear of repercussions for doing so. Sometimes getting a bit lost is what makes a good maze fun.

Hmm, I'd best cork it before I go off on some other tangent, as I am perpetually wont to do.

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! I did it! BUT, something else to do....now I'm completely frustrated!

You did what? The original Treasure? If so, congrats, it's a study in patience lol

Thanks but I was informed that, congrats I found it but there is something additional I need to do. I'm missing 2 clues but I'm not sure if they're relevent or not, I don't think so and I reckon the answer is staring me in the face from the ones I do have.

Good luck in your search.