How to Solve Clues for a Treasure Hunt

A treasure hunt isn't as entertaining when you cannot find the treasure. Clues for treasure hunts come in a variety of forms, from the classic pirate's map to more creative and modern wordplay. Learning to solve treasure hunt clues can help make your hunt more successful, getting you to the treasure more quickly and helping you to win the game.

Follow the visual directions if the clues are given as a map. A treasure map is a classic way to illustrate the route that the gamers must follow to find the "X" marks the spot. Most maps will have dashes or arrows from one location to the next. The locations may be given as labels or images. Maps are sometimes given out piecemeal, with the next section of the map at the next location.

Fill in missing letters. If the clues are informative paragraphs with words that are missing certain letters, then plug in letters to form words that work contextually with the rest of the information. For example, if the paragraph was about things that can be found on a farm, then if the sentence reads, "Look near the stump where the _ows chew their cud," then filling in "c" for cows would make more sense than "hows" or "tows."

Fill in the missing words if the clues are again given as informative paragraphs with pertinent information missing. Often, in this scenario, the clues are presented in a rhyme, so just fill in a word that would make contextual sense that completes the rhyme. For example, if the clue reads "Take a hint from this card, Look next in the front ____," the word "yard," instead of "bard" or "lard," would work best in the blank.

Unscramble the letters if the clue is presented as nonsensical words. Sometimes the word clues are presented in "code," and it is up to you to decipher that code. Usually the words will only have a slight alteration so that solving the clue won't be too time consuming. For example, the clue might read, "ooLk ni teh graage," which unscrambles to read, "Look in the garage."

Answer the question or riddle asked by the set of clues. Some clues ask you a question with the answer then used in solving the clue. For example, in your treasure hunt, you may come on three envelopes, labeled "1," "2" and "3," with three different directions inside. Next to the envelopes is a card that reads, "How many blind mice were there?" Since the answer to the question is three, it would be best to take the directions in the envelope labeled "3."