Austin Found Citywide Treasure Hunt

Do you like solving puzzles? Do you know a lot about Austin, past and present? You can combine those two interests and participate for cash prizes in the Austin Found Citywide Treasure Hunt. A non-profit organization created by a group of South Austin neighbors, the race began in 2005 and raises money for early childhood education.

Austin Found Teams:

For 2006 teams consist of 2-4 registered players. Families, co-workers, friends, or groups of strangers can form a team. Each team can have unregistered helpers as well -- people who can look up information in books or on the Internet or who have personal knowledge that will help solve a clue. The teams must solve various clues and puzzles to reach checkpoints throughout the city to win.

Austin Found 2006:

The race starts at 8:00 am on Sunday, October 8, 2006. Teams may register on the day of the race. Arrive by 7:00 am.

Each team pays an entry fee (in 2006 its $75.00; early registration $50) and all members of a team must sign a waiver.

Teams can win from $100 to $1,000 depending on the category they enter under. For 2006 the categories are Open, Business, College, High-School, and Novice. Gift cards and other prizes are also distrubuted randomly throughout the race.
Register online.

Getting from Start to Finish:

Teams start the race from Plaza Saltillo at 5th and Comal. After receiving your first clue and figuring out where it points you go to the next checkpoint and meet up with a race moderator, explain how you solved the clue, get your race card validated, and receive the clue to the next checkpoint. The first team in each category to get back to Plaza Saltillo with their completed race card wins.

The only mode of transportation allowed is walking or riding Capital Metro buses or Dillos.

Austin Found Checkpoints :

There are 12 checkpoints in all located in the area bounded by 45th Street (north), Ben White Boulevard (south), and 1.5 miles past IH 35 (east) and Mopac (west).

Checkpoints are typically Austin landmarks of some sort. As one race organizer put it, "not all landmarks are as obvious as the Capitol dome." In other words, some locations are places well-known outside of Austin while others might be familiar only to someone who lives here.The checkpoints are places of historical significance (including recent history) and might be museums, restaurants, intersections, signs, or statues.

Checkpoints from 2005 included The Ten Commandments Monument on the Capitol Grounds, Texas Memorial Museum on the UT campus, Caswell Tennis Center, and the Statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston in the Texas State Cemetary.

Austin Found Clues:

To discover the location of each checkpoint a team must solve a puzzle of some sort. Puzzles might be a picture, a series of statements that describe the location, an anagram, or some other sort of word puzzle.

Some examples of clues from 2005:

• Clue: Direct "The Crazy Hoe Attracts" on Austin's stage.
  Answer: "The Crazy Hoe Attracts" is an anagram for Zachary Scott Theatre.
  
  
• Clue: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
  Answer: The saying is inscribed on the south side of The University of Texas Tower.
  
  
• See all twelve of the 2005 Austin Found Citywide Treasure Hunt clues and answers.

Fundraiser:

Not only is solving the clues an educational endeavor for team members, the Austin Found Citywide Treasure Hunt provides educational treasure of another kind. Money raised goes towards programs for early childhood education, primarily through The Austin Community Foundation.