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Answers to the 2024 Cville Puzzle Hunt

When hunters arrived at IX Art Park, they were given a hunt bag.  This included a double sided piece of paper with a hunt map on the front and a list of possible answers on the back, a WTJU pen, a bar of soap and a WTJU pin. At around 2:40, hunters were given the coordinates of the five initial puzzles.  

The coordinates took hunters to:

  • The main stage at IX Art Park

  • Neon Soul

  • The Free Speech Wall

  • Barbie’s Burrito Barn

  • The Library

Puzzle #1 - IX Art Park

A yoga instructor on stage was leading the crowd in some meditation.   They kept talking abot how people carrying a lot of baggage and how we need to unpack that baggage before we can see the truth within. Hunters should have understood that they needed to unpack all of the things from their hunt bags and look inside.  Inside there was a tag that directed them to the website meditotes.shop (right).

Puzzle #2 - Neon Soul

A poster directed people to look for our Puzzle Hunt article in Cville Weekly.  Specifically it hinted that they should look at the photo.  If hunters looked closely at the picture in the article, they could just see the bottom of a three digit number.  The caption said that the photo was taken outside of Lone Light Coffee. 

Hunters who went to the location where the photo was taken were able to see the number in its entirety. 

The answer to this puzzle was 806.

Hunters who went to Barbie’s Burrito Barn were given a sheet of paper with several nonsensical phrases (ex. Piece of pork for a policeman) Hunters probably noticed that the phrase is describing two things that differ by only one additional letter (ex. COP CHOP). 

If hunters find the two words for each phrase and make note of the extra letter they will have 20 letters.  If they read each additional letter in order it spells: “Homophone of ate tee won.” 

The answer is 81.

Puzzle #5 - Library Central Branch

At the Jefferson Madison Regional Library Central Branch hunters were given a half sheet of paper with a color picture of an hut on an idyllic tropical island.

The directions tell people:  “Sometimes you have a problem you can’t solve, it helps to step back for a while.”  If hunters take a few steps back and look at the picture, they should see the hidden message “Count the skulls.”  If hunters count all the skulls on the map (including the things that are shaped like skulls) they get 7.

The answer is 7.  


If people go to that website it redirects them to a page that says “(palm trees forming an X) X marks the spot.” Hunters will probably notice that these same palm trees appear on the Map at McGuffey. Hunters need to go to this spot.  

At McGuffey hunters were given sheets of paper with yoga pose instructions on them. (see right)   If one member of the hunt team followed the directions and did the poses while the rest of the team watched, they noticed that the poses made numerals.

The answer is 842

Volunteers handing out flyers for a TikTok fashion influencer @Intitialimpression.  On the filer there was a url that would take hunters to her Outfit of the Day (OOTD) video on TikTok (there is also a bitly for a YouTube video, if people don’t have TikTok).  In the video Annie, from Neon Soul, put on items of clothing in a unique order.  Hunters likely noticed that some of the clothing items start with an initial (ex. A-Line skirt, T-shirt).  If hunters used the initials from each item of clothing, they get the word “BOAT.”  There was only one boat on the map and the captain was Annie from the TikTok and she was pointing directly at the 4 on the coordinate grid. 

If hunters weren’t sure that 4 was the answer and they went to the actual spot on the map where the boat is located (CODE Building courtyard) they found a poster that says “The answer has been in your line of sight the whole time.” This should have clued them in to the fact that they had to look in Annie’s line of sight.

4 is the answer. 

Puzzle #3 - Free Speech Wall

Puzzle #4 - Barbie’s Burrito Barn

End Game


At this point, hunters who have solved all the puzzles correctly should have the following clues:

At 5:17 these 6 posters were displayed on stage:

If hunters used their first clue (the rainbow) and put the characters in rainbow order, starting with the top row, then the middle then the bottom, they got the url bit.ly/apiratepoem . Hunters who went there saw the following:

If hunters used their second clue (follow us on Instagram) and found our post from a fortnight and two days before, they saw this post:

In the background is a poster for gold with a QR code.  Hunters who scanned the QR code activated an augmented reality overlay that showed new information on the map if they looked at it through their phones.

The new map looked like this:

Hunters who decoded the words correctly got the directions: “Wear the pin. Tell him a joke”

Hunters who went to the location of the pirate in the square found two volunteers dressed as  pirates.  If they told one of the pirates a joke while wearing their WTJU pins, they were handed a gold doubloon and a number to call.  Hunters who called the number got a voicemail that told them to return to IX, approach the stage and put their doubloon at the bottom of the sea.  

Hunters who returned to IX and looked on stage noticed a large papier mache letter C with a small slot at the bottom.  The team who was first to put their doubloon “at the bottom of the C” was crowned the winner.