Dang nabbit! I was not picked for the final 10 and I didn’t win bumpkiss in the game. Ah well, maybe they’ll have another season of the game and I’ll do better then. Since my last entry about TH I received a couple more questions. Additionally as the game is over now, I don’t mind sharing my totally lame and incorrect guesses as to the final location of the treasure1.

@Stephen Y.: As you already found out, the correct answer to last week’s question was the Gutenberg Bible. I have to say I felt really proud of myself with that week’s question as it was the first time since watching the show where I was comfortable enough in my knowledge of the subject that I did not have to research the question before submitting the answer2.

@Jorge: Mind you it’s been many weeks since I did challenge #3, but as I recall it’s a matter of which way the wind is blowing (watch the clouds to determine this) and then of timing. For me, I had to wait for the ship to touch the raised chain and start it’s turn. While it was turning, I aimed for the right-hand side of the screen and fired. That allowed me to hit the ship by basically having them sail right into my canonball.

@Everybody else: Keep in mind that I only started watching TH/playing the online game with week 6. My guesses for the final location of the treasure were:

  1. Washington, D.C.
  2. Washington, D.C.
  3. Library of Congress
  4. Lincoln Memorial

As you were warned, my guess were all lame & inaccurate. I guess it is just as well that I didn’t get picked as one of the final 10 contests as the odds would have been against me winning. *shrug* Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.

1 According to this post on the NBC message boards for Treasure Hunters, the correct final answer was Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
2 It didn’t hurt my ego that I also answered that question before my wife did either (also a first since I started watching the show).

Between posting my solution to challenge #8 and finally getting a chance to sit down & read me email this evening, I got hit with 6 emails and a few comments about it. Rather than trying to reply to all of you individually, I’ll just post my answers here. Sorry this comes so late, but I’ve been swamped today.

Krystal wrote:

I am having a hard time with the latest Treasure Hunters Challenge…When I pick up the Gold Dabloon (sp?), all I get is either an extra pair of goggles or Laird’s wallet. I took out the business card from the wallet and typed in “Emergency Support” in the Visa “department” line, it says I do not need emergency support at this time. Can you help me??…I’ve been putting Library of Congress also and I haven’t gotten anything like that either 🙁

As I recall from last night, there were 3 items on the river bed: a wallet, a boot and the doubloon. First, empty your web browser’s cache and then restart your browser. In the IRC channel I had been hanging around on last night, that seemed to clear up most of the really weird stuff. If that doesn’t work make sure you are following my instructions step-by-step. If you get stuff out of order, things may not work right. If you’re still having problems and want more immediate feedback, try going to NBCTreasureHunters.com and following their instructions for connecting to the IRC server & chatroom they are using. It’s a really good resource for getting help with the puzzles. If all that fails, leave a comment on this post with a detailed workflow of what you’ve tried and where you are getting stuck.

sandra r. wrote:

i need help week 8 is there any help for me

on disability need money so bad please help me

Hmm, well there’s the help I spelled out in my solution to challenge #8. There’s the NBCTreasureHunters.com website (and their instructions for getting to an IRC server where you can chat live with other hunters. However, you should keep in mind even if you solve all the puzzles correctly; the official rules state “the Administrator will select ten (10) Winners from all eligible entries in a random drawing.” This means there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get any money from playing along with the NBC Treasure Hunters online game.
Beyond that maybe one of these websites can assist you:

neil wrote:

what is the combination for the final clue? I dont have a printer to do the folding thing.please help! thanks

Check out the footnotes at the bottom of my solution to challenge #8.

rob wrote:

any luck with the 8th challenge, i got the coin and things but when i get back to the boat the seagull knocks the backpack into the water. was not sure if it is something i am doing/or not doing.

Check out my solution to challenge #8 starting with step #14.

Tristine wrote:

Hi, can you please help me with the order for the final puzzle? I have the cutout of the star and have entered all the possible combinations that I see (“feather symbol”, sun, door with “c”, hands, book, arrow, other door) and I cannot get it to work. Please help! Thanks!

Check out the footnotes at the bottom of my solution to challenge #8. To be perfectly honest, I had my wife do the cutout thing for me, couldn’t figure it out and relied upon the kind people chatting about the puzzle in the #steeple_media IRC channel on AccessIRC. You might also want to read one of the comments on my post covering my solution to challenge #8.

ben wrote:

how do you arrange the puzzle pieces? it looks right but the fireplace is not opening.

Make sure your pieces on the gameboard are arranged in exactly the same method as shown in the image on my solution to challenge #8 post. If you’re still having problems, try clearing your web browser’s cache, restarting your webrowser and trying again.

Lately, I’ve been watching this some what silly (but still addictive) reality show on NBC called Treasure Hunters. Part of what I like about it is they let you play along with the contestants. Well, sort of… They have a trivia question given out during every show which if answered correctly gives you a shot at $10,0001. Additionally, you can play various puzzles, one released each week, for a shot at $200,000 and an appearance on T.V. Personally, I have no interest in ever being on T.V. but that $200,000 would buy a nice house and pay off all our bills2. And there would still be enough left over to give some to various charities I like, e.g. American Cancer Society, American Red Cross or Toys for Tots.

Anyway, I’ve been following the show for a couple of weeks and I’ve gotten help from the NBC.com forums on solving the weekly puzzles. Since I appear to be slightly ahead of the curve at the moment, below the cut are is my solution to this week’s puzzle. You should only read past the cut if you don’t mind spoiling the puzzle for yourself.
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