The riddle appeared on Reddit nearly two weeks ago: 103 words, each carefully chosen, meant to lead the most clever and adventurous of Bay Area residents to a treasure chest laden with $10,000 worth of gleaming dollar coins.
For the second year in a row, an anonymous pair of 30-something friends pooled their resources and buried the booty a foot underground somewhere within 7 miles of San Francisco City Hall.
But nearly two weeks after the clues were posted, the puzzle has stumped a city filled with software engineers, AI whizzes and local historians. A few have come close, but no one has yet prevailed in locating the 150-pound treasure chest. In their frenzied search, some have even damaged city parks with illegal digging, officials said, leaving unfilled holes and hitting irrigation lines.
Still, the thrill of the chase has captivated — and tormented — hundreds of people in San Francisco. A post on the city’s Reddit page has drawn more than 1,000 comments, with sleuths swapping theories, looking for treasure hunting buddies and sharing stories about expeditions that took them up and down steep stairs, on blustery ferry rides and into parks with stunning vistas…