Tweaking the clues

Mystery clues were reported by many participants. A mystery clue may only give a state or province location to get the hunt started. However, the remaining clues are cryptic and must be completed before setting out on the hunt. Some participants described using personal mysteries and inviting other letterboxers who knew them to solve the clues to find the letterbox. Another reported stringing together a series of mystery clues in other letterboxes, that when put together in the proper order, reveal a hidden box.

A cuckoo clue was described by other participants. A cuckoo clue is hidden in another letterbox that is expected to be moved from one letterbox to another. There are usually restrictions given as to how far the clue may be moved.

Some letterboxers have returned to the English tradition of letterboxing and only provide their clues by word-of-mouth, both for the intrigue and for the security of restricting finders. Some have incorporated poems and history into the clues for mystery letterboxes.

One family of participants described using a Christmas card photo and a poem as clues for a short-term seasonal letterbox.

Another letterboxer reported using photo clues rather than “traditional word clues.”
Another family hides clues on their website that are revealed when visitors click on pictures they have posted there.

One participant described incorporating a story line around boxes he or she plants and builds clues into the storyline.

Another planted a series of letterboxes with a secret phrase in each one. The creator instructed finders to note each phrase and to email him or her when they had all six. If all six were correct, the creator sent the finder a postal letterbox associated with the series.